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A HISTORY OF 
 
 THE BARONETAGE 
 
 BY FRANCIS W. PIXLEY 
 
 LONDON 
 
 T)UCKlVO'I{TH ^ND COMTA^NJ 
 
 1900 
 
r^ c A 
 
 eAll Rights Reser-ved 
 
 Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty 
 
TO 
 
 SIR CHARLES H. STUART RICH 
 
 FOURTH BARONET OF SHIRLEY, F.S.A. 
 
 FOUNDER OF THE 
 
 HONOURABLE SOCIETY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 THIS WORK, AS A TOKEN OF OUR 
 
 CLOSE FRIENDSHIP OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY 
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 260811 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Although close upon three centuries have elapsed since 
 the erection of the degree of Baronet by King James i. of 
 England and vi. of Scotland, yet, so far as I have been able 
 to ascertain, no history of this hereditary dignity has ever 
 been attempted. To endeavour to supply this deficiency 
 in literature is consequently a task of considerable difficulty, 
 accompanied by many misgivings. 
 
 A writer undertaking a history of the Peerage could begin 
 by surrounding himself with works innumerable, from each 
 of which he could cull something wherewith to enrich his 
 own, but to break fresh ground requires more research ; 
 and when his work is completed, the author has the uneasy 
 feeling that there is concealed in many unknown localities 
 much information which he would like to have included in 
 his history, as being essential to its completeness, had he 
 only been aware of its existence. 
 
 I have, however, done my best to gather together from 
 various sources the hitherto disconnected documents which 
 form the history of the sixth hereditary degree of the 
 higher nobility of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
 and Ireland ; and I can only claim that however incomplete 
 
viii A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 my work may be, it will be the means of presenting many 
 documents printed for the first time. I also hope that it 
 will cause many erroneous ideas in connection with the 
 Baronetage to disappear for ever. 
 
 Amongst these may be mentioned the idea that the 
 Baronetcies first created by King James i. were sold to 
 persons of no social standing for the purpose of providing 
 funds for the King's private expenditure ; the extraordinary 
 error, which has been perpetrated even by Kings of Arms 
 and Heralds, that the Baronetage is an ' Order,' whereas it 
 is a Degree of Dignity Hereditary ; also, that ' Bart.,' the 
 popular nickname for a member of the Football Club of 
 a well-known Metropolitan medical hospital, is a proper 
 abbreviation of the word Baronet. 
 
 I must express my deep thanks to many Baronets who 
 have given me assistance in my work ; also to Sir Arthur 
 Vicars, C.V.O., F.S.A., Ulster King of Arms, and Sir John 
 Balfour Paul, F.S.A. (Scot.), Lyon King of Arms, for 
 their courteous replies to many inquiries ; to Captain 
 Francis Fletcher- Vane for the copy of the grant to Sir 
 Ralph Fane (or Vane), together with its translation ; to the 
 Rev. R. E. Cole of Doddington Rectory, Lincoln, for the 
 document which enabled me to give an example of the fees 
 paid on the creation of a Baronet ; to Mr. Frederick P. 
 Pelham for the loan of many interesting documents in 
 connection with the ' Committee of the Baronetage for 
 
PREFACE 
 
 IX 
 
 Privileges,' originated by his relative, the late Richard Broun; 
 to many courteous officials of the Reading Room of the 
 British Museum, of the Public Record Office, and of the 
 Guildhall Library ; and, above all, to Lady Shuckburgh for 
 her great kindness in allowing me to examine the documents 
 at Shuckburgh Hall handed to the late Sir Francis Shuck- 
 burgh, Baronet, who was the Treasurer of the ' Committee 
 of the Baronetage for Privileges.' 
 
 It was, however, with great regret that I discovered that 
 the minute-book of the Committee was not amongst these 
 papers, and all efforts to trace its whereabouts have been 
 in vain. By means, however, of reports, circulars, etc., 
 issued by this Committee, I have been enabled to give an 
 account of its proceedings, and can only regret that, owing 
 to the absence of the minute-book, I have been unable to 
 make it more complete. 
 
 FRANCIS W. PIXLEY. 
 
 London, 1st May 1900. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Baronetcies in the reigns of Edward ii. and Edward in, — Ex- 
 tinction of the same — Revival of the Degree in i6i i — 
 Distinction between Baronet and Banneret — Creation of 
 a Knight Banneret — Grant to Sir Ralph Fane — Difference 
 between Nobiles Majores and Nobiles Minores — Reason 
 for the erection of the Degree — Disaffection in the pro- 
 vince of Ulster — High social position of the early 
 Baronets, ..,..., 1-23 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE CREATION OF A BARONET 
 
 Five classes or creations — Number of Baronets at first limited 
 to two hundred — Memorandum and warrant issued prior 
 to Letters Patent — Form of Patent of Baronets of England 
 in Latin — Later Patent in English — Form of present 
 Patent — Early form of Patent of Baronets of Ireland in 
 Latin — Later form of Patent of Baronets of Ireland in 
 English — Form of Patent of Baronets of Scotland and 
 Nova Scotia — Examples of Baronetcies with special re- 
 mainders — Ladies created Baronetesses — Commission of 
 James i. touching the creation of Baronets — Instructions 
 affixed thereto — Commission to the Privy Council for 
 taking the oath of Baronets — Form of the Bond — Fees 
 payable by the early Baronets — Warrant appointing officer 
 to receive Baronets' fees, . . . . .24-107 
 
xii A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 EARLY HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGES OF ENGLAND 
 AND OF IRELAND 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Memorandum in British Museum relating to revocation of the 
 Degree of Baronet — Dispute between Baronets and the 
 younger sons of Viscounts and Barons — Royal Decree, 
 28th May 161 2, settling this dispute — Commission to 
 the Lord Chancellor to treat with Baronets — Final Decree 
 of James i. relating to the Baronetage — The case of Sir 
 Thomas Harris, Baronet, ..... 108-140 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 EARLY HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE OF SCOTLAND 
 AND NOVA SCOTIA 
 
 Colonisation of Newfoundland — Charter to Sir William Alex- 
 ander and Sir Robert Gordon — Creation of Baronets of 
 Nova Scotia for purposes of colonisation — Letters from 
 James i. to the Privy Council of Scotland — Proclamation 
 at Edinburgh — Death of James the First — Adoption of the 
 Scheme by Charles i. — Creation of Sir Robert Gordon 
 first Baronet of Scotland — Abstract of Royal Charter 
 granting the territory in Nova Scotia to the Baronets — 
 Letters of Charles i. to the Privy Council in Scotland — 
 Royal Proclamations — Confirmation of Charters of James i. 
 and Charles i. by Parliament of Scotland — Confirmation of 
 Charter by William III., ..... 141-187 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 
 
 List of the twenty-one covenanted Privileges conferred on the 
 Baronetage — Consideration in detail of these Privileges — 
 Reports of the College of Arms, .... 188-246 
 
CONTENTS xiii 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 LATER HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Royal Warrant of 6th December 1783 — General Meeting of 
 Baronets to consider same — Their protest against the 
 Warrant — Suspension of part of the Warrant — Notes of the 
 Badge suggested for the Ulster Baronets — Letter of Henry 
 Rich, Earl of Holland, to the Officers of Arms — Reply of 
 the Officers — General Meeting of the Baronetage — Peti- 
 tions to William iv. — Report of the College of Arms — 
 Petition to Queen Victoria — Formation of the Committee 
 of the Baronetage for Privileges — Short account of its 
 history — Later history of the Baronetage of Scotland — 
 Royal Warrant relating to precedence of Children of Life 
 Peers, ....... 247-318 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Correspondence in newspapers referring to the Royal 
 
 Warrant, etc., ...... 319-328 
 
A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 
 
 The Baronetage as now existing dates from the 22nd May 
 161 1, when the first Patents were granted by King 
 James i. on the erection of this degree. The dignity is 
 evidently of older date, as Sir Thomas de la More, who 
 belonged to the Court of Edward 11., when describing the 
 battle of Barrenberg, fought in 1321, wrote, ' Capitur in 
 campo comes Lancastrias, Barones et Baronetti commilitones 
 ejus et milites circa 95, reliquis fuga servatis ' ; and in the 
 thirteenth year of the reign of Edward in. that monarch 
 by Letters Patent conferred the dignity of a Baronet on 
 William de la Pole and his heirs in return for a sum of 
 money, of which the King was greatly in need for military 
 purposes. Other Baronetcies were similarly created, and 
 they were for some time numerous, particularly in Ireland ; 
 but with the exception of a few cases in Ireland, the dignity 
 had not been regularly hereditary, and long before the reign 
 of James i. it had become practically unknown. It is 
 believed that the discovery of William de la Pole's patent 
 by Sir Robert Cotton was the cause of the revival of the 
 title of Baronet in 16 11. Others give the credit to Sir 
 
2 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Thomas Shirley of Wiston, as in 1615 his son made a 
 claim on account of his father's services in connection with 
 the erection of the dignity. 
 
 The word Baronettus, Anglice Baronet, at the time of 
 the institution of the dignity by James i., was consequently 
 not a new word, but had been used in France as well as 
 in England. It frequently occurs in our old writers and 
 records, and as a word implying a name of dignity, as 
 Selden, Spelman, and others have observed. In England 
 it had been used in two senses for a knight banneret, and 
 for baronet when that has expressed (as it often did in 
 the olden times) a parliamentary baron. 
 
 As an example of the former meaning, Thomas Walsing- 
 ham, who lived and wrote under Henry vi., when describing 
 the battle of Strivelin, which took place in 1313, between 
 Edward 11., King of England, and Robert i,. King of 
 Scotland, says of the English : ' Capti sunt autem et in 
 custodia detenti barones et baronetti viginti duo, milites 
 sexaginta octo, etc. Summa vero totalis quam comitum 
 baronum et baronettorum quam militum inter fectorum et 
 captorum ibidem centum quinquaginta quatuor,' etc. 
 
 As an example of the word Baronet being used for 
 banneret, as expressing a Baron or Lord of Parliament, 
 the fourth clause of the second statute of the fifth year of 
 the reign of Richard 11. commands every archbishop, duke, 
 earl, baronet, etc., on summons to appear in Parliament 
 according to ancient use on pain of amercement. 
 
 Owing either to a similarity of sound, or for some other 
 reason, many have supposed the word Baronet is a modern 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 3 
 
 pronunciation of Banneret ; but this is entirely wrong, and 
 may be at once disposed of. Previously, however, to 
 describing the method of creation of a Knight Banneret, the 
 following Memorandum contained in State Papers, Domestic 
 Series, James /., vol. Ixvii. No. 1 19, shows that the same con- 
 fusion existed at the time of the erection of the Baronetage : — 
 
 ' Reasons. 
 
 ' fFrom the worde of the Patent. 
 
 * Dignitatem statum et Gradum Baronetti Where we may 
 reasonably fixe & settle our degree, there wee must have our 
 dignitye & state. 
 
 ' The Degree is proved by the name Baronett. for Baronet is not 
 a name introduced by the slipp of a Penn : but commonly used & 
 knowne for the name of the degree, w* was also knowne by the 
 name Bannerett. 
 
 ' Anncient originall Manuscriptes of the times of Ed. i. 2. 3. & 
 R. 2. 
 
 ' The booke of the Abbies of Tewxburye : Lecester : E — login & 
 Adam Merimouth. 
 
 ' Manuscriptes in the Heraldes office. 
 
 ' Liber illust. ordinis diui Georgii : the booke where in is entred 
 the names & armes of those w*^^ were at the siege of Berwicke by 
 Ed. 3 We have also a rowle of the armie w^'^ went w*^ him into 
 France. 
 
 ' Law 
 
 ' Statutes written french 2 printed in french & Inglishe 5° & 14% 
 R. 2. 
 
 ' Common Law 
 
 ' Pleadinges in 35 H. 6. pb. 8. 
 
 ' Storie 
 'Camden. Hollinshead 
 so as from time to time successively all writters have used the name 
 as a knowne name for a Degree. 
 
4 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 ' What Degree 
 
 *We prove what degree by Comparinge them one w*** an other, 
 for we finde one booke of the order of St. Geo. hath Baronett, an 
 other in the same artickle hath Banerett. 
 
 ' One Rowle of K. Ed. 3 journey into France hath Baronett, an 
 other of the same Bannerett. 
 
 ' Sir John Shandos who is famousely knowne to be a Banerett is 
 in the rowle called Baronett. 
 
 *■ The same statuts of R. 2. one booke hath Baronett another booke 
 & the recorde hath Bannerett. 
 
 'and therefore Mr. Camden in his Book might well say as he 
 dothe Baneretti qui aliis Baronetti. 
 
 ' This is the first proofe of our degree & Consequently of our 
 dignity & state. 
 
 ' The next is place : for place is properly to a degree : place is 
 twofowle place amongst men : & place amongst degrees. 
 
 ' our place is amongst Bannerettes & therefore wee are to have our 
 dignity & state amongst them. 
 
 ' The rather because this is given as an honour to incite us to be 
 forward in his Ma*'^^ service in peace & warr, w* will not take 
 that operacion yf wee bee not in dignityes & state equall to those 
 amongst whome wee goe. 
 
 ' Agayne if wee have not dignity & state equall to our place then 
 is not his Ma*'®® grace of equall vallue to all w^^ have received it : for 
 those gentl. w*^'^ were no K*®® & our posteritie in like case know not 
 what they may Challendge whether so much as an ordinarie K*. 
 
 'This is the reason from the place in the first kinde. the second 
 is from the Covenante. 
 
 'The K. Covenanteth he will not ordayne &c. any degree 
 betweene us & Baron superior or equall to Baronett, 
 
 ' In the plaine wordes wee conceave that wee now are Covenanted 
 to bee the next degree to Baron, & so we Come into the anntient 
 place of Bannerett. 
 
 ' It will be said this Covenante is intended of a new Created 
 degree : but not ment of Bannerett the Ancient Degree. 
 
 ' I answere : then the wordes are not Cleere but ambiguous for yf 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 5 
 
 the meaninge were that Baneret as an anntient Degree showlde 
 interceade betweene Baron & Baronet then should it have beene 
 said he would not ordayne any degree betweene Bannerett & 
 Baronett, for to name Baron Sc Baronet as the duo stermini Sc 
 meane Bannerett & Baronet : we thinke is not proper but an obscure 
 speeche & wee must presume of the playne & Cleere speeche. 
 
 * This for the place, other reasons are drawne from Consideracion 
 of the degree of Bannerett & from inconveniences. 
 
 ' The degree of Bannerett was not meerely a Millitary Dignity, 
 nor men Capable of that for deserte in warrs only but w*^ all for 
 there estate in lande & revenues able to maintayne the state of a 
 Bannerett & therefore wee shall finde many guyftes geven heere- 
 tofore by the K*® to mayntayne the state of a Bannerett & wee 
 reade of Sir John Shandos that he said he had landes & revenues 
 suffitient to mayntayne the state of a Bannerett as an argument 
 why he desired that degree. 
 
 '& that argument wee may urge the K. hath directed to Chuse 
 men of bloade & estate, and I thinke our number 200 our bloode & 
 state may be thoughte fitt, nay, may require that degree & all 
 thinges w'^^ doe belonge to the dignitie & state thereof. 
 
 ' If wee bee not that degree : then must followe the Inconvenience 
 of Novelty w'^'^ in no state is easey to be admitted & some have made 
 a doubt whither a writt or pleadinge shall be defective for want of 
 the title of Baronet before the law taketh knowledge of such a degree. 
 
 ' besides as in all things Novelty disturbeth the former setled 
 Course so in honour a new Degree interposed breedeth much envie 
 & geveth Collour of greevance to all inferiour degrees when they 
 thereby are thrust lower for these reasons as wee are perswaded that 
 degree is Conveyed unto us so wee are induced to desire the same 
 w*^^ all rites & priviledges belonging there unto. 
 
 (Endorsed z« /)^«a7) '1611. Heraldic Baronets. Jas. i. Notes of 
 the conditions under which Baronets were created.' 
 
 A Banneret or Knight Banneret is a very ancient title 
 of honour, said to have been instituted towards the end 
 of the reign of the Roman Emperor Gratian and was 
 
6 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 subsequently adopted by different European nations. By 
 Matthew of Paris, Knights Banneret were called Milites 
 vexilliferi^ and by the author of the Dictionnaire de 'Trevoux, 
 Milites vexillati ; later on they have been styled Chevaliers 
 a Banier. 
 
 The first Knight Banneret was made in England, accord- 
 ing to Guillim, in the reign of King Edward i. In France 
 the Order appears to have been hereditary, but in England 
 was confined to the life of him on whom the honour was 
 conferred. 
 
 The Order was a purely military one, and was only 
 bestowed for some heroic action performed on the field of 
 battle. The ceremony of creation was very impressive, 
 and was usually as follows : — 
 
 The King, or very rarely the General, after a victory, 
 received the Knight, having his pennon or guydon of 
 arms in his hand, and led between two renowned Knights, 
 or valiant men-at-arms, at the head of the army under the 
 royal standard displayed, attended with all the field officers 
 and nobles of the Court. In front of the Knight and his 
 two supporters walked the heralds, who proclaimed his 
 valiant achievements, for which he deserved to be made 
 a Knight Banneret. 
 
 The King (or General) then called ' Advances toy 
 Banneret,' and the point of the pennon was rent or cut 
 ofi^ so as to make it a square, or into the shape of a banner. 
 The new Knight then returned to his tent, the nobles and 
 officers accompanying him, and trumpets sounding before 
 him, where an entertainment took place. 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 7 
 
 In vol. 89 of the State Papers^ Domestic Series^ of the 
 reign of James i., preserved in the Record Office, there is 
 contained the following account of the making of a Knight 
 Banneret : — 
 
 'banneret baner 
 
 'A Kn* that is to receive this honor shal be lead between 2 
 other Kn*^® before the K. or Generall bearing his Penon of Armes 
 in his owne hand : and in prescence of all the Nobility & other 
 Captains the Heralds shall say unto the K. or his Generall these 
 words following : — 
 
 ' May it please your Grace to understand that this Gentleman 
 hath shewed himself valiant in the field and for so doing deserveth 
 to be advanced to the degree of a Kn* bannerett as worthy from 
 henceforth to beare a baner in the warre. 
 
 ' Then the K. or Generall shall cause the Points of his Penon 
 or Guydon to be rent of, And the new Kn* shall goe into his Tent 
 conducted between 2 other Kn*®^ the trumpets sounding all the 
 way before him, there to pay fees, viz., to the Heralds 3** 6s. 8d. 
 And if he were before a Kn* bacheler then he is to pay also to 
 the Trumpetors i*> I suppose the Scots do call a Kn* of this Creation 
 a Banerent for having his banner rent. 
 
 ' Here is to be noted that no Kn* banneret can be made but 
 in the warr & the K. present or when the Standard royall is 
 displayed in the field. 
 
 'A Baneret thus made and every Estate above him may beare 
 his banner displayed if he be a Captayne : and set his Armes 
 therein as Barons doe. 
 
 ' A Banerets banner ought to be 3 foote square. 
 
 *The ould forme of the banner of a baneret was but 2 foot 
 square, but now their worship & power is increased and therefore 
 they have 3 foote as a Baron : which feet are to be understood 
 to be in measure according to the Standard, as the measure of a 
 weapon of duell ought to be. 
 
 ' It is used to make the breadth of a banner less than the length, 
 but that is without rule. 
 
8 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 ' Every Baneret and every Estate above him may have his baner 
 displayed in the field if he be a chief Captaine. 
 
 * His Standard to be borne in battaill shal be 4 yards & half 
 long & slit at one end.' 
 
 As a consequence of the cutting of the pennon so as to 
 make it into a square or of the shape of a banner, it became 
 the custom for Knights Banneret to bear their arms in a 
 square shield instead of in one of the ordinary shape. They 
 had no particular badge or embroidery worn on their 
 garments to show their Order ; but in England and most 
 other countries they usually painted their arms on a banner 
 placed in the paws of the supporters to their arms. In 
 France they usually bore two banners with their arms In 
 saltier behind the shield. 
 
 Even in times when it would be expected the difference 
 between Baronets and Bannerets would be well known, many 
 writers have stated that the word Baronettus was in earlier 
 days always used in error for Bannerettus, and one of the 
 examples quoted has been the Patent, so called, passed to Sir 
 Ralph Fane, a Knight Banneret under Edward the Sixth. 
 
 Now this document commences with a recital to the effect 
 that, for certain services rendered by him. Sir Ralph Fane, 
 Knight, had stood erected, raised, and created by the King 
 to the order, state, rank, honour, and dignity of a Baronet. 
 
 In the absence of proof such as could be afforded by a 
 Patent of Baronetcy, we have to consider, In forming a 
 judgment based on this recital, whether Its wording applies 
 to a ceremony performed on the field of battle, or to a 
 hereditary dignity conferred by Letters Patent. The docu- 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 9 
 
 ment then goes on to fulfil its avowed purpose of making 
 ' a grant to Ralph Fane and his heirs,' stating that this grant 
 (of a Manor and Advowson) is in order that he might be 
 the better enabled and empowered to sustain the burden of 
 his rank and state aforesaid, and as a further recompense for 
 his services. 
 
 It is difficult to say which is signified by such language, 
 whether rank for life or rank hereditary ? It may surely be 
 one or the other : and the heading of the document leaves 
 us no clue, for, quite without excuse, it describes Sir Ralph 
 as if he were no more than a simple Knight, There appears, 
 however, to be no reason why it should be assumed that the 
 word ' baronetti ' in Sir Ralph Fane's Grant was intended 
 to have been written ' banneretti.' 
 
 As this document, although alluded to, has never before 
 been printed, it is here given : — 
 
 'pro radulpho fane milite de concessione sibi et 
 heredibus 
 
 ' Rex omnibus ad quos etc. Salutem. Cum in consideracione 
 fidelis et acceptabilis servicii nobis per dilectum servientem nostrum 
 Radulphum Fane Militem in guerris nostris tam in bello apud 
 Musskelboroughe contra inimicos nostros Scotos in apprehensione 
 Comitis Huntley inimici nostri per ipsum Radulphum ibidem 
 adtunc capti quam aliter antehac facti et impensi idem Radulphus 
 ad ordinem statum gradum honorem et dignitatem baronetti per 
 nos erectus sussitatus et creatus extiterit Quiquidem Comes Huntley 
 postea ab eodem Radulpho et e manibus suis per nos et ad usum 
 nostrum acceptus et detentus fixerit absque recompensacione per 
 nos eidem Radulpho pro redempcione dicti comitis adhuc facta 
 Sciatis quod nos tam in consideracione dicti servicii dicti Radulphi 
 Fane nobis in forma predicta et aliter antehac facti et impensi. 
 
lo A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Et ut idem Radulphus onus gradus et status sui predicti melius 
 sustinere valeat et possit quam in consideracione ac in partem 
 recompensacionis per nos dicto Radulpho debite pro redempcione 
 dicti comitis Huntley -prisonarii sui per nos ab eodem Radulpho 
 et e manibus suis ad usum nostrum capti et detenti ac pro aliis 
 causis et consideracionibus nos ad presens specialiter moventibus 
 de gratia nostra speciali ac ex certa sciencia et mero motu nostris 
 Necnon de avisamento consilii nostri dedimus et concessimus ac per 
 presentes damus et concedimus prefato Radulpho Fane MiHti 
 totum illud manerium nostrum de Penshurste ac advocacionem 
 donacionem liberam disposicionem et jus patronatus ecclesie et 
 rectorie de Cowden cum suis juribus membris et pertinentiis 
 universis in comitatu nostro Kancie quondam parcellam terrarum 
 tenementorum possessionum et hereditamentorum Edwardi Ducis 
 Bukingham de alta prodicione attincti et convecti. 
 
 ' In cujus rei, etc. Teste Rege apud Hynnyngham Castell vicesimo 
 secundo die Julii 
 
 per brevi de private sigillo.' 
 
 The following is a translation of this interesting Docu- 
 ment : — 
 
 'For Ralph Fane, Knight, of a grant to him 
 and his heirs. 
 
 ' The King to all to whom, etc. Greeting. Whereas, in con- 
 sideration of the faithful and acceptable service to us rendered and 
 performed by our beloved servant, Ralph Fane, Knight, in our wars 
 both in the battle of Musskelborough against our enemies the Scots, 
 in apprehending the Earl of Huntley, our enemy, who was then and 
 there taken by the said Ralph, as well as in other ways, the said 
 Ralph was by us erected, raised, and created to the order, state, 
 rank, honour, and dignity of a Baronet ; which said Earl of 
 Huntley was afterwards received and detained from the said 
 Ralph and out of his hands, by us and to our use, without 
 any recompense made by us, up to this present, to the said 
 Ralph for the ransom of the said Earl, Know that we, both in 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE ii 
 
 consideration of the said service of the said Ralph Fane to us in form 
 as aforesaid and otherwise heretofore performed and rendered, and in 
 order that the said Ralph may be the better enabled and empowered 
 to sustain the burden of his rank and state aforesaid, as also in con- 
 sideration, and as part, of the recompense due from us to the said 
 Ralph for the ransom of the said Earl of Huntley his prisoner, by us 
 received and detained from the said Ralph and out of his hands to 
 our use, and for other causes and considerations us at this present 
 specially moving, of our especial grace, and out of our certain 
 knowledge and mere motion, as also with the advice of our Council 
 we have given and granted, and by these presents do give and grant, 
 to the aforesaid Ralph Fane, Knight, All that our manor of 
 Penshurste, and the advowson, and gift, free disposition and right of 
 patronage of the church and rectory of Cowden, With all its rights, 
 members, and appurtenances, in our County of Kent, formerly parcel 
 of the land, tenements, possessions, and hereditaments of Edward, 
 Duke of Buckingham, attainted and convicted of high treason. 
 
 ' In witness whereof, etc. Witness the King at Hynnyngham 
 Castle, the 22nd day of July. 
 
 * By writ of Privy Seal.' 
 
 The Baronets form the sixth division of the higher class 
 of nobility known as Nobiles Majores of the United 
 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the six being as 
 follows : — 
 
 Duke. 
 
 Marquess. 
 
 Earl. 
 
 Viscount. 
 
 Baron. 
 
 Baronet, 
 as there can be no question that the lower rank of nobility, 
 or the Nobiles Minores, are Knights, Esquires, and Gentlemen 
 
12 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 entitled to bear Coat Armour not included in any of the 
 above six ranks. In other words, in a division of the upper 
 ranks of society between nobility and gentry it is wrong to 
 consider the Baronets as forming the highest class of the 
 ranks of the gentry. 
 
 The early members of the Baronetage who satisfied the 
 conditions of James i. as referred to hereafter were called by 
 him, previous to their receiving the honour of the dignity, 
 ' principall Gentlemen of his Kingdom ' ; while very many, 
 who were inferior in lineage to few others in the realm, 
 were in the language of such authorities as Camden, Coke, 
 Selden, and Blackstone, nobles by blood, or Nobiles Minores, 
 and were raised on being created Baronets to the ranks of 
 Nobiles Majores by virtue of the hereditary dignity with 
 which the King invested them. 
 
 Their title is an hereditary one, and the question of treat- 
 ing as noblemen those only who have a seat in the House of 
 Lords is clearly erroneous, as many Peers of Scotland and 
 Ireland are universally admitted to be noblemen, although as 
 such they have no right to seats in the Upper House of 
 Parliament. They may, by the election of their own Peers, 
 be deputed to sit in this house as representing their 
 respective bodies, but the acquisition of this privilege no 
 more confers upon them the rank of nobility than does 
 the absence of it take away from them their undoubted 
 possession of this distinction. 
 
 Another proof of Baronets being members of the Nobiles 
 Majores is the manner in which their order of precedency 
 was settled before the Union, this differing from that of 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 13 
 
 Knights, who could take place and precedency solely 
 according to their priority of Knighthood. Nobiles 
 Majores go below, as puisnes, those of the same degree in 
 the nation in which they may be resident, as Barons of 
 Ireland residing in England give place to all of the same 
 degree of England ; so in Scotland before the Union, the 
 Scottish Barons, Dukes, etc., took place before the English, 
 and vice versa, in conformity to the law of nations. 
 
 Thus in the cavalcade of George i. on his arrival. Baronets 
 of Great Britain took place of Baronets of Ireland or of 
 Nova Scotia, an incontestable proof, as Sir Richard Broun 
 contended, of their being considered as of the Nobiles 
 Majores. While referring to this procession, it may be of 
 interest to mention that the coaches of the Irish Baronets 
 preceded those of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General 
 of England. 
 
 Again, can it be contended for one moment that in the 
 seventeenth century the descendants of Hugh Lupus, Earl 
 of Chester, were not included among the Nobiles Minores, 
 and then that the elevation of this descendant into an 
 hereditary degree did not confer upon him a higher rank ? 
 Would he not have scorned to accept this new dignity 
 had it not been considered to place him in some higher 
 rank than the one he already held ? 
 
 In a pamphlet published anonymously in 1842, entitled 
 * British and Continental Titles of Honour,' occurs the 
 following footnote : — 
 
 ' The Great Barons of the Conqueror have long ago 
 departed, excepting such of them as have received higher 
 
14 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 titles. The senior Baron of the Peerage, Lord de Ros, 
 goes no further back than 1264. There are but com- 
 paratively few Peers whose titles bear date anterior to the 
 Reformation. Amongst the Baronetage and the Gentry, 
 we find families who were Noble long prior to the Conquest, 
 such as the Temples, Deerings, Titchbornes, Pennymans, 
 Boothbys, Prideauxs, Poles, Frelfords, Chetwodes, — the 
 twenty-eighth lineal descendant from Sir John Chetwode, 
 Lord of the Manor of Chetwode, being the present Baronet, 
 On the roll of Battle Abbey are the Burdetts, the Wakes, 
 the Hazelriggs, Bedingfields, Shuckburghs, Tyrells, Pulestons, 
 Wrottesleys, etc. The names of the ancestors of the present 
 Baronets of Colstoun and Riddell, Walterres le Brun and 
 Gervasius de Ridell, occur (along with those of the Countess 
 Matilda, afterwards Queen ; William, nephew of the Prince, 
 Cospatrick, Earl of Dunbar, Alan de Percie, Walter de 
 Lindesay, and others) as witnesses to one of the oldest 
 Scottish documents extant, viz., the inquisition made by 
 David, Prince of Cumberland (afterwards King David 1st), 
 respecting the possessions of the see of Glasgow in 11 16. 
 Is it necessary to particularise the antiquity of the Gordons, 
 Bruces, Stuarts, Setons, Ramsays, Sinclairs, Craufords, 
 Wallaces, Cunninghames, Pringles, etc, ? — the Fitzgeralds, 
 de Burghs, Cootes, Talbots, Shees, Butlers, Moores, etc. ? — 
 or of the four Dukes, the seventeen Marquesses, the fifty- 
 seven Earls, the fourteen Viscounts, and fifty-nine Barons, 
 whose progenitors were Baronets long prior to their being 
 raised to Peerage titles ? ' 
 
 Later on, in the same work, the writer states that it is 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 15 
 
 recorded by Buchanan that Richard le Brun, John de Logie, 
 and Gilbert Malherbe were three of the principal noblemen 
 who headed a memorable transaction in Scottish history in 
 the year 1320. Three hundred and sixty-six years later 
 the representative of the first of these, who was of course as 
 noble as his ancestor, received a Baronet's Patent. * One 
 feels at a loss,' adds the writer, * to understand how this 
 ennobled him, he being already noble when he received it.' 
 
 When a Baronet receives the title of Baron, he is in truth 
 and in fact, and in the estimation of heralds, no more en- 
 nobled than is a Baron when he receives the title of Viscount. 
 All he acquires thereby is an augmentation of dignity. 
 
 If one may judge of the eminency of a dignity by its 
 rating for poll-taxes, that of a Baronet over two hundred 
 and fifty years ago was very considerable. In the Ordinance 
 of those persons who sat at Westminster in 1641 every 
 Lord paid ^^40, every Baronet ^^30, while an Esquire paid 
 but;rio. In the Act of 17 Charles i. for disbanding the 
 army, etc., a Baron paid ;^40, their eldest sons £$0, a 
 Baronet ^30, and a Knight Bachelor £20. 
 
 In support of the obvious truth that Baronets are not 
 mere Knights, and that the title of Knights-Baronets, so 
 often applied to them, is incorrect, the following extract 
 from Coke's Reports is given : — ' That if an heir of a tenant 
 in Knight's service, who was under age at his father's death, 
 and so in ward, was made a Baronet by the King, it did not 
 discharge such heir from being in ward, or if he was made 
 a Knight, any more than if he had been made a Baron or 
 an Earl.' 
 
i6 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 It is quite clear that it was the intention of James i. to 
 create an hereditary dignity, the members of which, though 
 lacking the legislative functions of those of the Peerage, 
 and taking precedence after them, should nevertheless enjoy 
 all the other established and recognised privileges of heredi- 
 tary nobility. He gave to Baronets and their eldest sons in 
 1612 the right to claim knighthood, but this was an after- 
 thought and at best an added dignity. 
 
 The following document preserved in the Record Office 
 among the State Papers, Domestic Series, James I., vol. Ixiii. 
 No. 64, shows what was in the mind of that King and his 
 advisers at the time of the institution of the Dignity : — 
 
 * A Project for erecting a new Dignitie beetween Barons & 
 Knights in w'^'^ theese Circumstances . . . considerable what shall bee 
 their name and their place. 
 
 ' And upon what Condicions they shall have itt. 
 
 * Name. 
 
 ' The partie that hath itt, shall beare the name of Baronet. Hee 
 shall have the same given him by Letters Patents to him and to the 
 heires males of his body, Hee to bee called Sir and his wife Lady. 
 
 ' Place. 
 
 * Hee shall goe above all Knights, banneretts not made under the 
 Kinges Sta ... in the fFeild displaied in his own presence and 
 above the Knights of the Ba . . . and all other Knights under 
 them. 
 
 ' The same place shall bee retained by their wy ves And their 
 Sonnes and their Daughters, shall likewise take their places above 
 the Children of all others t . . . are to goe beneath their ffathers. 
 
 ' Condicions imposed upon the Partie that have the Dignitie. 
 
 ' Hee shall bee Content to pay 30 foote after 8d. per diem for 
 3 yeares, towardes the servyce of Ireland and particularlie in regard 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 17 
 
 of the plantacion of Ulster, and that reason shall bee expressed in 
 the Patent Honoris gratia. 
 
 ' The King to bee pleased to Covenant never to excede the 
 numbre of 200. 
 
 ' Thus-much to bee expressed in the body of the Patent. 
 
 ' Cautions concerning the former Project. 
 'i. That none bee admitted except hee have of Certain yearlie 
 revenue of Inheritance in possession 1000*' per annum de Claro, or 
 of landes of old rent — good in accompt as 1000*' per annum of 
 improvements or at least twoo parts in ... of landes to the vallewe 
 as aforsayd and the third in revercion expectant upon one life only 
 holding by Dower or in Jointure. 
 
 ' 2. That none bee received whose Grandfather by the ffather did 
 not beare Arms. 
 
 * 3. That whosoever shall bee received upon death of an other 
 without issue, shall Come in the lowest ranlce. 
 
 ' 4. That hee must pay the mony downe for one yeares intertein- 
 ment every yeare . . . hande. 
 
 ' And for the order to bee observed in ranking those that shall 
 receive this dignitie allthough it is to bee wished that those Knights 
 w*'^ have now place before other Knights, in respect of the time of 
 their Creation may bee ranked before others (caeteris paribus) yett 
 because this is a dignitie w^^ shall bee hereditarie Vvherein divers 
 Circumstances are more Considerable then such a marke as is but 
 temporary (that is to say of being now a Knight, in time before 
 an other). It is his Ma*'®® pleasure that the LL shall not bee so 
 precise in placing those that shall receive this dignitie but that an 
 Esq"^ of greate antiquitie and extraordinarie living may bee ranked 
 in this Choyce before some Knights. And so of Knights a man of 
 greater living more remarquable for his house, yeares and Calling in 
 the Common wealth, now preferred before one in this dignitie that 
 was made Knight before him. 
 
 * And lastlie that it may appeare that the partie w'^'^ hath this 
 dignitie hath not obtained it by any sordid, or base meanes, hee 
 shall upon the delivery of his Patent, take his Corporall oath in the 
 
 B 
 
1 8 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 presence of the LL Comissioners in manner and forme following : 
 viz. Ij A. B. doe sweare, that neyther I nor any other to my 
 knowledge, have, or hath given or promised, procured or consented 
 to give, or to bee given any gift or reward directly, or indirectly to 
 any person or persons whatsoever, for procuring his Ma*^^ favour 
 on my behalfe, to create mee a Baronet, or ranke mee before any 
 other (those summes of money w*^^ by my Patent I am tied to pay 
 for the interteinm* of 30 foote after 8d. per diem, for 3 yeares in 
 Ireland only excepted). And that I will not give, nor any w^ 
 my consent shall give or consent to bee given, any gift or reward, 
 directly or indirectly, other than that w'^^ I am so to pay in manner 
 as aforesayd. So helpe me God.' 
 
