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Thomas Mr. Lowndes

ORDER OF PRECEDENCE,
WITH
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AUTHORITIES AND REMARKS.
M.DCCC.LI.


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ORDER OF PRECEDENCE.
ALL titles and dignities, with rank, place, and
precedence, ecclesiastical, civil, and military, are
derived from the Crown as the Fountain of Honour.
The most eminent legal authorities concur in stating
that the King can create what titles he thinks
proper, and confer upon his subjects such rank,
place, and precedence, as he may think fit. That
power is still inherent in the Sovereign when not
restricted by any statutory enactments of the legis-
lature, by which the Crown is bound as an assent-
ing party.
Under the head of Nobility and Commonalty
may be said to be included all orders of men com-
posing the civil state of society, and the rank and
precedence assigned to the various classes com-
prised in it, emanate from the Sovereign's will and
pleasure. It was not until the 31st year of the
reign of King Henry VIII., that any statutory
enactment took place, when that King assented to
the "Act for placing the Lords," wherein it is ex-
pressly declared, that, although it appertained unto
his prerogative royal to give such honour, reputa-
tion, and placing to his Counsellors, and others his
subjects, as should be seeming to his most excellent
wisdom, he was, nevertheless, pleased and con-
tented for an order to be had and taken in his
most high Court of Parliament, that it should be
enacted, &c., as in the Act is declared, respecting
A 2
302791
iv
the placing of the Great Officers and Lords in
manner therein provided for.
Although this Act refers more particularly to the
placing the Lords in Parliament and Conferences
of Council, yet it has been held to confer a pre-
cedency on the Great Officers and Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, which has been generally observed
upon all public occasions out of Parliament; and
to the extent only therein prescribed, has been
considered as restraining the Royal Prerogative in
regard to Precedence.
The earliest Tables of Precedence of authentic
character, by which the Nobility and Commonalty
were regulated previous to the passing of the Statute
of the 31st Hen. VIII., are five, described as fol-
lows, viz.:-
I.—The Order of all Estates of Nobles and Gentry of England,
set forth the 8th of October, in the year of our Lord God, 1399.
II.—The Order of all States of Worship and Gentry of Eng-
land, as they were ordered by the Lord Protector's Grace, and by
the Earl Marshal of England, against the King's Coronation, and
set forth by the Herald, Anno D'ni 1431, 10 H. 6.
III.-Orders according to Auncient Statutes, made by John
Tiptoft, Earle of Worcester and Constable of England, in the
6 yeare of King Edward ye Fourth (1467), for the placeing of
all Estates, as well as in Proceeding before the Prince as in other
Assemblyes of Parliament, &c.
IV.-The Order of all Estates set forth by the Noble Lord
Anthony Earle Rivers, the 10th of June, a' D'ni 1479, a° 20
E. 4.
V.-Series Ordinum omnium Procerum, Magnatum, et No-
bilium, et aliorum quorumcunque infra hoc regnum, tam virorum
quam fœminarum, posita et distincta per Nobilissimum Jasperum
Ducem Bedford, et alios Nobiles, appunctuatione Domini Regis
Henrici VII.
V
The first of these was framed in 1399, towards
the close of the reign of King Richard II., who
surrendered the Crown on the 29th Sept. in that
year, or in the commencement of the reign of King
Henry IV. In 1399, John Montacute, Earl of
Salisbury, held the office of Marshal of England,
in the absence of Thomas Holland, Duke of Surrey,
but which office was conferred upon Ralph Nevill,
Earl of Westmorland, by King Henry IV. imme-
diately upon his accession, and the date of this
order being the 8th of October, it is probable that
it was made shortly before the Coronation of King
Henry, which took place on the 14th of Octo-
ber.
The second table was framed in the 10th of King
Henry VI., 1431, under the direction of the Pro-
tector, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, and John
Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal, against
the young King's Coronation.
Both of these tables were made before the crea-
tion of the dignity of Viscount.
The third table was framed by John Tiptoft, Earl
of Worcester, and Constable of England in the
6th of King Edward IV. 1467; the fourth, by
Anthony Earl Rivers, the Queen's brother, in the
20th Edw. IV. 1469, wherein Viscounts and their
wives appear for the first time.
The fifth table was framed in the early part or
the reign of King Henry VII., and probably upon
or soon after his marriage, by Jasper Tudor, Duke
of Bedford, and other Nobles by the King's ap-
pointment, and is spoken of by Lord Coke as a
record of great authority.
vi
The Tables here given comprehend the various
classes of the Nobility and Commonalty whose
places in the general order of Precedence may
now be said to be determined and recognised by
the Crown. The notes appended thereto are for the
purpose of showing, in every instance, upon what
authority such order of Precedence is based. No
direct order of the Crown exists for this table of Pre-
cedence, as a whole, but it rests on various grounds;
-some portion being ordered by statutory enact-
ments, some by the authority of the Crown, some
by the orders and decisions of the Earls Marshal
of England, their Deputies, or the Commissioners
appointed from time to time to execute that office,
whilst others rest upon ancient and established usage,
acted upon and admitted upon various public occa-
sions during several centuries, and, consequently, so
sanctioned by the Crown, that they may be said to
have acquired the force of law.
The tables, respectively cited in the notes, are
those here described, and are the authorities for
placing the younger Sons of the various degrees of
the Peerage, as well as other persons, and form the
basis upon which that precedence is assigned, which
is said to rest upon ancient and established usage.
In all other instances, the particular statutes, orders,
declarations, or decrees, will be found to be fully
stated.
The notes, in some places, are extended so as to
give the substance of the authorities quoted, and
thereby save the trouble of numerous references;
a few incidental remarks will be found in reference
to certain legal functionaries, who, although they
vii
have not any especial rank in the general order
of precedence, have, nevertheless, place assigned
to them in certain State Ceremonials.
It is to be remarked that there are some Officers
of the Court who, in virtue of their offices, may,
in
certain public proceedings, take place above those
of higher dignity than themselves, and that nu-
merous other persons also, in right either of office,
professional rank, or connection with the Court,
affairs of State, or administration of Justice, have
places in Public Ceremonials, which, however, give
them no rank in the general order of civil prece-
dence, nor are those persons, in virtue of their
offices, found occupying the same places upon all
occasions, for their position will be found fre-
quently to vary, much depending upon the nature
of the Ceremonial and the will and pleasure of the
Sovereign.
CHAS. GEO. YOUNG,
February 4th, 1851.
Garter.
PRECEDENCY OF MEN.
The Numbers are prefixed only for reference to the Authorities
and Remarks which follow the Table.
THE SOVEREIGN.
1. His Royal Highness Prince Albert.
2. Prince of Wales.
King's Younger Sons.
King's Grandsons.
King's Brothers.
King's Uncles.
King's Brother's or Sister's Sons.
3. His Royal Highness the Prince Leopold (King of the
Belgians).
4. Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England
and Metropolitan.
5. Lord High Chancellor, or Lord Keeper, being a Baron.
6. Archbishop of York, Primate of England.
7. Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of Ireland.
8. Archbishop of Dublin.
9. Lord High Treasurer. (a)
If
10. Lord President of the Privy Council.
Barons.
11. Lord Privy Seal.
12. Lord Great Chamberlain.
Above
13. Lord High Constable. (a)
all
14. Earl Marshal.
15. Lord High Admiral. (a)
16. Lord Steward of the Household.
17. Lord Chamberlain of the Household.
Peers
of their
own
Degree.
(a) These great officers do not at present exist.
#
2
18. DUKES according to their Patents, viz. :—
Dukes of England. (a)
Dukes of Scotland. (b)
Dukes of Great Britain. (c)
Dukes of Ireland. (d)
Dukes of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland. (e)
19. Eldest Sons of Dukes of the Blood Royal.
20. MARQUESSES according to their Patents, viz. :-
Marquesses of England. (a)
Marquesses of Scotland. (b)
Marquesses of Great Britain. (c)
Marquesses of Ireland. (d)
Marquesses of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, and Mar-
quesses of Ireland. (e)
21. Eldest Sons of Dukes.
22. EARLS according to their Patents, viz.:-
Earls of England. (a)
Earls of Scotland. (b)
Earls of Great Britain. (c)
Earls of Ireland. (d)
Earls of the United Kingdom of Great Bri-
tain and Ireland, and Earls of Ireland.(e)
23. Younger Sons of Dukes of the Blood Royal.
24. Eldest Sons of Marquesses.
25. Younger Sons of Dukes.
26. VISCOUNTS according to their Patents, viz. :—
Viscounts of England. (a)
Viscounts of Scotland. (b)
Viscounts of Great Britain. (c)
Viscounts of Ireland. (d)
Viscounts of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and Viscounts of
Ireland. (e)
(a) Created before 1707.
(b) Created before 1707,
(e) Created since 1801.
(c) Created between 1707 and 1801.
(d) Created before 1801.
3
27. Eldest Sons of Earls.
28. Younger Sons of Marquesses.
29. BISHOPS of London, Durham, Winchester, and all
other English Bishops, according to their seniority
of Consecration.
Bishops of Meath and Kildare, and all other Irish
Bishops, according to their seniority of Consecration.
30. Secretary of State, if a Baron.
31. BARONS according to their Patents, viz.:-
Barons of England. (a)
Barons of Scotland. (b)
Barons of Great Britain. (c)
Barons of Ireland. (d)
Barons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, and Barons of Ireland. (e)
32. Speaker of the House of Commons.
33. Commissioners of the Great Seal.
34. Treasurer
35. Comptroller
}
of the Household.
36. Master of the Horse.
37. Vice-Chamberlain of the Household.
38. Secretary of State, under the degree of a Baron.
39. Eldest Sons of Viscounts.
40. Younger Sons of Earls.
41. Eldest Sons of Barons.
42. Knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
43. Privy Councillors.
44. Chancellor and Under Treasurer of the Exchequer.
45. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
46. Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench.
47. Master of the Rolls.
48. Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
49. Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer.
50. Vice-Chancellors.
51. Judges and Barons of the degree of the Coif of the
Courts of Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, and Ex-
chequer, according to their seniority; and Judges
of the Court of Review.
Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy.
1.
4
52. Knights Bannerets made under the Royal Banner, in
open war, the King or Prince of Wales being
present.
53. Younger Sons of Viscounts.
54. Younger Sons of Barons.
55. BARONETS according to their Patents, viz. :-
Baronets of England. (a)
Baronets of Scotland. (b)
Baronets of Great Britain. (c)
Barcnets of Ireland. (d)
Baronets of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland. (e)
56. Knights Bannerets not made by the King.
57. Knights Grand Crosses of the Bath.
58. Knights Grand Crosses of St. Michael and St. George.
59. Knights Commanders of the Bath.
60. Knights Commanders of St. Michael and St. George.
61. Knights Bachelors.
62. Companions of the Bath.
63. Companions of St. Michael and St. George.
64. Eldest Sons of the younger Sons of Peers.
65. Eldest Sons of Baronets.
66. Eldest Sons of Knights of the Garter.
67. Eldest Sons of Knights Bannerets.
68. Eldest Sons of Knights Bachelors.
69. Younger Sons of Baronets.
70. Younger Sons of Knights Bachelors.
71. Esquires.
72. Gentlemen.
(a) Created before 1707.
(b) Created before 1707.
(c) Created between 1707 and 1801.
(d) Created before 1801.
(e) Created since 1801.
PRECEDENCY OF WOMEN.
All Peeresses rank amongst themselves according to the seniority
of their husbands in their respective degrees of the Peerage.
1. Those wives of Peers of England created before 1707.
2. Those of Scotland created before 1707. 3. Those of Great
Britain created between 1707 and 1801. 4. Those of Ireland
created before 1801. 5. Those of the United Kingdom created
since 1801, as also those of Ireland created since 1801.
The Numbers refer to the Authorities and Remarks which follow
the Table.
THE QUEEN.
* The Princess of Wales.
The King's Daughters.
Wives of the King's Younger Sons.
