The British Nobility consist of the peerage,the baronetage and the knightage.
The original and most ancient nobility is the territorial or feudal nobility (in English the nobility is known collectively as the "peerage".) This was nobility based on "tenure" or ownership of land. If the land were sold, the noble rank or title went with it. This type of noble title persists to this day in Britain, Ireland and several other European countries. In the feudal system of government that came about in the early middle ages, the king rewarded his most loyal knights, supporters and favourites with landed estates. These estates, or "Honours" as they are known in the British Isles, carried with them various titles of nobility. William the Conqueror upon taking England in 1066 proceeded to reward his supporters with such gifts of lands.
There were feudal baronies. In return each baron owed the king annual tributes or "knights fees". Having to provide the king with a certain number of armed knights to go into battle for the king if needed. There were also a number of other services by which the annual tribute could be paid to the king. Each baron, in turn, usually subdivided his land into Lordships of the Manor.
Each Lord of the Manor had to pay annual tribute to the baron immediately above him, just as the baron did to the king. Lords of the Manor are not considered noble rank, rather they are "landed gentry" but they can also sell their titles.
In Ireland, several of the most powerful and rich feudal barons self-promoted themselves to the higher rank of Viscount which the king later recognised officially.
Baronets annd knights has no privilegies and a Baronet and is really a hereditary knight.
The rise of Parliament in Britain and Ireland and the decline and final demise of feudalism from the 1600's through the 1700's throughout Europe saw a new kind of nobility emerge. This was the strictly honorary nobility or "parliamentary peerage" of the United Kingdom and Ireland. These were titles not based on land tenure and were granted purely honorifically without land grants attaching. These could not be sold, but only inherited according to the wishes expressed in the letter of patent creation by the sovereign granting them. This is the nobility that has prevailed since the 1600's, though it is an outgrowth of the older, original landed feudal nobility. Today, this is the only type of nobility that is ever granted or created. These can be in the form of hereditary peerages of life peerages. This is the nobility that nowadays forms the House of Lords, the upper house of the British parliament. The grant of a title in the UK automatically came with the right to sit and vote in Parliament,with the exception of peers in the peerage of Ireland
Before 1963 Scottish peers (i.e., those created before the Act of Union in 1707) were not automatically entitled to a seat in the British House of Lords. Instead they elected from among themselves a body of sixteen representatives who then sat in the House. Scottish peers created since the Act of Union in 1707 are peers of the United Kingdom, and are equivalent in all respects to peers of England created subsequent to 1707 (who are also, technically, peers of the United Kingdom), including a right to a seat in the House of Lords.(66) Therefore, the number of Scottish peerages to which this restriction applies was rather small; most of them were created between James I's accession in 1603 and the Act of Union in 1707.) Furthermore, during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, many holders of older Scottish peerages were granted lesser English peerages, which entitled them to a seat in the House of Lords as a Peer of England or (after 1801) of the United Kingdom. I am not sure how the recent elections in Scotland which established a separate parliament will affect the eligibility of Scottish peers to sit in the British House of Lords. Irish peers, unlike all other British peers, are not barred from voting in general elections or from being elected to the House of Commons. Like Scottish peers, Irish peers used to elect a group of twenty-eight representatives to the House of Lords, but with the 1921 Irish Free State declaration of independence from Britain, this election ceased. The House of Lords allowed those Irish peers who were sitting in the House of Lords at that time to continue to do so for life, but no further elections took place, and the last of those peers died in 1961. Most Irish peers also hold an English or British peerage, often of considerably lower rank, which allow them to have a seat in the House of Lords for example, the Duke of Leinster (Irish) is also Viscount Leinster in the English peerage. By 1982, only 71 Irish peers were left out in the cold. Of them, only eighteen actually live in Ireland.
At present most until hereditary peers has lost the right to sit in the House of Lords,with the exception of the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl Marshal and 90 hereditary peers continue to sit in the House of Lords; the final state of the House of Lords, and the role that hereditary peers might play in it, has not yet been decided .
In Britain all noble up to the rank of Marquess are styled "Lord X" whether of the feudal or parliamentary peerage, i.e.. the Baron of Mountgallen and the Marquess of Kingsfield are respectively called "Lord Mountgallen" and "Lord Kingsfield", their wives are addressed as "Lady Mountgallen", etc., they bear the designation "Right Honourable" before their names and are addressed as "Your Lordship". Dukes are always styled as "The Duke of _____" and addressed as "Your Grace". Lords of the Manor must use the article "of" in their titles to distinguish them from the nobility. For example, the owner of the manor of Bluebrook is styled "The Lord of Bluebrook" rather than "Lord Bluebrook".
In UK law, a peerage is an incorporeal heriditament (a non-corporeal form of property, a sort of virtual real estate), being one of the several dignities, including baronetcies and knighthoods, which can be created by the Crown.