 The following ' Memorandum ' is contained in the same 
 volume at the Public Record Office as the above ' Project,' 
 but it belongs to a later date, 1 6 1 2 : — 
 
 ' Baronet. 
 
 * To maintaine 30 foot for 3 yeares for the defence of Ireland but 
 especially for the plantacion of Ulster. 
 
 ' His place to be immediately after the Younger Sonnes of 
 Viscounts and Barons of England, & before all Kn*^ of the Bath 
 & Kn*^ Bachelors, and all Kn*^ Bannerettes. Except only those 
 Bannerettes that are made under the Kings owne Standard the 
 King being present, or Bannerettes made by the Prince of Wales 
 he then being present & his Banner displayed in open warre & 
 not otherwise And that for terme of their lives onely, & not any 
 others that shall happen after to be created. And except all Kn*^ 
 of the Garter, Kn*^ of the privy Councell, &c.' 
 
 At that date the province of Ulster in Ireland was, as 
 it had been on many former occasions, in a state of rebellion, 
 and James i. was desirous of putting an end to this continual 
 revolt, of settling and civilising its inhabitants, and of 
 cultivating its soil. It occurred to him or his advisers to 
 raise the necessary funds for this undertaking by the 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 19 
 
 contributions of those on whom he should confer the new 
 hereditary degree. 
 
 At the same time, the King was careful to bear in mind 
 that as he was creating a new dignity of this nature, it was 
 necessary, in order to invest it with the attributes of the 
 degrees it was immediately to follow in social precedence, 
 that none should be admitted to it who were not of gentle 
 blood. He therefore prescribed that membership was only 
 for those who were descended of a grandfather by his 
 father's side who bore arms, and had a clear estate in lands 
 of at least| one thousand pounds a year. ' Or lands of the 
 old rent, as good in account as one thousand pounds per 
 annum of improved rents, or at least two parts in three to 
 be divided of lands of the said values in possession, and the 
 other third part in reversion, expectant upon one life only, 
 holding by dower or in jointure.' An income of one 
 thousand pounds from land in the year 1 6 1 1 could only 
 have been derived from very considerable territorial 
 possessions, and it is therefore easy to realise that an 
 inquiry into the social position of those who were the first 
 to receive their Patents of Baronetcy proves conclusively 
 that it was among the best of the gentle blood of England 
 not already enjoying a title, and in many instances superior 
 to that of families on whom had previously been conferred 
 the honour of the Peerage itself. 
 
 A most absurd contention has frequently been put forward 
 by writers to the effect that Baronetcies were indiscriminately 
 sold to any one willing to provide funds for the royal 
 founder's pecuniary necessities. This contention is easily 
 
20 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 refuted by a short account of the families of those who 
 are now the senior members of the degree. 
 
 The ancestor of Bacon of Redgrave, who was created 
 Premier Baronet on the 22nd May 161 1, was descended 
 from an ancestor who came to England at the time of the 
 Norman Conquest in common with William, Earl Warren, 
 to whom he was related. He settled at Letheringsett, 
 near Holt, in Norfolk, and he and his descendants acquired 
 large possessions in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Gorhambury in 
 Hertfordshire. It is related that when Queen Elizabeth 
 visited Sir Nicholas, the father of the first Baronet at Red- 
 grave, she said it was too little for his lordship ; to which 
 he replied, ' No, madam, but your Highness has made me 
 too big for it,' and, acting on the suggestion, he is said 
 to have added the wings to the house at Redgrave. 
 
 It is quite enough to say of De Hoghton of Hoghton 
 Tower that the present Baronet resides on the property 
 which was in the possession of his family in the time of 
 Henry 11., and that from the time of Edward i. his ancestors 
 have frequently acted as Sheriffs of the county. 
 
 An ancestor of Shelley of Michelgrove was a Knight of 
 the Shire for Huntingdon in the time of William 11. 
 Sir Thomas Shelley, Knight, went as an Ambassador to 
 Spain in 1205, and Sir William Shelley was sent as an 
 Ambassador to the Emperor of Germany in the time of 
 Henry vii. ; and after their removal from Huntingdon, 
 nearly six and a half centuries ago, they went to Michelgrove 
 in Suffolk. 
 
 An ancestor of Musgrave of Edenhall also came over 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 21 
 
 with William the Conqueror, and the family was early 
 established in Westmorland, and gave their name to two 
 villages in that county. In the time of King John their 
 connection with this county was famous, they having served 
 as Members of Parliament for several divisions of the county 
 at various intervals ; their residence was Hartley Castle. At 
 the restoration of Charles 11. the Baronet of the day was 
 made Governor of Carlisle, and had a warrant for creating 
 him Baron Musgrave, but never took out the patent. 
 
 Cope of Hanwell is descended from John Cope, who was 
 granted by Richard 11. the Manor of Denshanger, North- 
 amptonshire, and other properties, his descendants occupying 
 many positions about the Court until the time of Elizabeth, 
 when Anthony Cope, the eldest brother of Sir Walter 
 Cope, Knight, was Shire Sheriff of Oxfordshire, and received 
 from the Queen the honour of Knighthood. He was again 
 appointed Shire Sheriff of Oxfordshire by King James i,, 
 who, after knighting his eldest son William, conferred upon 
 the father the dignity of the Baronetage. 
 
 The ancestor of Gresley of Drakelowe was uncle of RoUo, 
 Duke of Normandy, whose descendants, Robert and Nigel, 
 accompanied William the Conqueror to England. Nigel 
 held Drakelowe, according to Doomsday Book, and 
 William Greisley, the son of Nigel, was the founder of the 
 Monastery of Greisley. The family from that time to the 
 present day have had Drakelowe in continual possession. 
 
 Although no attempt appears to have been made to 
 induce English gentlemen of position to become Baronets, 
 yet later on pressure was undoubtedly put upon gendemen 
 
22 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 of position in Scotland to accept the new honour, as will be 
 seen from the following letters of the King : — 
 
 ' TO THE LARD OF TRAQUAIR 
 
 *Trustie and weilbeloved, &c., We, &c. — Thogh ther have 
 bene warning gevin to all the gentrie of that our kingdome by 
 publict proclamation, that they might in dew tyme come to be 
 created kynght barronettis, and not compleane heirefter of utheris 
 befoir whom they might expect to have place wer preferred unto 
 them, yet we have thoght fitt to tak particular notice of yow, and 
 the rather becaus it would seame that yow, not knowing or mistak- 
 ing our intention in a matter so much concerneing our royall 
 prerogative for the furthering of so noble a work did seik to 
 hinder the same : Therefor our pleasure is, that yow with diligence 
 embrace the said dignitie, and performe the conditions as others doe, 
 or that yow expect to be heard no more in that purpois, nor that 
 yow compleane no more heirefter of others to be preferred unto 
 yow. So not doubting but that, both by your selffand with others, 
 yow will use your best meanes for furthering of this work, wherby 
 yow may doe to ws acceptable service. — We bid, &c. Whythall, 
 24 March 1626.' 
 
 *TO THE LARD OF WAUCHTAN 
 
 ' Trustie, &c. (as in the precedent till this place). — Yit we have 
 thoght fitt to tak particular notice of yourselff and house, desyreing 
 yow to performe the said dignitie of knyght barronet, and to per- 
 forme the lyk conditions as otheris haveing the lyk honour doe, 
 which course we wish the rather to be takin by yow and others 
 in regaird that so noble a wark as the plantation of New Scotland 
 doeth much depend therupoun, and as your willingness to this our 
 request shall not be a hinderance bot rather a help to ane further 
 place that shalbe thoght fitt to be conferred upon yow ; so shall 
 yow heirby doe ws acceptable pleasur. — We bid, &c. Whythall, 
 24 March 1626.' 
 
 *TQ THE LARD OF WEMYES 
 
 'Trustie and weilbeloved, We, &c. — Haveing determined that 
 the creation of knyght barronetts should proceid according as our 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE DEGREE 23 
 
 late dear father, with advyse of his Counsall, had agricd upon ; 
 Thogh all the gentrie of that our kingdome had warning thairof 
 by publict proclamation, yit we ar pleased in regaird of the reputa- 
 tioun of your house to tak more particular notice of yow, and did 
 pass a signature of the said honour in your name, wherein we thoght 
 our favour would have bene acceptable unto yow : Therfoir these 
 presents ar to requyre yow to pass the said signatur, and to performe 
 the lyk conditions as others doe, or utherwayes doe not compleane 
 heirefter of the precedencie of others, whom we will the rather preferr 
 that by the embraceing of the said dignitie they be carefull to further 
 so worthie a work as doeth depend therupon, and as it is a nixt 
 steppe to a further title, so we will esteame of it accordinglie: Thus 
 willing yow to certefie bak your resolution heirin, with all diligence, 
 to Sir William Alexander, our secretarie, who will acquaint ws 
 therwith. we bid you, &c. — Whythall, 24 March 1626. 
 
 The social position of the three gentlemen to whom 
 these letters were addressed shows that, anxious as the King 
 was to carry out his scheme of colonisation in Nova Scotia, 
 he was exceedingly particular in his selection of those who 
 were to help him. 
 
 Enough has, in fact, been said to prove beyond a doubt 
 that there is no foundation for the assertion so commonly 
 made by those who wish to depreciate the dignity, that it 
 was conferred in the first instance on any who cared to 
 purchase a title. It has been clearly shown that the first 
 holders of this title were of ancient lineage and possessed 
 of great territorial possessions, and who in return for receiv- 
 ing an hereditary dignity agreed to perform a military service 
 to the State. The title does not appear to have been on 
 any single occasion prostituted to reward Royal favourites, 
 nor to have been sold, like certain Peerages, in order to 
 provide for the private pecuniary necessities of Kings. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE CREATION OF A BARONET 
 
 The Baronetage is divided into five classes or creations, 
 
 styled as follows : — 
 
 1. Baronets of England. 
 
 2. Baronets of Ireland. 
 
 3. Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia. 
 
 4. Baronets of Great Britain. 
 
 5. Baronets of the United Kingdom. 
 
 The Baronets of England were created between the 22nd 
 May 161 1 and 1707, of whom Sir Nicholas Bacon was the 
 first, and whose descendant the present Baronet, Sir Hick- 
 man Bacon, still remains the premier Baronet of England 
 and of the Baronetage. 
 
 The Baronets of Ireland were created between 30th 
 September 16 18 and 1801, of whom Sir Dominick Sars- 
 field was the first. The Reverend Sir Algernon Coote of 
 Ballyfinn is now the premier Baronet of Ireland. 
 
 The Baronets of Scotland were created between 28th 
 May 1625 and 1707, of whom Sir Robert Glendonwyn 
 Gordon of Gordonstown and Letterfourie is the premier, 
 his ancestor having been the first created. 
 
 After the Union of England and Scotland in 1707 no 
 
 2i 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 25 
 
 further Baronets of England or Baronets of Scotland were 
 created, the style being changed to Baronet ' of Great Britain,' 
 the first so created being Sir Francis Dashwood of West 
 Wycombe. The date of creation was 20th June 1707, and 
 the descendant of Sir Francis, Sir Robert John Dashwood, 
 still remains the premier Baronet of Great Britain. As 
 Ireland remained a separate kingdom, the creation of 
 Baronets of Ireland continued until Great Britain and 
 Ireland were united in 1801 under the style of the United 
 Kingdom. All holders of Baronetcies created after that 
 date have borne the title of Baronets of the United King- 
 dom, Vavasour of Spaldington having been created, and 
 still remaining, the premier Baronet holding this title. 
 
 It may be interesting here to point out that while from 
 the date of the Union of Ireland with Great Britain the 
 creation of Baronets of Ireland entirely ceased, yet peerages 
 of Ireland are still created, the reason being that, while 
 conferring the full rank and social dignity of the Peerage 
 by such a creation, it does not confer on the holder the 
 right to a seat in the House of Lords, but leaves him free, 
 should he so desire, to seek the right of election to represent 
 a constituency in the House of Commons. 
 
 The royal founder at the time of the erection of the 
 dignity proposed to limit it to two hundred in number, 
 and that when any of these Baronetcies became extinct others 
 should not be created in their room, so that the number 
 should diminish, to the greater honour of those that re- 
 mained. This plan, however, was not adhered to, as shortly 
 after a Commission was appointed to fill up the vacancies 
 
26 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 and create others. The Crown thereby revoked its engage- 
 ment, and since then no limitation has been placed on the 
 number of Baronets, additional creations being entirely in 
 the discretion of the reigning sovereign. 
 
 The institution of a Baronet is by Letters Patent under 
 the Great Seal, to a gentleman, and the heirs male of his 
 body lawfully begotten, for ever, and sometimes the dignity 
 is further entailed, according to the pleasure of the sovereign, 
 as referred to hereafter. 
 
 Previous to the preparation of the early Letters Patent, 
 the following Memorandum and Warrant were issued : — 
 
 * MEMORANDUM 
 
 * After our very harty Comendacions Whereas of 
 
 in the County of hath out of his good affeccion 
 
 to his ma*®^ service, offered to charge himself w**^ the yearely 
 intertaynement of 30*'® foote for three yeares after the rate 
 of 8d. per diem for the Plantacion of Ulster His Ma*'^ having 
 gratiously accepted of this his good service, is pleased in Recompence 
 thereof to conferr upon him the Dignity and place of a Baronnett 
 w*^ all Titles Preveledges and preheminences w'^'^ by his Ma*^^ 
 favor is graunted unto others in the like case. These shal be there- 
 fore to require yow to drawe a bill for that purpose fitt for us to 
 subscribe according unto the direccion given you and the authority 
 w'''^ we have received by vertue of his Ma*®^ Comission in that 
 behalfe, fFor w^^ this shal be yor warrant And soe we bid you hartely 
 farewell. 
 
 * fFrom Whitehall this of 161 1. 
 
 ' Yor very loving freindes 
 ' T. Ellesmere, Cane Lenox 
 
 ' R. Salisbury, T. Suffolke, Gibb, Shrewsbury, 
 * W. KnoUys E. Worcester, Fenton. 
 
 'Jul. Caesar.' 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 27 
 
 'warrant 
 
 *Trustie and welbeloved wee greet yow well wheras wee are 
 gratiouslie pleased to conferre uppon our trustie and welbeloved 
 
 in our Countie of the Dignitie of Baronett 
 
 of this our Kingdome and to entayle the same uppon the heire 
 males of his bodie our will and pleasure is that you prepaire 
 aswell a booke in due forme conteyneing our grant of the dignitie 
 
 of Baronett unto the said and the heires males of his 
 
 bodie as alsoe a warrant in usuall forme for discharging him of soe 
 much money as is usuallie reserved in respect of that dignitie and 
 that yow prepaire them both fitt for our signature for w'^** this shalbe 
 yor warrant Given att . 
 
 ' To the Clarke of our Signett now attending.' 
 
 The Patents of the first-created Baronets were in Latin 
 and in the following form : — 
 
 * Rex Omnibus ad quos, etc. Salutem. Cum inter alias Imperii 
 nostri gerendi curas, quibus animus noster assidue exercetur, ilia 
 non minima sit, nee minimi momenti, de Plantatione Regni nostri 
 Hiberniae, ac potissimum Ultoniae, amplae et percelebris ejusdem 
 Regni Provinciae, quam, nostris jam auspiciis atque armis, fa^liciter 
 sub obsequii jugum redactam, ita constabilire elaboramus, ut tanta 
 Provincia, non solum sincero Religionis cultu, humanitate civili, 
 morumque probitate, verum etiam opum affluentia, atque omnium 
 rerum copia, quae statum Reipublicae ornare vel beare possit, magis 
 magisque efflorescat, Opus sane, quod nuUi progenitorum nostrorum 
 proestare et perficere licuit, quamvis idipsum multa sanguinis et 
 opum profusione saepius tentaverint ; In quo opere, sollicitudo nostra 
 Regia, non solum ad hoc excubare debet, ut Plantatio ipsa strenue 
 promoveatur, oppida condantur, aedes et castra extruantur, agri 
 colantur, et id-genus alia ; Sed etiam prospiciendum imprimis, ut 
 universus hujusmodi rerum civilium appartus, manu armata, proesidiis 
 videlicet et cohortibus, protegatur et communicatur, ne qua aut vis 
 hostilis, aut defectio intestina, rem disturbet aut impediat : Cumque 
 nobis intimatum sit, ex parte quorunda ex fidelibus nostris subditis, 
 
2 8 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 quod ipsi paratissimi sint ; ad hoc Regnum nostrum inceptum, tam 
 corporibus, quam fortunis suis promovendum : Nos commoti operis 
 tam sancti ac salutaris intuitu, atque gratos habentes hujusmodi 
 generosos affectus, atque propensas in obsequium nostrum et bonum 
 publicum voluntateSj Statuimus apud nos ipsos nulli rei deesse, quae 
 subditorum nostrorum stadia praefata remunerare aut aliorum animos 
 atque alacritatem, ad operas suas prasstandas, aut impensas in hac 
 parte faciendas, excitare possit : Itaque nobiscum perpendentes atque 
 reputantes, virtutem et industriam, nulla alia re magis quam honore 
 ali atque acui ; omnemque honoris et dignitatis splendorem, et 
 amplitudinem a Rege tanquam a fonte, originem et incrementum 
 ducere, ad cujus culmen et fastigium proprie spectat, novos honorum 
 et dignitatum titulos erigere atque instituere, utpote a quo antiqui 
 illi fluxerint ; consentaneum duximus (postulante usu Reipublicse 
 atque temporum ratione) nova merita, novis dignitatum insignibus 
 rependere : Ac propterea, ex carta scientia et mero motu nostris, 
 Ordinavimus, ereximus, constituimus, et creavimus, quendam statum, 
 gradum, dignitatem, nomen et titulum Baronetti (Anglice of a 
 Baronet) infra hoc Regnum nostrum Anglias perpetuis temporibus 
 duraturum. Sciatis modo quod nos de gratia nostra speciali, ac 
 ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris, ereximus, praefecimus et 
 creavimus, ac per praesentes pro nobis, Heredibus, et successoribus 
 
 nostris, erigimus, praeficimus, et creamus dilectum nostrum 
 
 de in comitatu virum, familia, patrimonio, 
 
 censu, et morum probitate spectatum (qui nobis auxilium et subsi- 
 dium satis amplum, generoso et liberali animo dedit et praestitit, ad 
 manutenendum, et supportandum triginta viros in cohortibus nostris 
 pedestribus in dicto Regno nostro Hiberniae, per tres annos intregros 
 pro defensione dicti Regni nostri, et praecipue pro securitate planta- 
 tionis dictae Provincias Ultoniae) ad, et in dignitatem, statum, et 
 
 gradum Baronetti (Anglice of a Baronet) Ipsumque 
 
 Baronettum pro nobis, Heredibus, et successoribus nostris, prae- 
 ficimus, constituimus et creamus per praesentes, habendum sibi, et 
 heredibus masculis de corpore suo legitime procreatis in perpetuum. 
 VoLUMUS etiam et per praesentes de gratia nostra speciali, ac ex certa 
 scientia et mero motu nostris, pro nobis, Heredibus, et successoribus 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 29 
 
 nostris concedimus praefato et Heredibus masculis de 
 
 corpore suo legitime procreatis, Quod ipse idem et Heredes 
 
 sui masculi praedicti habeant, gaudeant, teneant, et capiant locum 
 atque Praecedentiam, virtute dignitatis Baronetti praedicti, et Vigore 
 praesentium, tarn in omnibus Commissionibus, brevibus, litteris 
 patentibus, scriptis, appellationibus, nominationibus et directionibus, 
 quam in omnibus Sessionibus, Conventibus, Csetibus et locis quibus- 
 cunque, prae omnibus militibus, tarn de Balneo, (Anglice of the 
 Bathe) quam militibus Baccalaureis, (Anglice Bachelors) ac etiam 
 prae omnibus militibus Bannerettis, (Anglice Bannerets) jam creatis, 
 vel imposterum creandis, (Illis militibus Bannerettis tantummodo 
 exceptis quos sub vexillis regiis, in exercitu regali, in aperto bello, 
 et ipso Rege personaliter prassente, explicatis, et non aliter creari 
 
 contigerit). Quodque uxoris dicti et Hasredum mas- 
 
 culorum suorum praedictorum, virtute dictae dignitatis maritorum 
 suorum prasdictorum, habeant, teneant, gaudeant, et capiant locum 
 et praecedentiam, pras uxoribus omnium aliorum quorumcunq ; 
 prae quibus mariti hujusmodi uxorum, vigore praesentium habere 
 debent locum et praecedentiam ; atque quod primogenitus filius, ac 
 
 ceteri omnes filii et eorum uxores, et filiae ejusdem et 
 
 haeredum suorum praedictorum respective, habeant, et capiant locum 
 et praecedentiam, ante primogenitos filios ac alios filios et eorum 
 uxores, et filias omnium quorumcunque respective, pras quibus 
 patres hujusmodi filiorum primogenitorum, et aliorum iiliorum, et 
 eorum uxores, et filiarum, vigore praesentium habere debent locum 
 et praecedentiam. Volumus etiam, et per praesentes pro nobis, 
 hasredibus, et successoribus nostris, de gratia nostro speciali, ac ex 
 certa scientia, et mero motu nostris concedimus, quod dictus 
 
 nominetur, appelletur, nuncupetur, placitet et implacitetur 
 
 per nomen Baronetti ; Et quod stilus et additio Baronetti 
 
 apponatur in fine nominis ejusdem et haeredum mas- 
 
 culorum suorum praedictorum, in omnibus Literis Patentibus, 
 Commissionibus et Brevibus nostris atque omnibus aliis Chartis, 
 factis, atque literis, virtute praesentium, ut vera, et legitima, et 
 necessaria additio dignitatis. Volumus etiam, et per Prasentes 
 pro nobis, haeredibus, et successoribus nostris ordinamus, quod 
 
30 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 nomini dicti et Haeredum masculorum suorum prae- 
 
 dictorum, in sermone Anglicano, et omnibus scriptis Anglicanis, 
 praeponatur haec additio, videlicet Anglice (Sir :) Et similiter quod 
 
 uxores ejusdem et haeredum masculorum suorum pras- 
 
 dictorum, habeant, utantur, et gaudeant hac appellatione, videlicit 
 Anglice (Lady, Madame, and Dame) respective, secundum usum 
 loquendi. Habendum, tenendum, utendum, et gaudendum, eadem, 
 statum, gradum, dignitatem, stilum, titulum, nomen, locum, et 
 praecedentiam, cum omnibus et singulis Privilegiis, et caeteris 
 
 praemissis, praefato et heredibus masculis de corpore 
 
 suo exeuntibus imperpetuum. Volentes et per praesentes con- 
 cedentes, pro Nobis Hseredibus et successoribus Nostris, quod 
 
 praedictus et haeredes sui masculi praedicti, nomen, 
 
 statum, gradum, stilum, dignitatem, titulum, locum et prae- 
 cedentiam praedictam, cum omnibus et singulis Privilegiis, et 
 caeteris premissis successive gerant et habeant, et eorum quilibet 
 
 gerat et habeat, quodque idem et Haeredes sui Masculi 
 
 praedicti successive Baronetti in omnibus teneantur, et ut Baronetti 
 tractentur et reputentur, Et eorum quilibet teneatur, tractetur, et 
 reputetur. Et ulterius de uberiori gratia nostra speciali, ac ex certa 
 scientia et mero motu nostris Concessimus, ac per praesentes pro 
 Nobis, Haeredibus et successoribus Nostris concedimus praefato 
 
 Et Haeredibus suis masculis praedictis, quod numerus 
 
 Baronettorum hujus Regni Angliae nunquam posthac excedet in 
 toto, in aliquo uno tempore, numerum ducentorum Baronettorum: 
 et quod dicti Baronetti, et eorum Haeredes masculi praedicti respec- 
 tive, de tempore in tempus in perpetuum, habebunt tenebunt et 
 gaudebunt locos et preecedentias suas inter se, videlicet, quilibet 
 eorum secundum prioritatem et senioritatem Creationis suas Baron- 
 etti praedicti ; quotquot autem creati sunt, vel creabuntur Baronetti 
 per literas nostras Patentes, gerentes Datas uno et eodem die, et 
 Haeredes sui praedicti, gaudebunt locis et praecedentiis suis inter se 
 secundum prioritatem, quae cuilibet eorum dabitur, per alias literas 
 nostras patentes in ea parte primo conficiendas, sine impedimento, 
 et non aliter, nee alio modo. Et insuper de abundantiori gratia 
 nostra speciali, ac ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris concessi- 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 31 
 
 mus, ac per praesentes, pro nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, 
 
 concedimus prasfato et haeredibus suis Masculis pras- 
 
 dictis, quod nee Nos, nee Haeredes vel Successores Nostri, de 
 castero in posterum erigemus, ordinabimus, constituemus, aut crea- 
 bimus infra hoc Regnum nostrum Anglias aliquem alium gradum, 
 ordinem, nomen, titulum, dignitatem, sive statum, sub vel infra 
 gradum, dignitatem, sive statum Baronum hujus Regni nostri 
 Angliae, qui erit vel esse possit superior, vel aequalis gradui et 
 
 dignitati Baronettorum predictorem, sed quod tam dictus 
 
 et Haeredes sui MascuH prasdicti, quam uxores, filii, uxores 
 
 filiorum, et filias ejusdem et haeredum masculorum 
 
 suorum praedictorum, de caetero in perpetuum libere et quiete 
 habeant, teneant, et gaudeant, dignitates, locos et praecedentias suas 
 prasdictas prae omnibus, qui erunt de talibus gradibus, statibus, 
 dignitatibus, vel ordinibus in posterum, ut praefertur creandi respec- 
 tive secundum veram intentionem praesentium absq ; impedimento 
 nostro, hasredum, vel successorum nostrorum, vel aliorum quorum 
 cunque. Et ulterius per praesentes declaramus, et significamus 
 beneplacitum et voluntatem nostram in hac parte fore et esse, Et 
 sic nobiscum statuimus et decrevimus, quod si postquam nos prae- 
 dictum numerum ducentorum Baronettorum hujus Regni Angliae 
 compleverimus et perfecerimus, Contigerit aliquem, vel aliquos 
 eorundem Baronettorum, ab hac vita discedere, absque Haerede 
 masculo de corpore vel corporibus hujusmodi Baronetti vel Baron- 
 ettorum procreate, quod tunc nos non creabimus, vel praeficiemus 
 aliquam aliam personam, vel personas in Baronettum, vel Baronettos 
 Regni Nostri Angliae, sed quod numerus dictorum Ducentorum 
 Baronettorum ea ratione de tempore in tempus diminuetur, et in 
 minorem numerum cedet et redigetur; Denique volumus, ac per 
 praesentes, pro nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris de gratia 
 nostra speciali, ac ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris concedimus 
 
 praefato et Haeredibus suis masculis praedictis, quod 
 
 hae litterae nostrae Patentes erunt in omnibus et per omnia firmae 
 validae, bonae, sufficientes et effectuales in lege, tam contra nos, 
 haeredes, et successores nostros, quam contra omnes alios quoscunque 
 secundum veram intentionem earundem, tam in omnibus curiis 
 
32 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 nostris, quam alibi ubicunque. Non obstante aliqua lege, consue- 
 tudine, praescriptione, usu, ordinatione, sive constitutione quacun- 
 que antehac edita, habita, usitata, ordinata, sive provisa, vel in 
 posterum aedenda, habenda, usitanda, ordinandi vel providenda: Et 
 non obstante aliqua alia re, causa vel materia quacunque. 
 
 ' Volumus etiam, etc. Absque fine in Hanaperio, etc. Eo quod 
 expressa mentio, etc. In cujus rei, etc. Teste Rege apud West- 
 monasterium vicesimo secundo die Maii, per ipsum Regem.' 
 
 The last Baronet created by a Patent in Latin was Sir 
 Gilbert Heathcote of London, the date of whose Patent 
 was the 17th January 1732. The next Baronet created was 
 Mr. Edward Turner of Ambrosden, whose Patent, dated 
 the 24th August 1783, is in English, and in the following 
 form, which form corresponds very approximately to the 
 Patents in Latin which succeeded the earliest Patents of 
 King James i. : — 
 
 'George the Second by the Grace of God. To all to whom 
 these presents shall come Greeting. Whereas Our late Royal Pro- 
 genitor King James the first made it one of the principal cares of 
 his Government to plant and improve his Kingdom of Ireland and 
 more especially Ulster a large province of that Kingdom which 
 by the conduct and Arms of his said late Majesty being happily 
 reduced to Obedience His said late Majesty laboured to establish in 
 such manner that so great a province might not only flourish with 
 the true Religion Civility and good manners but also with wealth 
 and plenty of all things which might advance the State of a Comon 
 Wealth In which undertaking his said late Majesties Royal 
 Care did not only endeavour that the Plantation itself might be 
 carried on Towns raised houses and Castles built and fields tilled 
 but also that so a new and extensive Establishment of Civil 
 Affairs should be protected and defended by an armed Force least 
 any Hostile force or intestine defection might disturb or hinder 
 the same And Whereas it was intimated to his said late Majesty 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 33 
 
 on behalf of some of his faithful Subjects that they should be 
 most ready to carry on that Royal undertaking both with their 
 lives and fortunes And whereas his said late Majesty being 
 moved with the prospect of so good and pious a work and kindly 
 esteeming such generous affections and inclinations to his Service 
 and the publick good resolved within himself to be wanting in 
 nothing that might reward the said intentions of his Subjects or 
 which might stir up the minds and good wills of others to do their 
 endeavours and assist in that behalf therefore weighing and con- 
 sidering with himself that virtue and industry are best nourished 
 and encouraged by Honour and that all Honours and Dignityes 
 derive their original and increase from the King as from a Fountain 
 to whose Majesty and Regall State it properly belongs to erect and 
 institute new Titles of Honour and Dignity as from whom the 
 Ancient Titles flowed He judged it proper to repay new meritts 
 with new Ensigns of Dignity Wherefore of his certain knowledge 
 and mere motion after the manner of his Royal Progenitor of 
 famous memory who had and exercised this prerogative of creating 
 new Degrees of Honour amongst their subjects He of his Royal 
 Power and Authority Ordained Erected Constituted and created a 
 certain State Degree Dignity name and Title of Baronett within his 
 then Kingdom of England to endure for ever and that the said State 
 Title Dignity and Degree of Baronett should be and be reputed to 
 be a middle State Title and Degree of Hereditary Dignity between 
 the Degree of a Baron and the Degree of a Knight Now know 
 ye that We of our Especial Grace certain knowledge and mere 
 motion have erected appointed and created Our Trusty and Wel- 
 
 beloved Subject of in the County of 
 
 Esquire (a Man eminent for Family Inheritance Estate and 
 
 Integrity of manners who generously and freely gave and furnished 
 to us an Ayd and Supply large enough to maintain and sup- 
 port thirty men in our Foot Companys in our said Kingdom of 
 Ireland to continue for three whole years for defence of our said 
 Kingdom and especially for the security of the Plantation of our 
 said Province of Ulster, to and into the dignity state and degree 
 of a Baronett and him the said for Us Our heirs and 
 
34 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 successors We do erect appoint constitute and create a Baronett 
 by these presents To hold to him and the heirs male of his body 
 lawfully begotten and to be begotten for ever We will also and 
 do by these presents of Our especial grace certain knowledge 
 and mere motion for Us Our heirs and successors do grant unto 
 
 the said and to his heirs male aforesaid that he the said 
 
 and his said heirs male may have enjoy hold and take 
 
 place and precedence by virtue of the dignity of a Baronett afore- 
 said and by force of these presents as well in all Commissions 
 Writs Letters Patent Writings Appellations Nominations and 
 directions as in all sessions meetings assemblies and places whatso- 
 ever next and immediately after the younger sons of Viscounts 
 and Barons of this our Kingdom of Great Britain and before 
 all Knights as well of the Bath as Knights Batchelors and also 
 before all Knights Bannerett now created or hereafter to be 
 created, except those Knights Banneret which shall happen to be 
 created under the Royal Banners displayed of Us Our heirs or 
 successors in Our Royal Army in open war and the King himself 
 being personally present and also ail those Knights Bannerett which 
 shall happen to be created under the Royal Banners displayed of Us 
 Our heirs or successors in Our Royal Army by the first born son of 
 Us Our heirs or successors for the time being Prince of Wales 
 then personally present in Open Warr and not otherwise for the 
 term of their lives only and no longer respectively And also except 
 all Knights of the Noble Order of the Garter And all of the 
 Privy Council of Us Our heirs and successors The Chancellor and 
 Under Treasurer of Our 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 Comon Pleas 
 The Chief Baron of the Exchequer and all and singular Judges 
 and Justices of either Bench and the Barons of the Exchequer of 
 the degree of the Coif for the time being who all and singular by 
 reason of their Honourable Order and labour sustained in affairs 
 concerning the State and the administration of Justice shall have 
 take and hold place and precedence in all places and upon all 
 occasions before all Baronetts now created or hereafter to be created 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 25 
 
 any custom usage ordinance or any other matter to the contrary 
 in any wise notwithstanding And that the Wives of the said 
 and of his heirs male aforesaid successively and respec- 
 tively by virtue of the said dignity of their said Husbands shall 
 have hold enjoy and take place and precedence as well during 
 the lives of such their Husbands as after the deaths of the same 
 Husbands for and during the natural lives of such Wives 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 by 
 force of these presents ought to have place and precedence And 
 in regard that the said degree of Baronett is a degree of Hereditary 
 Dignity The first born Son or Heir Male apparent and all the rest 
 
 of the Sons and their Wives and the Daughters of the said 
 
 and of his said heirs Male respectively shall have and hold 
 
 place and precedence 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 Father's such first born Sons and other Sons and 
 Daughters by force of these presents ought to have place and pre- 
 cedence 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 for and during their natural lives and such Sons, those 
 Sons following immediately and next after the Wives of the first 
 born Sons of such Baronetts shall have and take place and precedence 
 before the first born Sons and the Wives of the first born Sons 
 of every Knight of what degree or order soever And that the 
 
 Younger Sons of the said and of his said Heirs Male and 
 
 their Wives successively and respectively as well during the lives 
 as after the deaths of their said Husbands for and during their natural 
 lives shall in like manner have and take 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 We will also and do by 
 these presents for Us Our heirs and successors grant that the said 
 
26 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 shall be named appealed called plead and be impleaded 
 
 by the name of Baronett and that the Style and 
 
 addition of Baronett shall be put at the end of the name of the 
 
 said and of his said Heirs Male in all our Letters 
 
 Patent Commissions and Writts and all other Charters Deeds and 
 Letters by virtue of these presents as the true lawful and necessary 
 addition of dignity We will also and by these presents for Us 
 Our Heirs and successors do ordain that before the name of the 
 
 said and of his said Heirs Male aforesaid successively in 
 
 English Speech and in all English writings shall be used and set this 
 addition (to wit) Sir And that in like manner the Wives of the 
 
 said and of his said Heirs Male shall use have and enjoy 
 
 this appellation (to wit) Lady Madam and Dame respectively 
 according to the manner of speaking And moreover of Our more 
 abundant Grace and of our certain knowledge and mere motion 
 We have granted and by these presents for Us Our Heirs and 
 
 successors do grant unto the said and to his Heirs Male 
 
 aforesaid that they and their descendants shall and may bear in a 
 canton in their Coat of Arms or in an escutcheon at their pleasure 
 the Arms of Ulster to wit the Hand Gules or a Bloody Hand 
 
 in a Field Argent And that the said and his Heirs 
 
 Male aforesaid successively and respectively shall and may have 
 place in the Armies of Us Our Heirs and successors in the Troop 
 nigh to the Banner of Us Our Heirs and successors in defence of 
 the same (which is the Middle Station between a Baron and a 
 
 Knight) and further We do hereby grant that the said 
 
 and his Heirs Male aforesaid shall have two Assistants of the Body 
 to support the Pall One as principal Mourner and four assistants to 
 the same principal Mourner in their Funerals We will Moreover 
 and do by these presents of our more ample Grace certain know- 
 ledge and mere motion for us our Heirs and successors Covenant 
 
 and Grant to and with the said and his said heirs male 
 
 that We will immediately after the passing of these presents 
 
 create and make the said a Knight and that We our 
 
 Heirs and Successors will create and make the first born Son or 
 heir male apparent begotten of the body of the said and 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 37 
 
 of the bodyes of his heirs male aforesaid and every one of them 
 a Knight as soon as he shall attain the age of One and Twenty 
 Years although in the life time of his Father or Grandfather upon 
 notice given thereof to the Chamberlain or Vice Chamberlain of 
 the household of Us our heirs or successors for the time being or 
 in their absence to any other officer or Member of Us our heirs or 
 successors attending the person of us our heirs or successors. To 
 have hold use and enjoy the same State degree dignity stile title 
 place and precedence with all and singular the privileges and other 
 
 the promises before granted to the said and his said 
 
 heirs Male of his body lawfully begotten for ever Willing and 
 by these presents for Us our heirs and successors Granting that 
 
 he the said and his said Heirs Male and every of whom 
 
 successively shall and may bear and have the same name state degree 
 stile dignity title place and precedence with all and singular the 
 
 privileges and other the promises And that the said 
 
 and his said heirs Male and every of them shall successively 
 be held Baronets in all things and shall be treated and reputed 
 as Baronetts And further of Our more especial Grace certain 
 knowledge and mere motion We have granted and do by these 
 
 Presents for Us Our heirs and successors grant to the said 
 
 and his said heirs Male that they and their heirs male 
 
 respectively and other Baronetts made and hereafter to be made 
 from time to time shall for ever have hold and enjoy their 
 place and precedence among themselves according to the Priority 
 and Seniority of his creation of a Baronet aforesaid and not 
 otherwise nor in other manner And moreover of Our more 
 abundant grace and of our certain Knowledge and mere motion 
 We have granted and do by these presents for Us Our heirs 
 
 and successors grant unto the said and his said heirs 
 
 Male that neither We nor Our heirs or Successors will hereafter 
 Erect Ordain Constitute or Create within this Our Kingdom of 
 Great Britain any other Degree order name title Style dignity 
 or state nor give or grant place precedence or pre-eminence 
 to any person under or below the degree dignity or state of a 
 Baron of Parliament of this Our Kingdom of Great Britain 
 
38 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 who shall be or may be or accounted used or reputed to be 
 superior or equal to the degree dignity or place of a Baronet 
 aforesaid nor shall any person under the degree of a Baron (except 
 before excepted) by reason or colour of any Constitution order 
 dignity degree office service place business custom use or other 
 thing whatsoever now or hereafter have hold or enjoy place 
 precedence or pre-eminence before a Baronett aforesaid But 
 
 that as well the said and his said heirs Male as the 
 
 Wives Sons Daughters and the Wives of the Sons of the said 
 and of his said heirs Male respectively from hence- 
 forth for ever shall freely and quietly have hold and enjoy their 
 said dignity place precedence and privilege before all persons 
 (except before excepted) who shall hereafter be created of such 
 degree state dignity order name Stile or Title or to whom the title 
 place precedence or pre-eminence as aforesaid shall be given or 
 granted or who shall claim to have hold or enjoy any place or 
 precedence by reason or colour of any Constitution order dignity 
 degree office service place business custom use or other thing what- 
 soever and before their Wives and Children respectively according 
 to the true intent of these presents without the hindrance of Us 
 Our Heirs or Successors or any other persons whatsoever Saving 
 nevertheless and always reserving to Us Our Heirs and Successors 
 full and absolute power and authority to continue and restore to 
 any person or persons from time to time such place and precedence 
 as at any time hereafter shall be due to them which by any accident 
 or occasion whatsoever shall hereafter be changed any thing in 
 these presents or any other cause or respect whatsoever to the con- 
 trary thereof notwithstanding We Will moreover and do by these 
 presents for Us Our heirs and successors grant and appoint that 
 if any doubt or question as to any place precedence privilege or 
 
 other thing touching or concerning the said and his 
 
 said heirs Male 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 hereafter arise which neither by these 
 Our Letters Patent nor by other Letters Patent heretofore made 
 in this behalf are determined such doubts or questions shall be deter- 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 39 
 
 mined and adjudged by and according to such other rules customs 
 and laws (as to place precedence or other thing concerning them) 
 as other degrees of Hereditary Dignity are ordered governed and 
 adjudged Lastly We will and do by these presents for Us Our 
 
 Heirs and successors grant to the said and his said Heirs 
 
 Male that these Our Letters Patent or the enrolment thereof 
 shall be in and by all things good firm valid sufficient and effectual 
 in the Law as well against Us Our heirs and successors as against 
 all others whomsoever according to the true intent of the same as 
 well in all Our Courts as elsewhere We will also &c. Without 
 Fine in Our Hanaper, &c. In Witness, &c. Witness ourself 
 at Westminster the day of 
 
 By Writt of Privy Seal.' 
 