The King's Grand-daughters.
Wives of the King's Grandsons.
The King's Sisters.
Wives of the King's Brothers.
The King's Aunts.
Wives of the King's Uncles.
The King's (Nieces) Brother's or Sister's Daughters.
73. DUCHESSES in the rank of their Husbands, viz. :—
Duchesses of England.
Duchesses of Scotland.
Duchesses of Great Britain.
Duchesses of Ireland.
Duchesses of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland.
* See note, Royal Family, p. 73.
6
74. Wives of the Eldest Sons of the Dukes of the Blood
Royal.
MARCHIONESSES in the rank of their Husbands, viz. :-
Marchionesses of England.
Marchionesses of Scotland.
Marchionesses of Great Britain.
Marchionesses of Ireland.
Marchionesses of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, and Mar-
chionesses of Ireland.
75. Wives of the Eldest Sons of Dukes.
76. Daughters of Dukes.
COUNTESSES in the rank of their Husbands, viz. :-
Countesses of England.
Countesses of Scotland.
Countesses of Great Britain.
Countesses of Ireland.
Countesses of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and Countesses of
Ireland.
77. Wives of the Younger Sons of Dukes of the Blood
Royal.
78. Wives of the Eldest Sons of Marquesses.
79. Daughters of Marquesses.
80. Wives of the Younger Sons of Dukes.
VISCOUNTESSES in the rank of their Husbands, viz. :-
Viscountesses of England.
Viscountesses of Scotland.
Viscountesses of Great Britain.
Viscountesses of Ireland.
Viscountesses of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, and Vis-
countesses of Ireland.
81. Wives of the Eldest Sons of Earls.
82. Daughters of Earls.
83. Wives of the Younger Sons of Marquesses.
7
BARONESSES in the rank of their Husbands, viz. :
Baronesses of England.
Baronesses of Scotland.
Baronesses of Great Britain.
Baronesses of Ireland.
Baronesses of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and Baronesses of
Ireland.
84. Wives of the Eldest Sons of Viscounts.
85. Daughters of Viscounts.
86. Wives of the Younger Sons of Earls.
87. Wives of the Eldest Sons of Barons.
88. Daughters of Barons.
89. Wives of Knights of the Garter.
90. Wives of Bannerets made by the King in person.
91. Wives of the Younger Sons of Viscounts.
92. Wives of the Younger Sons of Barons.
93. Wives of Baronets, viz. :—
Baronets of England.
Baronets of Scotland.
Baronets of Great Britain.
Baronets of Ireland.
Baronets of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland.
94. Wives of Bannerets not made by the King in person.
95. Wives of Knights Grand Crosses of the Bath.
96. Wives of Knights Grand Crosses of St. Michael and
St. George.
97. Wives of Knights Commanders of the Bath.
98. Wives of Knights Commanders of St. Michael and
St. George.
99. Wives of Knights Bachelors.
100. Wives of Companions of the Bath.
101. Wives of Companions of St. Michael and St. George.
102. Wives of the Eldest Sons of the Younger Sons of
Peers.

8
103. Daughters of the Younger Sons of Peers.
104. Wives of the Eldest Sons of Baronets.
105. Daughters of Baronets.
106. Wives of the Eldest Sons of Knights of the Garter.
107. Wives of the Eldest Sons of Knights Bannerets.
108. Wives of the Eldest Sons of Knights Bachelors.
109. Daughters of Knights Bachelors.
110. Wives of the Younger Sons of Baronets.
111. Wives of Esquires.
112. Wives of Gentlemen.
9
AUTHORITIES AND REMARKS.
The Numbers refer to the corresponding ones in the Table of
Precedence.
PRECEDENCY OF MEN.
1. His Royal Highness Prince Albert. By virtue of the
Queen's Warrant, 4th March, 1840, declaring that His Royal
Highness should thenceforth upon all occasions, and in all meet-
ings, except where otherwise provided by Act of Parliament,
have place and precedence next to Her Royal Person.
2. The Prince of Wales, King's Younger Sons, Grandsons,
Brothers, Uncles, Nephews or Brother's or Sister's Sons.—In
conformity with the statute of 31 Hen. VIII., c. 10, anno 1539,
intituled "An Act for placing the Lords." This Act was passed
for the purpose of assigning places to certain Great Officers of
State in virtue of their Offices, and placing the Lords in the
Parliament Chamber, and by the said Act it is declared that
those Great Officers shall have the same places on all trials of
treasons by Peers, in the Star Chamber, and in all other As-
semblies and Conferences of Council.
This Act, though passed only in reference to the placing the
Lords in the Parliament Chamber, and in all other Assemblies and
Conferences of Council, has been generally observed as authority
for assigning place and precedence to the same persons in Cere-
monials of State and ordinary Assemblies out of Parliament.
The Act,-
By Sec. 2, enacts, That no person or persons, of what estate,
degree, or condition soever he or they be of (except only the
King's children) shall at any time thereafter attempt or presume
to sit or have place at any side of the Cloth of Estate in the Par-
liament Chamber, neither of the one hand of the King's Highness,
nor of the other, whether the King's Majesty be there personally
present or absent; and assigns to the King's Ecclesiastical Vice-
gerent place on the right side of the Parliament Chamber and
B
11
upon the same form as the Archbishop of Canterbury above the
said Archbishop;
By Sec. 3, enacts, That next to the said Vicegerent shall sit
the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the next to him on the same
form and side shall sit the Archbishop of York, and next to
him on the same form and side the Bishop of London, then the
Bishop of Durham, and next the Bishop of Winchester, and then
all the other Bishops of both Provinces of Canterbury and York
shall sit and be placed on the same side after their Ancienties
as it hath been accustomed.
By Sec. 4. it is ordained and enacted, That the
Lord Chancellor,
Lord Treasurer,
Lord President of the Council,
Lord Privy Seal,
being of the degree of Barons of Parliament or above, shall sit
and be placed on the left side of the Parliament Chamber, on the
higher part of the form of the same side above all Dukes except
only such as shall happen to be the King's Son, the King's
Brother, the King's Uncle, the King's Nephew, or the King's
Brother's or Sister's Sons.
By Sec. 5. it is ordained and enacted, That the
Great Chamberlain of England,
Constable of England,
Marshal of England,
Lord Admiral,
Great Master or Lord Steward of the King's Household,
King's Chamberlain,
shall sit and be placed after the Lord Privy Seal (in the above
order), and above all other personages being of the same estates and
degrees that they shall happen to be of.
By Sec. 6. it is enacted, That the
King's Chief Secretary,
being of the degree of a Baron, shall sit and be placed afore and
above all Barons not having any of the offices abovementioned;
and if he be a Bishop, then he shall sit and be placed above all
Bishops not having any of the offices above remembered.
By Sec. 7. it is ordained and enacted, That all Dukes not
aforementioned, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons, not
having any of the offices aforesaid, shall sit and be placed after
their Ancienty as it hath been accustomed.
By Sec. 8. it is enacted, That if the Lord Chancellor, Lord
B 2

13
Treasurer, Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or
Chief Secretary, be under the degree of a Baron of Parliament,
by reason whereof they can have no interest to give any assent or
dissent in the said House, then they shall be placed at the upper-
most part of the Sacks in the midst of the said Parliament Cham-
ber, the one of them above the other, in order as is above rehearsed.
By Sec. 9. it is enacted, That in all trials of Treasons by Peers,
if any of the Peers being triers of such Treason, shall happen to
have any of the offices aforesaid, they shall sit and be placed ac-
cording to their offices in manner abovementioned and rehearsed.
By Sec. 10. it is enacted, That as well in all Parliaments, as in
the Star Chamber, and in all other assemblies and conferences of
Council, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Treasurer, the Lord Pre-
sident, the Lord Privy Seal, the Great Chamberlain, the Con-
stable, the Marshal, the Lord Admiral, the Grand Master or
Lord Steward, the King's Chamberlain, and the King's Chief
Secretary, shall sit and be placed in such order and fashion, as is
above rehearsed, and not in any other place, by authority of this
present Act.
The Prince of Wales is not mentioned by name in this statute
but is included amongst "the King's children," who, under Sec.
1, are declared to be the only persons who shall sit on any
side of the Cloth of Estate, which was considered the highest
place of honour and dignity. In the reign of King Charles the
First, the Prince of Wales appears to have sat on the left-hand
side of the State (Lords' Journals, vol. 4, pp. 44, 49, 50, 82, 83).
But King Charles the Second, after the Restoration, desired the
seat on the right hand of the Throne to be reserved for the
Prince of Wales, and which continues to be the seat of the Prince
to the present day.
O
In the 1 Edw. VI., 1547, however, by Letters Patent under the
Great Seal, place and precedence was granted to Edward Duke of
Somerset as Protector of the Realm and Governor of the King's
person, by placing him upon the midst of the bench or stool,
standing next on the right "of our Siege Royal," and in the reign
of King Charles the Second (a 1660), after reference to and a
report from a Committee of Privileges of the Lords, the King's
brothers, the Dukes of York and Gloucester, were seated on the left
hand side of the Cloth of Estate, and subsequently, in the reign
of King George the Second, the King's grandson was seated there.
Grandson is not mentioned in the stat. 31 Hen. VIII., but is
said by Lord Coke to be intended by the term " nephew," in
15
66
which case grandsons are named in the Act after the uncle.
But grandsons, it has since been determined, are included under
sons, and therefore the words, or brother's or sister's sons,"
following nephew, may be taken merely as explanatory of the
term nephew, there being two descriptions of nephew-viz. by
the brother's and sister's side. In the reign of King George the
First, by virtue of a warrant under the Royal Sign Manual,
dated 13th December, 1726, Garter was directed to place on
the Parliamentary Roll the names of the King's grandsons,
Frederick Duke of Edinburgh, and William Duke of Cumber-
land (Sons of George Prince of Wales, afterwards King George
the Second), before that of His Majesty's brother, Ernest Duke of
York, thereby giving precedence to the grandsons over the
King's brother; and when King George the Second created his
grandson, Prince Edward, Duke of York, second Son of Frederick
Lewis Prince of Wales, he was, after report from the House of
Lords, placed on the left hand of the Cloth of Estate by virtue
of the King's Warrant, dated 5th May, 1760.
The places of the King's son, brother, uncle, nephew, or bro-
ther's or sister's sons, are not indicated by a direct declaration
or enactment, but have been implied from the exception con-
tained in the enacting clause of the 4th Section in relation to the
places of certain great officers who are to sit above all Dukes,
except such (Dukes) as stand related in those degrees to the King.
3. His Royal Highness Prince Leopold.—By virtue of a Royal
Warrant, dated 3rd May, 1816, issued under the provisions of
an Act of Parliament, 56th Geo. III. c. 13, passed 29th March
previously to the marriage of His Royal Highness, whereby it
was enacted, That when and so soon as the then intended mar-
riage of His Royal Highness with the Princess Charlotte of Wales
should have been celebrated, it should be lawful for the King to
give to his then Serene Highness during the term of his natural
life, such precedence and rank before the Lord Archbishop of
Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and all other great officers
and the Dukes, other than and except the Dukes of the Blood
Royal, and all other Peers of the Realm, as His Majesty should
deem fit and proper, any law, statute, or custom whatsoever to
the contrary notwithstanding.
4. The Archbishop of Canterbury.-The Archbishop of Canter-
bury is not by the statute of 31 Hen. VIII. placed in direct terms
17
above the Lord Chancellor, nor is the Lord Chancellor placed
above the Archbishop of York, who is by the Act to sit next to
the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishops being both seated
on the right hand side of the Parliament Chamber (by which,
however, may be implied a precedence), and the Lord Chancellor
on the left. The Archbishop of Canterbury is, however, so placed
of dignity, and has, by immemorial usage, precedence of the Lord
Chancellor, but the precedence of the Lord Chancellor before
the Archbishop of York does not appear to be of an earlier
origin than the reign of King Charles the Second.
