The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain. New peers continued to be created in the Peerage of Ireland until 1898 (the last creation was the Barony of Curzon of Kedleston).
The House of Lords Act 1999 reformed the House of Lords. Until then, all peers of the United Kingdom were automatically members of the House of Lords. However, from that date, most of the hereditary peers ceased to be members, whereas the life peers 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, were offered a life peerage to allow them to continue to sit in the House, should they wish.
Peers in the Peerage of Scotland and Peerage of Ireland did not have an automatic seat in the House of Lords 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. 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;
Ranks The ranks of the peerage are duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron.
The last non-royal dukedom was created in 1874, and the last marquessate was created in 1936. Creation of the remaining ranks, except baronies for life, mostly ceased once Harold Wilson'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:
GranteeDate of creationTitle(s)Noted forReginald Manningham-Buller, The 1st Baron Dilhorne7 December 1964Viscount DilhorneFormer Lord High Chancellor of Great BritainRobert Grimston, Bt.11 December 1964Baron Grimston of WestburyFormer Member of ParliamentFrederick Erroll19 December 1964 (extinct 2000)Baron Erroll of HaleFormer Cabinet MinisterRobert Renwick, Bt.23 December 1964Baron Renwick—Michael Hughes-Young31 December 1964Baron St HelensFormer Member of ParliamentJohn Morrison1 January 1965Baron MargadaleFormer Chairman of the 1922 CommitteeWilliam Whitelaw16 June 1983 (extinct 1999)Viscount WhitelawFormer Home SecretaryGeorge Thomas11 July 1983 (extinct 1997)Viscount TonypandyFormer Speaker of the House of CommonsHarold Macmillan24 February 1984Earl of StocktonViscount Macmillan of OvendenFormer Prime MinisterAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor23 July 1986Duke of YorkEarl of InvernessBaron KillyleaghSecond son of Queen Elizabeth II on his wedding dayPrince Edward19 June 1999Earl of WessexViscount SevernThird son of Queen Elizabeth II on his wedding day10 March 2019Earl of ForfarOn his 55th birthday (used by the Earl and his wife as their primary title when they are in Scotland)Prince William29 April 2011Duke of CambridgeEarl of StrathearnBaron CarrickfergusFirst son of then-Charles, Prince of Wales on his wedding dayPrince Harry18 May 2018Duke of SussexEarl of DumbartonBaron KilkeelSecond son of then-Charles, Prince of Wales on his wedding day
Dukes in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
ShieldTitleCreationGranteeReasonMonarch11 May 1814 Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of WellingtonMilitary Peerage–ArmyThe Prince Regenton behalf of King George III28 January 1833 George Leveson-Gower, Marquess of Stafford—King William IV27 February 1874 Hugh Grosvenor, Marquess of Westminster—Queen Victoria13 January 1876 Charles Gordon-Lennox, Duke of RichmondIncumbent cabinet minister24 May 1881Prince LeopoldCurrently suspended7 April 1892 George Campbell, Duke of ArgyllFormer cabinet minister and father-in-law of Princess Louise daughter of Queen Victoria24 April 1900 Alexander Duff, Earl of FifeSon-in-law of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII)31 March 1928 Prince HenryOn his 28th birthdayKing George V12 October 1934 Prince GeorgeIn anticipation of his forthcoming marriage to Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark23 July 1986 Prince AndrewOn his wedding day to Sarah Ferguson. Currently suspendedQueen Elizabeth II29 April 2011 Prince William of WalesOn his wedding day to Catherine Middleton18 May 2018 Prince Harry of WalesOn his wedding day to Meghan Markle10 March 2023On his 59th birthday, (Title not hereditary, it will become extinct on his death)King Charles III
Marquesses (United Kingdom)