 The long recital or preamble was later on abbreviated to 
 the following, taken from a Patent, dated i6th January 
 
 1828 :— 
 
 ' George the Fourth by the Grace of God &c. To all to whom 
 these presents shall come Greeting. Whereas Our late Royal Pro- 
 genitor King James the First ordained erected constituted and 
 created a certain state degree and dignity name and title of a 
 Baronet within his then Kingdom of England to endure for ever 
 and that the said state title dignity and degree of a Baronet should 
 be and be reputed to be a middle state title dignity and degree of 
 Hereditary dignity between the degree of a Baron and the degree 
 of a Knight. Now know ye that We, &c.' 
 
 On the 19th December 1827 George iv. revoked the 
 promise and grant contained in the Letters Patent of 
 James i. for knighting Baronets and their Heirs Male when 
 they should attain the age of twenty-one, as referred to 
 hereafter, and consequently in all Patents issued after that 
 date the clause which had hitherto appeared conferring these 
 honours has not been inserted. 
 
40 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Among the Baronets created on the 29th June 161 1 (the 
 second batch) was Sir Roger Dalyson of Laughton, Lincoln- 
 shire, but his original Letters Patent were omitted to be 
 sealed. Accordingly, on the petition of his son Thomas 
 Dalyson, a special warrant was granted on the 27th October 
 1624 to John, Bishop of Lincoln, Lord Keeper of the Great 
 Seal for making, passing, and sealing Letters Patent, to 
 bear date the 29th June 161 1, creating Sir Roger a Baronet, 
 
 The following Memorandum preserved in the Public 
 Record Office {State Papers, Domestic Series , James /., 
 vol. clxiv. No. 38) refers to this : — 
 
 '6 May 1624. 
 
 *SiR, — His Ma*'® desires informacion from yow, touching that 
 grant yow lately prepared for his Signature for the Baronetshipp of 
 Sir Thomas Dallison ffor although his ffather Sir Roger Dallison 
 was inrolled amongst the more ancient Baronettes, and paid the 
 eleaven hundred poundes, having then a good estate in Land, but 
 negligently forbare the passing of his Grant att that time : yett 
 because the sonnes estate is much weakened & lesse then was 
 required by the first institution, and that the number may be also 
 otherwise full. His Ma*^® desires to know what prejudice, or incon- 
 venience may fall out by the passing of this grant and how it will 
 stand with the orders sett downe in the institution of the Baronettes 
 his Ma*'® being well inclined to satisfie the Gentleman in this his 
 sute if conveniently it may be done, & that in Justice he ought to 
 have it. ffor the King would not for seemelines sake doe injustice. 
 
 ' Excuse I pray yow the often trouble I give yow, and commaund 
 in all yor uses. 
 
 ' Yor assured friend to serve you 
 
 (No signature). 
 Greenwich, 6 May 1624. 
 
 (Endorsed) 6 May 1624. 
 To Mr. Atturney. 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 41 
 
 The Form of Patent in use at the present time is of the 
 
 simplest description, being as follows : — 
 
 'Victoria by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of 
 Great Britain and Ireland Queen Defender of the Faith to all to 
 
 WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME GREETING know ye that We 
 
 of Our especial Grace certain knowledge and mere motion have 
 
 erected appointed and created Our trusty and well beloved 
 
 of in Our county of Esquire to the dignity state and 
 
 degree of a baronet and him the said do by these Presents 
 
 erect appoint and create and We have appointed given and granted 
 and by these Presents for Us Our heirs and successors do appoint 
 
 give and grant unto him the said the name dignity state 
 
 degree style and title of Baronet aforesaid to have and to hold the said 
 name dignity state degree style and title of Baronet aforesaid unto him 
 
 the said and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten 
 
 and to be begotten willing and by these Presents granting for Us 
 
 Our heirs and successors that the said and his heirs male 
 
 aforesaid and every of them successively may bear and have the 
 name dignity state degree style and title of Baronet aforesaid and 
 that they and every of them successively may be called and styled by 
 
 the name of Baronet and that he the said and his heirs 
 
 male aforesaid and every of them successively may in all things be 
 held and deemed Baronets and be treated and reputed as Baronets 
 
 And also that he the said and his heirs male aforesaid 
 
 may enjoy and use and every of them successively may enjoy and 
 use by the name of Baronet! aforesaid all 'and singular the rights 
 privileges precedences and advantages to the degree of a Baronet in 
 all things duly and of right belonging which other Baronets of 
 England, Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland and the United Kingdom 
 of Great Britain and Ireland have heretofore honourably and quietly 
 used and enjoyed or as they do at present use and enjoy in witness 
 whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent. 
 
 Witness Ourself at Westminster the day of in the 
 
 year of our Reign. 
 
 BY warrant under THE QUEEn's SIGN MANUAL.' 
 
42 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Underneath is engrossed the name of the Secretary to 
 the Lord Chancellor, and to the Patent is attached the Great 
 Seal of England. 
 
 On the back of the Patent is endorsed the following, or 
 words to the same effect : — 
 
 *The within Patent has been duly recorded in the College of 
 Arms London pursuant to the tenor of a Royal Warrant bearing 
 date the Third day of December 1783 for correcting and preventing 
 
 abuses in the Order of Baronets and examined therewith this 
 
 day of .' 
 
 This is signed by the Registrar of the College of Arms. 
 The Royal Warrant referred to is given in extenso in 
 Chapter VL 
 
 The following is the Form of the Patent of creation of 
 Baronets of Ireland when the Degree was first instituted : — 
 
 'Jacobus dei gratia Anglie Scotie Francie et Hibernie Rex fidei 
 defensor, etc. Omnibus ad quos presentes littere nostre pervenerint 
 salutem Cum inter alias Imperii nostri gerendi curas quibus animus 
 noster assidue exercetur ilia non minima sit nee minimi momenti 
 de plantatione regni nostri Hibernie ac potissimum Ultonie magne 
 et precelebris ejusdem regni provincie quam nostris jam auspiciis 
 atque armis feliciter sub obsequii Jugum redactam ita constabilire 
 elaboramus ut tanta provincia non solum sincero religionis cultu 
 humanitate civili morumque probitate verum etiam opum affluentia 
 atque omnium rerum copia que statum reipublice ornare vel beare 
 possit magis magisque eiflorescat opus sane quod nulli progenitorum 
 nostrorum prestare et proficcre licuit Quamvis id ipsum multa 
 sanguinis et opum profusione sepius tentaverint In quo opere 
 sollicitudo nostra regia non solum ad hoc excubare debet ut plantatio 
 ipsa strenue promoveatur oppida condantur edes et castra exstruantur 
 agri colantur et id genus alia sed etiam prospiciendum inprimis ut 
 universus hujusmodi rerum civilium apparatus manu armata videlicet 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 43 
 
 presidiis et cohortibus protegatur et communiatur Ncqua aut vis 
 hostilis aut defectio intestina rem disturbet aut impediat Cumque 
 super intimationem nobis antehac factam Quod quidam ex fidelibus 
 subditis nostris regni nostri Anglie paratissimi fuerunt ad hoc Regium 
 nostrum inceptum tam corporibus quam fortunis suis promovendum 
 Nos comoti operis tam sancti ac salutaris intuitu atque gratos 
 habentes hujusmodi generosos afFectos atque propensos in obsequium 
 nostrum et bonum publicum voluntates perpendentes-que atque 
 reputantes virtutem et industriam nulla alia re magis quam honore 
 ali atque acui omnemque honorem et dignitatem splendorem et 
 amplitudinem a Rege tanquam a fonte originem et incrementum 
 ducere ad cujus culmen et fastigium proprie spectat novos honorum 
 et dignitatum titulos erigere atque instituere ut pote a quo antiqui 
 illi fluxerint consentaneum duxerimus postulantibus usu reipublice 
 atque temporum ratione nova merita novis dignitatis insignibus 
 rependere Ac propterea ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris 
 more progenitorum nostrorum et predecessorum nostrorum Celebris 
 memorie qui potestatem banc novus gradus inter subditos suos 
 creandi habuerunt et exercuerunt de regali nostra potestate et 
 authoritate ordinaverimus erexerimus constituerimus et creaverimus 
 infra regnum nostrum Anglie quendam statum gradum dignitatem 
 nomen et titulum Baronetti (anglice of a Baronett) infra dictum 
 regnum nostrum Anglie perpetuis temporibus duraturum ac diversos 
 fideles subditos nostros qui nobis auxilium et subsidium ad et versus 
 defensionem dicti regni nostri et precipue pro securitate plantationis 
 dicte provincie Ultonie prestiterint ad et in dictum dignitatis statum 
 et gradum baronetti prefecerimus constituerimus et creaverimus per 
 separales litteras nostras patentes Nos grata memoria recolentes 
 fidelia servicia tam nobis quam precharissime nuper sorori nostre 
 domine Elizabethe nuper Regine per quam plurimos subditos nostros 
 dicti regni nostri Hibernie et progenitores suos non sine sanguinis 
 et opum profusione prestita et impensa Necnon ipsorum animorum 
 alacritatem et perseverantiam ad felicem statum dicti regni nostri 
 Hibernie non solum continuandum sed in dies ampliandum con- 
 siderantes justum et nobis honorificum futurum duximus paria merita 
 et servicia paribus honoribus remunerare nostraque cura et pro- 
 
44 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 videntia regali efficere ut dictum regnum nostrum Hibernie eisdem 
 legibus moribus religione et honoribus uti regnum nostrum Anglie 
 in dies magis magisque efflorescat Nos igitur operis tarn honorifici 
 complementum desiderantes ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris 
 ac ex regali nostra potestate et authoritate de assensu et consensu 
 predilecti et fidelis consiliarii nostri Oliveri S* John militis deputati 
 nostri generalis dicti regni nostri Hibernie et secundum intentionem 
 et efFectum letterarum nostrarum manu nostra propria signatarum 
 gerentium datum apud Apthorpe tricesimo die Julii Anno regni 
 nostri Anglie Francie et Hibernie decimo septimo et Scotie quin- 
 quagesimo tertio predicto deputato et aliis directarum et in Rotulis 
 Cancellarie nostre dicti regni nostri Hibernie Irrotulatarum quarum 
 quidem litterarum tenor sequitur in hec verba videlicet Right trustie 
 and welbeloved wee greete you well we have a purpose to make 
 a certaine nomber of Baronetts in that our kingdome of Ireland 
 accordinge the course in England soe much approved and intend- 
 inge it as a reward for vertue it shalbe our care to advance such men 
 onely to that dignitie as have well deserved of our Crowne either 
 in warre or peace to the end that a title of such honnor descending 
 to their posteritie may invite them to imitate the worth of their 
 Auncestors uppon whom for their merittes by our good grace and 
 favour it was worthily conferred Amongest the rest and before all 
 others in that kingdom as a singuller marke of our favour towardes 
 
 him wee have made choise of our trustie and right welbeloved 
 
 and send you a bill to be passed under the greate Scale of that 
 
 kingdome for the makinge of him a Knight Baronett signed for his 
 better grace and honnor with our owne royall hand which wee 
 require you to see performed according to this our pleasure And 
 to lett him understand from us that findinge him soe faithfull and 
 industrious a servaunte to us and soe usefull to the commonwealth 
 in the place he holdeth we have freely bestowed this honnor uppon 
 him without any suite of his and shall uppon all occasions give him 
 such further testimony of that gratious opinion we have conceived 
 of him as may lett him understand howe much we value a man of 
 his honestie and able partes And for what you shall doe herein 
 these our letters shalbe your warrant Given under our signett at 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 45 
 
 Apthorpe the thirtieth day of July in the seaventeenth yeare of our 
 Raigne of England ffraunce and Ireland and of Scotland the three 
 and fiftieth Ac etiam secundum tenorem et effectum bille predicte 
 in litteris nostris predictis specificate et in Rotulis Cancellarie pre- 
 dicte Irrotulate ordinavimus ereximus constituimus et creavimus 
 Ac per presentes pro nobis heredibus et successoribus nostris ordina- 
 mus erigimus constituimus et creamus quendam statum gradum 
 dignitatem nomen et titulum Baronetti infra regnum nostrum 
 Hibernie perpetuo futuris temporibus duraturum Quodque status 
 titulus dignitas et gradus predictus Baronetti sit erit et esse reputa- 
 bitur status titulus dignitas et gradus dignitatis hereditarie loco 
 medius inter gradum Baronis et gradum militis Sciatis insuper quod 
 nos attendentes et gratiose considerantes quam plurima servicia nobis 
 
 per dilectum et fidelem nostrum prefatum de 
 
 in comitatu nostro in dicto regno nostro Hibernie 
 
 antehac prestita ejusque fidem et alacritatem in plantatione dicti 
 regni nostri Hibernie antehac promovenda ac ad eandem imposterum 
 ampHandam et manutenendam de gratia nostra speciali ac ex certa 
 scientia et mero motu nostris de assensu et consensu predictis Ac 
 secundum intentionem et effectum dictarum litterarum nostrarum 
 et bille predicte Ereximus prefecimus et creavimus eundem 
 
 ad et in dignitatem statum et gradum Baronetti (anglice of 
 
 a Barronett) dicti regni nostri Hibernie ipsumque Baro- 
 
 nettum dicti regni nostri Hibernie pro nobis heredibus et successori- 
 bus nostris prefecimus constituimus et creamus per presentes haben- 
 dum sibi et heredibus masculis de corpore suo legittime procreatis 
 imperpetuum volumus etiam et per presentes de gratia nostra speciali 
 ac ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris pro nobis heredibus et 
 
 successoribus nostris concedimus prefato et heredibus 
 
 masculis de corpore suo legittime procreatis Quod ipse idem 
 
 et heredes sui masculi predicti habeant gaudeant teneant et 
 
 capiant locum atque precedentiam virtute dignitatis Baronetti pre- 
 dicti et vigore presentium tam in omnibus commissionibus brevibus 
 litteris patentibus scriptis appellationibus nominationibus et direc- 
 tionibus quam in omnibus sessionibus conventionibus Cetibus et 
 locis quibuscunque proxime et imediate post filios Juniores vice- 
 
46 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 comitum et Baronum dicti regni nostri Hibernie et pre omnibus 
 militibus tarn de Balneo (Anglice of the Bathe) quam militibus 
 Baccalaureis (anglice Bachelers) ac etiam pre omnibus militibus 
 Bannerettis (anglice Banneretts) jam creatis vel imposterum creandis 
 Illis militibus bannerettis exceptis quos sub vexillis nostris regiis 
 heredum et successorum nostrorum in exercitu regali in aperto 
 bello et ipso Rege personaliter presenti explicatis Ac etiam illis 
 militibus bannerettis quos sub vexillis nostris regiis in exercitu nostro 
 regali explicatis per primogenitum filium nostrum Carolum nunc 
 Wallie principem Ibidem personaliter presentem in aperto bello 
 et non aliter pro termino vitarum eorum tantummodo et non diutius 
 creari contigerit respective Atque etiam exceptis omnibus militibus 
 preclari ordinis Garterii ac omnibus de privato consilio nostro 
 heredum et successorum nostrorum tam in regno nostro Anglie 
 quam in regno nostro Hibernie subthesaurio Scaccarii Capitali Jus- 
 ticiario de banco regis magistro Rotulorum cancellarie capitali 
 Justiciario de communi banco capitali Barone Scaccarii et omnibus 
 et singulis Judicibus et Justiciariis utriusque banci et Baronibus 
 Scaccarii in regno nostro Hibernie pro tempore existenti ac omnibus 
 aliis qui ante separales officiarios predictos aut eorum aliquem locum 
 et precedentiam habere debent qui omnes et singuli ratione talis 
 ordinis et in negotiis statum reipublice et Justitiam concernentibus 
 impensi locum et precedentiam in omnibus locis et omni de causa 
 pre omnibus baronettis dicti regni Hibernie imposterum creandis 
 habebunt capient et tenebunt aliqua consuetudine usu ordinatione 
 aut aliqua alia re in contrarium non obstante Quodque uxores dicti 
 
 et heredum suorum masculorum predictorum virtute 
 
 dicte dignitatis maritorum suorum predictorum habeant teneant 
 gaudeant et capiant locum et precedentiam tam durantibus vitis 
 hujusmodi maritorum suorum quam post eorundem maritorum 
 mortem pro et durante vita naturali hujusmodi uxorum proxime 
 et immediate post uxores filiorum Juniorum vicecomitum et 
 Baronum et filias vicecomitum et Baronum ac pre uxoribus omnium 
 quoruncunque pre quibus mariti hujusmodi uxorum vigore presentium 
 habere debent locum et precedentiam Et pro eo quod gradus iste 
 Baronetti gradus est hereditarius primogenitus filius sive heres 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 47 
 
 masculus apparens ac ceteri omnes filii et eorum uxores et filie 
 
 ejusdem et heredum suorum masculorum predictorum 
 
 respective habeant et capiant locum et precedentiam ante primo- 
 genitos filios ac alios filios et eorum uxores et filias omnium militum 
 cujuscunque gradus seu ordinis respective ac etiam ante primo- 
 genitos filios ac alios filios et eorum uxores et filias omnium 
 quoruncunque respective pre quibus patres hujusmodi filiorum 
 primogenitorum, ac aliorum filiorum et filiarum vigore presentium 
 habere debent locum et precedentiam Ita quod hujusmodi filii 
 primogeniti seu heredes masculi apparentes et uxores sue tarn in 
 vita quam post mortem maritorum suorum predictorum pro durante 
 vita eorum naturali et hujusmodi filie filiis istis imediate et proxime 
 post uxores filiorum primogenitorum istiusmodi Baronettorum 
 sequentibus habeant et capiant locum et precedentiam ante primo- 
 genitum filium et uxorem primogeniti filii cujusvis militis gradus 
 
 seu ordinis cujuscunque Et quod filii juniores predicti et 
 
 heredum masculorum suorum predictorum uxores sue tam in vita 
 quam post mortem maritorum suorum predictorum pro et durantibus 
 vitis suis naturalibus similiter habeant et capiant locum et prece- 
 dentiam proxime et imediate post filios primogenitos et uxores 
 filiorum primogenitorum et ante juniores filios et uxores juniorum 
 filiorum quorumcunque militum predictorum volumus etiam et per 
 presentes pro nobis heredibus et successoribus nostris de gratia nostra 
 speciali ac ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris concedimus quod 
 
 predictus nominetur appelletur nuncupetur placitet et 
 
 implacitetur per nomen Baronetti Et quod stilus et 
 
 additio Baronetti apponatur in fine nominis ejusdem et 
 
 heredum masculorum suorum predictorum in omnibus litteris paten- 
 tibus commissionibus et brevibus nostris atque in omnibus aliis chartis 
 factis atque litteris virtute presentium ut vera legittima et necessaria 
 additio dignitatis volumus etiam et per presentes pro nobis heredibus 
 
 et successoribus nostris ordinamus Quod nomini dicti et 
 
 heredum masculorum suorum predictorum in sermone Anglicano 
 et in omnibus scriptis Anglicanis preponatur hec additio videlicet 
 
 anglice Sir Et similiter quod uxor ejusdem et heredum 
 
 masculorum suorum predictorum habeant utantur et gaudeant hac 
 
48 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 appellatione videlicet anglice (lady madame and dame) respective 
 secundum usum loquendi Et insuper de abundantiori gratia nostra 
 speciali ac ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris concessimus ac per 
 presentes pro nobis heredibus et successoribus nostris concedimus 
 
 prefato et heredibus suis masculis predictis Quod ipsi et 
 
 eorum descendentes gestare possint et valeant aut in Cantone in 
 insignibus suis Anglice in a canton in their coate of armes aut in 
 scuto (Anglice an escutchion) ad libitum suum insignia Ultonie 
 (Anglice the armes of Ulster) videlicet manum gules vel sanguineam 
 manum in campo argenteo (anglice a hand gules or a bloody hand 
 
 in a field argent) Et quod predictus et heredes sui masculi 
 
 predicti habeant et habebunt locum in exercitu nostro heredum et 
 successorum nostrorum in Turma prope regale vexillum nostrum 
 heredum et successorum nostrorum in defensionem ejusdem que 
 proportio media est inter Baronem et militem Et ulterius concedimus 
 
 quod predictus et heredes sui masculi predicti habebunt 
 
 duos assistentes corporis ad supportandum pallium (anglice two 
 assistants of the body to assist the pall) unum principalem atratum 
 anglice a principall mourner et quatuor assistentes eidem principali 
 atrato in exequiis suis volumus insuper ac per presentes de ampliori 
 gratia nostra certa scientia et mero motu nostris convenimus et 
 
 concedimus prefato et heredibus suis masculis predictis 
 
 Quod nos heredes et successores nostri aut deputatus noster heredum 
 et successorum nostrorum dicti regni Hibernie filios primogenitos 
 
 seu heredes masculos apparentes de corpore dicti ac de 
 
 corporibus heredum masculorum dicti procreatorum et 
 
 unumquemque eorum quamprimum etatem viginti et unius annorum 
 attigerit licet in vita patris vel avi sui super notitiam inde eidem 
 deputato aut camerario vel vicecamerario hospitii nostri heredum vel 
 successorum nostrorum pro tempore existenti aut in absentia eorum 
 alicui alii officiario seu ministro nostro heredum vel successorum 
 nostrorum personam nostram heredum vel successorum nostrorum 
 attendenti datam in militem creabimus et faciemus creabit et faciet 
 habendum tenendum utendum et gaudendum eadem statum gradum 
 dignitatem stilum titulum nomen locum et precedentiam cum 
 omnibus et singulis privilegiis et ceteris premissis preconcessis 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 49 
 
 prefato et heredibus masculis de corpora suo exeuntibus 
 
 imperpetuum volentes et per presentes concedentes pro nobis 
 
 heredibus et successoribus nostris Quod predictus et 
 
 heredes sui masculi predicti nomen statum gradum stilum dignitatem 
 titulum locum et precedentiam predictam cum omnibus et singulis 
 privilegiis et ceteris premissis successive gerant et habeant et eorum 
 
 quilibet gerat et habeat Quodque idem et heredes sui 
 
 masculi predicti successive Baronetti in omnibus teneantur et ut 
 Baronetti tractentur et reputentur et eorum quilibet teneatur 
 tractetur et reputetur Et ulterius de uberiori gratia nostra certa 
 scientia et mero motu nostris concessimus ac per presentes pro 
 
 nobis heredibus et successoribus nostris concedimus prefato 
 
 et heredibus suis masculis predictis Quod numerus Baronet- 
 
 torum dicti regni Hibernie nunquam posthac excedet in toto in 
 aliquo uno tempore numerum centum Baronettorum et quod dicti 
 Baronetti et heredes sui masculi predicti respective de tempore in 
 tempus imperpetuum habebunt tenebunt et gaudebunt locum et 
 precedentiam suas interse videlicet quilibet eorum secundum priori- 
 tatem et senioritatem creationis Baronetti predicti Quotquot autem 
 creabuntur Baronetti per litteras nostras patentes gerentes datum 
 uno et eodem die illi et heredes sui predicti gaudebunt locis et pre- 
 cedentiis suis inter se secundum prioritatem que cuilibet eorum 
 dabitur per litteras nostras patentes in ea parte primo conficiendas 
 sine impedimento et non aliter nee alio modo Et insuper de abun- 
 dantiori gratia nostra speciali ac ex certa scientia et mero motu 
 nostris concessimus ac per presentes pro nobis heredibus et succes- 
 soribus nostris concedimus prefato et heredibus suis 
 
 masculis predictis Quod nee nos nee heredes vel successores nostri 
 de cetero imposterum erigemus ordinabimus constituemus aut 
 creabimus infra dictum regnum nostrum Hibernie aliquem alium 
 gradum ordinem nomen titulum stilum dignitatem sive statum nee 
 dabimus aut concedemus locum precedentiam sive preheminentiam 
 alicui persone sub vel infra gradum dignitatem sive statum Baronum 
 parliamenti dicti regni nostri Hibernie qui erit vel esse possit aut 
 habebitur usitabitur aut reputabitur esse superior anterior vel equalis 
 gradui dignitati vel loco Baronettorum predictor urn Nee persona 
 
 D 
 
so A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 aliqua infra gradum Baronis (exceptis preexceptis) ratione seu colore 
 alicujus constitutionis ordinis dignitatis gradus officii servicii loci 
 negotii consuetudinis usus seu alterius rei cujuscunque nunc aut 
 imposterum habebit tenebit vel gaudebit locum precedentiam sive 
 preheminentiam ante Baronettos predictos sed quod tam dictus 
 
 et heredes sui masculi predicti quam uxor filii filie et 
 
 uxores filiorum ejusdem ac heredum masculorum suorum 
 
 predictorum respective de cetero imperpetuum libere et quiete 
 habeant teneant et gaudeant dignitatem locum precedentiam et 
 privilegia sua predicta pre omnibus (exceptis preexceptis) qui nunc 
 sunt aut imposterum erint creati de talibus gradibus statibus digni- 
 tatibus ordinibus nominibus stilis vel titulis vel quibustalis locus 
 precedentia vel preheminentia ut prefertur dabitur vel concedetur 
 vel qui habere tenere et gaudere clamabunt aliquem locum sive 
 precedentiam ratione sive colore alicujus talis consuetudinis ordinis 
 dignitatis gradus officii servicii loci negotii consuetudinis usus seu 
 alterius rei cujuscunque ac pre uxoribus et liberis suis respective 
 secundum veram Intentionem presentium absque impedimento 
 nostro heredum vel successorum nostrorum vel aliorum quorum- 
 cunque Salva tamen et nobis heredibus et successoribus nostris 
 semper reservatis plena et absoluta potestate et authoritate con- 
 tinuandi et restaurandi alicui persone sive personis de tempore in 
 tempus talem locum et precedentiam qualia aliquo tempe posthac 
 sibi debita erunt que per aliquem casum sive occationem quam- 
 cunque imposterum mutabuntur Aliquam in presentibus aut aliqua 
 alia re causa sive respectu quocunque in contrarium nonobstante Et 
 ulterius per presentes declaramus et significamus beneplacitum et 
 voluntatem nostram in hac parte fore et esse et sic nobiscum 
 statuimus et decrevimus Quod si postquam nos predictum numerum 
 centum Baronettorum dictorum regni Hibernie compleverimus et 
 perfecerimus contigerit aliquem vel aliquos eorundem Baronettorum 
 ab hac vita decedere absque heredibus masculis de corpore vel 
 corporibus hujusmodi Baronetti vel baronettorum procreatis Quod 
 tunc Nos non creabimus vel perficiemus aliquem aliam personam 
 vel alias personas in Baronettum vel Baronettos dicti regni nostri 
 Hibernie sed quod numerus dictorum centum Baronettorum ea 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 51 
 
 ratione de tempore in tempus diminuetur et in minorem numerum 
 cedet et redigetur volumus insuper ac per presentes pro nobis 
 
 heredibus et successoribus nostris prefato et heredibus 
 
 suis masculis predictis convenimus et concedimus Quod si dubi- 
 tationes sive questiones alique (quo-ad aliquem locum precedentiam 
 
 privilegium seu aliam rem) predictum et heredes masculos 
 
 de corpore suo et uxores eorum primogenitos filios et uxores suos 
 filias filios Juniores et Juniorum filiorum uxores sive eorum aliquem 
 tangentes sive concernentes imposterum orientur que per has litteras 
 nostras patentes jam determinate non existunt hujusmodi dubita- 
 tiones sive questiones determinabuntur et adjudicabuntur per et 
 secundum hujusmodi usuales regulas consuetudines et leges (quo-ad 
 locum precedentiam privilegia seu alia ista concernentia) prout alius 
 gradus dignitatis hereditarie ordinantur reguntur et adjudicantur 
 denique volumus ac per presentes pro nobis heredibus et successoribus 
 nostris de gratia nostra speciali ac ex certa scientia et mero motu 
 
 nostris concedimus prefato et heredibus suis masculis 
 
 predictis Quod he littere nostre patentes erunt in omnibus et per 
 omnia firme valide bone sufficientes et efFectuales in lege tam contra 
 nos heredes et successores nostros quam contra omnes alios quos- 
 cunque secundum veram intentionem earundem tam in omnibus 
 Curiis nostris quam alibi ubicunque Nonobstante aliqua lege con- 
 suetudine prescriptione usu ordinatione sive constitutione quacunque 
 antehac editis habitis usitatis ordinatis sive provisis vel imposterum 
 edendis habendis usitandis ordinandis vel providendis Et non obstante 
 aliqua alia re causa vel materia quacunque volumus etiam, etc. 
 Absque fine in hanaperio, etc. Eo quod expressa mentio, etc. In 
 cujus rei testimonium has litteras nostras fieri fecimus patentes 
 Teste prefato deputato nostro generali regni nostri Hibernie Apud 
 Dublin ultimo die septembris Anno regni nostri Anglie Francie et 
 Hibernie decimo septimo et Scotie Quinquagesimo tertio 
 
 Virtute litterarum domini Regis ab Anglia missarum et manu sua 
 propria signatarum. 
 