5. Lord High Chancellor, or Lord Keeper.-Statute 31 Hen.
VIII. sec. 4. By statute 5 Elizabeth, c. 18, the Keeper of the Great
Seal of England for the time being has the like place, authority,
pre-eminence and jurisdiction, &c., as the Lord Chancellor of
England for the time being. See note 4. The place of the Lord
Chancellor, when filled by any one under the degree of a Baron,
is not defined by the statute, nor are those of the Lord High
Treasurer, Lord President, or Lord Privy Seal but sec. 8. of
this statute enacts that when under the degree of a Baron (by
reason whereof they can have no interest to give any assent or
dissent in the said House), they shall sit and be placed at the
uppermost part of the sacks in the midst of the said Parliament
Chamber, the one of them above the other, in order as above
rehearsed. By sec. 10. it is provided, that in the Star Chamber,
and in all other assemblies and conferences of Council, they, with
the other great Officers named, shall sit and be placed in such
order and fashion as above rehearsed, and not in any other place.
As Privy Councillors they would have voices in all conferences of
Council, and therefore their places in the Council Chamber need
not change, although they be under the degree of Barons. Upon
this point Mr. Bowyer says,--" It appears to be the better opinion
that their rank elsewhere, whether they be under the degree of
Barons or no, is the same, excepting in the Parliament Cham-
ber, where they must sit on the woolsacks, unless they be Barons
of Parliament. And in the commission for trial of Mary Queen
of Scots (a record of great authority), Sir Thomas Bromley,
Knight, Lord Chancellor, is accordingly named immediately after
the Archbishop of Canterbury."
"*
In Camden's History of Queen Elizabeth, 3rd edit., p. 346,
wherein the commission is set forth, the Lord Chancellor is named
Commentary on the Constitutional Law of England. 8vo. 1841, p. 694.
19
before the Lord Treasurer (Lord Burleigh), the Marquis of Win-
chester, a Lord of Parliament, the Earl of Oxford, Lord Great
Chamberlain, and the Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl Marshal of Eng-
land: and it may also be remarked that Sir Nathan Wright,
Lord Keeper, went in the place of the Chancellor above the
other Great Officers at the Coronation of Queen Anne and also
in the Queen's proceeding to St. Paul's in 1702 and 1704.
6. Archbishop of York.-Statute 31 Hen. VIII. See note 4.
7. Archbishop of Armagh. By statute 39 and 40 Geo. III.,
cap. 67 (Union Act), art. 4, it
is enacted, "That all Lords
of Dublin.
8.
Spiritual of Ireland should have rank and precedency next and
immediately after the Lords Spiritual of the same rank and de-
gree of Great Britain." See under 18.
9. Lord High Treasurer. Being of the degree of Barons,
10. Lord President.
11. Lord Privy Seal.
above all Dukes, by statute 31
Hen. VIII. except such as by
sec. 4. are excepted. See note 2.
The precedency of these Officers, if filled by persons under
the degree of a Baron, is not defined; but they have not for
years been held by any one under that degree, except when the
office of Privy Seal has been executed by Commissioners, as
that of Lord High Treasurer now always is, and the Commis-
sioners have not any rank as such. See note 5.
12. Lord Great Chamberlain.
13. Lord High Constable.
14. Earl Marshal.
15. Lord High Admiral.
16. Lord Steward of the Household.
17. Lord Chamberlain of the Household.
By statute 31 Hen.
VIII. these six
officers, if Dukes,
rank in this or-
der, after the
Lord Privy Seal;
but if of other
degrees in the
Peerage, their pre-
cedence is only
above all other
personages of the same degree that they shall happen to be of.
In regard to the Great Chamberlain,—by statute 1 Geo. I.
passed previously to the elevation of Robert Marquis of Lindsey
21
to the Dukedom of Ancaster, it was enacted, that the said
Robert Marquis of Lindsey and the heirs male of his body,
and in default of such issue, the heirs male of the body of Robert
late Earl of Lindsey by Elizabeth his wife (daughter of Philip
Lord Wharton), Great Chamberlain of England, notwithstanding
their being Dukes of Great Britain, by virtue of the said intended
creation shall have place and precedency among the Dukes of
Great Britain only, according to the date of the Letters Patent
that should be passed for making such creation, and not as Great
Chamberlain of England, except only when he or they shall be in
the actual execution of the said Office of Great Chamberlain of
England, attending the person of the King or Queen for the time
being, or introducing a Peer or Peers into the House of Lords
at which time only he and the heirs male of his body, and in
default of such issue, the heirs male of the body of the said
Robert late Earl of Lindsey by the said Elizabeth his wife, as
Great Chamberlains of England, shall have such place and pre-
cedency as he and they should and might have had if this act
had not been made; the said statute (31 Hen. VIII.) or any
other law, usage, or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding.
;
The limitations of these Letters Patent of creation failed upon
the death of Brownlow Duke of Ancaster without issue in 1809,
when the precedence of the office of Great Chamberlain fell
again under the operation of the statute of 31 Hen. VIII.
The Lord High Steward is not mentioned in the Act of 31
Hen. VIII., it being intended, as Lord Coke observes, that his
office should only endure (pro hac vice) for the especial service
and occasion for which it was created.
18. Dukes. By statute 31 Hen. VIII., sec. 7, as to Dukes of
England-Act of Union of England and Scotland, 5 Anne, c. 8,
as to Dukes of Scotland, and Act of Union of Great Britain and
Ireland 39 and 40 Geo. III., c. 67, art. 4, for those of Ireland.
By the 23rd of the articles for the Union of England and
Scotland, which were confirmed by stat. 5th Anne, cap. 8, all
Peers of Scotland, and those successors to their honours and
dignities, are declared to be Peers of Great Britain, and to have
rank and precedency next after the Peers of the like orders and
degrees in England existing at the time of the Union, which
commenced the 1st of May 1707, and before all Peers of Great
Britain of the like orders and degrees created after the Union.
By Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland 39 and
23
40 Geo. III. cap. 67, it is enacted, Art. 4, "That the Lords of
Parliament on the part of Ireland in the House of Lords of the
United Kingdom, shall at all times have the same privileges of
Parliament which shall belong to the Lords of Parliament on
the part of Great Britain; and the Lords Spiritual and Tem-
poral respectively on the part of Ireland, shall at all times have
the same rights as the Lords Spiritual and Temporal respectively
on the part of Great Britain and that all Lords Spiritual of
Ireland shall have rank and precedency next and immediately
after the Lords Spiritual of the same rank and degree of Great
Britain, and shall enjoy all privileges as fully as the Lords Spi-
ritual of Great Britain (the right and privilege of sitting in the
House of Lords, and the privileges depending thereon, and par-
ticularly the right of sitting on the Trial of Peers excepted);
and that the persons holding any Temporal Peerages of Ireland
existing at the time of the Union, shall from and after the Union
have rank and precedency next and immediately after all the
persons holding Peerages of the like orders and degrees in Great
Britain subsisting at the time of the Union; and that all Peerages
of Ireland created after the Union shall have rank and precedency
with the Peerages of the United Kingdom so created according
to the dates of their creations; and that all Peerages both of
Great Britain and Ireland then subsisting or thereafter to be
created, shall in all other respects from the date of the Union
be considered as Peerages of the United Kingdom; and that the
Peers of Ireland shall, as Peers of the United Kingdom, be sued
and tried as Peers except as aforesaid, and shall enjoy all privi-
leges of Peers as fully as the Peers of Great Britain; the right
and privilege of sitting in the House of Lords, and the privileges
depending thereon, and the right of sitting on the Trial of Peers
only excepted."
In neither of these Acts is any provision made for the prece-
dence of Great Officers of Scotland or Ireland, or for the prece-
dence of Baronets of Scotland or Ireland. At the Coronation of
King William the Fourth, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland walked
next the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, and above the Lord
President and Lord Privy Seal.
By Act 3 and 4 Will. IV., (The Irish Temporalities Act) the
number of Bishops was diminished and ten Bishopricks in Ire-
land were united to other Archbishopricks and Bishopricks, and
after citing (Sec. 51) the Act of Union of Great Britain and Ire-
land, by force of which the right of sitting in the House of
25
Lords of the United Parliaments, as between the Lords Spiritual
of Ireland, stands regulated according to a certain rotation ap-
pointed to take place from Session to Session, it was enacted—
"That when, and as the then Archiepiscopal Sees of Cashel
and Tuam should severally become void, they and each of them
respectively should thenceforth cease to be included in the Rota-
tion by the said Acts established amongst the Archiepiscopal Sees,
and should be included in the Rotation by the said Acts estab-
lished to be observed amongst the Episcopal Sees, and therein
take place next before the Episcopal See last in the order of
Rotation of the Episcopal Sees, the Bishops whereof may have
sat in Parliament for the Session last previous; and the Rota-
tion by the said Acts appointed to take place amongst the
Archiepiscopal Sees should, in case of each such avoidance as
aforesaid, proceed to the Archbishop whose See is next in
Rotation to the Archiepiscopal See becoming void as aforesaid."
And it was further enacted (Sec. 52), "That in the case of the
Bishoprick of Waterford then void, and in the case of each and
singular of the other Bishopricks named in the Schedule to the
Act annexed, when and as they should become respectively void
or united to any other Bishoprick, the Rotation by the said re-
cited Acts appointed to take place among the Episcopal Sees
should proceed to the Bishop whose See is next in rotation to the
said See of Waterford, or other See being or becoming void or
united to any other Bishoprick as aforesaid; and such See of
Waterford, or other See, being or becoming void or united to any
other Bishoprick as aforesaid, should for ever thereafter be ex-
cluded from and omitted out of such Rotation."
By Sec. 53, it was enacted, "That save as in the said Act
specifically provided, the order of Rotation by the said recited
Acts established shall remain unchanged, but subject always to
the regulation thereby made in case any Spiritual Lord should
be a Temporal Peer of the United Kingdom, or being a Temporal
Peer of that part of the United Kingdom called Ireland should
be chosen by the Lords Temporal to be one of the Representa-
tives of the Lords Temporal."
19. Eldest Sons of Dukes of the Blood Royal.-This prece-
dency was assigned to the eldest sons of Dukes of the Blood
Royal as early as 1399, where they are so placed, in a Table
headed "The Order of all Estates of Nobles and Gentry of Eng-
land, set forth the VIIIth of October, in the year of our Lord
God 1399." MS. in Coll. Arms.
C
27
20. Marquesses.-By statutes cited under 18. This dignity
was first created 10 Ric. II., 1386.
21. Eldest Sons of Dukes.—Their precedency over Earls is by
usage as early as the year 1399, but since the statute of 31 Hen.
VIII. any Earl holding either of the four great offices mentioned
in Sec. 4. of that statute, has precedence of them. Their prece-
dence amongst themselves as Sons of Dukes is according to the
seniority in rank of their fathers.
22. Earls.-By statutes cited under 18.
23. Younger Sons of Dukes of the Blood Royal.-Series ordi-
num omnium Procerum, Magnatum, et Nobilium, et aliorum
quorumcunque, &c., appunctuatione Domini Regis Henrici VII.
-between 1485 and 1495, which Lord Coke (4 Inst. c. 77) calls
a record of great authority. MS. in Coll. Arms.
24. Eldest Sons of Marquesses. Orders according to an-
cient statutes made 6 Ed. IV., 1467, for the placing of all
Estates, &c. MS. in Coll. Arms.
25. Younger Sons of Dukes. This precedency of Dukes'
Younger Sons before Viscounts was settled by a decree of the
Commissioners for executing the office of Earl Marshal, upon a
reference to them from Queen Elizabeth 16th Jan. 1594, on the
claim of Anthony Viscount Montague to precede Lord Thomas
Howard, Second Son of Thomas Duke of Norfolk; previously to
which the Viscounts had, in the "Order of all Estates
forth by Earl Rivers 20 Edw. IV., 1479, and in the Series Ordi-
num, temp. Hen. VII. (cited under 19 and 23), the precedence.
