The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five

Peerages in the United Kingdom The peerages in the United Kingdom are a legal system comprising both hereditary title, hereditary and life peer, lifetime titles, composed of various Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks, and forming a constituent part of the Orders ...

. It comprises most

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

s created in the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...

after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself r ...

. New peers continued to be created in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

until 1898 (the last creation was the Barony of Curzon of Kedleston). The

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

reformed the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. Until then, all peers of the United Kingdom were automatically members of the House of Lords. However, from that date, most of the

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

s ceased to be members, whereas the

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

s retained their seats. All hereditary peers of the first creation (i.e. those for whom a peerage was originally created, as opposed to those who inherited a peerage), and all surviving hereditary peers who had served as

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...

, were offered a life peerage to allow them to continue to sit in the House should they wish. Peers in the

Peerage of Scotland The Peerage of Scotland ( gd, Moraireachd na h-Alba, sco, Peerage o Scotland) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union, ...

and

did not have an automatic seat in the

following the Acts of Union of 1707 and 1800, though the law permitted a limited number to be elected by their fellows to serve in the House of Lords as

representative peers In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to ...

. Some peerages of the United Kingdom were created to get around this obstacle and allow certain Scottish and Irish peers to enjoy the automatic right to sit in the House of Lords.Malcomson 2000 p.312;

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Ranks

The ranks of the peerage are

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

, Marquess,

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicia ...

, and

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

. The last non-royal dukedom was created in 1900, and the last marquessate was created in 1936. Creation of the remaining ranks, except baronies for life, mostly ceased once

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

's Labour government took office in 1964, and only thirteen (nine non-royal and four royal) people have been created hereditary peers since then. These were:

Dukes in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

* *

Marquesses in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

* *

Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

* *

Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

* *

Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

* *

Extinct peerages since the Passage of the
House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

Extinct dukedoms

Extinct earldoms

Extinct viscountcies

Extinct baronies

Current titles without heirs

Current UK Peers

Current Scottish and Irish peers with British titles

Peerages in remainder to other Peerages

Titles

Marquesses, earls, viscounts and barons are all addressed as 'Lord X', where 'X' represents either their territory or surname pertaining to their title. Marchionesses, countesses, viscountesses and baronesses are all addressed as 'Lady X'. Dukes and duchesses are addressed just as 'Duke' or 'Duchess' or, in a non-social context, 'Your Grace'.

Lists of peers

* 29 Dukes: see ''

List of dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland This is a list of the 29 present dukes in the peerages of the Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Ireland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norther ...

'' * 34 Marquesses: see ''

List of marquesses in the peerages of Britain and Ireland This is a list of the 34 present and extant marquesses in the peerages of the Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Ireland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which became the United King ...

'' * 193 Earls and countesses: see ''

List of earls in the peerages of Britain and Ireland This is a list of the 190 present and extant earls in the Peerages of the England, Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Note that it does not include extant earldoms which have become merged (either through marriage or eleva ...

'' * 112 Viscounts: see ''

List of viscounts in the peerages of Britain and Ireland This is a list of the 111 present and extant Viscounts in the Peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Note that it does not include extant viscountcies which have become merged (either through marriage or e ...

'' * 1,187 Barons: see ''

List of barons in the peerages of Britain and Ireland This is a list of the present and extant Barons (Lords of Parliament, in Scottish terms) in the Peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Note that it does not include those extant baronies which have become ...

'' * Women: see ''

List of peerages created for women This is a list of peerages created for women in the peerages of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom. It does not include peerages created for men which were later inherited by women, or life peerages created since ...

'' and ''

List of peerages inherited by women In the peerages of the British Isles, most titles have traditionally been created for men and with Remainder (law), remainder to male heirs. However, some titles are created with special remainders to allow women to inherit them. Some of the old ...

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

The Roll of the Peerage
The Crown Office, Ministry of Justice {{Refend

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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