 The following is an example of the later Patent in 
 English of a Baronet of Ireland, and is the one used for 
 
52 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Sir Jonah Wheeler Denny Cuffe, the last creation of the 
 Baronetage of Ireland : — 
 
 'George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain 
 France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith and so forth To 
 ALL unto whom these presents shall come Greeting whereas the 
 Most Illustrious Prince King James the first of Blessed Memory 
 for the Security of Our Plantation of Our Province of Ulster in 
 our Kingdom of Ireland of his mere Motion and Royal Power and 
 Authority ordained constituted and created a certain State Degree 
 Dignity Name and Title of Baronet within our Kingdom of Ireland 
 to continue for ever and that the said State Dignity Title and 
 Degree of Baronet should be and reputed an hereditary State 
 Dignity Title and Degree between the Degree of a Baron and the 
 degree of a Knight know ye therefore that We being well assured 
 of the many and very faithful services of our Trusty and well 
 
 beloved of in the County of Esquire and 
 
 being fully certified of his Faith and Industry and also of his Ability 
 and Chearfulness in advancing our said Plantation in our said 
 Kingdom of Ireland and in enlarging and maintaining the same for 
 the future of our special Grace certain Knowledge and mere Motion 
 by and with the advice and consent of our Right Trusty and 
 entirely beloved Cousin and Counsellor Charles Marquis Corn- 
 WALLis our Lieutenant General and General Governor of our said 
 Kingdom of Ireland and according to the Tenor and Effect of our 
 Letters under our Privy Signet and Royal Sign Manual bearing 
 date at our Court at Saint James's the fourteenth day of August 
 one thousand seven hundred and ninety nine in the thirty ninth 
 year of our Reign and now Enrolled in the Rolls of our High Court 
 of Chancery in our said Kingdom of Ireland and remaining of 
 Record in our said Court have advanced raised and created and by 
 these presents We do for us our Heirs and Successors advance raise 
 
 and create our said trusty and well beloved to the 
 
 Dignity State and Degree of a Baronet in and of our said Kingdom 
 of Ireland To have hold and Enjoy the said Dignity unto him the 
 said and the Heirs Male of his body lawfully begotten 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 53 
 
 and our Will is and by these presents of our special Grace certain 
 Knowledge and mere Motion for Us our Heirs and Successors We 
 
 do grant unto the said and the Heirs Male of his body 
 
 lawfully begotten that he the said and the Heirs Male of 
 
 his body lawfully begotten may have hold enjoy and take place and 
 precedence by Virtue of the Dignity of Baronet and of these 
 Presents as well in all Commissions Writs Letters patent writings 
 appellations Nominations Appointments and Directions as in all 
 Sessions Conventions Assemblies and places whatsoever next and 
 immediately after the younger sons of Viscounts and Barons of our 
 said Kingdom of Ireland and before all Knights as well of the 
 Bath as Knights Batchelors and also before all Knights Banneretts 
 heretofore created and hereafter to be created these Knights 
 Banneretts only excepted who shall happen to be created under 
 the Royal Banner of Us our Heirs and Successors displayed in a 
 Royal Army in open War the King himself being personally 
 present by the Eldest Son of the King there personally present 
 in open War and not otherwise and also except all Knights of the 
 Most Noble Order of the Garter and all those of the Privy 
 Council of Us our Heirs and Successors as well in our Kingdom of 
 England as in our Kingdom of Ireland Vice Treasurers of our 
 Exchequer Chief Justices of our Court of Kings Bench Masters 
 of the Rolls Chancellors Chief Justices of our Common Bench 
 Chief Barons of our Exchequer and all and singular the Justices and 
 Judges of each Bench and Barons of our Exchequer in our said 
 Kingdom of Ireland for the time being and all others who before 
 the several Officers aforesaid or any of them ought to have place 
 and precedence and who by means of such Order and Business 
 concerning the State Common Wealth and Justice ought to have 
 and take place and precedence in all places before all Baronets of 
 our said Kingdom of Ireland created or hereafter to be created any 
 Custom Use Ordinance or any other thing to the contrary notwith- 
 standing and that the Wives of the said and of the Heirs 
 
 Male of his body lawfully begotten and to be begotten by Virtue of 
 the Dignity of their Husbands may have hold and enjoy and take 
 place and precedence as well during the Lives of such Husbands 
 
54 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 as after the death of the same Husbands for and during the natural 
 lives of such Wives 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 those before 
 whom the Husbands of such vv^ives by Virtue of these presents ought 
 to have place and precedence And in regard that the said Degree 
 of Baronet is hereditary to the Eldest Son or Heir Male apparent 
 that the eldest son and all other the sons and their Wives and the 
 
 daughters of the said and of his Heirs respectively may 
 
 have and take place and precedence before the Eldest Son and other 
 sons and their Wives and before the Daughters of all Knights of 
 what Degree or Order soever respectively and also before the Eldest 
 Son or other Sons and their Wives and the Daughters of all Persons 
 whatsoever respectively before whom the Father of such Eldest son 
 and other sons and their Wives and Daughters by Virtue of these 
 presents ought to have place and precedence so that such Eldest son 
 or Heir Male apparent and their Wives as well in the Lifetime as 
 after the death of their Husbands aforesaid for and during their 
 natural lives and such other sons and their Wives immediately and 
 next after the Wife of such Eldest son being a Baronet may have 
 and take place and precedence before the Eldest son and the wife of 
 the Eldest Son of any Knight of any Degree or Order whatsoever 
 
 and that the younger sons of the said and the Heirs Male 
 
 of their Bodies and their Wives as well in the Lifetime as after the 
 death of their Husbands aforesaid for and during their Natural Lives 
 may have and take place and precedence next and immediately after 
 the Eldest Sons and the Wives of the Eldest Sons and the younger 
 sons and the Wives of the younger sons of any Knights whatsoever 
 And our further Will is and by these presents for us Our Heirs and 
 
 Successors We do grant that the said may be named 
 
 called stiled and may plead and be impleaded by the name of Sir 
 
 Baronet and that the Stile and addition of Baronet may 
 
 be added at the end of the Name of the said and of the 
 
 Heirs Male of his Body in all our Letters Patent Commissions and 
 Writs and in all Charters Deeds and Letters by Virtue of these 
 presents as a true legal and necessary addition of dignity And our 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 55 
 
 further Will likewise is and by these presents for Us our Heirs and 
 
 Successors we Order that before the Name of the said 
 
 and the Heirs Male of his body in English Discourse and in all 
 English Writing this addition that is to say *Sir' shall be put and 
 
 likewise that the Wives of the said — and of the Heirs 
 
 Male of his Body aforesaid may have use and enjoy these Titles 
 that is to say 'Lady, Madam and Dame' respectively according to 
 the manner of discoursing Moreover of our abundant Special Grace 
 certain Knowledge and mere motion We have granted and by 
 these presents for Us our Heirs and Successors We do grant unto 
 
 the said and the Heirs Male of his Body aforesaid that 
 
 they and their Descendants may wear and bear in a Canton on their 
 Coat of Arms or in an Escutcheon at their Pleasure the Arms of 
 Ulster that is to say an Hand gules or a bloody Hand in a field 
 
 Argent and that the said and the Heirs Male of his 
 
 Body aforesaid may and shall have a place in the Army of Us our 
 Heirs and Successors in the Troop near the Royal Banner of Us 
 our Heirs and Successors in Defence of the same which is the 
 middle Degree or Station between Barons and Knights And 
 
 further We do grant that the said and the Heirs Male 
 
 of his Body aforesaid shall have two Assistants of the Body to 
 support the Pall a Principal Mourner and four Assistants to the 
 said Principal Mourner at their Funerals And our further Will 
 is and by these presents of our more abundant special Grace certain 
 
 Knowledge and mere Motion We have granted to the said 
 
 and the Heirs Male of his Body aforesaid that We our Heirs 
 
 and Successors or the Deputy of us our Heirs and Successors of our 
 said Kingdom of Ireland the Eldest sons or Heirs Male apparent 
 
 of the Body of the said and of the Bodies of the Heirs 
 
 Male of the said begotten or to be begotten and each 
 
 of them as soon as they shall attain to the age of twenty one 
 years although in the lifetime of their Father or Grandfather upon 
 Notice thereof to the said Deputy or Chamberlain or Vice Cham- 
 berlain of the Household of Us our Heirs or Successors for the 
 time being or in their Absence to any other Officer or Minister 
 of Us our Heirs or Successors attending upon Us our Heirs or 
 
56 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Successors shall make and create Knights To have hold and Enjoy 
 the said State Degree Dignity Stile Title Name place and preced- 
 ence with all and singular the Privileges and other the Premises 
 
 before granted to the said and his Heirs Male of his 
 
 Body issuing for ever Willing and by these Presents granting for 
 
 Us our Heirs and Successors that the said and the Heirs 
 
 Male of his Body aforesaid may bear and have and each of them 
 may bear and have the name State Degree Stile Dignity Honor 
 place and Precedence with all and singular the Privileges and other 
 
 the Premises successively and that the said and the Heirs 
 
 Male of his Body may successively be Baronets in all things and 
 may be treated and reputed and each of them may be deemed 
 treated and reputed as Baronets and that the said Baronets and their 
 Heirs male of their Bodies aforesaid respectively from time to time 
 for ever shall hold and enjoy their Places and Precedencies amongst 
 themselves that is to say each of them according to the Priority 
 and Seniority of his Creation but as many as shall be created by 
 our Letters patent bearing date on one and the same day and their 
 Heirs Male aforesaid shall enjoy without impediment their places 
 and precedences between themselves according to the Priority which 
 shall be given to each of them by our Letters patent in that behalf 
 first executed and not otherwise or in other manner And further 
 of our abundant special Grace certain knowledge and mere motion 
 We have granted and by these Presents for Us our Heirs and 
 
 Successors We do grant unto the said and the Heirs 
 
 Male of his Body aforesaid that neither We our Heirs or Successors 
 for the future shall make Ordain Constitute or create within our 
 said Kingdom of Ireland any Degree Order Name Title Stile 
 Dignity or State nor will We give or grant place precedence or 
 pre-eminence to any person under or below the Degree Dignity 
 or State of Barons of Parliament of our said Kingdom of Ireland 
 who shall or can be or shall be had used or reputed to be superior 
 or higher or equal to the Degree and Dignity or place of Baronets 
 aforesaid (except as before excepted) but that as well the said 
 
 and the Heirs male of his Body aforesaid as the Wives 
 
 Sons and Daughters and the Wives of the sons of the said 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 57 
 
 and of his Heirs Male aforesaid respectively for ever may freely and 
 quietly have hold and enjoy their Dignities Places Precedences and 
 Privileges aforesaid before all those (except as before excepted) who 
 hereafter shall be created by such Degree State Dignity Order 
 Name Stile or Title or to Whom such places precedences or pre- 
 eminences aforesaid shall be given or granted or who shall claim 
 to have hold or enjoy any place or precedence by means or colour 
 of any such Custom Order Dignity Degree Office Service Place 
 Business or any other Matter whatsoever and before their Wives 
 and children respectively according to the true Intention of these 
 Presents without any Impediment of Us our Heirs or Successors 
 or any others whomsoever saving and notwithstanding and always 
 reserving for Us our Heirs and Successors full and absolute Power 
 and Authority of continuing and restoring to any person or persons 
 from time to time such place and precedence as at any Time here- 
 after shall be due to him or them who for any Cause or Occasion 
 whatsoever hereafter shall be changed any thing in these presents 
 or any other thing cause matter or respect whatsoever to the con- 
 trary notwithstanding And our further Will is and by these 
 presents for Us our Heirs and Successors We do grant unto the 
 
 said and the Heirs Male of his body that if any Doubt 
 
 or Question shall hereafter arise as to any place precedence privilege 
 
 or other Matter aforesaid touching or concerning the said 
 
 and the Heirs Male of his Body aforesaid and their Wives the Eldest 
 Sons and their Wives the younger sons and the wives of the younger 
 Sons or any of them which by these our Letters patent are not 
 now determined such Doubt or Question shall be determined and 
 adjudged by and according to such rules customs and Laws as con- 
 cern such place precedence and privilege as other Degrees of 
 Hereditary Dignities are ordered ruled and adjudged And further 
 of our more abundant special Grace And by and with the advice 
 and Consent aforesaid We do declare and signify our Pleasure and 
 Royal Will in this behalf to be and so We have determined and 
 
 appointed that the said and the Heirs Male of his Body 
 
 lawfully begotten may be exonerated and discharged from all 
 Charges and Payments whatsoever and from all services of what 
 
58 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 kind soever which are due or ought to be paid to Us our Heirs or 
 Successors by means or consideration of the Honor and Dignity 
 aforesaid any thing in these our Letters patent contained to the 
 contrary notwithstanding And our Will is and by these presents 
 for us our Heirs and Successors of our special Grace certain know- 
 ledge and mere Motion We do grant unto the said and 
 
 the Heirs Male of his Body aforesaid that these our Letters Patent 
 or the Inrollment of them shall be in all things good firm valid 
 sufficient and effectual in the Law as Well against Us our Heirs 
 and Successors as against all others whomsoever according to the 
 true Intention of the same as well in all our Courts as elsewhere 
 wheresoever any Cause or Matter whatsoever to the contrary not- 
 withstanding. Lastly our Will is that the said Baronet 
 
 may and shall have those our letters Patent under the Great Seal 
 of Ireland without any Fine great or small for the same unto our 
 Hanaper to be rendered paid or made altho no express mention be 
 made in these presents of the free yearly value or Certainty of the 
 Premises or any of them or any other Gifts by Us or by any of our 
 
 Progenitors made to the said Provided always that 
 
 these our Letters Patent be inrolled in the Rolls of our High Court 
 of Chancery in our said Kingdom of Ireland within the space of 
 six Months next ensuing the date of these presents In witness 
 whereof We have caused these our Letters to be made Patent 
 Witness our aforesaid Lieutenant General and General Governor 
 
 of our said Kingdom of Ireland at Dublin the day of in 
 
 the year of our Reign.' 
 
 The Patent of the Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia 
 is naturally of much greater length than any of the preced- 
 ing, it having been the original intention that each Baronet 
 should obtain in addition to his dignity sixteen thousand 
 acres of land in Nova Scotia, all particularly bounded and 
 its limits ascertained in his Patent. 
 
 The following is the Patent in full of Sir Robert Gordon 
 of Gordonstown, the first Baronet created : — 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 59 
 
 'CAROLUS, Dei gratia, Magnse Britannia?, Franciae, et Hiberniae, 
 rex, fideique defensor, Omnibus probis hominibus totius terrae suae, 
 clericis et laicis, salutem. Sciatis, nos, cum consilio et consensu 
 praedilecti nostri consanguinei et consiliarii Johannis Marriae comitis, 
 domini Erskine et Garioch, etc. magni regni nostri Scotiae 
 thesaurarii, computorum rotulatoris, collectoris, ac thesaurarii 
 novarum nostrarum augmentationum, ac dilecti et familiaris nostri 
 consiliarii, domini Archibaldi Napier de Merchingstoun, militis, 
 nostri in eisdem officiis deputati, ac etiam dominorum nostri secreti 
 consilii ejusdem regni nostri Scotiae, nostrorum commissionariorum, 
 pro propagatione religionis Christianae infra bondas regni et dominii 
 nostri Novas Scotiae, jacen. infra terminos Americae, limitibus 
 Novae Angliae confinis, per dilectum nostrum dominum Willielmum 
 Alexander de Menstrie, militem, pro magnis suis sumptibus et 
 impensis tarn mari et navigationibus, quam terra, non ita pridem 
 inventi, et supervisi, nunc haereditarium proprietarium ejusdem 
 regni, et dominii, et nostrum locum tenentem, et deputatum, infra 
 easdem bondas, pro promptiori opere et auxilio in plantatione et 
 policia ejusdem, et ad reducendum dictum regnum ad nostram 
 obedientiam, proque bono et gratuito servitio nobis per dilectum 
 nostrum Dominum Robertum Gordon, militem, filium quondam 
 Alexandri Sutherlandiae comitis, et pro diversis aliis magnis et 
 gravibus considerationibus, nos moven. Dedisse, concessisse, et 
 disposuisse, tenoreque prassentis cartae nostrae, cum consilio antedict. 
 dare, concedere, et disponere, prasfato praedilecto nostro Domino 
 Roberto Gordon, militi, filio quondam Alexandri Sutherlandiae 
 comitis, haredihus suis masculis^ et assignatis quibuscunque^ hareditarie^ 
 ToTAM ET Integram illam partem et portionem diet, bondarum 
 et terrarum regni et dominii Novae Scotiae, ut subsequitur, vulgari 
 nostro sermone particulariter bondat. et limitat. To witt, 
 Beginnand on the sea-cost at the south-w^est part of land, upon the 
 eastmost side of that bay calHt Port de Montoun, and from thence 
 going eastward thrie myllis alongst the cost, and from thence passing 
 northw^ard from the said sea-cost unto the mayn land, anent these 
 thrie myllis, till the quantitie thairof extend to sexteen thousand 
 acres of land, keeping alwayis thrie myllis in bried ; cum castris, 
 
6o A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 turribus, fortaliciis, maneriarum locis, domibus, aedificiis extructis 
 vel extruendis, hortis, pomariis plantatis vel plantandis, toftis, croftis, 
 parcis, campis, pratis, molendinis, multuris, terris molendinariis, et 
 sequelis, silvis, piscationibus, tarn rubrorum quam alborum piscium, 
 salmonum, aliorumque magnorum et parvorum piscium, tarn in salsis 
 quam aquis dulcibus, advocatione, donatione, benificiorum ecclesiarum 
 et capellaniarum, et juribus patronatuum earund. annexis, connexis, 
 dependentiis, tenentibus, tenandriis, libera tenentium servitiis, una 
 cum omnibus et singulis fodinis, mineralibus venis, saxis latoniis, 
 tam metallorum et mineralium, regalium vel regiorum, auri et 
 argenti, infra dictas bondas et terras, quam aliarum fodinarum ferri, 
 chalybis, stanni, electri, cupri, plumbi, aeris, aurichalchi, et aliorum 
 mineralium quorumcunque ; Una etiam cum omnibus et singulis 
 pretiosis lapillis, gemmis, margaritis, unionibus, chrystallis, aluminibus, 
 lie curell, et aliis ; Et cum plenaria potestate, privilegio, et juris- 
 dictione liberae regalitatis infra totas et integras prasdictas bondas et 
 terras, omnium et singularum partium, pendiculorum, pertinentium, 
 privilegorium, et commoditatum earund. terrarum, aliorumque 
 supra mentionat. Cum plenaria potestate et privilegio prasfato 
 domino Roberto Gordon, suis hasredibus masculis, et assignatis, 
 venandi, tentandi, fodiendi, eruendi, ac scrutandi fundum dictarum 
 terrarum pro dictis fodinis, mineralibus, pretiosis lapillis, gemmis, 
 margaritis, unionibus, aliisque supra script, et utendi omni legitima 
 et ordinaria industria pro inventione et recuperatione eorundem, et 
 lucrandi, extrahendi, evelandi, purgandi, examinandi, re-examinandi, 
 et purificandi eadem, tam diet, aurum et argentum, quam alia 
 metalla, pretiosos lapillos, margaritas, uniones, et alia supra mentionat, 
 et eadem ad suos proprios usus convertendi et applicandi, similiter 
 et tam libere quam praefatus dominus Willielmus Alexander, sui 
 haeredes, et assignati, virtute originalis infeofamenti, ipsis desuper 
 fact, et concess. de data apud Windsor, decimo die mensis 
 Septembris, anno Domini millesimo sexcentesimo vigesimo primo 
 facere potuerunt. Reservata tamen nobis, nostris hseredibus et 
 successor! bus, decima parte regalium metallorum, communiter vocat. 
 lie ore auri, et argenti, lucrandorum, et obtinendorum, omnibus 
 temporibus a futuris, infra dictas bondas et terras, et reliquis metallis 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 6i 
 
 mineralibus, pretiosis lapillis, gemmis, margaritis, unionibus, aliisque 
 quibuscunque, in usum et proprietatem prasfati domini Robert!, 
 hasredum suorum masculorum, et assignatorum, in perpetuum integre 
 cessuris, per ipsos intromittendis, cum omnibus proficuis, divoriis, et 
 commoditatibus earund. Cum potestate etiam praefato domino 
 Roberto Gordon, suis haeredibus masculis, et assignatis, asdificandi, 
 extruendi, et erigendi infra bondas ejusdem et fundi terrarum, super 
 quacunque parte earund. civitates, urbes, oppida, villas, burgos, 
 baroniae liberos portus, sinus, navium habitationes, et stationes, infra 
 eosdem, castra, turres, fortalicia, munimenta, extructiones, valles, 
 aggeres, propugnacula, infra easdem bondas, terras, civitates, burgos, 
 stationes, portus, aliaque loca quaecunque, tam per mare et littora, 
 quam per terras, munita, supportata, et inhabitata, moenibus, et 
 prasfidiis militum et armatorum, pro fortificatione, roboratione, 
 tutela, et defensione earund. Et similiter erigendi, et constituendi 
 nundinas, mercaturas, et mercemoniarium loca, infra dictas civitates, 
 burgos, urbes, villas, et baroniae burgos, et infra aliquam aliam 
 partem omnium et singularum dictarum bondarum et terrarum, 
 vel in burgis, vel villis custodiend. observand. et manutenen. 
 quibus temporibus, particularibus diebus, anni temporibus, locis 
 et occasionibus, prout praefato domino Roberto, suis haeredibus 
 masculis, et assignatis, expediens videbitur ; et imponendi, exigendi, 
 tollendi, et recipiendi, omnes et quascunque tolonias, custumas, 
 anchoragia, primitias, lie vrymguilts, carmarum salaria, lie doksilver, 
 et alias divorias earundem civitatum, burgorum, oppidorum, villarum 
 portuum, stationum, nundinarum, et fororum, prout prasfato domino 
 Roberto, suis haeredibus masculis, et assignatis, magis videbitur 
 expedien. cum omnibus et singulis privilegiis, Hbertatibus, et com- 
 moditatibus eisdem spectan. Et similiter faciendi et constituendi 
 capitanos, imperatores, ductores, et gubernatores, majores officiarios, 
 praepositos, et balivos diet, civitatum, burgorum, urbium, villarum et 
 burgorum baronise regalitatis, portuum, stationum, castrorum et 
 munimentorum, una cum justiciariis pacis, constabulariis, aliis 
 officiariis, tam in causis criminalibus, quam civilibus, pro regimine, 
 vera et legitima administratione justiciae infra easdem, et reliquas 
 bondas praescript, terrarum, bondarum, et littorum ; et si ipsis 
 
62 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 videbitur eosdem magistratus et officiaros, pro promptiori et meliori 
 praefatarum bondarum regimine, alterand. et mutand. et ordinem 
 ineundi pro ipsorum regimine, prout ipsis expediens videbitur, 
 necnon faciendi, constituendi, et ordinandi hujusmodi particulares 
 leges, ordinationes, et constitutiones, infra totas et integras praefatas 
 terras et bondas, tarn in burgis quam in villis, prout ipsis expediens 
 videbitur, omni tempore a futuro observandos, praevaricatores et 
 contravenientes eisdem castigandi, corrigendi, et conformiter 
 puniendi. Ac etiam, aedificandi et extruendi naves, navigia, et 
 vasa, tam magna quam parva, tam bello quam mercimoniis apta ; 
 vel infra dictum dominium Novas Scotise, et partes dictarum 
 terrarum, praefato domino Roberto, suis haeredibus masculis, et 
 assignatis, specialiter supra designat. Cum omni genere muni- 
 tionum, bombardarum magnarum seu parvarum, pulveris sulphurei, 
 globuli armorum, et omnium armorum, invasioni vel defensioni 
 convenien. et omnibus aliis ingenii et belli exercitationibus. Et 
 similiter, transportandi eisdem, aut quibuscunque aliis navibus ad 
 dictum regnum Novae Scotiae, et speciales bondas supra designatas, 
 tormenta, semitormenta, lie cannonis, semicannonis, fusilia, et alias 
 munitiones, magnas seu parvas, pro defensione, salute, et tuitione 
 dicti regni. Et similiter, cum expressa potestate, privilegio, et 
 licentia, praefato domino Roberto, suis haeredibus masculis, assignatis 
 et deputatis, vel aliis ipsorum nominibus, transportandi de dicto 
 regno Scotiae, vel aliis nostris dominus, vel alio pro ipsorum arbitrio, 
 omnes et quascunque personas, milites, bellicosos colonos, artifices, 
 mercatores, vel alios strategos cujuscunque qualitatis, status, seu 
 graduum, cum suis bonis, supellectilibus, equis, catellis, bovibus, 
 ovibus, munitionibus, magnis seu parvis armis, provisionibus, et 
 commeatu ad diet, fundum et terras, pro meliori armatu et pro- 
 pagatione dictas plantationis. Et similiter, utendi et exercendi 
 omni legitimo genere mercemoniarum, pro meliori policia earundem 
 bondarum et terrarum, et excludendi, prohibendi, inhibendi, resistendi, 
 repellendi, et invadendi vi et armis, omnes et quascunque personas 
 intendentes plantationem, occupationem, vel possessionem dictarum 
 bondarum et terrarum, vel ad exercendum, utendum, mercandum, 
 aut negotiandum infra easdem, absque expresso avisamento, licentia. 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 6^ 
 
 et consensu dicti domini Roberti Gordon, suorum haeredum mascu- 
 lorum, assignatorum vel deputatorum, ad id efFectum habito et 
 obtento, et confiscandi, intromittendi, detinendi, et authorendi 
 omnes et singulas naves, bona, catella, et supellectilia, vel per mare 
 vel terras usurpantium in contrarium, et eadem ad proprios usus, 
 utilitatem, et commodum dicti domini Roberti, suorumque praedict. 
 applicandi, cum expressis vi^arranto et mandato omnibus nostris 
 vicecomitibus, senescallis, et balivis regalitatum, justiciariis pacis, 
 majoribus, senioribus, praepositis, balivis, et serjandis, constabulariis, 
 et justiciae ministris quibuscunque, concurrendi, fortificandi, et 
 assistendi praefato domino Roberto, suisque praescript. in eisdem, et 
 in debita et legitima executione omnium et singulorum punctorum, 
 clausularum, et articulorum, dictae cartae et infeofamenti ; Et 
 quod paratam habeant navigationem ad omnes occasiones, pro suis 
 hominibus, copiis, bonis, catellis, munitionibus, armis, loricis, com- 
 meatu, et praeparationibus, ad et a dictis bondis et regni Novs 
 Scotiae, cum ipsis, si videbitur, suis rationabilibus sumptibus et 
 impensis, ut congruit. Cum potestate etiam praefato domino 
 Roberto, suis hasredibus masculis, assignatis et deputatis, in casu 
 rebellionis, tumultus, vel seditionis infra dictas bondas, fundum et 
 terras, vel in cursu itinerum, vel navigationum, ad vel ab iisdem, ut 
 si contigerit aliquam personam, vel personas, infra easdem bondas et 
 terras, et qui erunt sub imperio et mandato eorum in dictis itineribus, 
 et navigationibus, praevaricare et contraire ipsorum mandatis : In 
 hoc casu, vel aliquo eorum casuum, utendi, et exercendi potestatem 
 et privilegium omnium jurium militarium contra delinquentes, et 
 reos puniendi, et corrigendi eosdem hujus legibus, prout ipsis vide- 
 bitur expediens. Excludendo per praefentis cartae nostae tenorem, 
 nostrum locum tenentem, et omnes alias personas quascunque, ab 
 usu et exercitatione quarumcunquc legum militarium contra dictas 
 personas, vel earum aliquam infra dictas bondas, in dictis itineribus 
 et cursibus, in et abs eisdem ; exceptis dicto domino Roberto, suis 
 haeredibus masculis,sassignatis vel suis deputatis tantum. Ac etiam, 
 nos, pro nobis et successoribus nostris, cum consilio et consensu 
 antedicto, tenore praesentis cartae eximimus, quiete clamamus, et 
 liberamus praefatum dominum Robertum, suos haeredes masculos, 
 
64 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 et assignatos, ab omni poena, arrestatione, tortura, et executione 
 jurium vel legum militarium, quae contra ipsos vel ipsorum aliquem, 
 per nostrum locum tenentem, vel aliquam aliam personam, vel personas 
 quascunque, instigi, intendi, vel exerceri, poterint. Et si contigerit 
 etiam praedictas personas, vel aliquam ipsarum, sub imperio, manu- 
 tenentia, vel dependentia dicti domini Roberti, suorumque praescript. 
 abstrahere vel subducere se ipsos ab obedientia dicti domini Roberti, 
 suorumque praescript. vel suis servitiis in dicta plantatione, et defen- 
 sione ejusdem, vel per mare vel per terras, vel in ipsorum cursu et 
 itinere ad et a dicto regno Novas Scotiae, vel subducere et abstrahere 
 se ipsos, sua bona, vel catella, a ministerio et obedientia dicti domini 
 Roberti, vel removere seipsos, vel bona, vel catella, a bondis et 
 fundo earundem terrarum, vel ab hujusmodi partibus et portionibus 
 earundem ; tunc, in iis casibus, vel aliquibus eorum foris facien. 
 perdent et ammittent ipso facto omnes et singulas possessiones, 
 terras, bona, et catella infra diet, terras existentia. Et licitum erit 
 praefato domino Roberto, suis haeredibus masculis, assignatis et 
 deputatis, confiscare, recognoscere, et possidere easdem terras, 
 bondas, possessiones, bona et catella, et applicare eadem suis pro- 
 priis usibus, libere, absque periculo juris, vel aliqua ulteriore de- 
 claratura de eisdem. Et similiter, si aliquae venditiones, aliena- 
 tiones, vel conditiones fiant inter praefatum dominum Robertum, 
 suos hasredes masculos, assignatos, vel deputatos, cum quacunque 
 alia persona seu personis, sive nativis dicti regni, sive ex- 
 traneis, alienis, vel aliis personis quibuscunque, pro transportatione 
 quorumcunque bonorum catellorum, mercemoniarium, mercium, 
 ammunitionum, armorum, commeatuum, praeparationum, vel ali- 
 orum quorumcunque, vel pro implemento cujuscunque facti vel 
 factorum, praefato domino Roberto, vel suis praescript. vel infra 
 dictum regnum Novae Scotiae, vel per mare cursum, vel transitum, 
 in vel ab eodem regno, sub quibuscunque pcEnis vel pecuniarum 
 summis : Et si fregerint aut violaverint eadem pacta, contractus, 
 foedera, vel conditiones, vel defecerint in perficiendo et implemendo 
 earundem, in damnum et detrimentum dicti domini Roberti, suo- 
 rumque praescript. et impediant, et moram faciant diet, laudabili 
 intentioni in saepefata plantatione, et policia ejusdem, tunc, et in 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 65 
 
 lis casibus, vel in aliquo eorundem, licituin erit praefato domino 
 Roberto, et suis praescript. intromittere, uti, et possidere eadem 
 bona, catella, mercantia, pecuniarum summas, et alia, ad suos pro- 
 prios usus, absque ulteriori processu aut declaratione juris. Nec 
 NON cum expressa potestate et privilegio praefatis domino Roberto, 
 suis haeredibus masculis, assignatis, et deputatis, suis hominibus, 
 tenentibs^ et servis, infra dictas terras et bondas frequentandi, 
 utendi, et exercendi, mercandi, negotiandi cum nativis et silvestribus 
 dicti regni, et faciendi, capiendi, obcontrahendi pacem, et fidelitatem, 
 affinitatem, et foedera cum ipsis, et familiaritatem et amicitiam cum 
 eisdem frequentandi, et cum ipsorum ductoribus, gubernatoribus, 
 et praecipientibus ; et, in casu offensionis, violationis officii, pro- 
 missorum, vel amicitiae suis partibus, capiendi et utendi armis ad- 
 versus eos omni hostili modo, tam per mare quam per terras, cum 
 potestate et privilegio etiam praefato domino Roberto Gordon, et 
 suis praescript. omni tempore a future, exportandi de dictis bondis 
 et regno Novae Scotias, omnia mercimonia, mercantias, et com- 
 moditates quascunque, et importandi et inducendi eadem in dictum 
 regnum Scotias vel ad quascunque alias partes, pro ipsorum arbitrio ; 
 nec non exportandi de dicto regno Scotiae et aliis locis quibuscunque, 
 omnes mercantias, mercemonia, et commoditates quascunque, et 
 inducendi et inferendi easdem dicto regno Novas Scotiae, pro solu- 
 tione summae quinque librarum monetae Scotiae, custumae pro qui- 
 buslibet centum libris tantum, absque solutione alterius cujuslibet 
 acustumae, impositionis vel divoriae cujuscunque, tollendi, capiendi, 
 vel inde exigendi per nos, haeredes, vel successores nostros, vel nostros 
 publicanos, seu custumarios deputatos, vel officiarios, vel per aliam 
 aliquam personam quamcunque, vel infra dictum regnum Scotia?, 
 vel regnum Novae Scotias. Inhibendo, tenore praesentis carts 
 nostrae, nostros custumarios et officiarios, ne exigant ulteriorem 
 impositionem vel custumam ex eisdem, et de ipsorum officiis in hac 
 parte ; cum potestate etiam saepefato domino Roberto, suisque prae- 
 script, per seipsos suos deputatos, officiarios, et alios suis nominibus 
 levandi, exigendi, et recipiendi ab omnibus nostris, et successorum 
 nostrorum subditis, quos contigerit negotiari seu mercari infra dictas 
 bondas, fundum, et terras supra designatas, portus, et stationes earund. 
 
 £ 
 
66 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 quinque libras monetae ante diet, custumae pro quibuslibet centum 
 libris omnium bonorum, mercimoniarum, vel commoditatum, vel 
 importandorum eidem per ipsos, vel ipsorum aliquem, vel exeundi 
 reportandorum ; et summam decem librarum ab omnibus extraneis, 
 pro quolibet centum omnium bonorum, mercium, et mercimoniarum 
 exportandorum et importandorum per ipsos, vel ipsorum aliquem, 
 et id praeter et ultra dictam summam quinque librarum, nobis, et 
 nostris successoribus, ut praemittitur, debitam. Et prjeterea nos 
 pro nobis, nostris haeredibus, et successoribus, cum avisamento et 
 consensu ante diet, tenore praesentis cartae nostrae volumus, con- 
 cedimus, ordinamus et declaramus, quod dicta summa quinque 
 librarum monetae ante diet, custumae designatae, ut praemittitur, 
 solvend. nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, custumariis nostris, 
 et deputatis, pro omnibus bonis, mercimoniis, mercantiis, et com- 
 moditatibus, vel exportandis de dicto regno Novae Seotiae, vel eidem 
 importandis, serventur et reddantur praefato domino Willielmo Alex- 
 ander, suis haeredibus et assignatis, nostri dicti regni locum tenentibus, 
 et non aliis, pro spatio sexdeeem annorum diem datas praesentis 
 cartae nostrae immediate subsequend. Et in hunc finem, quod 
 Heebit praefato domino Willielmo Alexander, et suis praescript. tollere, 
 exigere, petere, et recipere easdem acquittantias, et exonerationes 
 desuper dare et concedere, quas nos, tenore prassentis cartae nostrae 
 pro nobis, haeredibus, et successoribus nostris, volumus et declaramus 
 sufficientes fore recipientibus dictarum acqittantiarum, et persol- 
 ventibus dictam summam quinque librarum custumae. Et cum 
 potestate praefato domino Willielmo Alexander, et suis praescript. 
 durante dicto tempore, utendi et convertendi dictam summam quin- 
 que librarum pro quolibet centum, sic ut praemittitur, levandi, suis 
 propriis usibus et utilitati, prout ipsis videbitur expediens pro suo 
 meliori auxilio, ope, et manu tenenti suorum onerum et expensarum 
 in regimine dicti regni, et propagatione diet, plantationis. Et quam- 
 quam nuUo modo lieitum sit alieno nobili vel generoso, terras habenti 
 infra regnum Scotiae, transire de eodem obsque licentia nostra, nos 
 pro nobis, haeredibus, et successoribus nostris, volumus, concedimus, 
 ac tenore praesentis cartae nostrae declaramus, praesentem banc 
 nostram cartam esse et fore sufficientem licentiam et warrantum, 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 67 
 
 omni tempore a future, pr<Tefato domino Roberto Gordon, et suis 
 prasscript, et omnibus aliis personis lassas majestatis non reis, vel 
 alioquin specialiter non inhibitis, cum ipsis vel eorum aliquo pro- 
 fiscisci cupientibus dictis terris et bondis, Hbere eundi de dicto 
 regno Scotias et proficiscendi, et reparandi ad dictas terras et regnum 
 Novae Scotias, absque aliquo periculo, inconvenientia ipsis, in suis 
 corporibus, terris, bonis, seu catellis penes quam nos, cum avisa- 
 mento, ante diet, pro nobis, et nostris successoribus, dispensavimus, 
 ac per prassentis cartas nostrae tenorem dispensamus in perpetuum. 
 Et pr^terea, dedimus, concessimus, et declaravimus, tenoreque 
 praesentis cartae nostrae pro nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, 
 cum avisamento et consensu supra script. Damus, concedimus, 
 volumus, declaramus, et ordinamus, quod omnes nostri subditi, et 
 alias personam quascunque, quae subjicere sese nostrorumque haere- 
 dum, et successorum obedientiae placebit, quae quocunque tempore 
 imposterum profecturi sunt ad dictas bondas et terras, prasfato 
 domino Roberto Gordon per praesentes dispositas, ad inhabitandum 
 easdem, vel aliquam earundem partem, cum licentia, consensu, et 
 permissu, dicti domini Roberti, suorum haeredum masculorum, et 
 deputatorum, quod omnes et singulae dictae personae, cum suis 
 liberis et posteris respective habebunt, tenebunt, fruentur, gaude- 
 bunt, et possidebunt omnes et quascunque libertates, privilegia, et 
 immunitates liberorum, et naturalium subditorum dicti regni nostri 
 Scotiae, aliorumque nostrorum dominiorum, ac si nati et procreati 
 fuissent infra eadem regna et dominia. Et pro constitutione majoris 
 authoritatis, imperii, potestatis, et jurisdictionis omni tempore a 
 futuro, in persona dicti domini Roberti Gordon, haeredum suorum 
 masculorum, assignatorum et deputatorum, infra dictas terras, nos 
 pro nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, cum avisamento et 
 consensu ante diet, dedimus et concessimus, tenoreque praesentis 
 cartae nostrae, damus et concedimus haereditarie praefato domino 
 Roberto Gordon, haeredibus suis masculis, et assignatis quibuscun- 
 que, justiciariam et vice-comitatum dictarum omnium particularium 
 bondarum et terrarum supra specificat. Et fecimus et constitui- 
 mus, tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae facimus, et constituimus 
 praefatum dominum Robertum Gordon, suos hseredes masculos, et 
 