26. Viscounts.-By statutes cited under 18.
was created only in 18 Hen. VI., 1439.
set
The dignity
27. Earls' Eldest Sons.-This precedence over the Younger
Sons of Marquesses is by usage as early as the Order of Estates,
anno 1399, cited under 19; and by decision (Chap. Coll. Arms,
1680), if the eldest son of an Earl died in his father's lifetime,
leaving a son and heir, such son and heir (during the life of the
Earl his grandfather) is entitled to the same place and precedence
as was due to his father; so had the father been summoned to
Parliament as the eldest son of a Peer, the grandson would suc-
ceed in the dignity even during the grandfather's life.
c 2
29
28. Younger Sons of Marquesses.-Order of Estates, anno
1399, cited under 19.
29. Bishops. By statutes 31 Hen. VIII.; 39 and 40 Geo.
III. cap. 67. See note under 7 and 8.
By statute 31 Hen. VIII. Sec. 3, the Bishops are placed on the
right-hand side of the Parliament Chamber, next to the Arch-
bishop of York; and by Sec. 6, if the King's Chief Secretary be
a Bishop not having any of the great offices mentioned in the said
Act, he shall sit and be placed above all Bishops not having any of
the said offices. Their place, after Viscounts and before Barons in
a general order of precedency, is not indicated by this statute.
The precedence of Bishops as Spiritual Lords over Temporal
Lords is of ancient standing. Lord Coke says (Inst. IV. 361)
they have place above all Barons of the realm, because they hold
their Bishopricks of the King "per Baroniam;" but as many
Temporal Barons also held their lands "per Baroniam," this
might not altogether be the reason. They have in all times been
the first of the two great divisions of the people, the Clergy and
the Laity, and in all acts, ordinances, and judgments, &c., of
Parliament, Lord Coke remarks, it is said the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and so continues to the present time.
The Bishops of Ireland by statutes 39 and 40 Geo. III. c. 67,
have rank and precedence next and immediately after those of
the same rank and degree of Great Britain. (See under 18). In
1812 the Bishops of Meath and Kildare, who precede the other
Irish Suffragan Bishops, claimed place and precedence of all the
Suffragan Bishops of the Church of England after the Bishop of
Winchester, which claim was considered in a Committee of Privi-
leges of the House of Lords, who reported that they were not en-
titled to the precedency claimed by their petition, in which report
the House concurred. Lords' Journals, vol. 48, pp. 801, 926, 937.
30. Secretary of State—if a Baron.
By statute 31 Hen.
VIII. Sec. 6. See under note 2.
A Principal Secretary of State, being a Baron, is placed above
all other Peers of his degree, not having any of the great offices
before mentioned; but Lord Coke says if he be a Viscount, an
Earl, or any other higher degree, he shall not take the place of
any Viscount, Earl, or higher degree, as it was resolved in the
case of Robert Cecil Earl of Salisbury. (4 Inst. 362.)
The priority of signing any treaty or public instrument, by
the ministers of the Crown, is always taken by rank of place, and
not by title.
31
31. Barons. By statutes cited under 18.
32. Speaker of the House of Commons. By statute 1 William
and Mary, which enacts, that the Commissioners of the Great Seal
shall have and take place next after the Peers of this realm and
Speaker of the House of Commons, unless any of them shall hap-
pen to be a Peer, and then to take place according to his Peerage.
33. Commissioners of the Great Seal, not Peers.-By statute 1
William and Mary. See under 32.
34. Treasurer
and
of the Household.
35. Comptroller)
Royal Warrant, 31
Hen. VIII., cited
under 38.
36. Master of the Horse.
The Master of the Horse having for many years past been held
by a Peer, the office has, in fact, merged in a higher rank.
37. Vice-Chamberlain of the Household.-Royal Warrant, 31
Hen. VIII., cited under 38.
38. Secretary of State, under the degree of a Baron. - By
Warrant of King Henry VIII., anno 1540 (soon after the passing
of the Act for placing the Lords) appointing Thomas Wriothesley
and Ralph Sadler Principal Secretaries during his Highness's
pleasure, it was declared, that in all Councils, as well in the
King's Household as in the Star-chamber and elsewhere, all
Lords, both of the Temporalitie and Clergy, shall sit above
them; and likewise the Treasurer, Comptroller, Master of the
Horse, and the Vice-Chamberlain of his Highness's Household;
then next after to be placed the said Principal Secretaries; and
so after them all such other Councillors as shall resort and have
place in any of the said Councils.-The original Warrant in
State Paper Office, contains a provision for the attendance of one
of the Secretaries in each House of Parliament.
39. Eldest Sons of Viscounts. Orders, 6 Ed. IV., 1467. Cited
40. Younger Sons of Earls.
41. Eldest Sons of Barons.
under 24. And in regard
to the Younger Sons of
Earls, an order of King
James, after solemn argu-
33
ment before His Majesty, in 1620 (on a difference between the
Younger Sons of Earls and Knights of King James's Privy
Council), that Younger Sons of Earls should have place and pre-
cedency not only before Knights Privy Councillors, but also
Knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter that were not
Barons, or of a higher degree.
On 26th March 1676, notice being taken in the House of
Lords, that in Commissions of the Peace, and other Commissions,
the Eldest Sons of Viscounts, the Younger Sons of Earls and the
Eldest Sons of Barons had been ranked after Privy Councillors,
who are not Lords, and after Judges, it was ordered by the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, "That the Clerk of the Crown in
Chancery and all other Clerks out of whose offices such Commis-
sions do issue, do take care that in the engrossing of all such
Commissions, the said Eldest Sons of Viscounts, the Younger Sons
of Earls, and Eldest Sons of Barons, may have the same Pre-
cedency, as hath been allowed to them upon other occasions."
42. Knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. — By the
statutes of the Order, a Knight of the Garter having a seat in the
House of Commons, is within the House to sit above all other
degrees, next to the Treasurer and Comptroller of the Household.
In the" Series Ordinum" in the reign of King Henry VII., cited
under 23, their precedence was higher, being before the younger
sons of Earls.
Their present precedency is recognized by the decree of King
James, in the tenth year of his reign, whereby Baronets are placed
next after the younger sons of Barons, and before all Knights, as
well of the Bath, &c.; and also except all Knights of the Garter,
&c. See under 55.
It has not frequently happened since the reign of King James
that the Order of the Garter has been conferred upon persons
under the degree of the Peerage. Sir George Villiers was elected
in the month of April, 1616, and created a Peer in August fol-
lowing; Sir George Monk was elected 26th May, 1660, but
created Duke of Albemarle in July following.
The next instance of a Knight-Commoner was Sir Robert Wal-
pole, elected 26th May, 1726, who walked as such at the Corona-
tion of King George the Second in 1727, immediately above
Privy Councillors not Peers, which place was in accordance with
that recognized by the decree of King James, anno reg. 10.
H.R.H. Prince Leopold walked in the habit of a Knight of the
35
Order at the Coronation of King George IV., but in the prece-
dency assigned to him under the Act of Parliament (cited under
3), and Sir Robert Stewart, commonly called Viscount Castle-
reagh, elected in 1814, walked in his place above Privy Coun-
cillors.
In a chapter of the order, 23rd April 1629, it was decreed, that
Sir Francis Crane then Chancellor of the Order, and all others
that should succeed him in that place, should in right of that
place, in all assemblies and upon all occasions be ranked and
placed immediately after Knights Privy Councillors, and before
the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the persons holding both places
being in pari gradu) and, consequently, before all others, whom
the said Chancellor is to precede; but the office having been
annexed to the Bishoprick of Salisbury in the year 1669, and
transferred to the Bishoprick of Oxford in the year 1837, the
precedency of the office has merged in a higher honour, so that
the introduction of that Officer in a table of precedency is useless.
43. Privy Councillors.
44. Chancellor and Under Treasurer of
the Exchequer.
45. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
46. Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's
Bench.
47. Master of the Rolls.
48. Lord Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas.
49. Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer.
By decree of King
Jas. I. a' reg. 10.
cited under 55.
50. Vice-Chancellors.-By Act 53 Geo. III. c. 24, whereby
the Vice-Chancellor of England was first appointed, it is de-
clared by Sec. 4, that such Vice-Chancellor should have rank
and precedence next to the Master of the Rolls.
By Act 5 Victoria c. 5, two additional Judges assistant to the
Lord Chancellor, to be called Vice-Chancellors, were appointed,
but it was declared by the 21st Sec. of the Act that no successor
should be appointed to the Vice-Chancellor secondly appointed
under the said Act. By Sec. 25, it is declared, that the said
37
Vice-Chancellors appointed in pursuance of the said Act, should,
during the continuance in office of the then Vice-Chancellor of
England, respectively have rank and precedence next to the
Lord Chief Baron of Her Majesty's Court of Exchequer at
Westminster, and the Vice-Chancellor to be appointed in pur-
suance of the Act of the 53rd of King Geo. III., and the Vice-
Chancellors to be appointed in pursuance of the said Act, 5 Vict.
should, after the death of the then Vice-Chancellor of England, or
his resignation or removal from his office, respectively have rank
and precedence next to the Lord Chief Baron of the Court of
Exchequer at Westminster; and as between themselves, should
have rank and precedence according to seniority of appointment
to their respective offices.
On the passing of the Act, 5 Vict., Sir Lancelot Shadwell was
Vice-Chancellor of England, and continued so till his death in
August, 1850. By the subsequent resignation of Sir James
Wigram, in the same year (the secondly appointed assistant
Vice-Chancellor), his office ceased, and the present Vice-Chancel-
lors rank, in pursuance of the said Act of 5 Victoria, according
to the seniority of appointment, next to the Lord Chief Baron
of the Court of Exchequer.
Jas. I. a' reg. 10,
51. Judges and Barons of the degree of By decree of King
the Coif of the Courts of Queen's
Bench, Common Pleas, and Court
of Exchequer.
Judges of the Court of Review.
Commissioners of the Court of
Bankruptcy.
cited under 55.
By virtue of Letters
Patent, under the
Great Seal, 5th
Dec. 1831, in pur-
suance of Stat. 1 and 2 William IV. c. 56, whereby a Court of
Bankruptcy was established, consisting of one Chief Judge, three
other Judges, and six Commissioners, and by which Letters Patent
precedence was assigned to them respectively in all the Courts of
Law and Equity. The Chief Judge was to take rank and pre-
cedence next after the Puisne Judges of the Court of King's
Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, for the time being, the
other Judges next after the said Chief Judge, and the Commis-
sioners next after the said other Judges of the said Court, and
the said Judges, except the said Chief Judge, to take rank and
precedence among themselves, and the said Commissioners to
take rank and precedence amongst themselves respectively, ac-
39
cording to the priority or order of their respective appoint-
ments.
By the first section of the said Act of 1 and 2 Wm. IV. it was
declared, that the same Court should be and constitute a Court
of Law and Equity, and should, together with every Judge and
Commissioner thereof, have, use, and exercise all the rights, in-
cidents, and privileges of a Court of Record, or Judge of a Court
of Record, and all other rights, incidents, and privileges, as fully,
to all intents and purposes, as the same are used, exercised, and
enjoyed by any of His Majesty's Courts of Law or Judges at
Westminster.
By section II. of the said Act, the said Judges, or any three
of them, were to form a Court of Review.
By Act 5 and 6 Victoria, Sec. 64 and 65, the Judges of the
Court of Review in Bankruptcy had rank and precedence assigned
them next after the Judges of the Superior Courts of West-
minster Hall. The Court of Review was abolished by Act of 10
and 11 Victoria, c. 102, but by Sec. 2, the precedence to which
the then Judges (the Hon. Thomas Erskine and Sir George Rose)
were entitled, was preserved.