At one time, the term nobility applied to all ranks above commoners and included earls, barons, knights and esquires. With the establishment of the House of Lords came a distinction between hereditary nobility (that is, the peerage) and the lower ranks with gentry still considered as noble. By the 19th century, however, the gentry was excluded from the term nobility. (The English and Irish gentry are not recognized in British law as nobility, but the Scots are.)
The Peerage is made up of two parts: one part is the separate ranks in the peerage and the other part is the five separate peerages. These separate peerages are the peerage of England, of Scotland, of Ireland, of Great Britain, and of the United Kingdom. Peers were created in the "peerage of England" or the "peerage of Scotland" up until 1707 when these two kingdoms combined under what is known as the Act of Union. Peers created after this date were in the "peerage of Great Britain". Peers continued to be created in the "peerage of Ireland" until 1801 when Great Britain and Ireland were combined in a second Act of Union. Peers created after this date were in the "peerage of the United Kingdom". it is possible to have two peerages with the same title: for example, one could be "Baron XYZ, in the Peerage of Ireland" and also "Baron XYZ, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom"; in other words, it is not the title of the peerage that is important but the existence of the peerage itself. some peerages were still created in the peerage of Ireland after 1801 but these peers were not allowed to sit in the House of Lords one could be created a peer of Scotland or Ireland without being necessarily a Scotsman or Irishman the rank of baron does not exist in the peerage of Scotland because in Scotland a baron means a Barony in land; the equivalent rank for baron is Lord of Parliament (shortened to Lord) a peer is usually known by the highest peerage title he possesses (there are a few exceptions to this rule); if a peer has more than one peerage of the same grade (for instances, two or three ducal titles), he chooses the one by which he wishes to be known the
Sovereign can create a peerage title regardless of whether the place named has ever been under British rule or no.
The five British peerage ranks in order of seniority are duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron.
there is a procedure called "disclaiming" a peerage. The Peerage Act 1963 allowed hereditary peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain or the United Kingdom to be disclaimed for life. (It also allowed hereditary peeresses to be members of the House of Lords, and for all Scottish peers to sit in the House of Lords.) In the example of Lord Stansgate, he has disclaimed his peerage and is now known as Mr. Anthony (Tony) Wedgwood Benn. The new peer has to disclaim within 12 months of succeeding or reaching the age of 21, whichever came last, and once he has applied to sit in the House of Lords he cannot disclaim.
Once a peerage is disclaimed it is an irrevocable decision and the peerage no longer exists during the lifetime of the disclaiming peer. Further, no other hereditary peerage is conferred on the disclaiming peer.
Until the House of Lords Act of 1999, succession to the disclaimed peerage was not accelerated (that is, the oldest son does not get the peerage as soon as his father has disclaimed it), nor was it diverted (to a brother or cousin, for instance). The peerage was in suspended animation until the disclaimed peer dies. The next person was then eligible to succeed normally under the terms of the remainder. The House of Lords Act has removed the prohibition on writs in acceleration, which means that the succession can now be accelerated if the sovereign chooses to issue a writ to that effect.
Some peerages are inherited in the male line, while others can be inherited by females. Other peerages fall into abeyance when there are sisters, and others have sliding remainders. Each peerage is (or can be) different.
The most important piece of information is the exact text in the patent creating the peerage. There it will usually say what is to happen to the peerage on the death of the grantee. The usual phrase in hereditary peerages (not life peerages) is something which means "and the heirs male of his body legitimately born".
Peerage law determines what is meant by "heirs male", "of his body", and "legitimately born", but doesn't affect the devolution of the peerage as defined in the patent. Since the Sovereign in the "fons honorum" (fount of honour), the Sovereign can issue whatever peerage he/she wants with whatever remainder he/she wants.
Peers sit in the House of Lords. On 26th January 1996 the House of Lords (excluding Irish peers, whose peerages do not confer a right to a seat in the House of Lords) was composed as follows.
| Hereditary Peers (Excluding the 12 hereditary peers of the first creation) | 757 (16 of whom are women) |
| Life Peers and hereditary peers of the first creation ("created peers") | 391 (67 of whom are women) |
| Law Lords | 24 (none of whom are women) |
| Archbishops and Bishops | 26 (none of whom are women) |
| Total | 1198 |
Peer's wife and children are granted the use of certain titles, depending upon the rank of the peer.
| Noble Title | Male style | Wife or female holder | Son | Daughter |
| Duke | Duke | Duchess | Lord | Lord |
| Marquess | Lord | Lady | Lord |
Lady |
| Earl | Lord | Lady | The Honourable | Lady |
| Viscount and Baron | Lord | Lady | The Honourable | The Honourable |
| Baronet and Knight | Sir | Lady | No title | No title |
Eldest sons (heirs) of earls, marquesses, and dukes are allowed to adopt their father's next-highest title as a courtesy, which they use in every way as if it were a "real" peerage