68 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 assignatos, nostros haereditarios vicecomites, quaesitores, justiciarios, 
 haereditarie in perpetuum, infra omnes et singulas dictas particulares 
 terras et bondas supra specificatas, et specialiter designatas, cum 
 omnibus et singulis libertatibus, privilegiis, franchisis, immunitatibus, 
 et commoditatibus diet, vicecomitatui et justiciarias spectan. cum 
 potestate dicto domino Roberto Gordon, suis haeredibus masculis, 
 assignatis, vel deputatis, sedendi in judicio, cognoscendi, et decer- 
 nendi, in omnibus et quibuscunque causis, tam civilibus quam 
 criminalibus, infra dictas bondas et jurisdictionem earundem ter- 
 rarum, similiter, et tam libere omnibus modis, tanquam aliquis alius 
 justiciarius, quaesitor, vel vicecomes quicunque potest, vel poterit 
 facere aliquo tempore praeterito vel futuro. Et ne aliqua quaestio 
 occurrat de tempore infra quod praefatus dominus Robertus, suique 
 praescript. tanquam vicecomites vel justiciarii sedeant. cognoscant, 
 et decernant in causis criminalibus post commissa crimina, nos pro 
 nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, cum avisamento et con- 
 silio ante diet, tenore praesentis cartae nostrae volumus, concedimus, 
 et declaramus, quod licitum et legitimum erit iisdem accusare quos- 
 cunque reos criminaliter ofFendentes infra dictas bondas et terras, 
 pro quibuscunque criminibus per ipsos commiss. et sedendi, cognos- 
 cendi, judicandi, et decernendi de iisdem, quocunque tempore infra 
 spatium sex mensium, diem commiss. criminis immediate subsequen. 
 durante quo quidem spatio, licebit tantum praefato domino Roberto, 
 et suis praescript, et non aliis, examinare, cognoscere, judicare, et 
 procedere de eisdem, excludendo, durante dicto spatio, nostro locum 
 tenente, et omnibus aliis personis quibuscunque, ab exercitatione 
 cujuscunque judicii vel jurisdictioniis de eisdem, et ab attachia- 
 mento, arrestatione, adjuramento, vocatione vel conventione dic- 
 torum criminaliter ofFendentium, et crimina committentium, quo- 
 cunque modo vel ratione. Proviso tamen quod si, post dictum 
 spatium sex mensium excurrentium, dicta crimina et criminaliter 
 offendentes non fuerint judicati nee examinati, vel discussi per 
 dictum dominum Robertum, et suos praescript. in ea casu licebit 
 deinceps nostrum locum-tenenti, suis haeredibus et assignatis, nostrum 
 locum tenentibus, et suis deputatis, accusare, attachiare, arrestare, 
 citare, et convenire dictas personas reas, et judicare et cognoscere 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 69 
 
 de criminibus per ipsos commiss. prout ipsis expediens videbitur, 
 cum potestate etiam dicto domino Roberto, et suis praescript. non 
 obstante provisione supra script, post expirationem diet, sex mensium, 
 omnibus temporibus, in absentia dicti domini Willielmi Alexander, 
 suorum haeredum et assignatorum, nostrum locum tenentium, et 
 eorum deputatorum, judicandi, cognoscendi, et decidendi in omnibus 
 causis criminalibus, et puniendi omnes criminaliter ofFendentes infra 
 dictas bondas, pro ipsorum arbitrio ; et simili modo, in ipsorum 
 absentia extra dictum regnum, vel infra spatium sex mensium, vel 
 postea quocunque tempore, remittendi, et condonandi diet, crimina 
 et criminaliter offendentes infra dictas terras et bondas, pro hujus- 
 modi rationalibus causis et considerationibus, prout ipsis videbitur 
 expediens. Et prjeterea, cum potestate dieto domino Roberto, 
 et suis praescript. sedendi, judicandi, et cognoscendi de omnibus 
 criminibus et criminaliter offendentibus infra dictas bondas, et vel 
 puniendi, remittendi, vel condonandi dicta crimina et criminaliter 
 reos, prout ipsis videbitur expediens, omnibus temporibus dicto spatio 
 sex mensium elapso, antequam praefatus dominus Willielmus, sui 
 haeredes et assignati, nostrum locum tenentes, et sui deputati provo- 
 caverint, citaverint, vel indietaverint dietos criminaliter offendentes, 
 ad comparendum coram ipsis in judicio, quamquam in regno Novas 
 Scotiae pro tempore fuerint, absque praejudicio tamen praefato domino 
 Willielmo, suis hasredibus, et assignatis nostrum locum tenentibus, 
 et suis deputatis, si primi fuerint citatores, post elapsos sex menses, 
 sedendi, judicandi, cognoscendi, puniendi, vel remittendi dicta 
 crimina et criminaliter offendentes, pro eorum arbitrio, ut prae- 
 mittitur. Et similiter, tenore praesentis cartae nostrae, ordinamus, 
 quod si contingat praefatum dominum Robertum, vel suos praescript. 
 condonare et remittere aliqua ex dictis criminibus, vel criminaliter, 
 ut praemittitur, offendentes, quod tunc et in eo casu, eorum remissio 
 et indulgentia sic conceden. publicabitur et proclamabitur infra 
 dictas bondas, die et data concessionis ejusdem, per aliquem ex 
 diet, particularibus oificiariis per ipsos ad id effectum designandis ; 
 et post publicationem ejusdem, quod eadem remissio insumabitur 
 in registro dicti domini Willielmi, suorum haeredum et assignatorum, 
 nostrum locum tenentium ejusdem regni, infra spatium sexaginta 
 
yo A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 dierum, publicationem ejusdem proxime subsequentem, ad minimum, 
 quod eadem ofFeretur et praesentabitur, coram duobus fide dignis 
 testibus, dicti registri custodi, si dicti registri clericus, vel custos 
 ejusdem, in dicto regno Novas Scotias pro tempore fuerit, cum 
 plenaria potestate et privilegio similiter praefato domino Roberto 
 Gordon, suis hasredibus masculis, assignatis et deputatis, in 
 sempiternum sedendi, affigendi, et tenendi, vel tenere causandi, 
 suis nominibus curias justiciariae, vicecomitum curias, liberas 
 regalitatis curias, et baronis et baroniae curias, infra et super 
 totis et integris praedictis bondis, et terris ipsi, ut praemittitur, 
 designatis, vel super aliqua parte earundem, omnibus temporibus 
 et occasionibus prout ipsis visum fuerit, clericos officiaros, 
 serjandos, adjudicatores, et alia curiae membra quaecunque faciendi 
 et creandi, aeschetas et amerciamenta curiarum ordinandi, exigendi, 
 levandi, recipiendi, et ad ipsorum proprios usus, prout ipsis expediens 
 visum fuerit, applicandi, cum omnibus aliis et singulis privilegiis, 
 libertatibus, commoditatibus et casualitatibus ad dicta officia et 
 jurisdictiones justiciariae liberae regalitatis, et vicecomitatus, aliaque 
 supra expressa spectan. vel juste cadere aut spectare poterint ; cum 
 libera potestate, et privilegio etiam praefato domino Roberto, suis 
 haeredibus masculis, et assignatis, vendendi, alienandi, et disponendi 
 haereditarie vel aliter, totas et integras praedictas bondas et terras 
 supra designatas, pro ipsorum arbitrio ; cum omnibus et singulis 
 libertatibus, licentiis, immunitatibus, et commoditatibus supra et 
 infra expressis, tenore prassentis cartae nostrae ipsis concess. vel cum 
 tot et dictis libertatibus, commoditatibus, et aliis, quot ipsis et suis 
 praescript. expediens videbitur, cuicunque alteri personae vel personis, 
 suis haeredibus, et assignatis sub nostra obedientia existentibus, tenen. 
 de nobis, nostris haeredibus, et successoribus, vel de praefato domino 
 Roberto, suis haeredibus masculis, et assignatis, pro arbitrio dicti 
 domini Roberti, suorumque antedict. Quae quidem terras, bondae, 
 privilegia, aliaque supra expressa, vel aliqua pars earundem sic 
 disposita per praefatum dominum Robertum, vel suos praescript, 
 cuicunque alteri personae, seu personis, tenen. de nobis, nostris 
 haeredibus, et successoribus, nos, nostri haeredes et successores 
 recipimus, et admittimus ipsos, et eorum unumquemque tanquam 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 71 
 
 nostros liberos vassallas et immediatos tenentes earundem ; et con- 
 cedimus ipsis et eorum unicuique talia sufficientia infeofamenta 
 earundem, et cum eodem modo tenendi, qualia nunc concessimus 
 praefato domino Roberto, suls hasredibus masculis, et assignatis, 
 quandocunque eadem ipsi requisiverint, cum postestate etiam prasfato 
 domino Roberto, et suis antedict. et singulis alteri personae vel 
 personis, sub nostra obedientia existentibus, quibus ipsos alienare 
 et disponere aliqam partem seu portionem dictarum terrarum 
 contigerit, insignire et vocare easdem, vel aliquam partem seu 
 portionem earundem, per aliquod nomen seu titulum temporibus 
 futuris, prout ipsis expediens videbitur ; nee non licebit haeredibus 
 masculis, vel successoribus dicti domini Roberti quibuscunque, 
 et suis assignatis, intrare seipsos, tanquam haeredes suis predeces- 
 soribus, dictis terris et bondis aliisque quibuscunque prasfato 
 domino Roberto concess. et disposit. vel ad aliquam partem 
 earundem, virtute hujus praesentis cartae nostrae ; et id vel 
 per ordinem cancellariae dicti regni nostri Scotiae, per servitium 
 brevium, retornatuum, et prasceptorum ex eadem directorum, et 
 modis in similibus casibus in hujusmodi materia usitatis et consuetis, 
 vel alioqui per ordinem capellas et cancellariae dicti regni Nova; 
 Scotiae, pro arbitrio et optione haeredum masculorum, et successorum 
 dicti domini Roberti, et suorum assignatorum quorumcunque. Cum 
 POTESTATE etiam praefato domino Roberto, et suis praescript. et 
 eorum deputatis, omni tempore futuro, convocandi omnes et singulos 
 homines tenentes, servos et incolas suos quoscunque dictarum 
 omnium bondarum et terrarum supra designatarum, omnibus tem- 
 poribus et occasionibus, prout ipsis visum fuerit pro bono, defensione, 
 et propagatione ipsorum, vel dictarum bondarum et terrarum, ad 
 resistendum exteris hostibus, ad reprimendum insolventias, et 
 crimina turbulentorum, seditiosorum, et populi rebellantis, ad 
 reducendum silvestres et aborigines ad conformitatem et debitam 
 obedientiam, et ob alias legitimas urgentes et necessarias causas 
 quascunque. Et pr^terea, dedimus et concessimus, tenoreque 
 praesentis cartae nostras pro nobis nostris haeredibus et successoribus, 
 cum avisamento et consensu antedict. damus, concedimus, volumus, 
 ordinamus, et declaramus, quod praefatus dominus Robertus, suique 
 
72 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 praescript. omni tempore a future habebunt sufFragium et vocem 
 in condendis omnibus et singulis legibus, imposterum faciendis de 
 publico statu, bono, et regimine dicti regni Novae Scotiae, et in 
 omnibus comitiis, parliamentis, synodis, conciliis, et conventionibus 
 convocandis, conveniendis, vel in eum finem tenendis ; et quod 
 debite et legitime ad id efFectum promovebunt, quod nullae leges 
 de eisdem fient, statuent aut validae erunt absque avisamento et 
 consensu dicti domini Roberti, suorumque praescript. et absque 
 consensu reliquorum baronettorum, parem et similem quantitatem 
 et proportionem terrarum infra dictum regnum habentium, ad ipsos 
 suosque haeredes haereditariae spectan. qualem, tenore praesentis 
 cartae nostrae, pra^fato domino Roberto disposuimus, Viz. singuli 
 eorum sexdecem millium acrarum terrae ad minimum, absque avisa- 
 mento et consensu majoris partis totidem eorum, qui convenient 
 simul ad ferendum voces et suffragia, super debita et legitima prae- 
 monitione ipsis desuper faciendo, concludendo, et proponendo prima 
 conventione et synodo, per ipsos, et nostrum locum tenentes, vel 
 eorum haeredes aut assignatos, tenenda, nostrum locum tenentes 
 pro condendis legibus et statutis dicti regni ; et quod nulla persona, 
 seu personae quaecunque, quae non fuerint haeredes quaelibet ipsarum 
 sexdecem millium acrarum terrarum infra dictum regnum, habe- 
 bunt vocem vel sufFragium in condendis quibuslibet legibus dictum 
 regnum concernen. absque avisamento, consilio, et consensu dicti 
 nostri locum tenentis, haeredum suorum et assignatorum, nostrorum 
 successorum locum tenentium, et dicti domini Roberti, suorumque 
 praescript. et reliquorum baronnettorum. Insuper, si praefatus 
 dominus Robertus, suique haeredes masculi, et assignati praescript. 
 non fuerint personaliter praesentes in dictis parliamentis, comitiis, 
 consiliis, conventionibus, et synodis, quae tenebuntur, vocabuntur, 
 et convenientur ad efFectum supra script, infra dictum regnum 
 Novae Scotiae, tunc et in eo casu, deputati seu actornati, seu 
 habentes potestatem et authoritatem suam, ac habentes quantitatem 
 mi He acrarum terrarum ipsis infra dictum regnum haereditarie 
 spectan. habebunt similem vocem et sufFragium, ac si ipsi persona- 
 liter interessent ; sed si aliaquas conventiones vel synodi tenebuntur 
 ad id efFectum, infra dictum regnum Scotiae, si personahter inter- 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 73 
 
 fucrint pro tempore infra dictum regnum, habebunt vocem et 
 sufFragium, tantum per seipsos, et non per delegatos, vel actornatos ; 
 sed casu absentia; extra dictum regnum, hujusmodi temporibus, in 
 eo casu, sui deputati et actornati, haben. suam potestatem et 
 warrantum, habebunt similem vocem et sufFragium, ac si persona- 
 liter interessent. Et quod praefatus dominus Robertus, et reliqui 
 nostri subditi et incolae illius regni Novas Scotiae, omni tempore 
 futuro, judicabuntur, regentur, et gubernabuntur, in omnibus causis 
 civilibus et criminalibus, legibus dicti regni tantum, et non aliis, 
 absque prasjudicio tamen pr^efato domino Roberto, et suis praescript. 
 per seipsos et suos deputatos, faciendi tales particulares leges, con- 
 stitutiones, et statuta, infra proprias suas bondas particulariter supra 
 designat. quae sibi usui sint pro meliori policia, bono, et regimine 
 earundem et inhabitantium ibid, et pro conservatione boni ordinis, 
 et administratione juris et justiciae ibidem. Et absque prsejudicio 
 dicto domino Roberto, et suis praescript, alterius cujusquam parti- 
 cularis libertatis, privilegii, immunitatis, clausulae seu conditionis 
 qualiscunque supra vel infra express, in favorem ipsius concept. 
 Proviso omni modo, quod quaecunque leges generales faciendas et 
 constituendas modo praescript. publicum statum, bonum, et regimen 
 dicti regni concernen. vel per praefatum dominum Robertum, et 
 suos ante diet, in ipsorum particularibus bondis, ut prasmittitur, 
 fiant conformes, et aequales legibus dicti regni Scotias quoad con- 
 venienter poterint, respectu habito ad circumstantias temporis, loci, 
 et situationis ejusdem regni, et inhabitantium, et conditionum et 
 qualitatis earund. Et pr^terea, tametsi per expressam condi- 
 tionem diet, originalis infeofamenti nostrum locum tenenti concess. 
 constitutum est, quod ipsi, et haeredes ac assignati sui, ut convocent 
 omnes et singulos inhabitantes regni Novae Scotiae proclamationibus, 
 vel aliter, modo et forma inibi specificat. nihilominus concessimus, 
 voluimus, et ordinavimus, tenoreque praesentis cartas nostrae, pro 
 nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, cum avisamento et con- 
 sensu antedict, volumus, concedimus, declaramus, et ordinamus, 
 quod nullo modo licitum erit nostrum locum tenenti, suis haeredibus, 
 successoribus, vel assignatis, aut quibuscunque aliis nostri, seu 
 nostrorum successorum, officiariis quibuscunque, vocare, convocare, 
 
74 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 cogere per proclamationem, vel aliter, dictum dominum Robertum, 
 suos haeredes et assignatos, successores, deputatos, homines tenentes, 
 servos, vel incolas dictarum particularium bondarum, praefato domino 
 Roberto, sic ut praemittitur, dispositarum, nisi pro rationalibus, 
 necessariis, et legitimis causis, quae invenientur utiles et expedientes 
 reipublicae dicti regni, per legitimum nostrum locum tenentem, 
 suosque praedict. cum avisamento et consensu dicti domini Roberti, 
 suorumque antedict. et reliquarum personarum supra mentionat. 
 designatarum, ut habeant vocem et suffragium in condendis legibus, 
 ut praemissum est. Quae quaedem personae, et qulibet ipsarum, sui 
 haeredes, successores, assignati, deputati, homines tenentes, servi, 
 vel incolae diet, separatarum bondarum, simili conditioni subjicientur; 
 et similiter, non erit licitum nee legitimum dicto nostrum locum 
 tenenti, vel suis praescript. vel quibuscunque aliis, nostris, haeredum 
 vel successorum nostrorum officiariis, exigere, imponere, vel levare 
 aliquam taxationem vel impositionem, a vel super dictum dominum 
 Robertum, suos haeredes masculos, assignatos, deputatos, homines 
 tenentes, servos, vel inhabitantes dictarum terrarum et bondarum 
 particulariter supra dispositarum, vel super dictis suis terris, reddi- 
 tibus, bonis, seu catellis, absque speciali consensu dicti domini 
 Roberti, vel suorum praescript. non obstante aliqua potestate nostro 
 locum tenenti et suis antedict. per dictum originale infeofamentum 
 concess. vel virtute cujuscunque alterius tituli vel juris fact, et 
 concess. vel per nos, nostros haeredes, vel successores, praefato locum 
 tenenti nostro, vel alicui alteri personae cujuscunque faciendi vel 
 concedendi, absque praejudicio tamen praefato domino Roberto, et 
 suis praescript. infra bondas particulariter supra designat. et per 
 praesentes sibi disposit. vocandi, cogendi, et conveniendi suos 
 homines et incolas, omnibus temporibus et occasionibus, modo et 
 propter causas supra expressas, ut praemittitur, ipsas tangen. Nec 
 NON dedimus, concessimus, et disposuimus, tenoreque praesentis 
 cartae nostrse, pro nobis et successoribus nostris, cum avisamento et 
 consensu antedict. damus, concedimus, et haereditarie in perpetuum 
 disponimus, dicto domino Roberto, et suis praescript. omnia et quae- 
 cunque alia privilegia, libertates, licentias, commoditates, et immuni- 
 tates, proficua, praerogativa, dignitates, et casualitates, generaliter 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 75 
 
 et particulariter in dicto originali infeofamento, pr?efato domino 
 Willielmo Alexander, et suis antedict. concess. specificat. et express, 
 et id tain plenario, libero, et amplo modo, et forma, ac si eadem 
 privilegia, praerogativa, immunitates, libertates, licentiae, dignitates, 
 commoditates, et alia, cum omnibus clausulis et conditionibus, in 
 hac pra^senti carta nostra ad longum specialiter insinuatas et con- 
 tentae essent, quatenus extendi et concerni poterint particulares 
 bondas et terras supra designatas, virtute hujus cartae nostras, prasfato 
 domino Roberto, et suis antedict. tanquam haeredibus earund. 
 disposit. Excepto omni modo et reservato praefato domino 
 Willielmo Alexander, suis hasredibus et assignatis, officio nostri 
 locum tenentis dicti totius regni et dominii Novae Scotiae, potestate 
 et privilegio cudendae pecuniae, officio principalis justiciarii generalis 
 ejusd. regni, in causis criminalibus, officio admiralitatis, faciendi 
 officiarios status, conferendi titulos honorum, cum plena potestate 
 et jurisdictione liberae regalitatis, capellae, et cancellarias dicti regni, 
 et privilegio condendi leges publicum statum, bonum, et regimen 
 dicti regni concernentes, illi per suum originale infeofamentum 
 praedict concess. Proviso tamen quod eadem reservatio et exceptio, 
 in favorem dicti domini Willielmi, suorumque praescript. nunc con- 
 cepta, nullatenus prjejudicabit vel praejudicatio erit praefato domino 
 Roberto, et suis antedict. penes omnes, vel aliquod ex particularibus 
 privilegiis, licentiis, libertatibus, immunitatibus, commoditatibus, 
 aliisque supra et subtus mentionat. praefato domino Roberto, et suis 
 antedict, tenore prassentis cartae nostras concess. modo generaliter 
 et particulariter supra et subtus specificat. Qu^ Quidem terrae, 
 bondas, advocatio et donatio beneficiorum ecclesiarum, et capellani- 
 arum, fodinae, mineralia, metalla, margaritae, silvae, piscationes, 
 molendina, multurae, officia, privilegia, et jurisdictio liberas regalitatis, 
 justiciae et justiciariae, vicecomites vicecomitatuum, et omnes alias 
 libertates, immunitates, privilegia, commoditates, licentias, custumas, 
 casualitates, aliaque universa generaliter et particulariter supra 
 mention, debite et legitime resignatae, sursum redditae, et extra 
 donatae fuerunt per diet, dominum Willielmum Alexander, et legi- 
 timum procuratorem suum, ipsius nominibus, in manibus nostris 
 tanquam immediati sui superioris, earundem per fustum, et baculum, 
 
76 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 ut moris est, resignatione earundem facta, Apud Quhythall, 
 vigesimo sexto die mensis Mail, anno Domini millesimo sex- 
 centesimo vigesimo quinto ; una cum omni jure, titulo, interesse, 
 et jurisclameo quae seu quas in et ad easdem, aliquam earundem 
 partem, habuit, habet, seu quovis modo in futurum habere vel 
 clamare potuerat. In et ad favorem dicti domini Roberti 
 Gordon, suorum haeredum masculorum, et assignatorum quorum- 
 cunque, sub modo, provisionibus, limitationibus, exceptionibus, et 
 reservationibus respective quibus supra. Et id pro novo hoc 
 nostro haeditario infeofamento, per nos praefato domino Roberto 
 Gordon, suis haeredibus masculis, et assignatis quibuscunque, 
 desuper dando et concedendo simul universum erigendis, unien- 
 dis, annexandis et incorporandis in unam plenam, integram, et 
 liberam baroniam et regalitatem, in perpetuum, Baroniam de 
 Gordon omni tempore a future nuncupandam, tenen. de nobis, 
 haeredibus, et successoribus nostris, coronae regni nostri Scotiae 
 successuris, in libera alba firma, pro solutione annuatim unius 
 denarii usualis monetae dicti regni nostri, super fundo diet, terrarum 
 et bondarum, vel alicujus partis earundem, ad festum nativitatis 
 Domini, nomine albae firmae, si petatur tantum, cum dispensatione 
 etiam non introitus earundem omnium terrarum, bondarum et 
 baroniae, censuum, firmarum, proficuorum, et divoriarum earund. 
 duran. eodem non introitu. Et insuper de novo dedimus con- 
 cessimus, et disposuimus, tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae, pro 
 nobis et successoribus nostris, ex nostra certa scientia, et proprio 
 motu, cum avisamento, et consensu praedicto, pro diversis bonis et 
 gratuitis servitiis, per prasfatum dominum Robertum nobis prae- 
 stitis et impensis, proque aliis gravibus causis, et bonis considera- 
 tionibus, nos moventibus, de novo damus, concedimus, et disponimus 
 praefato domino Roberto, haedibus suis masculis, et assignatis, 
 haereditarie in perpetuum, Totas et integras praedict. terras, 
 bondas, molendina, silvas, piscationes, advocationem, donationem 
 beneficiorum et capellaniarum, ac ecclesiarum, necnon jura patro- 
 natus earund. fodinas, mineralia, metalla, pretiosos lapillos, cum 
 potestate, privilegio, et jurisdictione justiciariae et vicecomitatus, 
 in omnibus causis civilibus et criminalibus, curias, eschetas, amercia- 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 77 
 
 menta, curiarum exitus, lie outlawis, et omnes et singulas alias 
 libertates, immunitates, licentias, custumas, casualitates, proficua, 
 divorias, aliaque quaecunque particulariter seu generaliter supra 
 specificat. quae nos pro nobis haeredibus et successoribus nostris, 
 cum avisamento et consensu antedict. tenore praesentis cartae nostrae 
 volumus, et reputamus tanquam in hac praesenti carta nostra speci- 
 aliter et particulariter insinuata, repetita, inserta, et expressa, cum 
 particularibus exceptionibus, limitationibus, et reservationibus respec- 
 tive et specialiter supra script. Et de novo erigimus, unimus, 
 annexamus, et incorporamus, omnes et singulas praenominatas terras, 
 bondas, molendina, silvas, piscationes, advocationem, et donationem 
 beneficiorum, ecclesiarum, et capellaniarum, et jura patronatuum 
 earund. fodinas, metalla, mineralia, margaritas, gemmas, officia, 
 regalitatem justiciariam, vicecomitatum, libertates, licentias, privi- 
 legia, immunitates, custumas, emolumenta, casualitates, dignitates, 
 potestatem, jurisdictionem, et alia quaecunque generaliter et particu- 
 lariter supra expressa, quae nos pro nobis et successoribus nostris, 
 tanquam in hac praesenti carta nostra repetita, et particulariter 
 inserta, tenemus, cum specialibus exceptionibus, et reservationibus 
 particulariter supra mentionat. cum generalite in perpetuum dis- 
 pensando, in unam, integram plenarium, et liberam baroniam 
 et regalitatem de Gordon, tenen. et haben. praefato domino 
 Roberto Gordon, suis haeredibus masculis et assignatis, de nobis, 
 et nostris coronas et regni nostri Scotiae successoribus in libera 
 haereditate, unius baronias et regalitatis in perpetuum, per omnes 
 rectas metas suas antiquas, novas, et divisas, prout jacent in longi- 
 tudine et latitudine, in domibus, aedificiis, boscis, planis, moris, 
 maresiis, viis, semitis, aquis, stagnis, rivulis, pratis, pascuis, et 
 pasturis, molendinis, multuris et eorum sequelis, aucupationibus 
 venationibus, piscationibus, petariis, turbariis, carbonibus, car- 
 bonariis, cuniculis, cuniculariis, columbis, columbariis, fabrilibus, 
 brasinis, braseriis, et genistis, sylvis, nemoribus et virgultis, lignis, 
 tignis, lapidiis, lapide et calce, cum curiis, et earum exitibus, here- 
 zeldis, bludwetis et mulierum mercheris, cum communi pastura, 
 libero introitu et exitu, et cum furca, fossa, soli sabthole, thaniae, 
 vert wralc wair, veungsoun w^aifF, pitgalous, infangthief et out- 
 
78 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 fangthief earund. Et cum omnibus aliis et singulis libertatibus 
 commoditatibus, proficuis, asiamentis, privilegiis, praerogativis, digni- 
 tatibus, et casualitatibus, per nos vel nostros prasdecessores cuicun- 
 que baroni majori vel minori infra dictum regnum Scotiae antehac 
 concessis, aliisque omnibus in dicto originali infeofamento desuper 
 contentis, et quae nos, per nos metipsos vel quemcunque alium ex 
 regiis nostris progenitoribus et antecessoribus, dedimus, concessimus, 
 et disposuimus, vel virtute quarumcunque cartarum, infeofamen- 
 torum, literarum patentium, donationum, et concessionum quibus- 
 cunque ex nostris subditis cujuscunque qualitatis, status vel gradus, 
 extiterint, vel quibuscunque societatibus, castibus, vel aliis particu- 
 laribus earundem membris, petentibus, ducentibus impetrantibus, 
 acquirentibus, conquirentibus, aut protegentibus, quascunque ex- 
 traneas terras vel colonias, dare, concedere, vel disponere poteruntis, 
 SUB exceptionibus, reservationibus, et provisionibus specialit. supra 
 mentionatis; et tarn plena, libera, et ampla forma, et modo, quam 
 eadem privilegia, libertates, commoditates, et immunitates, cum 
 omnibus et singulis clausulis, conditionibus, et provisionibus easdem 
 concernen. ad longum specialiter in hac praesenti carta nostra in- 
 sinuata, inserta et comprehensa forent, una cum omni jure, titulo, 
 interesse, jurisclameo, tarn petitorio quam possessorio, qua? nos, 
 nostri praedecessores vel successores, habuimus, habemus, seu quovis 
 modo habere, clamare, vel praetendere poterimus, ad easdem terras, 
 vel ad census, firmas, proficua, et divorias earundem terrarum 
 baroniae, aliorumque specialiter et generaliter supra mentionat. de 
 quibuscunque annis et terminis praeteritis, pro quacunque causa 
 seu occasione praeterita. Renunciando et quiete clamando eisdem, 
 cum omni actione et instantia nobis inde competen. In et ad 
 favorem prasfati domini Roberti Gordon, suorum haeredum mas- 
 culorum et assignatorum in perpetuum, tam pro non solutione 
 divoriarum in dicto originali infeofamento content, quam quod non 
 fecerunt debitum homagium juxta tenorem ejusd. vel ob non 
 puram plectionem cujuscunque articuli ejusdem originalis infeo- 
 famenti, vel quod commiserunt aliquod factum, actum, omissum 
 vel commissum, praejudiciale ejusd. vel unde originale infeofa- 
 mentum infringi, impugnari, vel in quaestionem legitime trahi 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 79 
 
 quocunque moto poterit ; acquietando, et extra donando easdem 
 simpliciter, cum omni actione quae nobis, nostris ha?redibus vel 
 successoribus quomodocunque inde competit, vel competere poterit ; 
 et renunciando eisdem jure lite et causa, cum pacto de non petendo, 
 ac cum supplemento omnium defectuum et imperfectionum tarn 
 non nominat. quam nominat. quae tanquam pro re-express in hac 
 prassenti carta nostra habere volumus. Reddendo inde annuatim 
 prasfatus dominus Robertus Gordon, sui hasredes masculi, et assignati, 
 nobis, nostris haeredibus, et dictas coronae et regni nostri Scotias 
 successoribus, prasfatam albas firmae divoriam unius denarii usualis 
 monetae dicti regni, super fundo diet, terrarum et baroniae ad dictum 
 festum nativitatis Domini nostri, nomine albae firmae, si petatur 
 tantum, pro omnibus aliis divoriis, servitiis, quaestione, seu demanda 
 qua inde exigi, vel supra dictis terris et baronia imponi poterint ; 
 Et quia dictae bondae et regnum Novae Scotiae tanto intervallo 
 distant, et separantur ab antiquo regno nostro Scotiae, et quia idem 
 regnum Novae Scotiae adhuc omnino destituitur notariis et tabelli- 
 onibus publicis, pro authoritate danda sasinis et instrumentis con- 
 ferendis de possessione ejusdem, necnon respectum habentes ad 
 diversa et multifaria incommoda quas inde accedere poterint, in 
 defectu debitas et tempestivas sasinae, vel sasinarum, super dicta 
 carta, et similibus cartis et infeofamentis capiendarum de diet, 
 terris et baronia praefato domino Roberto Gordon, suis haeredibus 
 masculis et assignatis, dandis et concedendis, et quia dictum regnum 
 Novae Scotias et originate infeofamentum ejusd. de dicto antiquo 
 regno Scotiae tenetur in capite, nuperque inventum, supervisum, 
 extentum, et acquisitum fit, per prasfatum dominum Willielmum 
 Alexander, nostrum locum tenentum, ejusd. suis propriis impensis 
 nativum dicti regni nostri Scotias, et jam partum, plantatum et 
 plantandum, cum colonis et nativis dicti regni nostri, et ob id 
 appelatum, et nomen, stilum et titulum Novas Scotias, juste pro- 
 meren. unde fit ut idem regnum partem dicti regni nostri Scotiae 
 jam reputari et existimari oporteat ; idcirco, cum avisamento 
 anted ict. tenore praesentis cartas nostrae, decernimus, declaramus, 
 et ordinamus, quod unica sasina, capienda apud castrum Edin- 
 burgenum tanquam locum dicti regni nostri Scotiae maxime con- 
 
8o A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 spicuum et principalem, vel in arbitrio et optione dicti domini 
 Roberti, suorumque praescript. capienda super fundo et baronia de 
 Gordon, vel aliqua parte ejusdem, stabit, et sufficiens erit sasina 
 omni tempore a futuro, pro totis et integris eisdem terris et baronia, 
 vel aliqua earundem vel cujusdem parte seu portione ; penes quam 
 dispensavimus, tenoreque praesentis cartae nostras dispensamus in 
 perpetuum ; et pro omnibus et singulis privilegiis, et aliis specialiter 
 et generaliter supra mentionatis ; Et quum diet, terrae et baronias 
 tenentur in libera alba firma, ut praemissum est, et cum in defectu 
 tempestivi et legitimi introitus haeredis, seu haeredum masculorum, 
 praefati domini Roberti Gordon, suorumque assignatorum, hujus- 
 modi baroniae et aliis succeden. qui difficulter, debite, et debito 
 tempore per ipsos fieri poterit, propter magnam distantiam earund. 
 a dicto regno nostro Scotiae ; unde fieri possit, quod eadem baronia 
 et bondae, ratione non introitus in nostras et successorum nostrorum 
 manus cadant et deveniant, usque donee legitimus haeres, vel haeredes 
 masculi et assignati dicti domini Roberti, legitime intraverint ad 
 easdem, nos nullo modo volentes vel cogitantes quod diet, baronia et 
 terrae aliquo tempore cadant in non introitum, nee etiam quod dictus 
 dominus Robertus suique praescript. beneficio et commodis earund 
 interea frustrabuntur ; Idcirco, cum avisamento antedict. pro nobis 
 et successoribus nostris, dispensavimus, tenoreque praesentis cartae 
 nostrae dispensamus cum dicto non-introitu ; omnino renunciando 
 eidem, nee non exonerando, quiete clamando, et liberando praefatum 
 dominum Robertum, suosque praescript, simpliciter ab eodem non-in- 
 troitu, quandocunque diet, terrae et baronia in nostras, vel nostrorum 
 haeredum et successorum, manus ratione non-introitus cadere vel 
 devenire contigerint, cum censibus, firmis, proficuis, vel divoriis earund. 
 et omni actione et instantia exinde competen. jure, lite, et causa 
 simpliciter, quae desuper sequi poterint. Proviso nihilominus, quod 
 haeredes masculi praefati domini Roberti Gordon et sui assignati, 
 infra spatium septem anuorum post decessum suorum praedeces- 
 sorum, vel introitum eorum ad possessionem earund. terrarum et 
 baroniae, facient homagium, pro eisd. per se ipsos, vel suos legitimos 
 procuratores, in eum finem constitutos, habentes sufficientem potes- 
 tatem ad id efFectum, nobis et dictae coronas et regni Scotias nostris 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 8i 
 
 successoribus, et intrentur et recipientur per nos, nostrosque suc- 
 cessores, ad easdem terras, baroniam, aliaque supra mentionat. modo 
 prasscript. quo casu haeres, vel haeredes masculi, dicti domini Roberti, 
 suique assignati, habebunt, possidebunt, gaudebunt, et fruentur 
 omnibus et singulis beneficiis et privilegiis earundem, una cum 
 totis et integris eisdem terris et baronia, censibus, firmis, proficuis, 
 et divoriis earundem, aliisque quibuscunque specialiter et generaliter 
 supra mentionat. similiter et tam libere quam dictus non introitus 
 nunquam extitisset, vel in manus nostras revenisset. Et similiter, 
 quod si contigerit praefatum dominum Robertum, suosque praescript. 
 in fata decedere ante sasinam, virtute prassentis cartae nostrae, vel 
 suorum infeofamentorum desuper sequi captam, nos, cum consensu 
 antedicto, pro nobis, et successoribus nostris tenore praesentis cartas 
 nostrae, volumus, declaramus, et ordinamus, quod, non obstante 
 dicto decessu similia praecepta de novo ex nostra cancellaria dicti 
 regni Scotias dirigentur, si visum fuerit, pro infeofamento et sasina 
 praefato domino Roberto, suis haeredibus masculis, et assignatis, 
 danda juxta priora warranta et praecepta primo directa, vel in eum 
 sinem dirigenda, de totis et integris praedictis terris, baronia, et aliis 
 inibi content, eadem vi, forma, et modo quibus infeodari et investiri 
 in eisdem antea debuerant et poterant. Ac etiam, si contigerit, 
 (quod Deus prohibeat,) nos, vel nostros successores, morte prae- 
 venire ante eandem sasinam vel sasinas, per praefatum dominum 
 Robertum et suos praescript. capiendas ; eo casu, cum avisamento 
 antedict. pro nobis, et nostris successoribus, volumus, et declaramus, 
 quod non obstante, praecepta de dicta cancellaria dicti regni nostri 
 dirigentur pro infeofamento et sasina praefato domino Roberto 
 Gordon, suisque haeredibus masculis et assignatis, de eisdem terris, 
 baronia, aliisque praedict. danda, eadem forma, vi, et modo quo 
 praescripta et warranta sasinarum nunc diriguntur, vel dirigentur 
 antea ad id efFectum, eodem et simili modo, ac si infeofamenta et 
 sasina earundem terrarum, baroniae, et aliorum supra script, vel 
 alicujus partis earund. rite, debite, legitime, et via ordinaria, et 
 tempore expedita, perfecta, et desuper capta fuissent. Et pr^- 
 TEREA, considerantes virtutem et industriam honoribus et praeemi- 
 nentiis in primis promovendam, et exinde generosos spiritus ad 
 