Under the authority of the Act of 1 and 2 Wm. IV. and the
Letters Patent, in pursuance thereof, the Commissioners of Bank-
ruptcy are ranked in this place, though an objection was taken
by the Attorney and Solicitor-General to their precedence over
them as the Law officers of the Crown at the funeral of King
William IV.; when a protest was delivered to the Earl Marshal,
who, after consideration of the Letters Patent, maintained their
precedence upon that occasion, but without prejudice to any future
decision. The Commissioners subsequently petitioned the Crown
for a discussion of the question, but nothing further has been done.
If the objection urged be, that the precedence to the Judges
and Commissioners was confined to the Courts of Law and Equity
(the words in all places and upon all occasions not occurring),
the force of such objection will equally apply to the precedence of
the Attorney and Solicitor-General over the long-established prece-
dence of the King's Ancient Sergeant, which was granted to them
by Royal Warrant in the year 1813, and which was confined to
pre-audience in the Courts of Law, but notwithstanding which
the same relative precedency was assigned to the Attorney and
Solicitor-General at the Coronation of King George IV. in 1821,
see p. 69.
41
52. Knights Bannerets made under the
King's Banner.
Previously to which they had ranked before
By decree of King
Jas. I. aº reg. 10.
cited under 55.
the Younger Sons
of Barons (Order of all Estates, anno 1399, cited under 19).
There have not been any such Knights however for many years;
but as the dignity is recognized by the Crown in all Patents of
Baronets to the present day, the place of Knights Bannerets is
pointed out thus, although they are displaced by the Statutes
of the Order of the Bath of 1847, which ordain that the Grand
Crosses shall take place next and immediately after Baronets.
The honour of Knight Banneret is very ancient, and until the
foundation of the Order of the Garter, there was no rank between
them and Barons, to whom they were next in dignity, as would
appear by the Stat. 5 Ric. II., stat. 2, cap. 4, whereby every one
was ordered to obey his summons to Parliament, and if any per-
son which from thenceforth should have the said summons, be he
Archbishop, Bishop, Abbot, Prior, Duke, Earl, Baron, Banneret,
Knight of the Shire, Citizen of City, Burgess of Borough, or other
singular person or commonalty, do absent himself and come not
at the said summons, except he may reasonably and honestly
excuse him to the King, he shall be amerced, &c. And by Stat.
14 Ric. II. c. 11, whereby eight Justices of the Peace were as-
signed to each county besides the Lords assigned in that Parlia-
ment, and wherein it is ordered, that no Duke, Earl, Baron, or
Banneret, whilst they be assigned Justices of the Peace, and hold
their Sessions with the other eight, shall take any wages for the
said office.
Camden (Annals of Queen Eliz. 3rd edit. fol., p. 461) says,
"Sir Ralph Sadleir, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a man
famous for his many and great employments for the State, and
the last Knight Banneret of England, to which dignity he was
raised at Musselborough field, died 1587."
53. Younger Sons of Viscounts.
54. Younger Sons of Barons.
55. Baronets.
By decree of King
Jas. I. a' reg. 10.
cited under 55.
The precedency of Baronets, their Wives, Sons, and Daughters,
was settled by two decrees in the 10th and 14th of King James
the First. The substance of which respectively have been em-
D
43
bodied in all patents of Baronetcies passed subsequently, and
may be fully collected from the granting clauses as follow, viz.:
"That A. B. and the heirs male of his body shall take place
and precedence, by virtue of the dignity of a Baronet, and by
force of the said patent, in all commissions, writs, letters patent,
writings, appellations, nominations and directions, as in all ses-
sions, meetings, assemblies and places whatsoever, next and imme-
diately after the Younger Sons of Viscounts and Barons of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and before all
Knights, as well of the Bath as Knights Bachelors and Knights
Banneret, now created or hereafter to be created, except-
"Those Knights Banneret then already created, or there-
after created, under the royal banners, displayed in the army
of the King or his successors in open war, and the King
being personally present-and all those created, or thereafter
created, in like manner by the first-born Son of the King
for the time being, being Prince of Wales, there personally
present in open war, and not otherwise, for the term of their
lives only. And also except all Knights of the Garter and
all members of the Privy Council, the Chancellor and Under
Treasurer of the Exchequer, the Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster, the Chief Justice of the King's Bench, the Master
of the Rolls in Chancery, the Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas, the Chief Justice of the Exchequer, the Vice-Chan-
cellors,* and all Judges and Justices of either bench, and
the Barons of the Exchequer of the degree of the coif, for
the time being, who by reason of their honourable order, and
labour sustained in affairs concerning the State and the ad-
ministration of justice, are to have place and precedence in
all places and upon all occasions before all Baronets.
"And that his Wives and those of his heirs male aforesaid, by
virtue of the dignity of their husbands, shall have and take place
and precedence during their natural lives next and immediately
after the Wives of the younger Sons of Viscounts and Barons, and
the Daughters of Viscounts and Barons, and before the Wives of
all persons before whom the husbands of such wives ought to have
place and precedence.
“And that his first-born Son and heir male apparent, and all
the rest of his Sons, and their Wives, and his Daughters and
* The names of the Vice-Chancellors of the Court of Chancery are here
introduced in all patents passed subsequently to the Act of 5 Victoria, 1844,
and since August, 1850, that of the Vice-Chancellor of England (the office having
ceased), who followed the Master of the Rolls, omitted.
D 2
•
45
those of his said heirs male respectively, shall take place and pre-
cedence before the first-born Sons and other Sons, and their Wives,
and the Daughters of all Knights of whatsoever degree or order
respectively; and also before the first-born Sons and other Sons,
and their Wives, and the Daughters of all persons respectively
before whom the Fathers of such first-born Sons and other Sons,
and Daughters, by virtue of their patent ought to have place and
precedence; so that such first-born Sons or heirs male apparent
and their Wives, as well during the lives as after the deaths of
their said husbands, during their natural lives, and such Daugh-
ters (those Daughters following immediately and next after the
Wives of the first-born Sons of such Baronets,) shall take place
and precedence before the first-born Sons and the Wives of the
first-born Sons of Knights of what degree or order soever.
And that his younger Sons, and those of his said heirs male,
and their Wives, successively and respectively, during their natu-
ial lives, shall have place and precedence next and immediately
after the first-born Sons, and the Wives of the first-born Sons,
and before the younger Sons, and the Wives of the younger
Sons whatsoever of Knights aforesaid.
“And that he and his heirs male aforesaid successively shall
have place in the Armies of the King, his heirs and successors, in
the troop nigh to the banner of the King, his heirs and successors,
in defence of the same (which is the middle station between a
Baron and a Knight).
"That if any doubts or questions as to the place, precedence
or privileges of him and his heirs male aforesaid, and their Wives,
the first-born Sons and their Wives, the younger Sons, Daughters
and Wives of the younger Sons, or any of them, shall arise, which
are not determined by his letters patent, or any other letters
patent theretofore made in this behalf; such doubts and questions
are to be adjudged according to such other rules and laws as
other degrees of hereditary dignity are governed and adjudged."
The Acts of Union with Scotland and Ireland are silent in
regard to the rank and precedence of Baronets of Scotland and
Ireland in reference to those of England and Great Britain ;
but looking at the arrangement in regard to the Peerage, the
Baronets of Scotland created before 1707 would follow those of
England created before 1707, and the Baronets of Ireland follow
those of Great Britain created after 1707 and before 1801, and
then the Baronets of the United Kingdoms according to the
dates of their respective creations.
47
56. Knights Bannerets not made by the King in Person.—By
decree of King James I. a" reg. 10, cited under 55.
57.
Knights of the Thistle.
Grand Crosses of the Bath.
of St. Patrick.
}
Statutes of the
Bath, 1847.
Knights of the Thistle are Peers, and having, as such, higher
precedency, the assignment of this rank for them in modern tables
of precedency can only have been to show the Seniority of the
Order of the Thistle over that of the Bath, in the event of its
being conferred upon a Commoner, in which event the place
would be a proper one, looking at the dates of the revival of the
respective Orders of the Thistle, in 1687 and 1704, and of the
Bath in 1725. The Statutes of the Order are silent in respect
to precedency, and until any Knights-Commoners exist, the as-
signment of their place in any table of precedency is useless.
Knights of the Bath (and their wives) by Earl Marshal's Order,
4th of Feb. 1625, in pursuance of the King's command, were
of right, without question, to have precedency before all Knights
Bachelors and their wives. By the Statutes ordained on the re-
vival of the Order in 1725, all the Companions of this Order,
for the time being, who, by reason of their Honours and Offices
then enjoyed by them, were not entitled to a higher degree of
precedency, were to enjoy the precedency, and all other privi-
leges whatever, which had theretofore been allowed any Knight
of the Bath by ancient laws, usages, and customs of the realm
at all times and seasons, and the wives of these Companions,
and their relicts during their widowhoods, with their children,
were to enjoy their ancient pre-eminences, and all other rights,
in as ample manner as they had been enjoyed in former reigns.
On the enlargement of the Order in 1815, the Style of the
Knight Companion was changed to Knight Grand Cross, but
none of the new Articles then promulgated affected their pre-
cedency. In 1847, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal, the
Statutes of 1725, and Articles of 1815, were repealed and an-
nulled, and by new Statutes, bearing date 14th of April, 10
Victoria (1847), it is ordained that
The Knights Grand Crosses of the Bath shall have precedency
next and immediately after Baronets, whereby Knights Bannerets
when created will lose their precedency.
That Knights Commanders shall have precedency next to and
!
49
immediately after the Knights Grand Cross, of the Order of St.
Michael and St. George,
and
Companions place and precedency of the Cavalieri and Com-
panions of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, and before
all Esquires of the Realm.
The precedency of Knights of the Bath amongst themselves,
when classed in a body as Knights of the Order, is according to
the date of their nomination, and not according to the grandeur
of their estate, degree, or office. His Royal Highness Prince
Albert being Great Master, and as such, the First and Principal
Knight Grand Cross of the Order.
Knights of St. Patrick are all likewise Peers, and there-
fore having always a higher precedency, need not occupy a place
in the ordinary tables. If the Order was ever conferred upon a
Commoner, which was within contemplation when the Royal
Warrant for its creation was issued, there would be an incon-
sistency to be reconciled in reference to the precedency granted
to them by the Royal Warrant creating the Order, in 1783, and the
precedency enjoyed by other persons in virtue of previous decla-
rations of the Royal Pleasure. The Statutes, however, are silent
upon the subject of precedency.
By the Warrant for the creation of the Order of St. Patrick,
the Knights being Commoners, are to rank accordingly after
Barons' sons, thus taking precedence of Knights of the Garter,
Thistle and Bath, all Orders of more ancient creation, and at the
same time precedence of Baronets in positive contravention of
the decree of King James, which places them next after the
Younger Sons of Viscounts and Barons, and the Letters Patent
granted to every Baronet since, which continue to give them that
rank.
58. Knights Grand Crosses of St. Michael
and St. George.
Statutes of St.
Michael and St.
George, 1832.
The Grand Crosses of St. Michael and St. George, by the
Statutes ordained in 1832, in all solemn ceremonials, and in all
other places and assemblies whatsoever, are to rank next to and
immediately after Knights Grand Crosses of the Bath, which
would give them precedence of any Commoner a Knight of St.
Patrick, unless the Knights of St. Patrick are to displace Knights
of the Garter and Baronets.
:
51
59. Knights Commanders of the Bath.-By the statutes of the
Order, 1847. See under 57.
60. Knights Commanders of St. Michael and St. George.-
By statutes of the Order, 1832, which give them place and pre-
cedency next to and immediately after the Knights Commanders
of the Bath.
61. Knights Bachelors.-Their precedency was immediately
after the Younger Sons of Barons, in the order of all Estates, 1399,
cited under 19. Their precedency over the Eldest Sons of Baronets
preserved by the decree of King James aº 10 reg., cited under 55.
62. Companions of the Bath.-By statutes of the order of 1847,
which gives them precedency over the Companions of the Order
of St. Michael and St. George, and before all Esquires of the
Realm. See under 57.