ShieldTitleCreationGranteeReasonMonarch4 February 1801 Henry Cecil, Earl of Exeter—King George III7 September 1812 Charles Compton, Earl of Northampton—The Prince Regenton behalf of King George III7 September 1812 John Pratt, Earl CamdenFormer Viceroy of Ireland3 October 1812Duke of Wellington (United Kingdom) Arthur Wellesley, Earl of WellingtonMilitary Peerage–Army4 July 1815 Henry Paget, Earl of UxbridgeMilitary Peerage–Army22 November 1815 George Cholmondeley, Earl of CholmondeleyIncumbent Lord Steward of the Household17 July 1821 Charles Brudenell-Bruce, Earl of Ailesbury—King George IV30 June 1826 Frederick Hervey, Earl of Bristol—10 September 1831 Archibald Kennedy, Earl of CassilisScottish Representative Peer—King William IV13 September 1831Duke of Westminster (United Kingdom) Robert Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor—25 June 1838 Constantine Phipps, Earl of MulgraveIncumbent Viceroy of IrelandQueen Victoria14 January 1876 William Nevill, Earl of Abergavenny—22 August 1892 Lawrence Dundas, Earl of ZetlandFormer Viceroy of Ireland27 October 1902 John Hope, Earl of HopetounIncumbent Governor-General of AustraliaKing Edward VII4 January 1916 John Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of AberdeenFormer Governor General of Canada and former Viceroy of IrelandKing George V7 November 1917 Prince Louis of BattenbergHe relinquished his German titles7 May 1926 Rufus Isaacs, Earl of ReadingFormer Viceroy of India and former Lord Chief Justice of England
Earls (United Kingdom)
ShieldTitleCreationGranteeReasonMonarch21 April 1801Former Lord High Chancellor of Great BritainKing George III18 June 1801—19 June 1801—22 June 1801—23 June 1801—26 June 180114 May 1804Incumbent Viceroy of Ireland20 November 1805Brother of Horatio Nelson11 April 1806Military Peerage–Army7 April 1807—19 July 1809Former Foreign Secretary28 February 1812—The Prince Regenton behalf of King George IIIMilitary Peerage–Army7 September 1812—Former Foreign Secretary7 September 1812—24 February 1813Incumbent Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William16 July 1814Military Peerage–Army24 November 1815—28 November 181529 November 1815—30 November 1815—7 July 1821Incumbent Lord High Chancellor of Great BritainKing George IV16 July 1821—18 July 1821—4 February 1822Earl VaneViscount Seaham8 July 1823Former Ambassador to Austria6 October 1827—15 September 1831—King William IV—15 September 1831Incumbent Master of the Buckhounds23 March 1833Incumbent Ambassador to Russia10 May 1833Incumbent Ambassador to France and former Ambassador to Russia27 January 1837Military Peerage–Army28 January 1837—30 January 1837—11 August 1837—Queen Victoria12 August 1837—2 July 1838——16 August 1841—6 July 1846colspan=2 Former cabinet minister18 September 1847Military Peerage–Army11 June 1850Incumbent Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain11 April 1857Incumbent Ambassador to France23 June 1859Incumbent Viceroy of Ireland17 February 1860—30 July 1861Former Prime Minister21 October 1861Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland1 June 1866Incumbent Viceroy of Ireland15 January 187627 September 1878Incumbent Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain28 April 1880Incumbent Viceroy of India30 December 1882Incumbent Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain3 July 1885Incumbent First Lord of the Treasury22 August 1892Former Home Secretary6 August 1901Incumbent Consul-General of EgyptKing Edward VII18 December 1905Former cabinet minister22 December 1905Incumbent Lord Steward of the Household3 July 1911Former Prime MinisterKing George V22 February 1915Former Chancellor of the Exchequer20 December 1917—Incumbent Lord Chief Justice of England27 September 1919Military Peerage–Navy29 September 1919Military Peerage–Army30 September 1919—5 May 1922Former Prime Minister9 February 1925Former Prime Minister29 June 1925Former Governor-General of New Zealand20 June 1929Chairman of Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company10 July 1929Former cabinet minister1 June 1937Father-in-law of King George VIKing George VI8 June 1937Former Prime Minister11 July 1944Former Viceroy of India8 January 1945Incumbent Governor-General of Australia12 February 1945Former Prime Minister18 October 1947Incumbent Governor-General of India11 March 1952Former Governor General of CanadaQueen Elizabeth II5 May 1955Former cabinet minister16 December 1955Former Prime Minister9 December 1956Former Chairman of the Conservative Party6 October 1961Husband of Princess Margaret24 February 1984Former Prime Minister19 June 1999On his wedding day to Sophie Rhys-Jones10 March 2019On his 55th Birthday, (Title used in Scotland only)
Viscounts (United Kingdom)