82 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 aggrediendum et prosequendum nobiles actiones et intentiones, 
 autem etiam animari et mitigari, et quod omnis honoris et digni- 
 tatis splendor, originem et incrementum habeat a rege, tanquam 
 a primo fonte ejusdem, ad cujus altitudinem et praeeminentiam 
 erigere et instituere novos honorum et dignitatum titulos proprie 
 spectat, tanquam ab eo unde primatim honores, originaliter pro- 
 manarunt et ex eo volentes nobilissimos nostros progenitores, et 
 antecestores, et ejus memoria dignos imitari, qui habuerunt, et in 
 usum redegerunt potestatem creandi, et erigendi novas dignitates 
 et gradus inter subditos hujusmodi honoribus dignos ; NOS ex 
 nostra regia potestate, et authoritate, ereximus, creavimus, loca- 
 vimus constituimus et ordinavimus tenore praesentis cartae nostrae 
 pro nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, de speciali gratia, 
 favore, certa scientia, proprio motu, et deliberato animo, cum 
 avisamento et consensu antedict. facimus, erigimus, constituimus, 
 creamus, et ordinamus quendam haereditarium statum, gradum 
 nomen, ordinem, dignitatem, et stilum Baronetti, nunc et omni 
 tempore a future, infra dictum regnum nostrum Scotiae et regionem 
 Novae Scotiae, habendum et gaudendum hujusmodi personis quas 
 nos, nostri hasredes vel successores, in incrementum et propaga- 
 tionem diet, plantationis, et aliter, pro dignitate et merito, facturi 
 sumus baronettos et praelaturi hujusmodi gradibus et stylis : Ed 
 IDCIRCO, pro auxilio, ope, et assistentia per praefatum Robertum 
 dominum Gordon praefata, et propagatione diet, plantationis hac- 
 tenus exhibita, proque diversis aliis bonis et gratuitis servitiis, nobis 
 per ipsum praestitis, et diversis aliis justis et gravibus causis et 
 considerationibus nos moven. Ereximus, tenoreque praesentis 
 cartae pro nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, ex speciali 
 gratia, favore, certa scientia, mero motu, et deliberato animo, 
 cum avisamento et consilio antedict. erigimus, praeferimus, prae- 
 ponimus, et creamus prsefatum DOMINUM ROBERTUM 
 GORDON, suosQUE h^redes masculos quoscunque, de tem- 
 pore in tempus omni tempore a futuro. In et ad praefatum hae- 
 reditarium statum, gradum, ordinem, nomen, dignitatem et stilum 
 Baronetti, cum omnibus et singulis praerogativis, privilegiis, prae- 
 cedentiis, conditionibus, et aliis specialiter et generaliter sub- 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 83 
 
 script. Nec non fecimus, constituimus, et creavimus, tenoreque 
 praesentis cartae nostra? facimus, constituimus, et creamus memo- 
 ratum dominum Robertum Gordon, et suos haeredes masculos, 
 haereditarie Baronettos in perpetuum, et ut habeant et gaudebunt 
 omnibus et singulis praerogativis, privilegiis, et titulis et aliis parti- 
 culariter et generaliter subscript, in eorum favorem conceptis ; et 
 dedimus, concessimus, voluimus, ordinavimus, et declaravimus, 
 tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae pro nobis, haeredibus et succes- 
 soribus nostris, ex speciali gratia, favore certa scientia, mero motu, 
 et deliberato animo, cum avisamento et consensu antedict. Damus, 
 concedimus, volumus, declaramus, et ordinamus quod dictus dominus 
 Robertus Gordon, et sui haeredes masculi quicunque, de tempore in 
 tempus, virtute praesentis cartae nostras et dicti status, gradus, ordinis, 
 dignitatis, et stili Baronetti sibi per praesentis cartae nostra tenorem 
 concess. habebunt, tenebunt, capient, et gaudebunt omni tempore 
 a futuro, diem datas praesentis cartas nostras sequen. et infra dictum 
 regnum nostrum Scotiae, et regionem Novae Scotiae, et alibi, locum, 
 prioritatem^ prtEeminentiam^ et prcecedentiam in omnibus et quibuscunque 
 commissionibus^ brevibus^ Uteris patentibus^ appellationibus^ nomina- 
 tionibuSy et scriptio quibuscunque j et in omnibus et universis sessionibus, 
 conventionibus, comitiis, synodis, et omnibus temporibus et occa- 
 sionibus quibuscunque, ante omnes milites auratos hactenus factos 
 et creatos, aut quocunque tempore a futuro faciendos et creandos, et 
 prae omnibus baronibus, lie Lairdis, armigeris lie Esquyris, et 
 generosis quibuscunque, lie Gentilmen, excepto nostrum locum 
 tenente, suisque hasredibus nostrum locum tenentibus, dicti regni 
 Novae Scotiae, et non aliter, quorum uxores et liberi habebunt, et 
 juxta gaudebunt simili loco et praecendentia (et exceptis hujusmodi 
 militibus, bannerettis quos contigerit fieri, et in milites curatores 
 designari per nos, nostros haeredes, vel successores, sub nostro vexillo, 
 et in erecto signo lie standart, et displayit banner, in omnibus 
 exercitibus regiis, in aperto bello, lie oppen w^arre, nobismet-ipsis 
 personaliter praesentibus et non aliter, neque alio modo, et hoc 
 durante tempore vitae dictorum militum bannerettorum tantum, et 
 non diutius) et ante omnes baronettos quoscunque aliquo tempore a 
 futuro per nos, nostros hasredes et successores, faciendos, et ante 
 
84 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 suos haeredes et successores, tametsi contigerit alios baronettum vel 
 baronettos in posterum per nos faciendos, et literas suas patentes 
 dicti gradus, dignitatis, status, nominis, ordinis, tituli et stili baronetti 
 sub nostro magno sigillo dicti regni nostri Scotiae, perficere et 
 expedire antequam praefatus dominus Robertus, suique haeredes 
 masculi, absolvent et expedient hanc nostram cartam, nostro sub 
 magno sigillo, non obstante aliqua lege, consuetudine, vel con- 
 stitutione quacunque in contrarium. Et similiter voluimus, 
 concessimus, declaravimus, et ordinavimus, tenoreque praesentis 
 cartae nostrae, pro nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, cum 
 avisamento et consensu antedict. de specialibus nostris gratia, favore, 
 certa scientia, mero motu, et deliberato animo, volumus, concedimus, 
 declaramus, constituimus, et ordinamus, quod uxor et nepotes dicti 
 domini Roberti Gordon suorumque haeredum masculorum praescript. 
 de tempore in tempus in perpetuum, virtute praesentis cartae nostrae, 
 et dicti gradus, status, et dignitatis suorum maritorum, habebunt, 
 tenebunt, capient, et gaudebunt omni tempore a fiituro, loco^ prcs- 
 cedentia^ prioritate^ et prcseminent'ia^ tarn durante vita suorum 
 maritorum quam ex inde durante sita vita, si contigerit ipsas diutius 
 superstites, ante uxores omnium personarum quarumcunque pro 
 quibus praefatus dominus Robertus, vel dicti sui haeredes masculi, 
 debent vel poterint, virtute praesentis cartae nostrae, vel dicti gradus, 
 status, dignitatis, nominis, ordinis, tituli vel stili baronetti, tenore 
 prssentium concess. habere, tenere, capere, et gaudere loco, priori- 
 tate, praecedentia, et praeeminentia, et ante uxores diet, militum 
 bannerettorum prius except, propterea quod dictus gradus baronetti 
 est haereditarius gradus sanguinis ; Nec non quod filii et filiae 
 respective dicti domini Roberti, et suorum haeredum masculorum, 
 in perpetuum, virtute prsesentis cartae nostrae, et diet, dignitatis 
 baronetti praesentibus concess. praefato domino Roberto, suisque 
 haeredibus masculis, habebunt, tenebunt, capient, et gaudebunt loco, 
 prioritate, praecedentia, et praeeminentia prae filiis et filiabus re- 
 spective omnium personarum prae quibus praefatus dominus Robertus, 
 vel sui haeredes masculi, locum capere, et praecedentium poterint, 
 vel debent, vel virtute praesentis cartae nostrae, vel dicti gradus, et 
 stili baronetti ipsis praesentibus concess. prae filiis militum, banneret- 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 85 
 
 torum prius except. Et similiter, quod uxores, filiorum dicti 
 domini Roberti, suorumque haeredum masculorum, omni tempore a 
 future respective habebunt, tenebunt, capient, et gaudebunt loco, 
 prioritate, et praecedentia ante uxores omnium personarum quarum- 
 cunque, prae quibus ipsarum mariti locum capere poterint, vel debent; 
 idque tam durante vita ipsorum maritorum quam postea. Insuper, 
 ex specialibus nostris gratia, favore, certa scientia, mero motu, et 
 animo deliberate, tenore prassentis cartae nostras pro nobis, haeredibus, 
 et successoribus nostris, cum avisamento antedict. volumus, conce- 
 dimus, ordinamus, declamus, et promittimus quod quocunque tem- 
 pore, et quam primum filius natu maximus, et apparens hasres 
 masculus dicti domini Roberti, vel filius natu proximus, aut haeres 
 apparens masculus quorumcunque haeredum masculorum ipsi suc- 
 ceden. venerint ad aetatem viginti unius annorum, quod ipse, et unus- 
 quisque eorum respective, per nos, haeredes et successores nostros, 
 milities lie KNIGHTS inaugurabuntur, quandocunque ipsi, vel 
 eorum aliquis, hujusmodi ordinem requisiverint, absque solutione 
 mercedum et expensarum quarumcunque, et quod dictus dominus 
 Robertus, et sui hasredes masculi praescript. habebunt, et habere et 
 gerere in perpetuum dehinc poterint, vel in paludamentis, vulgo lie 
 canton in thair coit of armis, vel in scutis, vulgo lie scutcheons, pro 
 eorum arbitrio, arma regni Novae Scotiae nimirum. Et quod dictus 
 dominus Robertus, haeredesque sui masculi prasscript. ex tempore in 
 tempus in perpetuum habebunt locum, omni tempore a future, in 
 omnibus exercitibus nostris, haeredum et successorum nostrorum 
 in acie, vulgo lie crosse, prope et juxta vexillum nostrum regium, 
 vulgo neir about our royal standart, nostrorum haeredum et succes- 
 sorum, pro defensione ejusdem, et quod dictus dominus Robertus, 
 suique haeredes masculi praescript. in perpetuum habeant et habebunt 
 omni tempore a future, duos assistentes seu asseclas sui corporis, 
 vulgo twa assistents of his body, ad supportandum volamen, lie peill, 
 et principalem lugentem, et sibi quatuor assistentes in suis funeribus. 
 Et quod dictus dominus Robertus, suique haeredes masculi respective, 
 in perpetuum omni tempore a future, nominabuntur, vocabuntur, 
 et designabuntur, nomine BARONETTI, et quod omni vulgari 
 sermone Scotiae et scriptis hac additis (SIR) et in omnibus aliis 
 
86 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 linguis, sermonibus, et scriptis similia signativa verba nominibus 
 respective dicti domini Robert!, et suorum haeredum masculorum 
 respective in perpetuum praemittentur. Et quod dictus stilus, et 
 titulus Baronetti fini ipsorum cognominum apponetur et subjicietur 
 in omnibus et singulis nostris, et successorum nostrorum literis 
 patentibus, et in omnibus et singulis aliis literis, scriptis, et cartis 
 quibuscunque, tanquam vera legitima, et necessaria dignitatis additio. 
 Ed quod inde praefatus dominus Robertus nunc, et omnibus tem- 
 poribus futuris nominabitur, vocabitur et intitulabitur, DOMINUS 
 ROBERTUS GORDON BARONETTUS ; Ac etiam quod 
 uxor et uxores dicti domini Roberti, suorumque haeredum mascu- 
 lorum respective, in perpetuum habebunt, tenebunt, fruentur, et 
 possidebunt, omni tempore a futuro, stilum, titulum, et appella- 
 tionem dominae, vulgo Madam et Dame respective, juxta usum et 
 phrasim in sermonibus et scriptis ; et pr^eterea, ex nostra speciali 
 gratia, favore, certa scientia, mero motu, animoque deliberato, 
 ordinavimus, et promisimus, tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae pro 
 nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, cum avisamento et con- 
 sensu antedict. damus, concedimus, ordinamus, declaramus, et pro- 
 mittimus praefato domino Roberto, et suis haeredibus masculis 
 respective in perpetuum, quod numerus baronettorum, tam infra 
 regnum nostrum Scotiae quam regionem Novae Scotiae, nunquam 
 pro praesenti, vel aliquo tempore a futuro, excedet, vel augebitur 
 in totum ultra numerum centum et quinquaginta baronettorum : 
 Nec non ex speciali nostra gratia, favore, certa scientia, mero 
 motu, animoque deliberato, dedimus, concessimus, declaravimus, 
 ordinavimus et promisimus, tenoreque praesentis cartae nostrae 
 pro nobis, haeredibus et successoribus nostris, cum avisamento 
 et consensu antedict. damus, concedimus, ordinamus, declara- 
 mus, et promittimus praefato domino Roberto, haeredibus suis 
 masculis respective in perpetuum, quod neque nos, haeredes vel 
 successores nostri, erigemus, vel nunc, aut aliquo tempore a 
 futuro, erecturi, facturi, creaturi, vel constituturi sumus aliquas 
 alias dignitates, gradus, status, ordines, titulos, vel stilos ; nec 
 dabimus, concedemus, permittemus, ordinabimus, vel constituemus 
 locum, prioritatem, vel praecedentiam aliquibus personis quibus- 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 87 
 
 cunque sub vel infra stilum et gradum domini parliamenti dicti 
 regni nostri Scotiae altiorem, priorem, vel parem dicto gradui, ordini, 
 titulo, vel stilo baronetti per nos prasfato domino Roberto, suis 
 haeredibus masculis respective, tenore praesentis cartae, dat. concess. 
 et ordinat. et quod dictus dominus Robertus, suique haeredes masculi 
 respective habebunt, et omni tempore a futuro libere et quiete 
 habere, tenere et possidere poterint, omnes et singulas praedictas 
 suas dignitates, loca, praecedentias, praerogativa, privilegia, ante et 
 prae omnibus aliis personis quibuscunque factis, vel faciendis, creandis, 
 vel constituendis, in aliquo tali gradu, gradibus, statibus, ordinibus, 
 titulis, vel stilis, vel cui aliquis hujusmodi locus vel praecedentia 
 datur, dabitur, aut concedetur. Et quod uxores, filii, filiae, filio- 
 rumque uxores dicti domini Roberti, et sui haeredes masculi, 
 respective omni tempore a futuro dicta sua loca, prioritates, et 
 praerogativa juxta et convenienter exinde habebunt, tenebunt, et 
 possidebunt. Et praeterea, si quae dubitatio vel quaestio, praesentibus 
 non enodata, oriatur de aliquo loco, praecedentia, vel praerogativa 
 prasfato domino Roberto suisque haeredibus masculis, uxoribus, filiis, 
 filiabus, vel filiorum uxoribus respective, vel alicui eorum quocunque 
 tempore a futuro debita, quod hujusmodi dubitationes et quaestiones 
 determinabuntur et decidentur usu et praxi consuetudinis et legis, 
 prout aliae graduum haereditariae dignitates ordinantur et diriguntur 
 de loco, praerogativa, et praecedentia. Et ulterius, quod nulla per- 
 sona, seu personae quaecunque, aliquo tempore a futuro fient baronetti 
 Scotiae, vel regni Novae Scotiae, vel praeferentur dicto gradui, statui, 
 dignitati, nomini, ordini, titulo, vel stilo baronetti per nos, haeredes 
 vel successores nostros, nisi qui primo perficient et perimplebunt con- 
 ditiones, per nos pro bono et propagatione plantationis Novae Scotiae 
 constitut. et manifestabunt easdem nobis, et commissionariis per 
 dictum nostrum locum tenentem constituendis. Et prjeterea, 
 quod prassentes sunt et erunt validae, sufficientes, et efficientes omni 
 tempore a futuro, omnibus suis punctis, ut praemissum est, prasfato 
 domino Roberto, et suis haeredibus masculis respective, in omne 
 aevum, et suis uxoribus, filiis, filiabus, et filiorum uxoribus respective, 
 et eorum singulis de jure, contra nos, haeredes et successores nostros, 
 et contra omnes alias personas quascunque in omnibus nostris, 
 
88 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 haeredum, et successorum nostrorum curiis, et omnibus aliis locis 
 quibuscunque, omnibus temporibus et occasionibus, non obstante 
 quocunque jure, consuetudine, praescriptione, praxi, ordinatione, 
 seu constitutione hactenus fact, ordinal, vel publicat. vel in posterum 
 quocunque tempore faciend. ordinand. et publicand. ordinat. vel 
 proviso, et non obstante aliqua alia materia, causa, vel occasione 
 quacunque. Insurer, pro munificis et amplis auxiliis, et impensis 
 nobis hactenus praestitis per prsefatum dominum Robertum Gordon, 
 pro auxilio et propagatione dictas plantationis Novae Scotiae, ordi- 
 navimus hanc cartam nostram, absque aliquo sine vel compositione 
 nobis, vel nostro thesaurario vel deputato solvenda, perficiendam et 
 expediendam. Et propterea, tenore prassentis cartae nostrae ordi- 
 namus, et declaramus, quod nee nunc, nee aliquo tempore praeterito, 
 diem datas praesentis cartae nostrae praeceden. fecimus, nee creavimus 
 aliquos barones vel baronettos, nee praetulimus aliquam personam, 
 vel personas, dicto statui, gradui, dignitati, nomini, ordini, titulo, 
 vel stilo baronetti, exceptis praefato domino Roberto Gordon, et 
 domino Alexandro Strachan de Thornetoun milite. Et quod 
 dedimus locum, prioritatem, praecedentiam, praeeminentiam inter 
 ipsos duos, praefato domino Roberto Gordon militi. Et pr^terea, 
 per praesentis cartae nostrae tenorem, declaramus, quod nee fecimus, 
 nee creavimus aliquem baronettum, vel baronettos quoscunque, nee 
 prastulimus aliquam personam vel personas quascunque dicto statui, 
 gradui, nomini, ordini, titulo, seu stilo baronetti, pras velante prae- 
 fatum dominum Robertum Gordon, infra dictum regnum nostrum 
 Scotiae. Postremo, nos, pro nobis, et successoribus nostris, cum 
 avisamento et consensu antedict. volumus, decernimus, declaramus, 
 et ordinamus prassentem hanc nostram cartam, cum omnibus et 
 singulis privilegiis, libertatibus, clausulis, articulis, et conditionibus 
 antedict, in proximo nostro parliamento dicti regni nostri Scotiae. 
 vel aliquo alio parliamento ejusdem deinceps celebrand. pro arbitrio 
 dicti domini Roberti Gordon, suorumque haeredum masculorum, 
 ratificandum, approbandum, et confirmandam ; et ut habeat robur, 
 vim, et efFectum decreti et sententias illius supremi et praeeminentis 
 judicii, penes quam nos pro nobis, et successoribus nostris, volumus 
 et declaramus hanc nostram cartam et clausulas inibi content. 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 89 
 
 ad hunc efFcctum, sufficiens fore warrantum ; promittend. in 
 verbo principis idem fore perficiendum. Insuper dilectis nostris, 
 etc., et vestrum cuilibet, conjunctim et divisim, vicecomitatibus 
 nostris in hac parte specialiter constitutis, salutem. Vobis prae- 
 cipimus et mandamus, quatenus prasfato domino Roberto Gordon, 
 vel suo certo actornato, latori praesentium, sasinam totarum et 
 integrarum praedict. terrarum et baroniae de GORDOUN, 
 cum omnibus et singulis partibus, pendiculis, privilegiis, liber- 
 tatibus, commoditatibus, licentiis, et immunitatibus iisdem spectan. 
 seu spectare valen. et aliorum quorumcunque specialiter et 
 generaliter supra mentionat. quam quidem sasinam, cum avisa- 
 mento et consensu antedict. pro nobis, haeredibus et successoribus 
 nostris, tenore praesentis cartae nostras volumus, declaramus, et 
 ordinamus tam fore legitimum et sufficientem quam si prascepta 
 sasina separatim et ordinarie ex nostra cancellaria ad id efFectum 
 super dicta carta fuissent directa ; penes quam, cum avisamento 
 antedict. pro nobis, nostris haeredibus et successoribus, dispensavimus, 
 tenoreque prassentis cartae nostrae dispensamus in perpetuum. In 
 cujus REi TESTIMONIUM huic praescuti cartae magnum sigillum 
 nostrum apponi praecipimus, testibus praedilectis nostris con- 
 sanguineis et consiliariis, Jacobo marchione de Hamilton, comite 
 Araniae et Cambridge, domino Aven et Innerdail, Gulielmo Maris- 
 chall comite, domino Keyth, regni nostri marescallo, praedilecto 
 nostro consiliario, domino Georgio Hay de Kinfauns milite, nostro 
 cancellario, et praedilecto nostro consanguineo et consiliario, Thoma 
 comite de Melrose nostro secretario, dilectis nostris familiaribus 
 consiliariis, dominis Ricardo Cockburn de Clerkingtoun, nostri 
 secreti sigilli custode, Johanne Hamilton de Magdalenis, nostrorum 
 rotulorum registro ac consilii clerico, Georgio Elphingston de 
 Blythiswood nostrae justiciariae clerico, et Johanne Scot de Scottis- 
 tarvet, nostrae cancellarias directore, militibus. Apud Quhythall, 
 vigesimo octavo die mensis Maii, anno Domini millesimo sexcen- 
 tesimo vigesimo quinto, regnique nostri anno primo. 
 
 It wiU have been observed that in the Patents of which 
 examples have been given, the dignity has been conferred 
 
90 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 on each recipient for life, and to the heirs male of his body 
 lawfully begotten ; but there are many cases of their being 
 granted with special remainders, of which the following are 
 sufficient examples : — 
 
 * 29th May 1619. Sir William Hervy for life with reversion to his 
 son William Hervy, Esq., and the heirs male of his body ; remainder 
 to any other heirs male of the body of the said William the father, 
 and the heirs male of their bodies. 
 
 '9th February 1639. Sir Edward Tyrrell to hold the dignity for 
 life with remainder to his son Tobias Tyrrell, Esq. in tail male, 
 remainder to Francis Tyrrell another son in tail mail remainder to 
 the heirs male of the body of the said Edward in tail male. 
 
 *iith August 1660. Sir William Wheeler with remainder to 
 Charles Wheeler Cousin to the said Sir William and the heirs of the 
 said Charles. 
 
 *5th May 1670. Sir George Stonehouse for life (having sur- 
 rendered his former Patent by a fine) with remainder to John 
 Stonehouse his second son and to the heirs male of his body ; and 
 for lack of such issue to James his third son, etc. with precedency to 
 him and his said sons according to the first Patent dated 7 May 
 1628. 
 
 '22nd April 1678. Sir Francis Edwards "and to the heirs male 
 of his body, with remainder to Thomas, Benjamin, Herbert and 
 Jonathan, and the heirs male of their bodies,' etc. and a special clause 
 for precedency before all Baronets created after the year 1644. 
 
 'i8th May 1678. Sir James Bowyer Grandson and heir to Sir 
 Thomas Bowyer Baronet (created 23 July 3 Car. I.) surrendering 
 his Patent had now a new creation to that dignity, for life only, the 
 remainder to Henry Goring of Highden in the same County, 
 Esquire and to the heirs male of his body with the same precedency 
 as the said Sir Thomas Bowyer enjoyed. 
 
 '29th June 1682. Sir Cornelius Gans of the Netherlands, with 
 remainder to Stephen Groubart and his heirs. 
 
 *3ist January 1700. Sir Nicholas Van-Acker with remainder to 
 his brother John Van-Acker and Sir Jeremy Sambrooke, Knight. 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 91 
 
 '4th May 1725. Sir Henry Fermor, with remainder to Charles 
 Eversfield, Junior. 
 
 '17th January 1748. Sir Edward Lawrence with remainder to 
 his Nephew Isaac Woolaston Esquire. 
 
 * 3rd May 1774. Sir Richard Clayton. In default of issue-male, 
 to the heirs male of John Clayton Esquire ; his late father, deceased, 
 and their heirs male. 
 
 '3rd May 1774. Sir Charles Raymond. In default of issue-male 
 to William Burrell Esquire of Beckenham, in Kent, and his heirs- 
 male by Sophia his wife daughter of the said Charles Raymond.' 
 
 It will be noticed that in some of the above examples 
 there is also a special clause giving precedency. To these 
 examples may be added the following, which appear to be 
 very special and unusual : — 
 
 * 22nd June 1 63 1. Sir Charles Vavasor with an especial clause of 
 precedency, viz., to take place next below Sir Thomas Moulson of 
 Carleton in com. Line. Baronet and next above Sir George Greseley 
 of Drakelow in com. Derb. Baronet created 29 June 161 1. 
 
 '8th May 1674. Sir Arthur Onslow in reversion after death of 
 his father-in-law Sir Thomas Foote without issue male (who was 
 created 21 November 1660) and with the same precedency.' 
 
 The Patent of Sir Benjamin Wright, dated 7th February 
 1645, ^^^ afterwards superseded by the King's Royal 
 Warrant. During the troublous times of Charles i. many 
 of his Patents were ,dated abroad ; for example, that of Sir 
 Richard Browne was dated at St. Germains in France, 
 I St September 1649, as was also that of Sir Richard Forster, 
 dated 18th September 1649, ^^^ others, while that of Sir 
 Arthur Slingsby was dated at Bruges, 19th October 1657. 
 
 Two instances are recorded of ladies receiving the dignity. 
 In 1635 Dame Mary BoUes and her heirs whatever were 
 
92 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 created Baronets of Scotland, and had a grant of eighteen 
 miles square of land in Nova Scotia. Charles i. ordained 
 that she should be designed Lady, Madam, or Dame before 
 her surname ; and that she should have rank amongst the 
 ladies of the Baronets, according to the date of her Patent. 
 Another instance is the mother of General Cornelius Spell- 
 man, said to have been created by James ii. as a Baronettess 
 of England. 
 
 The following instance of the grant of a Baronet's Patent 
 to a Corporation, and the proposed sale of the Patent, taken 
 from the Gentleman s Magazine^ vol. lix. p. 423, may be of 
 interest : — 
 
 '21 May 1789. In the minute books of the Scotish Corpora- 
 tion in Crane-court, occurs the following entry, which I transcribe 
 for you as an historical curiosity ; wishing at the same time to learn 
 whether any and what consequences arose from the grant : — 
 
 "Monday, April 16, 1688. At a court of this Corporation then 
 held, Ordered, that the Knights Baronet's patent of England, 
 granted by his Majesty in favour of the Corporation, be exposed to 
 sale at 500 guineas, and not under, the Corporation being at all 
 reasonable charges ; and the two Scots patents at 300 each ; with 
 full power to John Renny, John Alexander, John Hay, and Sir 
 Andrew Forrester, any two of which, with the Master, to be a 
 quorum, to treat and dispose of the same accordingly." ' 
 
 As the minutes of the Scottish Corporation relating to 
 this period have all been destroyed by a fire, the result of 
 this ' Order ' cannot be given. 
 
 Sir Maurice Fenton, Knight of Mitchelstowne, whose 
 Patent is dated Dublin, 22nd July 1661, appears to have 
 been previously created by Oliver Cromwell by Privy Seal, 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 93 
 
 Whitehall, 25th May 1658, Patent, Dublin, 14th July 1658, 
 with this preamble : ' Whereas, we having taken in our 
 consideration the faithful services performed unto us by 
 our trusty and well-beloved Maurice Fenton, esq ; we are 
 now pleased to confer some such especial mark of our 
 favour upon him for the same, as shall not only be an 
 honour to him during his own life, but descending by 
 course of inheritance to his posterity, and that may give 
 them cause seriously to imitate him in those virtuous 
 courses, for which he has found so gracious an acceptance 
 in our sight.' 
 
 The following is the Commission of James i. touching 
 the creation of Baronets, the Instructions annexed thereto, 
 and the Commission respecting the Oath to be taken by 
 each Baronet that he had not given any consideration for 
 the acquisition of the Degree beyond the State service 
 required : — 
 
 By the King. 
 
 ' His Majesties Commission to all the Lords, and others of the 
 Privie Councell, touching the Creation of Baronets. 
 
 'James by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, 
 France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. To Our right 
 trustie, and right well beloved Councellour, Thomas Lord Elles- 
 mere, Lord Chancellour of England, And to Our right trustie, 
 and right well-beloved Cousins and Councellors, Robert Earle of 
 Salisburie, Lord High Treasurer of England, Henry Earle 
 of Northampton, Lord Keeper of our Privie Seale, Ladouike Duke 
 of Lenox, Charles Earle of Nottingham, Our high Admirall of 
 England, Thomas Earle of Suffolke, Lord Chamberlaine of Our 
 Houshold, Gilbert Earl of Shrewsbury, Justice in Eire beyond 
 Trent Northward, Edward Earle of Worcester, Master of Our 
 
94 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Horse, Thomas Earle of Excester, John Earle of Marre, Alexander 
 Earle of Dunfermyline, And to Our right trusty, and right wel- 
 beloved Councellours, Thomas Lord Viscount Fenton, Edward 
 Lord Zouche, William Lord Knolles, Treasurer of Our Houshold, 
 Edward Lord Wotton Comptroller of Our Houshold, John Lord 
 Stanhope, Vice-Chamberlaine of our Houshold, And to Our trustie, 
 and right well beloved Councellours, Sir John Herbert Knight, 
 Our second Secretarie of State, Sir Julius Caesar Knight, Chan- 
 cellour and Under-Treasurer of Our Exchequer, and Sir Thomas 
 Parrie Knight, Chancellour of Our Dutchie of Lancaster, Greeting. 
 ' Whereas divers principall Knights, and Esquires of Sundry parts 
 of this Our Realme, mooved with zeale and affection to further the 
 Plantation of Ulster, and other like Services in our Realme of Ire- 
 land, have offered and agreed, every of them to maintaine thirtie 
 Footmen Souldiers in the same Our Realme, at their owne proper 
 costs and charges, after the rate of eightpence apiece by the day 
 sterling, during the space of three yeeres now next ensuing, (By 
 the imitation of which example that good worke, whereupon the 
 establishment of Religion and Civility, in place of blindnesse and 
 barbarisme doeth so much depend, is likely to be so much advanced 
 and supported, as no reasonable meanes would be forborne, that may 
 cherish and encourage such an endeavour) Wee have been pleased, 
 as an Argreement of Our Gracious acceptation of so remarkeable 
 a Service, not only to bestow upon them a dignitie newly erected 
 and created by Us, answerable to their Estate and Merit, (which 
 Wee have stiled by the name of Baronet, v/ith divers Priviledges 
 annexed thereunto, And the same have granted by Letters Patents to 
 them, and the Heirs males of their bodies, to the end the memory 
 thereof may remaine to them and their Posteritie) But are deter- 
 mined to doe the like also to some such other selected persons, as 
 shall concurre in the same intentions, not exceeding a convenient 
 number : And therefore although Wee could not (in reason) forbeare 
 to begin and conclude with some principall Persons of especiall Note 
 and Qualitie, that first discovered their good affections in this kinde, 
 before Wee had made any publique Declaration of Our certaine 
 Resolution to proceed further, yet when We enter into consideration, 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 95 
 
 that there may be divers other Knights and Esquires of all parts of 
 this Our Realme, that are capable of this Dignitie (respecting their 
 Estate and Qiialitie) and in whom there would be found a like 
 affection to the said Service, if they could take notice of this course 
 so soone as others, that are not so remote in their habitations, We 
 have thought fit hereby, aswell to notifie our Pleasure to receive 
 a convenient number of this Dignity, as to Warrant and Authorise 
 you (when any that are moved with the same Affections to the 
 Publique good, and are otherwise qualified as is fit, shall repaire 
 unto you within the time limited for this our Commission) to treat 
 and conclude with them in manner and forme as you have done 
 with others, and according to those Instructions, which for your 
 better direction in a matter of this consequence, Wee have annexed 
 to this Commission. Know yee therefore, that Wee have appointed 
 you to be our Commissioners, and Wee doe by these Presents give 
 and grant unto you all, or unto any eight or more of you, (whereof 
 you the said Lord Chancellor, or Lord Treasurer, to be alwayes 
 one. And you the said Lord Privie Seale, Duke of Lenox, Earle 
 of Nottingham Our Admirall, Earle of Suffolke our Chamberlaine, 
 and Earle of Worcester Master of Our Horse, to be alwayes two ; 
 who are so much the more able to judge of mens blood and anti- 
 quitie, in regard you are Commissioners in the Office of Earle 
 Marshall) full, free, and lawfuU Power and Authoritie, to commune 
 and treat with any of Our loving Subjects, whom you shall finde 
 willing to give such pay and entertainment to such number of 
 footmen as is aforesaid, to be imployed in the said service, and for 
 such time as aforesaid, And thereupon to informe your selves of 
 their family, living, and reputation, And such and so many of the 
 said persons, as you or any such eight or more of you (as is afore- 
 said) shall find and approove to bee in all the respects aforesaid 
 worthy such Degree, (not exceeding the number of two hundred, 
 which We have covenanted in our Patents shall not be exceeded, 
 but suffered to diminish as their Issue shall faile) to cause every 
 one of them for himself to make Payment, or to give good and 
 sufficient Assurance for the due answering of so much, as shall be 
 sufficient for maintenance of thirtie Souldiers footmen, after the 
 
96 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 rate of eight pence apiece by the day for the terme of three yeeres, 
 as is aforesaid, And thereupon to give Warrant and Direction under 
 any such eight or more of your hands, as is aforesaid, unto our 
 Attourney, or Sollicitor general!, for the drawing up of several 
 Bills and Grants to passe from Us unto all, and every such person 
 and persons, as shall be so approoved by you, or any such eight or 
 more of you, as is aforesaid, for the making and creating of every 
 such person Baronet, with all priviledges of Precedencie, Place, 
 Title, and all other things thereunto belonging, according to the 
 forme hereunto annexed. And these Presents, together with such 
 Warrant & Direction of you, or any such eight or more of you, 
 as is aforesaid, shalbe from time to time to Our said Attourney, and 
 Sollicitor Generall for the time being, sufficient Warrant for the 
 drawing up, and subscribing of every such Bill or Graunt to passe 
 from Us, according to the true meaning of these Presents And 
 our Will and Pleasure is, that Our Attourney, or Sollicitor Generall 
 shall draw, Ingrosse, and subscribe the Bills and Grants to be made 
 of the said dignitie of Baronet, according to the Directions and 
 Warrants by you, or any such eight or more of you as is aforesaid. 
 And the said Bills and Grants so drawen, Ingrossed and subscribed 
 with the hands of Our Attourney or Sollicitor Generall, or either 
 of them, shall be a sufficient Warrant and Discharge to you Our 
 said Commissioners, to subscribe likewise the said Bills or Grants 
 with the hands of any such eight or more of you, as aforesaid. 
 
 * And furthermore, for the more easie and speedy passing of the 
 Grants and Letters Patents to be made of the said Dignitie, Wee 
 are pleased and contented, and by these Presents for Us, Our 
 Heires & Successors, Wee doe grant, ordaine and appoint that the 
 Bills for such Patents prepared by our said Attourney, or Sollicitor 
 as aforesaid, and signed with the hands of you, or any such eight 
 or more of you, as is aforesaid, shall be a sufficient and immediate 
 Warrant to the Lord Chancellour of England, or Lord Keeper of 
 the great Scale of England for the time being, to passe the same 
 Grants and Letters Patents under the Greate Scale of England, 
 without any other or further Warrant from Us to be had or obtained 
 in that behalfe. And this Our Commission, Wee have made to 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 97 
 
 continue till the sixt day of July next comming after the date 
 hereof, and then to cease and determine. In witnesse whereof, Sec, 
 Witnesse, &c. 
 
 'By the King 
 
 'The Instructions within mentioned to be observed by Our 
 Commissioners within named. 
 
 ' Forasmuch as Wee have bene pleased to authorize you to Treate 
 and conclude with a certaine number of Knights and Esquires, as 
 they shall present themselves unto you with such offers of assistance 
 for the service of Ireland, and under such Conditions as are con- 
 tained in these Presents, wherein We doe repose great trust and 
 confidence in your discretions and integrities, knowing well that 
 in such cases, there are so many circumstances incident, as require 
 a choice care and consideration. Wee doe hereby require you to 
 take such course as may make known abroad both our purpose, and 
 the Authoritie given unto you, that by the more publique notice 
 thereof those persons who are disposed to advance so good a worke, 
 may in time understand where, and to whom to addresse them- 
 selves for the same ; For which purpose We require you to appoint 
 some certaine place and times for their Accesse : which We thinke 
 fittest to be at the Councel Chamber at Whitehall, upon Wed- 
 nesdayes and Fridayes in the afternoone, where you shall make 
 knowen to them (as they come) that those who desire to bee 
 admitted into the dignitie of Baronets, must maintaine the number 
 of thirtie foote-Souldiers in Ireland, for three yeeres, after the rate 
 of eightpence sterling Money of England by the day ; And the 
 wages of one whole yeere to be payed into Our Receipt, upon the 
 passing of the Patent. 
 
 ' Provided Alwayes, that you proceed with none, except it shall 
 appeare unto you upon good proofe, that they are men for qualitie, 
 state of living, and good reputation worthy of the same ; And that 
 they are at the least descended of a grandfather by the fathers side 
 that bare Armes, And have also of certaine yeerely revenue in Lands 
 of inheritance, in possession, one Thousand pounds per Annum de 
 claro ; Or lands of the old Rent, as good (in accompt) as one Thou- 
 sand pounds per Annum of improved Rents, Or at the least two 
 
 G 
 
98 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 parts in three parts to be divided of Lands, to the said values in 
 possession, and the other third part in reversion, expectant upon one 
 life only, holding by Dower, or in Joynture. 
 