63. Companions of the Order of St. Michael and St. George.-
By statutes 1832, the Companions, being natives of Great Britain
or Ireland, are to have place and precedency next to and imme-
diately after the Companions of the Order of the Bath.
64. Eldest Sons of the Younger Sons of Peers.-Placed before
all Sons of Knights, by order of the Earl Marshal, 18th March,
1615, which decreed that the heirs male descended of the Younger
Sons of Peers of the Realm, shall take place of the Eldest Sons of
Knights; and before the Eldest Sons of Baronets, in consequence
as it would appear, of an address of the House of Lords to the
King, touching the subject, 6th April, 1677, whereby the King
was humbly moved to declare and give directions to the Earl
Marshal that it might be settled, that seeing all the Sons of the
Nobility take place of all Baronets, the Eldest Sons of those Sons
may also take place of the Eldest Sons of Baronets during the life
of such Baronets. By the statutes of the Order of the Bath,
which place the Companions before all Esquires of the Realm,
and the statutes of St. Michael and St. George, which give the
Companions of that Order place next the Companions of the
Bath, these persons now yield precedence to the Companions of
those orders.
65. Eldest Sons of Baronets. — Before the Eldest Son of any
•
53
Knight of what degree or order soever, by decree of King James
a" reg. 10. See under 55.
66. Eldest Sons of Knights of the Garter.-Knights of the
Garter having precedence of all other Knights, their Eldest Sons
would, following usage, precede the Eldest Sons of all other
Knights. As, however, the Order of the Garter is seldom con-
ferred upon any person below the rank of Earl, their Eldest
Sons would always have a higher precedency.
67. Eldest Sons of Knights Bannerets.
68. Eldest Sons of Knights Bachelors.
Order of all Estates
a° 1399.
under 19.
Cited
69. Younger Sons of Baronets.-By decree of King James a°
regni 10. See under 55.
70. Younger Sons of Knights Bachelors.-Order of all Estates,
a" 1399, cited under 19, and decree of King James aº regni 10,
under 55.
71. Esquires. It is extremely difficult to define accurately
or satisfactorily the persons included by, or entitled to, this
designation.
Lord Coke, in his exposition of the Statute 1 Hen. V. cap. 5,
of Additions, says " The Sons of all the Peers and Lords of Par-
liament in the life of their Fathers are in law Esquires, and so to
be named." By this Statute the Eldest Son of a Knight is an
Esquire. (2 Inst. 667).
Sir William Blackstone, in his Commentaries on the Laws
of England, vol. I. 406, says, "Esquires and Gentlemen are
confounded together by Sir Edward Coke, who observes that
every Esquire is a Gentleman, and a Gentleman is defined to be
one qui arma gerit, who bears coat armour, the grant of which
adds gentility to a man's family; in like manner as civil nobility
among the Romans was founded on the jus imaginum, or having
the image of one ancestor at least who had borne some curule
office. It is, indeed, a matter somewhat unsettled what constitutes
the distinction, or who is a real Esquire, for it is not an Estate,
however large, that confers this rank upon its owner. Camden,
who was himself a herald, distinguishes them the most accurately,
and he reckons up four sorts of them :-1. The Eldest Sons of
Knights, and their Eldest Sons in perpetual succession. 2. The

:
55
Eldest Sons of Younger Sons of Peers, and their Elder Sons in
like perpetual succession; both which species of Esquires Sir
Henry Spelman entitles armigeri natalitii. 3. Esquires created
by the King's letters patent, or other investiture, and their Eldest
Sons. 4. Esquires by virtue of their offices; as Justices of the
Peace, and others who bear any office of trust under the Crown.
To these may be added the Esquires of Knights of the Bath, each
of whom constitutes three at his installation ;* and all foreign, nay,
Irish Peers; for not only these, but the Eldest Sons of Peers of
Great Britain, though frequently titular Lords, are only Esquires
in the Law, and must be so named in all legal proceedings."
Blackstone does not assign any reason for saying that all Irish
Peers are but Esquires, but probably before the Union, consi-
dering them as foreigners, adopted the opinion of Lord Coke, who
says- "That in 1 Ed. IV., John Lord Audeley, an ancient and a
noble Baron, was named Johannes Audeley, Armiger, for that
all the rest of the Barons that appeared at that Parliament were
Knights; and all Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons
of other nations, or which are not Lords of the Parliament of
England, are named Armigeri, if they be not Knights; and if
Knights, then are they named Milites." (2 Inst. 667).
Camden's classification, when he wrote, was perhaps as accu-
rate as could be, founded upon the usage of the time and the
recognition of such distinctions by the Crown. In the Earl
Marshal's Court in 1615 it was decreed that the younger Sons of
Peers of the Realm, who invest the heirs male descended from
them with that name and title, and the lineal heir male of a
Knight's House were entitled by birth to the denomination of
Esquires, a decree which confirms the view taken by Camden in
defining the first and second classes of Esquires, and under which
very many persons now claim to be ranked. The third class
can hardly be said to exist; their creation by Letters Patent or
Investiture having long since ceased. In this class probably were
comprehended Esquires of the King's Chamber, or Esquires of
the King's body, and King's Esquires by prerogative, to whom
place was assigned in very early Tables of Precedency, and who
may have received their appointments by Patents or Warrants
direct from the Sovereign. The fourth class, that of Esquires,
by office, still exist as Justices of the Peace, and divers persons
holding office under the Crown; but Mr. Christian, in his notes
upon the text of Blackstone, has expressed, and with great pro-
* A privilege annulled in 1847. See p. 57.
57
SO
priety, a doubt whether that learned Judge has not given too
extensive a description of an Esquire, when he extends it to those
who bear any office of trust under the Crown, as it might, with s
extended an interpretation, include persons holding very inferior
offices. Mr. Christian thinks it probably ought to be limited to
those only who bear an office of trust under the Crown, and who
are styled Esquires by the King in their commissions and appoint-
ments; so he conceives all who are once honoured by the King
with the title of Esquire, have a right to that distinction for life;
and he observes also, that it is remarkable the learned Judge
should have omitted another class of Esquires, viz., Barristers,
and refers to the following case or authority-In Rex v. Brough
(Hil. Term, 22 Geo. II.), Mr. Justice Nares said that the Court
of King's Bench (Hil Term, 14 Geo. II.) between Messor and
Molyneux, on a motion for a procedendo, an affidavit was pro-
duced, wherein a person named therein Gentleman, appearing to
be a Barrister, the Court would not permit the affidavit to be
read, because a Barrister is an Esquire by his office or pro-
fession. 1, Wilson, 245. Mr. Bowyer remarks:-"But it is
doubtful whether this gives them rank as Esquires out of Court,
or entitles them to the style of Esquires, otherwise than as a de-
scription in proceedings in Court, because it has never been
conferred upon them by the Crown." But if they are in Court,
and in its proceedings, entitled to be so styled, it seems difficult
to preclude them from its general application.
*
The Esquires to the Knights of the Bath derived their rank
under the Statutes of the Order made upon its revival in 1725,
which gave to them all rights, liberties, privileges, exemptions, and
advantages which the Esquires of the Sovereign's body or Gentlemen
of the Privy Chamber lawfully enjoyed, or were entitled to under
any grant, prescription, or custom whatsoever. Esquires of the
Bath have not been appointed since the last Installation of that
Order in the year 1812. The Statutes of 1725 were repealed and
annulled in 1847, and the Knights have no longer the power
to nominate Esquires, the ceremonies of Installation, at which
their attendance was required, being dispensed with. This class
will, therefore, in a few years cease to exist. By the 17th article
of the Statutes of St. Patrick, ordained 1783, every Knight is
authorized to appoint three Esquires of the body. Gentlemen of
the Privy Chamber are still Officers of the Court, and when ranked
in public proceedings, such as the Coronations of the Sovereign,
* Commentary on the Constitutional Law of England, 8vo. 1841, p. 692.
E
59
precede the Attorney-General, and were formerly placed above the
Esquires of the Body, a class of Esquires which has not appeared
in any State Ceremonial for many years.
Blackstone, vol. I. 404, says, that before Esquires, the Heralds
rank Colonels, Serjeants-at-Law, and Doctors in the three learned
professions, but the authorities he cites in his note do not seem
to support the statement. The several persons forming these
classes are but Esquires, and to them may be added many others,
viz. :-Deputy Lieutenants, Judicial Officers, Mayors of Towns,
Barristers, Officers of the Army and Navy, and Members of
Parliament, who come under the designation of Esquire, but
who, in point of fact, have no peculiar precedency in general
society assigned, either by Statute, fixed rule, or ancient
usage.
Officers in the Army and Navy have amongst themselves a pre-
cedency and defined relative rank, as have also Doctors in Divinity,
Law, Physic, and Music, Deans, Chancellors, and Prebendaries,
and Heads of Colleges in the several Universities.
Blackstone closes his table of Precedency thus:-
Knights' younger Sons, Colonels, Sergeants-at-Law, Doctors,
Esquires, Gentlemen, Yeomen, Tradesmen, Artificers, La-
bourers.
In some tables inserted in different modern publications, vari-
ous classes of persons, and amongst others Doctors of Divinity,
Law, and Physic, Deans, and Chancellors have a particular pre-
cedency assigned to them, but, in the absence of any direct au-
thority, it is of no effect, as rank and place can emanate from
the Crown alone.
There are no doubt certain public Ceremonials of State, such
as Coronations, Royal Public Funerals, and Processions of the
Sovereign to Parliament, &c., wherein various Public Functionaries
walk, and have for the occasion certain places assigned to them, but
which they may not at all times find the same, as it by no means
follows that they are always entitled to the same place for having
been there once; there is to a certain extent a precedent afforded
thereby, and in some cases the uniformity of precedence in regard
to one class over another, has in such cases become established.
This applies, for instance, to the places of Gentlemen of the
Privy Chamber, Law Officers of the Crown, and Masters and Six
Clerks in Chancery, who have no definite or fixed place in the
Tables of Precedency regulating the general orders of society,
though in reference to State Ceremonials, they have certain places
E 2
61
assigned in the order of procession, in right of their offices,
which, however, give them no general rank. Upon such occa-
sions, nevertheless, the legal rank and precedence, which they
hold in the Courts of Law, is observed, and so far establishes
amongst themselves, and in respect to their several classes, their
precedency.
The precedency of the Sergeants-at-Law and Masters in
Chancery, though formerly a matter of controversy, seems to have
been settled by the usage of the last two centuries, when, in
the most solemn public ceremonial, the Coronation of the Sove-
reign, the Sergeants-at-Law have had the precedence.
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it appeared that Lord Elles-
mere placed the names of the Masters in Chancery in commissions
before those of the Sergeants-at-Law, contrary, as said, to "former
precedents;" and the matter becoming one of controversy, the
Masters in the 1st of K. James, applied to the Lords Commissioners
deputed to execute the office of Earl Marshal, to be ranked above
Sergeants-at-Law in the King's proceeding from the Tower on the
14th March, 1604; and it is shown by the original roll in the
College of Arms, under the hands of the Lords Commissioners,
that the Masters were ranked before Sergeants-at-Law. The
order of the legal functionaries then present will be seen by the
following extract from the original roll.
15th March, 1603.
A List or Roll of the King's Majesty's most Royal Proceeding
through London, as it was Marshalled by the Lords deputed for
the Office of Earl Marshal.
Barons' eldest Sons.
Knights of the Garter.
Knights of the Privy Council.
Viscounts' younger Sons.
Barons' younger Sons.
•
The Dean of the King's Chapel.
The Master of the Jewel House and Sir Thomas Chalonor, the
Prince's Governor.
Knights that have been Lords Ambassadors, Lords Presidents,
and Lords Deputies.
Knights of the Bath.
63
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber and Bedchamber.
Lord Chief Baron and Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
Barons of the Exchequer.
The Chamberlains of the Exchequer and Judges of the Law.
Masters of Requests.
Masters of standing Offices, being no Councillors: viz.
The Tents.
Revells.
Armoury.