 * And for the Order to be observed in ranking those, that shall 
 receive, the dignitie of a Baronet, although it is to be wished that 
 those Knights, which have now place before the Knights (in respect 
 of the time of their Creation) may be ranked before others (Caeteris 
 paribus), yet because this is a Dignitie, which shall bee Hereditarie, 
 wherein divers circumstances are more considerable, then suche a 
 Marke as is but Temporarie, (that is to say of being now a Knight, 
 in time before another) Our pleasure is, you shall not bee so precise, 
 in placing those that shall receive this Dignitie, but than are Esquire 
 of great antiquitie, and extraordinary living, may be ranked in this 
 choise before some Knights. And so (of Knights) a man of greater 
 living, more Remarkeable for his house, yeeres, or calling in the 
 Commonwealth, may bee now preferred in this Degree, before one 
 that was made a Knight before him. 
 
 * Next, because there is nothing of Honour, or of value, which 
 is knowen to be sought or desired (bee the Motives never so good) 
 but may receive scandall from some, who (wanting the same good 
 affection to the publique) or being in other considerations incapable 
 can be contented out of envie to those that are so preferred, to cast 
 aspersions, and imputations upon them; As if they came by this 
 dignitie for any other consideration, but that which concerneth this 
 so publique and memorable a worke. You shall take order, That the 
 party, who shall receive this dignitie, may take his Oath, that 
 neither he (nor any for him) hath directly or indirectly given any 
 more for attayning the degree, or any precedence in it, than that 
 which is necessary for the maintenance of the number of Souldiers, 
 in such sort, as aforesaid, saving the charges of passing his Patent. 
 
 ' And because We are not ignorant, that in the distribution of all 
 Honours, most men will be desirous to attaine to so high a place as 
 they niay, in the Judgement whereof (being matter of dignitie) there 
 cannot be too great caution used to avoyd the interruption, that 
 private partialities may breed in so worthy a Competition. 
 
 * Forasmuch as it is well knowen, that it can concerne no other 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 99 
 
 person so much to prevent all such inconveniences, as it must doe 
 Ourselfe, from whom all Honour and dignitie, (either Temporarie, 
 or Hereditarie) hath his only roote and beginning, You shall publish 
 and declare to all, w^hom it may concerne. That for the better 
 warrant of your owne Actions, in this matter of Precedencie, 
 (wherein Wee finde you so desirous to avoyd all just exceptions) 
 Wee are determined upon view of all those Patents, which shall be 
 subscribed by you, before the same passe Our great Scale, to take 
 especiall care upon Us, to order and ranke every man in his due 
 place ; And therein alwayes to use the particular counsell and advise, 
 that you Our Commissioners shall give Us, of whose integritie and 
 circumspection, Wee have so good experience, and are so well 
 perswaded, as Wee assure Our selfe, you will use all the best meanes 
 you may to enforme your owne Judgements in cases doubtfull, before 
 you deliver Us any such opinion as may leade Us in a case of this 
 Nature, wherein Our intention is (by due consideration of all 
 necessary circumstances) to give every man that satisfaction, which 
 standeth with Honour and Reason. 
 
 'Lastly, having now directed you, how, and with what caution 
 you are to entertaine the Offers of such as shall present themselves 
 for this dignitie. Wee doe also require you to observe these two 
 things, The one, That every such person as shalbe admitted, doe 
 enter into sufficient Bond or Recognizance, to Our use, for the 
 payment of that portion, which shall be remayning after the first 
 payment is made, Which you are to see payd, upon delivery of the 
 Letters Patents ; The other, That seeing this Contribution for so 
 publique an Action, is the motive of this dignitie. And that the 
 greatest good which may be expected upon this Plantation will 
 depend upon the certaine payment of those Forces, which shall be 
 fit to bee maintained in that Kingdome, untill the same bee well 
 established, the charge whereof will bee borne with the greater 
 difficultie, if We be not eased by some such extraordinary meanes; 
 We require you Our Treasurer of England, so to order this Receipt, 
 as no part thereof bee mixed with Our other Treasure, but kept 
 apart by itselfe, to be wholely converted to that use, to which it is 
 given, and entended ; And in regard thereof, that you assigne it to 
 
loo A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 be received, and the Bonds to be kept by some such particular 
 person, as you shall thinke good to appoint, who upon the payment 
 of every severall portion, shall both deliver out the Bonds, and give 
 his Aquittance for the same. For which this shall be yours, and his 
 the said Receivours sufficient Warrant in that behalfe. 
 
 'By the King 
 
 ' His Majesties Commission to the Lords, and others of his 
 Privie Councell, for taking the Oath of the Baronets. 
 
 'James by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, 
 France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., To Our right 
 trustie, and right well beloved Councellour, Thomas Lord Ellese- 
 mere, Lord Chancellour of England, And to Our right trustie, 
 and right well-beloved Cousens and Councellour, Robert Earle of 
 Salisburie, Lord High Treasurer of England, Henry Earle of 
 Northampton, Lord Keeper of our Privie Scale, Lodouike Duke of 
 Lenox, Charles Earle of Nottingham, Our high Admirall of England, 
 Thomas Earle of Suffolke, Lord Chamberlaine of our Houshold, 
 Gilbert Earle of ShrcM^sbury Justice in Eire beyond Trent North- 
 w^ard, Edward Earl of Worcester, Master of Our Horse, Thomas 
 Earle of Excester, John Earle of Marre, Alexander Earle of Dun- 
 fermyline. And to Our right trusty, and right welbeloved Counsel- 
 lours, Thomas Lord Viscount Fenton, Edward Lord Zouche, 
 William Lord KnoUes, Treasurer of Our Houshold, Edward Lord 
 Wotton Comptroller of Our Houshold, John Lord Stanhope, Vice- 
 chamberlaine of Our Houshold, And to Our trustie, and right 
 welbeloved Councellours, Sir John Herbert Knight, Our second 
 Secretarie of State, Sir Julius Caesar Knight, Chancellour and Under- 
 Treasurer of Our Exchequer, and Sir Thomas Paw^e, Knight, 
 Chancellour of Our Dutchie of Lancaster, Greeting. Wheras 
 We have already by Our severall Letters Patents created divers 
 principal Knights and Gentlemen of sundry parts of this Our Realme 
 of England, Baronets, as by the same Our Letters Pattents may 
 appeare. Know yee that We have authorized you, and by these 
 presents doe authorize you, or any eight or more of you, whereof 
 you the said Lord Chancellour or Lord Treasurer to bee alwayes one, 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET loi 
 
 and you the said Lord Privie Scale, Duke of Lenox, Earle of 
 Nottingham, Our Admirall, Earl of Suffolke, Our Chamberlaine, 
 and Earle of Worcester, Master of Our Horse, to be alwayes two, to 
 take the Oath of all and every of the saide Baronets, already 
 created, or to be created severally before his said Patent of his 
 Creation bee delivered unto him, that he hath not given directly 
 or indirectly, by himselfe or any other vv^ith his privitie, nor is 
 to give by himselfe or any other with his privitie, any more 
 for attaining the said degree, or any precedence in it, than that 
 which is necessary for the maintenance of thirtie footmen souldiers in 
 Our Realme of Ireland, after the rate of eight pence by the day 
 sterling, during the space of three yeeres now next insuing, saving 
 the charges of passing his Patent. 
 
 * And because it may so fall out, that some of the said Baronets 
 already created, and others hereafter to be created, shall or may by 
 sicknesse, infirmitie, or other occasion be hindred so as they cannot 
 be present with you to receive their Patents at your hands ; We 
 do therfore by these presents, authorize, and commaund you Our 
 Councellour of England, to award Commissions from time to 
 time, for any such Baronets that shall require the same, to such 
 three, foure, or more discreet Knights or other Gentlemen, as 
 you shall thinke fit. Commanding them, or any two of them, to 
 take the like Oath of every such Baronet, and to returne the 
 same to you.' 
 
 Upon the first erection of the Degree there was paid by 
 each Baronet into the Exchequer the sum of one thousand 
 and ninety-five pounds, being for the maintenance of thirty 
 soldiers for three years at the rate of eightpence per day for 
 each soldier, in addition to twelve hundred pounds, the 
 charges of passing the patent. It was not necessary that the 
 whole of the amount should be provided at once, but the 
 wages of one year had at least to be paid on the passing of 
 the Patent ; and as regards the balance, the Baronet had to 
 
102 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 enter into a sufficient bond and recognisance for the balance 
 which remained due after the first payment was made. 
 The following is a form of the Bond : — 
 
 ' Noverint universi per prassentes me de in Com : 
 
 : Milit : et Baronett : teneri et firmiter oblip;ari serenissimo 
 
 domino nostro Jacobo Dei gratia Anglie, Scotie, Francie, et Hibernie 
 nunc Regi in Mille marcis legalis monete Anglie solvendis eidem 
 Domino Regi heredibus et executoribus suis, Ad quam quidem 
 solicitatione bene etfideliter faciendam,Obligo me,heredes,executores, 
 et administratores meos firmiter per praesentes Sigillo meo sigillat : 
 dat : quarto die Junii 1611, Anno Regni Domini nostri Regis 
 Anglie, Francie, et Hibernie Nono, et Scotie Quadragesimo Quarto. 
 
 ' The Condition of this Obligacion is such that if the above 
 
 bonded Sir , Knight and Baronett, his heirs, executors, 
 
 or administrators, or some of them, doe well and truelie paie or 
 cause to be paid into the handes of Thomas Wattson, Esquire, 
 or into the handes of anie other to be by the Lord Treasurer of 
 England named and appointed Receyvour of the monyes paide & to 
 be paied by such as his Ma^'^ hath or shall create Baronette, to the 
 use of his Ma*'^ his heirs or successors the some of Three Hundred 
 Three Score & Fyve Pounds of Lawfull money of England, being 
 one full thirde part of One Thousand Four Score & Fyftene 
 Pounds, at or within the now office of the saide Thomas Wattson 
 within his Ma*'^'^ Receipte of the Exchequire in or upon the fyveth 
 daie of June which shalbe in the yere of our Lord God One 
 Thousand Six Hundreth & Thirtene without fraude or covyne that 
 then this Obligacion to be voide & of none effect, or else to stand 
 in full strength & virtue. 
 
 ' Recognit xxij° die 
 
 Junii nono Jacobi 
 
 Regis coram me 
 Edw. Bromley.' 
 
 The following is a form of the Receipt given for the 
 three annual instalments of ^^365 : — 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 103 
 
 ' In Pelle Recept' in Termino Pasche a°-xj° R. Jacobi, 
 SabtSi xvto Maii. 
 
 ' . , mil. et Baronett' trescentas Sexagint' quin- 
 
 que libras in plen' solutione M iiij''^ xv^ p ips' dno. Regi Jacobo 
 dat' et concess' ad manutenend' triginta viros in cohortibus suis 
 pedestribus in regno suo Hibernie pro defensione eiusdem, et p'cipue 
 p securitate Plantationis Provincie Ultonie ibm p spatium trium 
 annorum secundum ratam viijd. p quolibet huiusmodi pedite p diem 
 durante termino predicto solubil' p recognit' suam quinto die Junii 
 
 prox' futuro ccclxv' — sol'. 
 
 ^ Exx. Edw: War dour ^ 
 
 This, however, was by no means the whole amount of the 
 payments, as Is shown by the following long list of Fees 
 paid by Sir Edward Hussey for the issue of his Patent and 
 for his release from his Bonds : — 
 
 * At M"^ Wattsons office in the Receipt. 
 Quinto Junii 1612 .... ccclxv'. 
 Quinto Junii 1613 . . . . ccclxv^ 
 
 It"* there was the other third pte paide into thexchequer in hand 
 before the passinge of the patent, viz. ccclxv^, as may appear by the 
 Receipt under the Receivours hand plimlary appointed for this 
 Receipt for the Baronettcy. 
 
 Baron Bromley before whom these ij bondes in the nature of re- 
 cognizances were acknowledged, his man had for his Master xiijs. iiijd. 
 
 This man had for enteringe them into the booke . — iiijd. 
 
 'May itt please yo'' Ldshps. there was paide into my Office this 
 p'sent day by Sir Edward Hussey, Knight & Baronett, the some of 
 ccclxv' in pte of One Thousand Fourscoore & Fifteene poundes by 
 him given h graunted to his Matie. towardes the maintenaunce of 
 30 Footemen servinge his Matie. in Ireland for defence of the pro- 
 vince of Ulster by the space of iij yeares followinge att the rate of 
 viijd. per diem to each of them during the same time for which 
 there is a Talley stricken this p'sent day as appeareth. And ij severall 
 
I04 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 bondes for ccclxv^ entered into by the said Baronett for the remaine 
 being vii" xxx^, & acknowledged before Sir Edward Bromley, 
 Knight, one of the Barons of thExchequer to his Matie. accordinge 
 to such directions as I have received for the same . . ccclxv^ 
 
 Witness my hand this xviij day of June, 1611, 
 
 Tho: Watt son: 
 
 Watson had for this & striking ye Talley .... xxs. 
 
 Watsons man, viz. Poydon, had for him & the rest of his fellows 
 for making the aforesaid ij bondes ...... xvs. 
 
 Memd. that this xviij of June, 161 1, Sir Edward Hussey in the 
 County of Lincoln hath taken the oath appointed by his Matie for 
 the Baronetts in the presence of us. 
 
 yul: Cissar. 
 
 Sir Julio Caesars clarke had for this ..... vjs. 
 
 Itm. pd. unto Joanes & the rest of his fellows being M"^ Coulwerts 
 men for provinge viij of the Lordes Commissioners hand to the 
 patent for warrant unto the great scale . . . . , xs. 
 
 Itm. unto the doore keepers of the Councell Chamber . . ijs. 
 
 The names of Councellors that subscribed,- — R. Salisbury^ H. 
 Northampton^ Nottingham^ T. Suffolke^ Gilbt. Shrewsbury^ Edw, 
 Worcester^ Edw. Wotton^ Julius Casar. 
 
 Edw. Bromley. 
 
 Given unto M"^ Collverts man, which he demanded as a fee dew 
 unto his Mr. who was then Clarke of the Councell attendaunt for 
 the warrant unto M*" SoUicitor, viz. Sir Fr. Bacon, for drawinge the 
 patent xxs. 
 
 Itm. given unto M"^ Collverts man of whome I received the sd. 
 warrant .......... xs. 
 
 Itm. to the doore keepers of the Councell Chamber , . iijs. 
 
 Itm. given to M"" SoUicitor for drawinge the patent . v^ 
 
 Itm. given unto Younge his clarke for writen the same . xls. 
 
 Itm. to Younges man ....... ijs. 
 
 Itm. to Watsons man, viz. Poydon, for making a bill for payment 
 of some pte. of the money the next morninge that I wanted when 
 I was in payinge the money into thexchequer . . . ijs. 
 
 Itm. to M"" Kirkham, one of my Lorde Treasurer's Secretarys xls. 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 105 
 
 Itm. the Charges to the Crown Office for passinge the pattent 
 which was paid to Sir George Coppin .... xiiij'. 
 
 Itm. given unto the Clarices amongst them . . . xxs. 
 
 Itm. to M'' Pinches beinge one of them who specially ingrossed 
 the patent .......... xs. 
 
 Itm. to his boye that brought me word uppon Thursday att night 
 that the patents should be sealed the next day . . . ijs. 
 
 Itm. to his boye for writing a copie for me of theire names who 
 hadd theire patents sealed when myne was . . . xxijd. 
 
 Itm. given M"^ Calvert, the Clarke of the Councell, when Sir 
 Phillipp Woodhouse was with me for to know what Lincolnshire 
 or other men was comed into the roale since I was ranked . xxs. 
 
 Itm. given unto M' Kirkhams man att severall times . . iijs. 
 
 Itm. pd. unto Sr. George Coppin, the clarke of the Crowne, att 
 the receit of my Patent under the Scale, witnes his man M"^ Pinches 
 who rould the money & delivered itt to his measter . xiiij'. 
 
 Itm. given unto the Clarkes of the Crowne Office amongst them 
 in devident for ingrossinge my patent ..... xxs. 
 
 Itm. given unto M"^ Pinches, one of the clarkes, for his speciall 
 care that itt should be fare written . . . . . xs. 
 
 Itm. for the box & lock to lay the patent ynn . . iiijs. vjd. 
 
 Itm. to M' Pinches for a copie of the patent & sight of the 
 instructions before the book came forth in print . . xvijs. 
 
 Itm. for ij bookes after they came in print wherein the Commis- 
 sioners patent & the instructions with a copie of the patent & copie 
 to be granted & taken by the Baronetts are expressed & imprinted. 
 1612. 
 
 Pd. 20 Maij to M"^ Watson, one of the tellers in thexchequer, 
 when I payed my second payment, viz. ccclxv^ for my creation of 
 Baronitt for making the bill wheruppon the taylie was stricken ijs. 
 
 Itm. to M' Wardour in office Pellin' for the constat uppon the 
 taylee ........... ijs. 
 
 Itm. to him for registringe & inroulinge of both the bondes in 
 that office, when they were acknowledged .... iiijs. 
 
 Md. that M"^ Watson delivered in my bond without any other fee 
 when I payed the money. 
 
io6 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 And Lorde Townsend did have inroulmt. of my bond & recog- 
 nizance erased & crossed over, and a vacato intered in the margent 
 in M' Wardours office hard by my lord Chauncellors house in the 
 Strand w^ithout fee. 
 
 So as att the last paymt. I am to pay butt ijs. to M^ Watson his 
 Clarices for the bill wheruppon the Taylee is to be stricken, and ijs. 
 to M"" Wardour for the constat for that both the bondes are payde 
 for theire inrolmts.' 
 
 The following is the Warrant which appointed an Officer 
 in the Court Receiver of the Moneys to be paid by the 
 Baronets on creation : — 
 
 'James &c. To our right trusty and right w^elbeloved Cousin 
 and Councellor Robert Erie of Salisbury our high Treasurer of 
 England and to our trusty and welbeloved Councellor Sir Julius 
 Caesar Knight Chauncellor and under-treasurer of our Exchequer. 
 And to our trusty and welbeloved Sir Law^rence Tanfield Knight 
 Cheife Baron of our Exchequer and the rest of the Barons of the 
 said Court greeting ; Whereas wee have alredy by or speciall 
 Letters Patentes, Created divers principall Knightes and gent. Bar- 
 ronetts as by ye same our Letters Patentes may appeare, and are 
 likewise purposed to Create more Barronetts of like qualitie and 
 Condicion. And where the Barronetts Created and to be Created 
 are to give for the maintenance of Thirty footemen Soldiers to be 
 imployed in our Realme of Ireland after ye rate of Eight pence by 
 the day sterling a peece during the space of three yeares nowe next 
 ensewing. A third part of w*^'^ money they are to make presente 
 payment of and are to give securitie by Bondes or Recognizances 
 for payment of th' other two partes at Certaine dayes yet to Come ; 
 And because it may fall out that by reason of sicknes, infirmitie 
 or other occasion some of the said Barronetts shall or may be hindered 
 or letted, so as they cannot be present hereabouts to give securitie 
 accordingly, but are to take forth Commissions out of our Court 
 of Chauncery, to be directed to such discreete Knightes or other 
 gentlemen as our Chauncellor of Englande shall in that behalfe 
 
THE CREATION OF A BARONET 107 
 
 think fitt to be nominated and appointed to receave such Bondes 
 or Recognizances and to retorne the same into our said Court of 
 Exchecquer ; Knowe yee nowe that wee for Consideracions us 
 movinge do Commaund yow our said Treasurer Chauncellor and 
 Barons and every of yow, so sone as any such Bondes or Recog- 
 nizances as by vertue of such Commission as aforesaid shal be taken 
 of or for any Barronett or Barronetts shall be Certified and retourned 
 into our said Court of Exchecquer, yow and every of yow Cause the 
 same presently (without any Inrollement or Record at all to be 
 made of them) to be delivered over to Thomas Watson Esq. one 
 of the Tellors of our Exchecquer (being by yow our said Treasurer 
 appointed Receavor of such moneys payable by the said Barronetts) 
 or to such other person or persons as our Treasurer of England for 
 the time being, shall in that behalfe nominate and appoint That 
 upon full payment and dischardge of the moneyes due upon such 
 Bondes or Recognizances, the same shall and may be forthwith, by 
 such Receavor redelivered to every such Barronett his or their 
 Executors or Assignes to be Cancelled according to our gratious 
 intencion in this behalfe And theise presents shal be aswell to 
 yow our said Treasurer Chancellor and Barons as also to the said 
 Receavor, a full & sufficient warraunt and dischardge in that 
 behalf Given &c. the 27th day of June in the Ninth yeare of 
 our Raigne of England ffraunce and Ireland, and of Scotland, &c. 
 44 • 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 EARLY HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGES 
 OF ENGLAND AND OF IRELAND 
 
 It was only to be expected that the erection of a new 
 dignity hereditary like that of the Baronetage should be 
 viewed with feelings of jealousy by certain of the com- 
 munity. Whether any formal petition was ever made to 
 the King for the revocation of his first letters patent is not 
 known, but that such was in contemplation is evidenced by 
 the following Memorandum contained among the Cotton 
 Manuscripts in the British Museum (Faustina, c. viii. 
 f. 24) :- 
 
 * Motiues to induce the Knights Cittizens and Burgesses of the 
 Commons howse of Parliament to petition to his Ma*'® for 
 the revoking & abolishing of the degree of Baronetts 
 lately erected by his hignes letters patents. 
 
 ' ffirst because this new degree is ofFensiue to the Nobilitie of this 
 Realme whose descendants in all reason ought to haue pryme 
 emynence amongst the gentrie of this Kingdome yet Baronetts by 
 thease letters Patents are to haue precedence before the descendants 
 from the younger children of Barons, Earles, Dukes, etc. And to 
 the order of Knighthood because that degree being a personall 
 dignitye & springing out of vertue and desert ought to be ranged 
 next and imediatly vnto Barony. Nevertheles the degree of 
 Baronetts is interposed betweene Baronie and Knighthood. And 
 to the gentrye of this Kingdome because many of the Baronetts and 
 
 108 
 
EARLY HISTORY 109 
 
 their descendants being meanely descended must haue precedence 
 before gentlemen of auncient families, who by this Innovation wilbe 
 much villified and of smale reckoning in the Comonwealth. 
 
 ' And vnto the Magistrats of this Kingdome who in respect of 
 their offices & places wherein they serue as also of the grauitie 
 and wisdome of their persons in publick services and assemblies, 
 haue vsed to have precedence before others but now they must giue 
 place vnto Baronetts and their descendants albeit some of them are 
 and many of them in tyme to come may be meane in Birth, poore 
 in estate and of small worth and desert. 
 
 'And vnto the whole comynaltie whose descendants by their 
 virtues and good fortunes may hereafter attayne vnto creditt and 
 reputacion in the commonwealth. 
 
 * Inconveniences that will arise vnto his Ma*'^ and this estate 
 by reason of this new institucion. 
 
 * There wilbe allwaies dislike envye and hartburning betweene 
 the gentrie of the Kingdome and the Baronetts. 
 
 ' The honour of Knighthood w'^'^ was wont to encourage generous 
 myndes vnto high exploits will now come into contempt : for be 
 they of never so great prowesse and valour must by this Institucion 
 be inferiour vnto Baronetts of smallest worth. 
 
 ' Knighthood hath been held a competent reward for forreine and 
 home ymployments But now his Ma*'® must be dryven to seeke new 
 wayes for the recompence and satisfaction of such seruices. 
 
 ' Gentlemen of great lyvelyhood and estimacion will refraine his 
 Ma*^ seruice in publique assemblies for the administration of Justice, 
 and otherwise, because they serue to giue place vnto many of the 
 Baronetts whome they counted their inferiours. 
 
 'The reputacion of Knighthood and Antiquitye of descent hath 
 in former tymes much advanced the gentrie soe quallified in prefer- 
 ment of mariages who are very much prejudiced by this hereditorie 
 title. 
 
 ' Great Noblemen of this Kingdome haue been regarded from 
 their titular dignities for want of meanes to support their honour. 
 But thease Baronetts albeit they shall happen to bee of noe worth. 
 
no A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 either in estate or desert, must haue precedence before Knights and 
 gentlemen of greatest reputacion. 
 
 ' Nothing is more commendable then honour springing out of 
 vertue and desert But to purchase honour with money (as Baronetts 
 haue don) is a temporall Simonye and dishonorable to the estate. 
 
 ' The commonalty of the Kingdome, ever sithence the first insti- 
 tucion therof hath consisted of certaine degrees knowne by legall 
 addicions without change or alteracion by any of his ma^^®^ Pro- 
 genitours. But this Innovacion may by way of President alter the 
 whole frame of the commonwealth. 
 
 ' His Ma^'^ by his prerogatiue Royall may create Barons, Vicounts, 
 Earles, and any other degrees of Nobilitie as other his Auncestors 
 and Progenitors have don, But the erection of this or any other in 
 the Comminaltie is not warranted by any former President vsage or 
 custome.' 
 
 We can imagine that protests resembling the above were 
 made by Earls and Barons when the Degrees of Duke, 
 Marquess, and Viscount were respectively introduced. 
 
 The following extract from a long document preserved in 
 the Public Record Office shows that the Officers of the Navy 
 were concerned as to the privileges conferred on the new 
 degree {State Papers^ Domestic Series, James /. , vol. Ixvii. 
 No. 1 60) : — 
 
 A Remonstrance of ye Records heretofore produced in the 
 Councell Chamber concerning the Praecedencie of the offices of 
 the Navie now in question. 
 
 Praesidents shewinge the Order of the Office not to be inverted 
 by the Dignitie of any other Tytle. 
 
 To shew that the M""® of Requests have noe praeheminence in the 
 office of Marine Causes. 
 
EARLY HISTORY iii 
 
 To shew that the Priviledges of everie Office are limited within 
 it selfe. 
 
 To shew that the Patent of a Baronite doth not extend it selfe 
 to take away the Priviledges of Offices. 
 
 By these wordes likewise included in our Patents w*'* all Profits 
 Priviledges and praeheminences, we take it as graunted that noe 
 other Patent can seclude us from the prasheminencie due unto our 
 severall places, for although the Patent of a Baronite be to take 
 place of other K*®, yet is not included and officers as K*^ onely we 
 contend not : for that addeth nothinge to the Dignitie of the office, 
 but as Officer we take our Patents to be of equall force or more, 
 because ye more auncient patents, and if the tenent of our places 
 and Preheminences by Patent be not secure the Tenent of most 
 offices in England will appeare uncertaine, but it is more probable 
 that the priviledges of these two Patents are not contradictorie, and 
 it will appeare that the Patent of a Baronite is not of soe great 
 extent as is pretended. 
 
 To shew that the words of a Baronites Patent to take place of 
 all K*^^ are not universall. 
 
 To shew that these words in the Patent of a Baronite are not 
 universall is made plaine by reason they comprehende not at all 
 times, and in all places, for then wee should admitt that a Knight 
 Baronite although ymployed as Rear Admirall, should at all 
 councels and meetings, take ye place of his vice admirall or 
 Admirall, beinge but Knights w*^'^ were to adde great confusion to 
 Politicke Government, neither is the Case of officers much different 
 from this of ymployment. 
 
 To prove the Praeeminencie of the Comp^^P place from the 
 qualitie of his duties. 
 
 Between the 22nd May 161 1, the date of the erection of 
 the Degree, and the 31st December following, seventy-five 
 Baronets were created, their general precedency being 
 
112 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 clearly established in their Patents, as being before all 
 Knights, and also before all Bannerets, except those who 
 should be made by the King or the Prince of Wales on the 
 field. Now as, according to various writers, a Banneret 
 was a knightly person of high consideration, who in earlier 
 reigns had been summoned to Parliament, who was entitled 
 to supporters for his Arms, and who claimed rank before 
 the sons of Barons and the younger sons of Viscounts, these 
 earliest Baronets were naturally led to suppose that their 
 place in the chain of precedence was hereditarily just above 
 that which the Banneret occupied for his life. They 
 probably also thought that the King, in creating a sixth 
 hereditary degree, ' meane in place betwixt the Degree of a 
 Baron and the Degree of a Knight,' to quote the words 
 from his final Decree of 1616, intended that the members 
 of a Baronet's family should be woven into the said chain 
 of precedence in the natural manner, which would be 
 (omitting Ladies, Bishops, and Bannerets) as follows : — 
 
 First Degree^ . . Duke. 
 
 Second Degree^ . . Marquess. 
 
 Duke's eldest son. 
 
 I'hird Degree^ . . Earl. 
 
 Marquess's eldest son. 
 Duke's younger son. 
 
 Fourth Degree^ . . Viscount. 
 
 Earl's eldest son. 
 Marquess's younger son. 
 
EARLY HISTORY 113 
 
 Fifth Degree^ . . Baron. 
 
 Viscount's eldest son. 
 Earl's younger son. 
 
 Sixth Degree^ . . Baronet. 
 
 Baron's eldest son. 
 Viscount's younger son. 
 
 Non-hereditary Orders, . Knight. 
 
 Baronet's eldest son. 
 Baron's younger son, etc. etc. 
 
 Shortly, however, after the erection of the Degree a 
 dispute arose between the younger sons of the Viscounts 
 and the sons of the Barons on the one hand, and the 
 Baronets on the other, as to precedency, the language of 
 their Patents appearing to the Baronets to justify their 
 taking place and precedence before the younger sons of 
 Viscounts and before all sons of Barons. 
 
 The dispute was referred to the Privy Council, who 
 decided against the Baronets, whereupon they appealed to 
 the King. The following is an extract from a letter 
 addressed by Sir John Chamberlain to * The righte honor- 
 able Sir Dudley Carleton Knight his ma*'®^ Ambassador to the 
 State of Venice,' preserved in the Public Record Office : — 
 
 ' My very goode Lord . . . 
 
 ' The new Barronetts have a question for place w*"^ Barons younger 
 sonnes, w*=^ is hotly followed by Sir Moyle Finch, Sir William 
 Twisenden, Sir John Wentworth and Sir Robert Cotton. The 
 matter was lately brought to the counsaile table where by the earle 
 of Northampton and other Lords yt was decreed against them, but 
 
 H 
 
114 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 they have appealed and made petition to the King, who promiseth 
 to reverse yt as they geve out. . . . From London this last of 
 December 1 6 1 1 . 
 
 ' Yor LoP^ to comaund, 
 
 'John Chamberlain. 
 (Endorsed) 'The Disputes betwixt Baronets & Barons younger 
 sons for precedency.' 
 
 The following Memorandum is contained in the Cotton 
 Manuscripts in the British Museum (^Faustina, c, viii. 
 
 ' Certein Questions humbly sought of my Lords the Marshalls 
 to be resolued & declared, touchinge the Baronnetts, 
 arisinge from some doubtfuU words in their Patent & in 
 his Ma"®^ decree. 
 
 ' Whereas in the Patent fol. 32. are theis words followinge Atque 
 quod primogenitus filius, ac ceteri omnes filii et eorum uxores, et 
 filiae ejusdem . . . et heredum suorum praedictorum respective, 
 habeant, et capiant locum et praecedentiam, ante primogenitos filios, 
 ac alios filios et eorum uxores, et filias omnium quorumcunque 
 respective, prae quibus patres hujusmodi filiorum primogenitorum, 
 et aliorum filiorum, et eorum uxores, et filiarum vigore presentium 
 habere debent locum et praecedentiam. 
 
 *■ ^is. I. — Whether the eldest sonne & his wife & the daughters 
 of a Baronnett ought not to take place & precedence next & imedi- 
 atly after a K* Bachelour (as the words seeme to import) & before 
 all other inferior to a K* Bachelour & the yonger sonnes & their 
 wives next & imediatly after the eldest sonne & his wife & the 
 daughters of a K* Bachelour. & before all other inferior. And 
 whereas in the decree fol. 4. are theis words. His Ma*'^ &c. hath 
 finally sentenced, ajudged, & established, that the yonger sonnes of 
 Viscounts & Baronns, shall take place and precedence before all 
 Baronnetts. 
 
 ' ^a. 2. — Whether the children of the heyre gennerall to a 
 Baron whose husband was newly reputed or ajudged a Baron, ought 
 
EARLY HISTORY 115 
 
 to be deemed & taken the sonnes & daughters of a Baron, & so to 
 take place And whereas in the fol. 8. touchinge the precedence of 
 the wives of Baronnetts, are theis words, they shall take and enjoy 
 their place & prascedencie duringe their Hues, next vnto, & imediatly 
 after that place that is due. & belongeth vnto the wiues of the 
 yonger sonnes of Viscounts & Baronns, & to the daughters of such 
 Viscounts & Baronns. 
 
 ' ^uee. 3. — Whether the daughter of a Baron maried vnto a 
 Baronnett or K* ought to take y^ place of her husband onely & not 
 otherwise. Wherein we are informed, some sentence hath passed 
 already from yo"" LoPP^. 
 
 'And whereas fol. 10. are theis words. Saueing newly the lesse 
 to his Ma*'® his heyres & successors, full & absolute power & autho- 
 rity to continue or restore to any person or persons from tyme to 
 tyme such place & prascedencie, as at any time heereafter shall be 
 due vnto them, w^*^ by any accidente or occasion whatsoeuer shalbe 
 heereafter changed, any thinge in these points, or other cause or 
 respect whatsoeuer to the contrary notw^^standing. 
 
 ' ^ut£. 4. — fFor what purposse the said saueing was inserted & in 
 what casses it shall take place. 
 
 'And because his Ma*'® was gratiously pleased to declarre vnto 
 them his princely meanning to concurre & agree, w*^ his formo"^ 
 ordinance touchinge the quallities of such personns for birth & 
 estate of liueing as should be admitted into the order, they humbly 
 pray yo'' LqPP^ that in yo"" ho^'® fauour towards them, you would be 
 pleased that heereafter his Ma*'®^ said ordinance & true meaninge 
 touching the said quallities of such personns as are to be admitted 
 into the said order, be truely obserued & kept, that neither his 
 Ma*'®^ order it selfe be brought into Contempt by the meanenesse of 
 the personns thereinto admitted, nor that the Gentry of bet[terj 
 quallities doe thereat take a just offence or mislike. 
 
 ' Lastely there bonds beeing recorded (as they conceaue not by 
 his Ma*'®^ ordinance) they humbly pray that they may haue a good 
 & sufficient discharge for the same, out of the exchequo'' that there 
 heyres be not heareafter troubled for that there fathers haue so 
 freely giuen.' 
 
ii6 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 In the same volume, folio 28, wiU be found the following 
 Memorandum : — 
 
 'The Baronetts are humble sueto" to his Ma*^® that now his 
 Ma*'® hath ben pleased (after much dispute) to give the place to the 
 yonger sonnes of Viscounts and Barons before them, Soe his Royall 
 meaneing may be likewyse declared that the Baronetts shall have 
 the very next place vnto them, wthout interposeing any estate place 
 or persons betwene them. 
 
 ' And that for likewyse the w^yves of the Baronetts may be 
 declared to have the very next place to the wyves of Barons yonger 
 sonnes, and the daughters of Barons vnmarryed. 
 
 ' And that it may likewyse be declared that the daughters of 
 Viscounts and Barons, if they marry knights shall from thenceforth 
 take place not by their byrth but by their husbands. 
 
 'They also desyre that his Ma*^® wilbe pleased to graunte for him 
 his heires and successo''^, That neither any person dignity or estate 
 of men vnder the degree of Barons shalbe herafter sett before them. 
 
 ' And theise things they humbly beseech his Ma*'® may be made 
 parte of his now sentence and decree for avoydeing of new questions; 
 And that they may have Itres patents of them by waye of addition 
 to their former, if they will ; w®^ cleare setling and establishing of 
 their place & priviledges they knowe will invyte others to come up, 
 w*^^ yet stand out as vnsatisfyed.' 
 
 The result of his Majesty's decision was communicated to 
 Sir Dudley Carleton by Sir John Chamberlain in a letter 
 {State Papers^ Domestic Series, James /., vol. Ixviii. No. 18), 
 from which the following is an extract : — 
 
 ' My very goode Lord, 
 
 ' The same day (Sunday) the new Baronnetts had there (at the 
 " counsaile " table) a second defeat in the cause of precedence w*^ 
 barons younger sonnes, for yt was told them that howsoever the 
 words of theyre patent might seem to carry a contrarie construction, 
 yet yt was never the K^ intention, w'^'' he would shortly declare by 
 
EARLY HISTORY 117 
 
 proclamation wherupon they beeing not satisfied, but still urging the 
 words and validitie of theyre patent, and how in that consideration 
 they had payed theyre monie, yt was answered by the L. Treasurer 
 that yf any of them misliked his bargain he shold have his monie 
 again. . . . 
 