Wardrobe.
Ordynance.
Esquires for the Body, Sewers, Carvers, and Cup-bearers in
Ordinary.
Secretaries for the French and Latin Tongue and Q. Secretary.
Knights Bachelors.
Masters of the Chancery.
The King's Sergeants.
Sergeants of the Law.
The King's Attorney and Solicitor, with Sir Francis Bacon,
being of the King's learned Counsel.
The King's Advocate and Remembrancer.
The Queen's Counsel-at-Law.
The Prince's Counsel-at-Law.-(Note. The Prince's Sergeant to
sort with Sergeants.)
Aldermen of London.
Chaplains having dignities.
Clerks of the Crown.
Clerks of the Parliament.
Clerks of the Council.
Clerks of the Privy Seal.
Clerks of the Signet.
Gentlemen Ushers in Ordinary.
Quarter Waiters.
Sewers, the King's Servants.
Gentlemen and Esquires, the King's Servants.
Gentlemen and Esquires, the Queen's Servants.
Gentlemen and Esquires, the Prince's Servants.
Gentleman Harbinger, Sergeant Porter.
Messengers of the Chamber.
&c. &c. &c.
65
The question, however, between the Sergeants-at-Law and
Masters in Chancery, seems to have been revived on the occasion
of the Funeral of King James I., in 1625, when the Sergeants
had the precedence of the Masters, but in the margin of the
record the precedence is stated to be in controversy. The fol-
lowing is extracted from the record: viz.
FUNERAL OF KING JAMES I.
Barons of the Exchequer and Judges of both Benches.
Master of the Jewel House.
Treasurer of the Chamber.
Treasurer to King Charles.
Chancellor of the Order of the Garter.
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
Master of the Ceremonies.
Grooms of the Bedchamber.
Masters of Requests of Scotland and England.
Chamberlain of the Exchequer.
Judge of the Admiralty.
Master of the Ordnance.
Master of the Armoury.
Master of the Wardrobe.
Master of the Revels and Master of the Tents.
The King's two Ancient Sergeants.
The King's Attorney and Solicitor General.
The King's Sergeants-at-Law.
Sergeant Davenport.
Masters of the Chancery.
These being in controversy for pre-
cedency, have as yet received no
determination.
King Charles' Counsel for his Revenue when he was Prince.
The Chief Officers and Aldermen of London.
&c. &c. &c.
The Masters in Ordinary in the High Court of Chancery appear
to have been Officers of the Great Seal (before the creation of
Queen's Counsel), as Assistants to the Lord Chancellor, and At-
tendants of the House of Peers. By Statute of 3 and 4 William
IV. c. 94 sec. 16 they are Officers of the Crown, appointed by
Letters Patent, with the exception of the Accountant-General.
The following extracts from the Ceremonials of the several
Coronations since the Restoration, wherein those Officers have
walked, or had places assigned to them, show the established
precedency as amongst themselves.
67
K. CHARLES II., 1661.
(From the Tower to Whitehall).
Barons of the Exchequer and
Judges of both Benches.
Knights of the Bath.
Knight Marshal.
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
Esquires of the Body.
Gentlemen Ushers daily Waiters.
The King's eldest Sergeants.
The King's Attorney and Solicitor.
The King's learned Counsel.
The King's Puisne Sergeants.
Masters of the Chancery.
Six Clerks of the Chancery.
Esquires to Knights of the Bath.
K. JAMES II., 1685.
Barons of the Exchequer and
Justices of both Benches, &c.
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
Esquires of the Body.
King's Ancient Sergeants.
King's Attorney.
King's Solicitor.
King's Sergeants-at-Law.
Masters in Chancery.
Six Clerks in Chancery.
Q. ANNE, 1702.
Barons of the Exchequer, &c.
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
Esquires of the Body.
Queen's Ancient Sergeants.
Queen's Attorney.
Queen's Solicitor.
Queen's younger Sergeants-at-Law.
Masters in Chancery.
Six Clerks in Chancery.
K. CHARLES II.
From Westminster Hall to the
Abbey.
Knights of the Privy Council.
Barons of the Exchequer and
Judges of both Benches.
Knights of the Bath.
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
Esquires of the Body.
The King's two Ancient Sergeants.
The King's Attorney and Solicitor.
The King's younger Sergeants.
Masters of the Chancery.
Six Clerks of the Chancery.
K. WILLIAM AND Q. MARY, 1689.
Barons of the Exchequer and Jus-
tices of both Benches.
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
Esquires of the Body.
King's two Ancient Sergeants.
King's Attorney General.
King's Solicitor General.
King's two younger Sergeants-at-
Law.
Masters in Chancery.
Six Clerks in Chancery.
Judges.
K. GEORGE I., 1714.
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
King's Ancient Sergeants.
King's Attorney General.
King's Solicitor General.
King's younger Sergeants-at-Law.
Masters in Chancery.
Six Clerks in Chancery.
69
K. GEORGE II., 1727.
Barons of the Exchequer, &c.
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
King's Ancient Sergeant-at-Law.
King's Attorney General.
King's Solicitor General.
King's younger Sergeants-at-Law.
Masters in Chancery.
Six Clerks in Chancery.
K. GEORGE III., 1761.
Barons of the Exchequer, &c.
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
King's Ancient Sergeant.
King's Attorney General.
King's Solicitor General.
King's Sergeants-at-Law.
Masters in Chancery.
Six Clerks in Chancery.
K. GEORGE IV., 1821.
Barons of the Exchequer, &c.
Knights Grand Crosses of the Bath.
Knights Commanders of the Bath.
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
King's Attorney General.*
King's Solicitor General.*
King's Ancient Sergeant.*
King's Sergeants-at-Law.
Masters in Chancery.
Aldermen and Recorder of London.
Sheriffs of London.
Six Clerks in Chancery.
At the Coronations of KING WILLIAM IV. and QUEEN VICTORIA,
the usual Procession from Westminster Hall to the Abbey was
dispensed with.
* The two ancient of the King's Sergeants-at-Law had enjoyed precedence
over the Attorney and Solicitor-General from an early period. By a Royal
Letter of King James in October, 1623, he gave the Attorney and Solicitor-
General place and audience next after the two ancientest of the Sergeants-at-
Law for the time being, and the rest of the Sergeants place and audience next
after the Attorney and Solicitor, and such continued the Order of their pre-
cedence until His Majesty King George III., by virtue of a royal warrant
bearing date 14th Dec., 1813, in consideration of the important and weighty
affairs in which his Attorney and Solicitor-General were instantly engaged on
behalf of the Crown, was pleased to declare that thenceforth they should have
pre-audience in all Courts of Law, before the Ancient Sergeant-at-Law, as well as
all other Sergeants-at-Law. At the Coronation of King George IV., 1821, those
officers had precedency over the King's Ancient Sergeant.
71
The following precedency appears to have been ordered in the
Ceremonial issued at the funeral of Viscount Nelson in 1806.
BARONETS.
KNIGHTS OF THE BATH.
Knight Marshal.
Judge of the Admiralty.
Prime Sergeant.
Attorney General and Solicitor General.
Sergeants-at-Law and Masters in Chancery.
KNIGHTS BAchelors.
Divines.
Physicians of the deceased.
ESQUIRES.
GENTLEMEN.
The same precedence was ordered to be observed at the funeral
of the Right Hon. William Pitt in the month of February fol-
lowing, in regard to the Sergeants-at-Law and the Masters in
Chancery, but on reference to the official report of the proceeding
which took place, it does not appear that any of those legal func-
tionaries attended either funeral, with the exception of some of
the Sergeants-at-Law, at that of Viscount Nelson.
By Statute 8 and 9 Vict. cap. c. sec. 2, it is enacted, that
Masters in Lunacy "shall take the same rank and precedence as
the Masters in Ordinary of the High Court of Chancery," appa-
rently assuming the rank of the Masters, without defining it.
The Masters, however, as such, have not a settled place in the
Order of general precedency, emanating from any authority by
Statute or otherwise, although they are Officers who, upon some
State occasions, have places in public Ceremonials.
(6
72. Gentlemen.-There is no defined priority, Littleton says,
every son is as great a gentleman as the eldest." Sec. 210.
73
AUTHORITIES AND REMARKS.
The Numbers refer to the corresponding ones in the Table of
Precedence.
PRECEDENCY OF WOMEN.
Royal Family. In respect to the order of Precedence amongst
the female branches of the Royal Family, it is to be observed that
there does not exist any direct order of the Crown or legislative
enactment upon the subject. Their rank and places have been
indicated from time to time in Tables of Precedency, according to
their relative positions or consanguinity in regard to the Crown,
or as the Sovereign has been pleased to command upon various
occasions of public Ceremonial in which they have taken part.
The Statute of the 31st of King Hen. VIII., under which a prece-
dence has been established for the male branches of the Royal
Family, does not refer to the Precedency of Women, and the ordi-
nary rules do not control the Royal Family. In the accompany-
ing table the order of the Statute of 31 Hen. VIII. is followed in
reference to the relative positions of King's Sons (in which are
included Grandsons), Brothers, Uncles, and Brother's and Sister's
Sons, as preserving the same relative or corresponding rank to
the females, and which is conformable to the precedence observed
in different Ceremonials of State.
73. All Peeresses rank amongst themselves according to the
seniority of their Husbands in their respective degrees of the
Peerage, and the Daughters of Peers rank amongst each other
according to the seniority of their Father's rank.
The Daughters of Dukes, Marquisses, or Earls, intermarrying
with a Knight or Commoner of lower degree, retain their rank
acquired by birth; but if they intermarry with a Peer, they
follow the rank of their Husband, when their courtesy-rank
merges in the dignity of the Peerage.
Peeresses in their own right, although married to persons
F
A
75
below their own dignity, retain their rank and precedence, but
do not communicate either to their Husbands.
By usage, the Wives, Widows, and Daughters of persons of
dignity are allowed and enjoy a precedency according to the rank
which their Husbands and Fathers would respectively have
between themselves. The Daughters in general have the same
rank as the Eldest Son's Wife, following immediately after, but
no office confers rank upon the Wife or Children of the person
holding it, nor does the profession of the Husband or Father con-
fer any.
The Wives and Children of Great Officers of State, as such,
have not any precedence. Neither does the rank of a Bishop,
Privy Councillor, or Judge, confer any precedence upon their
Wives or Children.
The Widows of Peers, Baronets, Knights of the Orders, and
Knights Bachelors, are entitled to enjoy the same style and rank
which they derived from their Husbands so long as they remain
unmarried, but on marrying again they have no other style or
rank than that which the second Husband may confer upon them,
it being the established law, that what a woman gains by mar-
riage she loses by marriage.* Dowager Peeresses and Widows of
Baronets take precedence of the Wives of the existing Peers and
Baronets, as being senior in the dignity.
74.
75.
76.)
Order of all Estates of Nobles and Gentry of England,
anno 1399, cited under 19.
77. According to the place assigned to their Husbands in
the "Series ordinum," cited under 23, framed before the passing
of stat. 31 Hen. VIII.
78. The Order of all Estates, anno 1399, cited under 19.
79. Series ordinum of Hen. VII., cited under 23.
* Some instances, however, occur, where the Crown has permitted the retention
of the title and precedence, notwithstanding a second marriage, as in the case of
Catherine Duchess of Lenox, relict of Esme Duke of Lenox, who died in 1624,
remarried to James Earl of Abercorn, when, as a mark of favour, King Charles I.,
in 1632, granted his royal letter, declaring that, notwithstanding her said second
marriage, she should still retain both the title of Duchess of Lenor and all the
rank and precedence due thereunto.
77
80. According to the place assigned to their Husbands, by
decree 1594, cited under 25.
81.
82. Order of all Estates, anno 1399, cited under 19.
83.
84.
85.
86.
Order of all Estates, anno 1479, cited under 25, and
Series ordinum of Hen. VII., cited under 23.
87.
88.
89. According to the rank of their Husbands under the
degree of the Peerage. See Note 66.
90. Order of all Estates, anno 1399, cited under 19.
91. By decree of King James I., anno reg. 10, cited under 55.
92. Order of all Estates, anno 1399, cited under 19, and
decree of King James I., anno reg. 10, cited under 55.
93. According to their Husbands' rank by decree of King
James I., anno reg. 10, cited under 55. The Wives of Baronets
rank amongst themselves, according to the creations of their
Husbands. See Note 55.
94. According to the rank of their Husbands.
95. According to ordinary usage in virtue of the rank of
their Husbands, who rank immediately after Baronets in their
order. See Note 57, where the Earl Marshal's order of 1625
respecting the precedency of Knights of the Bath is noticed, as
well as the provision in the Statutes of the Order of the Bath in
1725, whereby the Wives, Widows, and Children of the Knights
were to enjoy their ancient pre-eminence and all other rights in
as ample manner as they had enjoyed in former reigns. These
Statutes, were repealed and annulled in 1847, and no provision
in the new Statutes for the precedence of any of their Wives or
Children. The repeal of the Statutes of 1725, however, does not
affect the Earl Marshal's order of 1625.
79
96.
97.
98.
According to ordinary usage, in virtue of the rank of
their Husbands.
99. Order of all Estates, anno 1399, cited under 19, decree
of King James I., cited under 55. See Note 61.
100.
101.
According to ordinary usage, in virtue of their Husbands'
rank, but the Statutes of the Order do not assign any
precedence to them.
102. According to ordinary usage, in virtue of the rank of
their Husbands. See Note 64.
103. According to the precedence assigned in a table by John
Martin-Leake, Esq. Garter, in 1763, by order of the Deputy Earl
Marshal, for the observance of precedence at Court, and continued
to be so placed in a table prepared by Sir Isaac Heard, Garter,
in 1812, by order of H. R. H. the Prince Regent (afterwards King
Geo. IV.), by whom it was approved, and acted upon.
104.
105.)
By decree of King James I., anno reg. 14, cited under 55.
106. According to ordinary usage, in virtue of the rank of
107. their Husbands. See Note 66.
108.1
109. By decree of King James I., anno reg. 14, cited under 55.
110..
111. According to ordinary usage, in virtue of the rank of
their Husbands.
112.
81
EXTRACTS FROM THE STATUTES OF THE SEVERAL
ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD IN RESPECT TO THE
PRECEDENCY OF THE KNIGHTS.
ORDER OF THE GARTER.
The Statutes of the Order as declared and renewed in the reign of
King Henry VIIIth. are those still existing, with such additions and
alterations as have been declared and ordained by successive Sove-
reigns in subsequent statutes.
The only notice which occurs therein respecting the Precedency of
the Knights out of the Order or processions and ceremonies connected
therewith, is the following in the 13th of Elizabeth, aº 1571.
"At a Chapter in the thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth, on the
day after St. George, it was concluded and agreed, that the Knights
of the same most noble Order shall go above all other Knights, and
in the low Parliament House, shall sit above all other degrees, within
the said House, next unto the Treasurer and Comptroller of Her
Majesty's Household, bearing white staves.'
""
ORDER OF THE THISTLE.
The Statutes are silent upon the subject of Precedency.
ORDER OF THE BATH.
By the Statutes ordained and established 23rd May 1725, at the
revival of the Order, in pursuance of Letters Patent under the Great
Seal dated 18th of the same month, it was declared by the Eleventh
Article,
"That at all future Coronations and other solemnities, wherein
Knights of the Bath have been heretofore usually created, all the
Companions of this most honourable Order, for the time being,
who, by reason of the honours and offices then enjoyed by them,
may not be entitled to an higher degree of Precedency, shall enjoy
the precedencies, and all other privileges whatever, within and
without the Sovereign's Household, which have been heretofore
allowed to any Knight of the Bath by ancient laws, usages, and
customs of this realm, not only during the preparations for such
solemnities, but while they are in performance, and likewise at all
other times and seasons; and that the Wives of these Companions,
and their Relicts during their widowhoods, with their Children,
shall enjoy their ancient pre-eminences and all other rights in as
ample manner as they were enjoyed under the reigns of any of our
predecessors."
And by the first Article of certain Additions and Explanations
declared to be part and parcel of the Statutes, under the Royal Sign
Manual, bearing date 14th January following, it was decreed:
That upon all Collar days the Knights Companions for the time
being shall have and enjoy the privilege of waiting upon the Royal
person of the King, his heirs and successors, in all processions to and
returns from the Royal Chapel, in a separate class by themselves,
going two in breast when the Companions are fellows, otherwise
single, according to the situation of their respective stalls; "and
shall thus range and place themselves next to and immediately
below Privy Councillors; with permission however to such Com-
panions who are or shall hereafter be entitled to an higher Prece-
dency, by their Peerages, offices, or the eminencies of their births, to
G
82
•
place and range themselves, in such processions, according to the
respective state or degree due to them by virtue thereof.
ESQUIRES OF the Bath.-By the 15th Article of the Statutes,
it is declared:
That the Esquires Governors and young Esquires shall "during
the terms of their several lives enjoy all rights, liberties, privileges,
exemptions, and advantages, which the Esquires of the Sovereign's
body or the Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber do lawfully enjoy,
or are entitled unto by virtue of any grant, prescription, or custom
whatsoever: And the eldest Son of every of these Esquires shall
have and use the addition and title of Esquire, in all acts, proceed-
ings, and pleadings: Provided that all these Esquires, to be en-
titled to these privileges, shall have certificates of their qualifica-
tions before their respective admissions, and likewise an exemplifi-
cation of their actual performing their duties upon the creation of
any Knight or Knights of the Bath, attested by the Great Master,
under the Seal of the Order.”
EXTENSION AND ALTERATION OF THE ORDER, 1815.
In 1815 the Order was enlarged, and thenceforth declared to con-
sist of three Classes. In the Gazette of 4th January 1815, certain
Articles were promulgated respecting its new constitution, whereof
the following refer to the subject of Precedency.
Art. 4. GRAND CROSSES.-The said Knights Grand Crosses shall
be subject to the same rules and ordinances, and have hold and
enjoy all and singular the rights, privileges, immunities and advan-
tages which the Knights Companions of the said Order have hitherto
held and enjoyed by virtue of the Statutes, excepting as far as may
be altered or affected by the present decree.
Art. 11. KNIGHTS COMMANDERS-The second Class of the Most
Honourable Military Order of the Bath shall be composed of Knights
Commanders, who shall have and enjoy, in all future solemnities and
proceedings, place and precedence before all Knights Bachelors of
the United Kingdom, and shall enjoy all and singular the rights,
privileges and immunities, enjoyed by the said Knights Bachelors.
Art. 16. COMPANIONS.-The third Class of the Most Honourable
Military Order of the Bath shall be composed of Officers holding
Commissions in His Majesty's service by sea or land, who shall be
styled Companions of the said Order. They shall not be entitled to
the appellation, style, precedence, or privileges of Knights Bachelors,
but they shall take place and precedence of all Esquires of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
THE RE-CONSTITUTION OF THE ORDER IN 1847.
THE STATUTES of the Order of 1725 were by Letters Patent
under the Great Seal, bearing date the 14th April, 10 Victoria (1847),
revoked and abrogated, so far as they limited the number of Knights
Companions, and declared the same to be exclusively a Military Order,
and Her Majesty thereby reconstituted the Order under the Title of
THE MOST HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE BATH.
By the Statutes made for the regulation of the Order as newly
constituted, the Statutes and Ordinances of the 23rd May 1725, to-
gether with all subsequent Statutes and Ordinances theretofore made
(with certain exceptions) were annulled, abrogated, and repealed, for
the purpose of establishing new Statutes and Ordinances. By the
nineteenth Section whereof-
1
83
"It is ordained that in all solemn Ceremonials and in all other
places and assemblies whatsoever, the Knights Grand Cross of this
most Honourable Order shall have place and precedency next to
and immediately after Baronets, and that the Knights Commanders
of this Order shall have place and precedency of the Cavalieri
and Companions of our most distinguished Order of St. Michael
and St. George and before all Esquires of these our Realms; never-
theless we are pleased to declare that nothing contained in this
Statute shall be taken or construed to diminish the privileges or
precedency reserved in the seventeenth Statute* to the members
of this most Honourable Order nominated or appointed previously
to the date of these presents."
ORDER OF ST. PATRICK.
By the Royal Warrant creating the Society or Brotherhood to
be called the Knights of the most illustrious Order of St. Patrick,
bearing date 5th February, 1783, it is declared that,
"The said Knights being Commoners shall have rank and pre-
cedency in all places immediately after Barons' Eldest Sons, and
that the Wives of the said Knights Companions shall in like
manner, have rank and precedency immediately after the Wives of
Barons' Eldest Sons, and before all other inferior ranks."
By the same Warrant, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was author-
ized and required to cause Letters Patent to pass the Great Seal of
Ireland for creating the said Society; and upon the death or resigna-
tion of any of the Knights, a Successor was to be elected in manner
as directed by the Constitutions and Ordinances to be established
under the Royal Sign Manuał.
Certain Statutes and Ordinances for the government of the Order
were subsequently declared under the Sign Manual of the Sovereign;
but nothing occurs therein respecting the Precedency of the Knights.
The printed Statutes have prefixed to them a copy of the Royal
Warrant, but not the Letters Patent. Upon a search in Ireland the
Patent does not appear to be enrolled, although there can be little
doubt of its having passed the Great Seal, as the Lord Lieutenant's
fiat for its preparation exists. It is singular that a copy of the Letters
Patent was not prefixed to the Statutes instead of the Royal War-
rant.
ORDER OF ST. MICHAEL AND ST. GEORGE.
The Statutes of this Order, made in 1832 in pursuance of Letters
Patent under the Great Seal dated 27th April 1818, contain the
following clauses.
"We are pleased to declare and command, that in all solemn cere-
monials and in all other places and assemblies whatsoever, the Knights
Grand Cross of this Order, shall have place and precedency next to
and immediately after the Knights Grand Cross of Our Most Honour-
able Order of the Bath, and that the Knights Commanders of this
Order shall have place and precedency next to and immediately after
the Knights Commanders of the said Most Honourable Order of the
Bath; and with respect to such persons as have been honoured with
the Insignia of the Third Class of this Most Distinguished Order
* On reference to the 17th Statute, there does not appear to be
any privilege or precedency reserved to the members nominated pre-
viously to the date of the Statute in question.
84
..
previously to the date of these Statutes, we are pleased to declare
and command that they shall continue to possess and enjoy the style,
title, place, and precedency, and all other privileges and preeminences
whatsoever which they at this present time possess by virtue of the
before mentioned Statutes and Ordinances of our late Royal Father,
bearing date the twelfth day of August one thousand eight hundred
and eighteen, or by virtue of the Statutes and Ordinances of our late
Royal Brother, bearing date the fifth day of April one thousand eight
hundred and twenty six.* And it is our will and pleasure that such
Natives of our Island of Malta and its Dependencies, or of the
United States of the Ionian Islands, as We Our Heirs and Successors
may hereafter deign to nominate to the Third Class of this Most
Distinguished Order shall be styled Cavalieri;' but that in the
event of the Third Class of this Order ever being conferred upon
any Native of Great Britain or Ireland, such person shall be styled
Companion' of the said Order. The 'Cavalieri' who may be here-
after nominated, and the Companions of this Most Distinguished
Order, shall have place and precedency next to and immediately after
the Companions of Our Most Honourable Order of the Bath."
* By those Statutes all Cavalieri were entitled to the appellation
"Sir;" and such as were appointed before August 1832, if there is
any one now living, are entitled to that appellation and to precedency
before all Knights Bachelors within the United States of the Ionian
Islands and the Island of Malta.
JAN 5
1917
LONDON:
Printed by SAMUEL BENTLEY & Co.,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane,
ARTES
1837
SCIENTIA
LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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