 * From London this 15th of January 161 1. 
 
 ' Yor LoP® to commaund, 
 
 'John Chamberlain. 
 (Endorsed) ' Touching the Precedency of the new Baronets.' 
 
 The following extract is from the same volume, 
 No. 60 : — 
 
 * My deuty to your 11 most humbly remembred. 
 
 *■ Those former points having filled up my paper I thought good 
 to vi'ritt the matter of the Baronets by itselfe. This afternoon 
 comming by his ma*^'^ appointment to have my byls signed for the 
 pyrates which herewith I send to yor lo. I found with his H. fowre 
 of the Baronets, S*" Tho. Brudenell, S' William Twisden, S"" George 
 Greisly & S'^ Gervase Clifton who had delivered a petition to his 
 ma^y w*"^ a copie of that which they had presented to your 11, There 
 was much altercation and his ma^^ defended his act very stifFely and 
 stood uppon these termes that in ambiguis ejus est interpretare 
 cujus est condere and he had never intention to give them prece- 
 dency before noble mens sonnes. Their plea was the wordes of 
 their Patent the right of the place of a Baronett of auncient tyme, 
 their own intentions in taking the degree. His ma^^ replyed with 
 many witty and strong arguments they were as earnest and vehe- 
 ment, the disputation was about an houre And when his ma*^ wold 
 have sent them to your 11 of his Councell they refused and prayed 
 to be heard when he was present. So as after his ma*^ was retired 
 and had dismissed them He gave me direction to lett your 11 under- 
 stand That his H. could not refuse to heare them the rather for that 
 they sayd they had not been fully heard before your 11. His ma*y 
 thought if they had no more to say then they had uttered here he 
 should aunsweare them well enough, but yet could not refuse to 
 heare them. In the mean tyme seing he was so soone to be there 
 
ii8 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 your 11 might prepare the proclamation or draught which you had 
 in hand and at his ma*^'^ comming he wold putt it to a point. . . . 
 
 (No signature.) 
 (Endorsed) 'Feb"^ 1611. Sir Th. Lake to my Lord from Royston 
 concerning Baronnetts and Ambassadors.' 
 
 The appeal of the Baronets was accordingly heard by the 
 King presiding in his Privy Council, who decided in favour 
 of the younger sons of the Viscounts and Barons, as appears 
 by the following letter written on the 29th April 16 12 by 
 Sir John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton {State Papers, 
 Domestic Series, James /,, vol. Ixviii. No. 104) : — 
 
 ' My very goode Lord, 
 
 ' I make no question but you have understoode from others what 
 hath passed here in mine absence w*^^ was not much to be related, 
 one of the greatest matters was that after three or fowre times 
 audience the K. hath determined that the Baronnetts shall not take 
 place of Lordes younger sonnes, but in requitall hath geven them 
 three or fowre additions, that first they shall quarter or beare in a 
 canton the armes of Ulster w'^'^ is a hand in a bloudie feild : but 
 many thincke this so far from Honor that yt may rather be taken 
 for a note of disgrace to shew how they came by yt. The next is 
 that they shal be Knighted of course at 21 yeare old, the third that 
 they shall fight in the feild under the K^ standard and neere his 
 owne person and the fourth that they shall have fowre (or five) 
 Knights assistants at their funerall. The cause was argued w*** 
 much vehemencie and contestation insomuch that S'' W. Twisenden 
 charged the earle of Northampton w*^ sending S'' Robert Cotton 
 out of the way who was furnished w*'* thayre best reasons and 
 records w'^*' he denieng S"^ W. urged S'' Henry Savile to deliver what 
 annswer he had from him by his man that he sent to him into the 
 countrie for that purpose w'=^ he did in these wordes, that S"" Robert 
 Cotton saide his brother Baronnetts must pardon him but yf my L. 
 privie seale did send for him he wold come w*^ a tantara : the K. 
 
EARLY HISTORY 119 
 
 asked my L. what he could say to this who annswered he could say 
 no more but that he was glad to understand that his frend the anti- 
 quarie was become so goode a trumpeter : w*^^ made them all 
 merrie. 
 
 'From London this 2(f^ of Aprill, 1612. 
 
 ' Yor LoP^ to commaund, 
 
 'John Chamberlain. 
 (Endorsed) ' Touching the precedency disputed betwixt Baronets 
 & the younger sons of Barons.' 
 
 Immediately afterwards the following Decree was passed, 
 which, in addition to settling the question of precedency, 
 entered upon other matters with a view to their explanation 
 and settlement : — 
 
 Royal Decree, 28th May 1612. 
 
 'James, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France 
 and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. 
 
 ' To all to whome these presents shall come. Greeting. Know 
 ye that We have made a certaine Ordinance, Establishment, and 
 finall Decree, whereof the tenor followeth in these wordes : — 
 
 ' The Decree and Establishment of the King's Majestic, upon a 
 controversie of Precedence, betweene the yonger sonnes of Viscounts 
 and Barons, and the Baronets ; And touching some other points 
 also concerning, as well Bannerets, as the said Baronets. 
 
 ' The King's Most Excellent Majestie, having upon the Petition, 
 and submission of both parts, taken into his Royall audience and 
 censure, a certaine controversie, touching place and Precedence, 
 betweene the yonger sonnes of Viscounts, and Barons, and the 
 Baronets, (being a degree by his Majestie newly created) which 
 controversie did arise upon an inference onely out of some darke 
 words contained in the Letters Patents of the said Baronets : And 
 having in person heard both parts, and their learned Counsell, three 
 severall daies at large after information taken from the Heraults, 
 and due consideration of such proofes as were produced on both 
 sides, hath declared and decreed as followeth. 
 
I20 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 ' His Majestic well weighing that the Letters Patents of the 
 Baronets have no speciall clause or expresse wordes to give unto 
 them the saide Precedence ; And beeing a witnesse unto himselfe 
 (which is a testimonie above all exception) that his Princely mean- 
 ing was onely to grace, and advance this new Dignitie of his 
 Majesties erection ; but not therewithall any wayes to wrong 
 tacitely and obscurely a third partie, such as the yonger sonnes of 
 Viscounts and Barons are, in that which is a flower of their fathers 
 NobiHtie : 
 
 ' And having also had the attestation of the Lords of his Privie 
 Councell, who did declare that the Precedence (after debate and 
 deliberation, while the Patent of the Baronets was in consultation) 
 was with one consent resolved and ordered for the yonger sonnes of 
 the Viscounts and Barons : 
 
 *And finding also that the clause whereby the Precedence is 
 challenged by the Baronets, as by a kinde of consequence in regard 
 of place given unto them above some Bannerets, doeth not warrant 
 their claime (forasmuch as the Precedence betweene the Bannerets 
 themselves, and the yonger sonnes of Viscounts and Barons, appeareth 
 not to have bene regular or certaine, but full of confusion and variety, 
 and therefore not sufficient whereupon to ground such their pre- 
 tence) but being chiefly mooved by the clearenesse of his Majesties 
 Royall intent, and meaning, and the explanation thereof by his 
 Councell, (which his Royall meaning doeth, and ever must leade 
 his Majesties judgement in the interpretation of his owne Actes,) 
 hath finally sentenced, adjudged, and established, that the yonger 
 sonnes of Viscounts, and Barons, shall take place and Precedence 
 before all Baronets. 
 
 * And further, the better to settle, and cleare also all question of 
 Precedence that may concerne either Bannerets, or the yonger 
 sonnes of Viscounts and Barons, or the said Baronets, either as they 
 have relation among themselves, or towards others respectively ; His 
 Majestic for himselfe, his heires and successours, doeth ordaine and 
 establish, that such Bannerets, as shall be made by the Kings 
 Majestic, his heires and successors under his or their Standard, dis- 
 played in an Armie Royall in open warre, and the King personally 
 
EARLY HISTORY 121 
 
 present, for the terme of the lives of such Bannerets and no longer, 
 (according to the most ancient, and noble institution) shall for ever 
 heereafter in all places, and upon all occasions, take place, and Pre- 
 cedence, aswell before all other Bannerets whatsoever, (no respect 
 being had to the time, and prioritie of their creation) as likewise 
 before the yonger sonnes of Viscounts and Barons, and also before 
 all Baronets. 
 
 ' And againe, that the yonger sonnes of Viscounts and Barons, 
 and also all Baronets, shall in all places, and upon all occasions, take 
 place and Precedence before all Bannerets whatsoever, other then 
 such as shall bee made by the King himselfe, his heires and suc- 
 cessours in person, and in such speciall case, manner and forme as 
 aforesaid. 
 
 ' Neverthelesse, for a singular honour to the person of the most 
 high and excellent Prince Henry now Prince of Wales, his Majesties 
 eldest Sonne ; aswell the yonger sonnes of the Viscounts, and Barons, 
 as the Baronets, have freely and voluntarily consented and agreed at 
 the hearing of the said cause, in the presence of his Majestic, and his 
 Privy Councell, and all the hearers, to give place and Precedence, 
 to such Bannerets, as shalbe hereafter made by the said most noble 
 Henry, now Prince of Wales, under the Kings Standard displayed 
 in an Armie Royall in open warre, and the said Prince there per- 
 sonally present. 
 
 'Saving the right of the yonger sonnes of Viscounts and Barons, 
 and of the said Baronets, and of the heires males of the bodies of 
 such Baronets, for the time being, in all other cases according to 
 the effect, and true intent and meaning of their Letters Patents, and 
 of these presents. 
 
 ' And his Majestic doth likewise by these presents, for him- 
 selfe, his heires and successours ordeine, that the Knights of the 
 most noble order of the Garter, the Privie Councellours of his 
 Majestie, his heires and successours, the Master of the Court of 
 Wardes and Liveries, the Chancellour and under-Treasourer of the 
 Exchequer, Chancellour of the Duchie, the chiefe Justice of the 
 Court commonly called the Kings Bench, the Master of the Rolls, 
 the chiefe Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, the chiefe Baron 
 
122 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 of the Exchequer, and all other the Judges and Barons of the degree 
 of the Coife of the saide Courts, now, and for the time being, shall 
 by reason of such their Honourable order, and imployment of State 
 and Justice, have place and Precedencie in all places, and upon all 
 occasions before the yonger sonnes of Viscounts and Barons, and 
 before all Baronets, Any custome, use, ordinance, or other thing to 
 the contrary notwithstanding. But that no other person or persons 
 whatsoever, under the degree of Barons of Parliament, shall take 
 place before the said Baronets, except onely the eldest sonnes of 
 Viscounts and Barons, and others of higher degree, whereof no 
 question ever was, or can bee made. And so his Majesties meaning 
 is, and accordingly he doth by these presents, for him, his heires 
 and successours, ordeine and decree, that the said Baronets, and the 
 heires males of their bodies, shall in all places, and upon all occasions 
 for ever, have, hold, and enjoy their place and Precedencie, next 
 unto, and immediatly after the yonger sonnes of Viscounts and 
 Barons, and that no person or persons, nor State or States of men, 
 shall have or take place betweene them, Any Constitution, Order, 
 Degree, Office, Service, Place, Imployment, Custome, Use, or 
 other thing whatsoever, now or heereafter to the contrary notwith- 
 standing. 
 
 ' And that the wives of the saide Baronets, and of the heires males 
 of their bodies, shall likewise by vertue of the saide Dignitie of their 
 said husbands, in all places, and upon all occasions, have, take and 
 enjoy their place and Precedencie during their lives, next unto, and 
 immediatly after that place that is due, and belongeth unto the 
 wives of the yonger sonnes of Viscounts and Barons, and to the 
 daughters of such Viscounts and Barons, any Constitution, Use, 
 Custome, Ordinance, or other thing whatsoever, now or heereafter 
 to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding. 
 
 ' And further, his Majestie doth by these presents, for him, his 
 heires and successours, of his certaine knowledge and meere motion, 
 promise and graunt to the said Baronets, and every of them already 
 created, and heereafter to be created, and the heires males of their 
 bodies. That neither his Majestie, nor his heires or successours, 
 shall or will at any time heereafter erect, ordaine, constitute, or 
 
EARLY HISTORY 123 
 
 create any other Degree, Order, Name, Title, Stile, Dignitie or 
 State, nor will give place, Precedencie or preheminence to any 
 person or persons whatsoever, under or beneath the Degree, dignitie 
 or State of Lords of Parliament of this his Realme of England, 
 which shall or may be, or be taken, used, or accompted to be higher, 
 before or equall to the Degree, dignitie or place of the said Baronets, 
 or any of them. And therefore his Majestic doeth for him, his 
 heires and successours ordeine, graunt, and appoint by these presents, 
 that all and every the said Baronets, and their saide heires males, and 
 the wives sonnes, sonnes wives, and daughters of the said Baronets, 
 and of their said heires males, shall, and may for ever heereafter, 
 freely and quietly have, hold, and enjoy their said Dignities, Places, 
 Precedencie and Priviledges before all other which are or shall be 
 created of such Decrees (sic), States, Dignities, Orders, Names, Stiles, 
 or Titles, or to whom such place, Precedencie, or Preheminence 
 shall be so given as aforesaid ; their wives and children respectively, 
 according to the true intent and meaning of these presents : 
 
 * Saving neverthelesse to his Majestic, his heires and successors, 
 full and absolute power and authoritie to continue or restore to any 
 person or persons from time to time such place and precedencie, as 
 at any time heereafter shalbe due unto them, which by any accident 
 or occasion whatsoever shall be heereafter changed, any thing in 
 these presents, or other cause or respect whatsoever to the contrarie 
 notwithstanding. 
 
 ' And now though this Precedent declaration doth clearly ridde 
 all questions arising upon the Letters Patents, yet his Majestic 
 having upon the occasion of this controversie and hearing, and of 
 some of the Baronets grievances, propounded out of their owne 
 mouthes, considered more maturely upon the points and latitude of 
 their said Patents, his Majestic beeing resolved (as out of his owne 
 royall mouth it pleased him to declare unto them) to ampliate his 
 favour, especially where it meetes with these so well borne and well 
 deserving Gentlemen, (this dignitie beeing of his Majesties owne 
 erection, and the worke of his owne handes,) his Majestic is there- 
 fore graciously pleased (not contented with those markes of his 
 favour, which alreadie they enjoy by the wordes of their Patent, 
 
124 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 which layeth such a marke of dignitie and precedence upon them 
 and their posterity) further to strengthen and adorne his Majesties 
 gracious favour towards them, with addition of the priviledges, pre- 
 heminencies, and ornaments ensuing. 
 
 'First, his Majestic is pleased to knight the present Baronets, 
 that are no Knights : And doeth also by these presents of his meere 
 motion and favour, promise and graunt for him, his heires and suc- 
 cessours, that such Baronets, and the heires males of their bodies, as 
 herafter shalbe no Knights, when they shall attaine, or be of the 
 age of one and twentie yeares, upon knowledge thereof given to 
 the Lord Chamberlaine of the houshold, or Vice-chamberlaine for 
 the time beeing, or in their absence to any other Officer attending 
 upon his Majesties person, shall be knighted by his Majestic, his 
 heires and successours. 
 
 ' His Majestic doth also graunt for him, his heires and successours, 
 that the Baronets, and their descendants shall and may beare, either 
 in a Canton in their coate of Armes, or in an Inscutchion, at their 
 election, the Armes of Ulster, that is, in a field Argent, a hand 
 Geules, or a bloudy hand. 
 
 'And also, that theBaronets, for the time beeing,and the heires males 
 of their bodies shall have place in the armies of the Kings Majestic, 
 his heires and successours, in the grosse, neere about the royall Standard 
 of the King, his heires and successours, for the defence of the same. 
 
 'And lastly, that the Baronets, and the heires males of their 
 bodies shall have two assistants of the bodie to support the Pall, a 
 principall mourner, and foure assistants to him at their funerals, 
 being the meane betwixt a Baron and a Knight. 
 
 ' And to the end that every of the Baronets, and the heires males 
 of their bodies, may have upon all occasions present, use, and proofe 
 of these his Majesties favours ; His Majestic is graciously pleased, 
 that as-well the Baronets alreadie created, as hereafter to be created, 
 shall and may have, and take Letters Patents under the great Scale 
 of England, to the effect of the said former Letters Pattents of 
 Creation, and of these presents, either joynt or severall, as they shall 
 be advised by the learned Councell of his Majestic, his heires and 
 successours, and according to his Highnesse true intent and meaning. 
 
EARLY HISTORY 
 
 125 
 
 ' In witnesse whereof, We have caused these Our Letters to be 
 made Patents. Witnesse Our selfe at Westminster, the eight and 
 twentieth day of May, in the tenth yeere of our Raigne of England, 
 France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the five and fortieth.' 
 
 It is possible that the King, as argued in a document of 
 the present day, had reasons for not offending the Barons of 
 Parhament ; but His Majesty's ' Flower of nobilitie ' argu- 
 ment in favour of younger sons who had not, at that time, 
 €ven a generally accepted courtesy title, when addressed 
 to heads of families, whom he had just ennobled by a 
 hereditary title, and who would have Flowers of their own, 
 ■does not seem convincing. 
 
 His Majesty's decision clearly prejudiced the position of 
 the Baronetage, in creating a chasm between five hereditary 
 degrees on the one hand, and the sixth on the other, by 
 which cause alone the latter has lost in distinction. 
 
 Again, by giving Cadets such an idea of their importance, 
 he made it next to impossible for his successors to reward 
 meritorious and sufficiently endowed younger sons of peers 
 with a Baronetcy ; surely an oversight, considering that 
 such cadets would often be desirable persons to enrol in the 
 sixth Degree Hereditary, and that they themselves might be 
 grateful for such an opportunity to found a family with 
 hereditary distinction. In this way, for example, was re- 
 warded Captain the Hon. Henry Blackwood, who brought 
 home the despatches announcing the victory of Trafalgar. 
 
 Besides this, had the King paid less respect to the ' Flowers 
 of nobility' who argued the case against the Baronets, he 
 would probably have realised, with his natural acumen, that 
 
126 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 in each successive generation a family bearing a hereditary title 
 recovers itself as against the issue of Cadets of all Degrees. 
 
 His Majesty, however, did more than violate the canons 
 of precedence. He bequeathed everlasting unrest to his 
 new Degree, not only by this means, but by his failure to 
 appoint any officer or Court to have cognisance of its affairs, 
 or otherwise to provide it with some defence of its own 
 against the caprice of monarchs and the encroachments of 
 impostors, such as is enjoyed by the nobility of one of the 
 smallest of the British possessions — Malta. 
 
 During the following two years, with the exception of 
 those created later in the same year, no one accepted a 
 Baronetcy, which led to the issue on the i8th November 
 1 6 14 of the following Commission by the King to the 
 Lord Chancellor and others {State Papers, Domestic Series^ 
 James /., vol. Ixxv. f. 17) : — 
 
 * James by the grace of God Kinge of England Scotland ffraunce 
 and Ireland defendor of the faith &c. To our trustie and right 
 welbeloved Councellor Thomas Lord Ellesmere Lord Chauncellor 
 of England. And to our right trustie and right welbeloved Cousins 
 and Councellors Henrie Earle of Northampton Lord keeper of our 
 privie Seale Lodovike Duke of Lenox Charles Earle of Notingham 
 our highe Admirall of England Thomas Earle of Suffolke Lord 
 Chamberlaine of our househould Gilbert Earle of Shrewsburie 
 Justice in Eyre beyond Trent Northward Edward Earle of Worce- 
 ster Master of our horse William Earle of Pembrook Lord Warden 
 of the Stanneries Thomas Earle of Exeter Robert Earle of Sommer- 
 sett John Earle of Marre Alexander Earle of Dunfermiline. And 
 to our right trustie and right welbeloved Councillors Thomas Lord 
 Viscount ffenton Edwurd Lord Zouche William Lord KnoUis 
 Treasurer of our household Edward Lord Wotton Comptroller of 
 
EARLY HISTORY 127 
 
 our household John Lord Stanhope vice-chamberlaine of our house- 
 hold And to our trustie and right welbeloved Councellors Sir John 
 Herbert Knight our Secretarie of State Sir Julius Cesar Knight 
 Chauncellor and undertreasurer of our Exchequer Sir Thomas Parrie 
 Knight Chauncellor of our Duchie of Lancaster and Sir Edward 
 Coke Knight our cheife Justice of our Bench greiting. — Whereas 
 by severall Commissions under our greate Seale of England we did 
 give power and authoritie unto you to commune and treate with 
 such Knightes and Gentlemen of this our realme as being moved 
 with zeale and affection to further the Plantacion of Ulster and 
 other like services in our Realme of Ireland had offered and agreed 
 or should offer and agree everie of them to maintaine Thirtie ffoote- 
 men Souldiers in our said Realme of Ireland at their proper costes 
 and charges after the rate of Eight Pence a pecce by the Dale 
 sterling during the space of three yeares then next ensuing. In 
 respect whereof we were pleased in rewarde of soe remarkable a 
 service to bestowe uppon them a Dignitie newly erected and created 
 by us annswereable to their State and merritt which we had stiled 
 by the name of Baronett with divers priviledges annexed thereunto, 
 and the same to graunte by letters patentes to them and the heires 
 males of their bodies lawfuUye begotten, to the ende the memorie 
 thereof might remaine to them and their Posteritie. The execucion 
 of which our purpose in that behalfe we committed to you to be 
 performed according to certaine Instruccions and a President of 
 letters patentes in schedules to the said severall Commissions annexed 
 conteined. As by the said severall Commissions and schedules maie 
 appeare. By vertue of which severall Commissions you have treated 
 and concluded with divers principal! knightes and Gentlemen of 
 sondrie partes of this our Realme of England accordinglie which 
 have both given the said entertainement for Souldiers and receaved 
 the said Dignitie and degree as they well deserved which severall 
 Commissions being nowe expired we are given to understande that 
 there be manie other Knightes and Gentlemen that being moved 
 with the like affeccion to the publique service are most willing to 
 give such Paie and entertainement for Souldiers so to be imploied 
 as aforesaid if there were the like Commission in force. By meanes 
 
128 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 whereof they might have the like proceeding in that behalfe, as the 
 rest have had by vertue of the former Commissions Knowe ye 
 THEREFORE that we have appointed you to be our Commissioners 
 againe And doe by these presents give and graunt unto you all 
 or unto any eight or more of you (w^hereof you the said Lord 
 Chauncellor or lord privie Scale to be alwaies one) and you the said 
 Lord Privie Scale Duke of Lenox, Earle of Notingham our Admirall, 
 Earle of Suffolk our Chamberlaine and Earle of Worster Master of 
 our horse to be alw^aies two who are soe much the more able to 
 judge of mens bloud and antiquitie in regard you are Commissioners 
 in the OiRce of Earle Marshall) full free and lawfull power and 
 authoritie according to the former instruccions annexed to our said 
 former Commissions to commune and treate with any of our loving 
 Subjectes whome in like sorte you shall find willing to give such 
 paie and entertainement to such nomber of footemen as is aforesaid 
 to be imployed in the said service and for such tyme as aforesaid 
 And thereuppon to informe your selves of their familie living and 
 reputacion. And such and so many of the said persons as you or 
 any such eight or more of you as is aforesaid shall finde and approve 
 to be in all the respects aforesaid worthie such degree (not exceeding 
 in the whole with those alrcadie created Baronettes the nomber of 
 two hundred which we have covenanted in our former Patentes 
 shall not be exceeded but suffered to dimynisse as their issue shall 
 failc) to cause everie one of them for himselfe to make payment or 
 give good and sufficient assuraunce for the due annswearing of soe 
 muche as shalbe sufficient for maintenaunce of Thirtie Souldicrs 
 footemen after the rate of eight pence a peece by the daie for the 
 terme of three yearcs as is aforesaid And thereupon to give warrant 
 and direccion under any such eight or more of your handes as is 
 aforesaid unto our Attorney or Sollicitor generall for the drawing 
 upp of severall Bills and grauntes to passe from us to all and everie 
 such person and persons as shalbe soe approved by you or any such 
 eight or more of you as is aforesaid for the making and creating of 
 everie such person Baronett with all priviledges of precedencie place 
 title and all other things thereunto belonging according to the 
 President of the former letters Patentes passed of the same dignitie 
 
EARLY HISTORY 
 
 129 
 
 and with such addicions as are by our declaracion and ordinaunce 
 since graunted and expressed . . . ey shall desire the same. And 
 these presentes together with such warrant and direccion of you or 
 any such eight or more of you as is aforesaid shall be from tyme to 
 tyme to our said Attorney and Sollicitor generall for the tyme being 
 sufficient warrant for the drawing upp and subscribing of everie 
 such Bill or graunt to passe from us according to the true meaning 
 of these presentes And our will and pleasure is that our Attorney 
 or Sollicitor generall shall drawe ingrosse and subscribe the bills and 
 grauntes to be made of the said Dignitie of Baronett according to 
 the direccion and warrant of you or any such eight or more of you 
 as is aforesaid. And the Bills and grauntes soe drawne ingrossed 
 and subscribed with the handes of our Attorney or Sollicitor generall 
 or either of them shalbe a sufficient warrant and discharge to you 
 our said Commissioners to subscribe likewise to the said bills or 
 grauntes with the handes of any such eight or more of you as is 
 aforesaid And furthermore for the more speedie and easie passing 
 of the grauntes and Letters Patentes to be made of the said Dignitie 
 we are pleased and contented And by these presentes for us our 
 heires and Successors we doe graunt ordaine and appointe that the 
 bills for such Patentes prepared by our said Attorney or Sollicitor 
 as aforesaid and signed with the handes of you or any such eight or 
 more of you as is aforesaid shalbe a sufficient and ymmediate warrant 
 to the lord Chauncellor of England, our lord keeper of our greate 
 Scale of England for the tyme being to passe the same grauntes and 
 letters patentes under the greate Scale of England without any other 
 or further warrant from us to be had or obteined in that behalf. And 
 this our Comission we have made to continewe till the Nyne and 
 twentith daie of September next ensuing the date hereof, and then to 
 cease and determyne In witnes whereof we have caused these our 
 letters to be made patentes. — Witnes our selfe at Westminster the 
 eightenth daie of November in the eleaventh yeare of our Raigne of 
 England fFraunce and Ireland and of Scotland theseaven and fFortith 
 
 per ipsum Regem. 
 (Endorsed) 'A Commission unto the Lord Chauncellor of Eng- 
 land Lord Privie Scale and others to treate with Baronettes.' 
 
I30 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 A scheme of Silvanus Skory to raise additional funds for 
 the Treasury by increasing the sum to be paid by Baronets 
 to ^3000, and enlarge their privileges as an equivalent, fell 
 through, as evidenced by the following letter {State Papers^ 
 Domestic Series, James /., vol. Ixxx., No. 115) : — 
 
 ' My very goode Lord, 
 
 ' The project of pardons was on foot again but finally defeated 
 the last weelce, as likewise Silvanus Scories devise for inlarging the 
 priveleges of Baronnets to be no wardes to be justices of peace at 
 21 yeres of age, deputie lieutenants at 25 that theyre bodies should 
 be free from arrests, w*^ divers other immunities for w*^^ theyre rate 
 should rise to 3000'^ a man wherby the K^ wants might be much 
 relieved out of the vanitie and ambition of the Gentrie, he had often 
 accesse to his m*'® and pleased himself much w**^ the invention and 
 hope that he and his heyres (for this service) should be perpetual! 
 chauncellors of that order but after much discussing the busines 
 was overthrowne and he dismissed w*^^ a flowte that argentum ejus 
 versum est in scoriam et aurum in orichalcum w*^*^ that yt mighte 
 be the better understood was thus englished, that his silver was 
 turned to drosse and his gold to alchimie. 
 
 'From London this 15th of June 1615. 
 
 ' yor LoP^ to commaund 
 
 'John Chamberlain.' 
 
 (Addressed) To the right honorable Sir Dudley Carleton Kn*. 
 
 On the 13th March 16 16 the final Decree of James i. 
 relating to the Baronetage was issued, and is as follows : — 
 
 'James, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, 
 and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. 
 
 ' To all to whom these presents shall come greeting. Know yee 
 that whereas We heretofore have ordeined. Erected, Constituted, 
 and created the Degree, State, Dignitie, Name, and Title, of 
 Baronet ; to continue for ever within this our Realme of England. 
 And to that end of our speciall Grace, certaine knowledge, and 
 
EARLY HISTORY 
 
 131 
 
 meere motion have (by our several Letters Pattcnts, under the great 
 Scale of England ; in that behalfe made) conferred the same State, 
 Dignitie and Degree of Baronet, upon divers principall Gentlemen 
 of this our Kingdome. And thereby severally, and accordingly 
 created them Baronets. To have and to hold the same Dignitie, State 
 and Degree ; to them and their several heires Males of their severall 
 bodies respectively. Together with such place and Precedency, to 
 them and to their said heires Males, and to the wives of them, and 
 of their said heires Males, and to their eldest sonnes, and other their 
 sonnes, and to the wives of their sonnes, and to their daughters, 
 with such stile, addition and appellation, to them and to their said 
 heires Males : And to their wives, and the wives of their said 
 severall heires Males, and with such other priviledges, advantages, 
 and covenants, and in such sort, as in and by the said several Letters 
 Pattents doth appeare. And whereas also of our further Grace and 
 favour, we have by other our Letters Pattents under our great 
 Scale of England, bearing date the eight and twentieth day of May, 
 in the yeere of our Raigne of England, Fraunce, and Ireland, the 
 tenth, and of Scotland, the five-and-fortieth, farther enlarged our 
 gracious favour towards the same Baronets, by addition of certaine 
 priviledges, preheminencies, and ornaments ; in and by our said last 
 recited Letters Pattents made, expressed, and granted ; giving also 
 libertie thereby to such Gentlemen, as then were or should be 
 created Baronets, to take Letters Pattents accordingly under our 
 great Scale of England, to the effect of the same Letters Pattents, 
 and of the said former Letters Pattents of creation, jointly and 
 severally in such sort, as in and by the same Letters Pattents doth 
 and may appeare. We of our Princely favour and gracious dis- 
 position, upon all occasions to make knowne, and publish the con- 
 tinuance of our favour and good affection, as well towards the 
 Gentlemen, whom of our power and grace We have advanced, or 
 shall heereafter advance, to the said Degree, as to the Degree it selfe 
 being a matter of our owne erection, doe heereby for us our heires 
 and successors, not onely ratifie, confirme, allow, and approve of the 
 said Dignitie, State, and Degree of a Baronet, so erected by Us as 
 aforesaid. And the particuler and severall Letters Patents made by 
 
132 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Us to the several! Gentlemen, whom We have thereby created 
 Baronets, together with all the benefits, advantages, rights and 
 priviledges of place Precedency : and otherwise by our said severall 
 Letters Pattents, to them severally graunted or mentioned to be 
 granted : and also all other priviledges, benefits, and advantages ; in 
 or by any other our Letters Pattents given, granted, mentioned, or 
 intended to them. But also of our speciall Grace and favour, certaine 
 knowledge, and meere motion, doe for Us our heires and successors, 
 declare heereby that We imitating therein our predecessors and 
 progenitors of famous memory, who have had and put in practice 
 the power of creating new Degrees amongst their Subjects, have of 
 our Regall power and authority erected and ordeined the said 
 Degree of Baronet ; and did then and yet intend and doe heereby 
 appoint and expresse our will and pleasure to be, and doe graunt for 
 Us our heires and successors, that the same Title, Stile, Dignity, 
 and Degree, shall be and continue to such Gentlemen, on whom of 
 our goodnes and favour We have conferred, and shall heereafter con- 
 ferre the same and to every of them, and to the severall heires 
 Males, of their severall bodies, and that the said Title, Stile, Dignitie, 
 and Degree of Baronet, shall be, and shall be reputed and taken to be 
 a Title, Stile, Dignity, and Degree of Dignity Hereditary, meane in 
 place betwixt the Degree of a Baron, and the Degree of a Knight. 
 
 And We doe heereby declare that not only such Gentlemen 
 as are or heereafter shall be Baronets, as aforesaid : and the heires 
 Males of their bodies, and their wives, during their husbands lives, 
 shall have and hold such place and Precedency as by our former 
 Letters Pattents are granted, mentioned, or intended to them, but 
 also their wives after the decease of their husbands, shall during 
 their lives have and hold the like place of Precedency, which they 
 had and held in their husbands lives according to the manner and 
 usage in other Degrees. And forasmuch as the Degree of a Baronet, 
 is an Hereditarie Degree in blood, therefore We doe declare ; That 
 the eldest sonnes of the same Baronets and their wives, as well 
 during their husbands lives as after : And the daughters of the same 
 Baronets, the said daughters following next after the said wives of 
 the eldest sonnes of the same Baronets, shall have place and Pre- 
 
EARLY HISTORY 133 
 
 cedency before the eldest sonne, and the wife of the eldest sonne of 
 anv Knight of what Degree or order soever : And likewise that the 
 younger sonnes of the same Baronets and their wives, as well during 
 their husbands lives as after, shall after the same manner have 
 place and Precedency next after the eldest sonnes, and the wives 
 of the eldest sonnes, and before the yonger sonnes, and before 
 the wives of the younger sonnes of any of the Knights aforesaid. 
 And our will and pleasure is, and We doe for Us, our heires and 
 successors, heereby further grant and appoint, that if any doubts or 
 questions not heereby, nor by any our recited Letters Pattents 
 cleared and determined doe or shall arise, concerning any place. 
 Precedency, priviledge, or other matter touching or concerning the 
 same Baronets, and the heires Males of their bodies, and their wives, 
 their eldest sonnes and their wives, their daughters, their yonger 
 sonnes, and their yonger sonnes wives, or any of them ; such doubts 
 or questions shall be decided and determined, by and according to 
 such usuall rules, custome, and lawes, for place Precedency, privi- 
 ledge or other matters concerning them as other Degrees of Dignity, 
 Hereditary, are ordered and adjudged. And further of our especiall 
 Grace certaine knowledge and meere motion, We doe heereby 
 declare and expresse our true intent and meaning to have beene, 
 and doe heereby promise and graunt for Us, our heires and suc- 
 cessors, to and with such Gentlemen as now be, or at any time 
 heereafter shall be Baronets ; That so soon as they or any of them, 
 shall attaine to the age of one and twenty yeeres. And likewise so 
 soone as the eldest sonne or apparant heire Male of the bodies of 
 them, or any of them, shall during the life of their Father, or Grand- 
 father, attaine to the age of one and twenty yeeres ; and that the 
 said Baronets, or the said eldest sonnes or apparant heires Males, 
 shall be presented to Us by the Lord Chamberlaine of our houshold, 
 or Vice Chamberlaine for the time being, or in their absence by any 
 other officer attending upon the person of Us, our heires or suc- 
 cessors to be made Knights, that they and every of them shall from 
 time to time be made Knights by Us, our heires and successors 
 accordingly : Provided neverthelesse that any such eldest sonne of a 
 Baronet being made Knight, shall not during his fathers life take 
 
134 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 place of any auntienter Knight. And to the end that such as are, 
 or at any time heereafter shall be Baronets, may have upon all 
 occasions present use and proofe of these our favours : We are 
 farther graciously pleased, that as well such as now are, as also such 
 as at any time heereafter shall be Baronets, and every of them shall 
 and may at all times heereafter, have and take Letters Patents 
 under our great Seale of England, to the effect of the said former 
 recited Letters Patents and of these presents. As they shall be 
 advised by the learned Counsell to Us, our heires or successors : And 
 according to the true intent and meaning heerein, and in our said 
 severall Letters Pattents expressed. 
 *In witness whereof, &c.' 
 
 The following letter is in the Public Record Office {^State 
 Papers^ Domestic Series^ yames I., vol. ex., No. 26 : — 
 
 'My very goode Lord, 
 
 'a blunt brother of Secretarie Winwods (one Sir Edward Richard- 
 son) was knighted this progresse at Sir William Candishes, these and 
 such like Knights make baronetts begin to come in request again, 
 as of late we have had three or fowre wherof the first was Sir . . . 
 Villers eldest brother to the L. of Buckingham a man so careless of 
 honor or courting as the King saide he wold scant geve them thanks for 
 yt, and dowbted whether he wold accept it. another was Sir James 
 Lee atturny of the court of wards : besides Sir William Harvy that 
 married the old countesse of Southampton, and younge Hickes Sonne 
 to Sir Michaell Hicks that comes to yt I know not by what title. 
 
 'Sir Francis Crane hath three baronetts geven him in considera- 
 tion of a project he hath in hand of setting up the making of 
 tapistrie and arras. 
 
 'From London the 23rd of August 1619. 
 
 ' Yor LoP^ most assuredly at commaund, 
 
 'John Chamberlain.' 
 
 On the 22nd December 1622, Thomas Harris of Boreatton, 
 
 in Shropshire, a Master in Chancery, son of Roger Harris, 
 
 a draper of Shrewsbury, and grandson of William Harris, a 
 
EARLY HISTORY 135 
 
 yeoman of Wheathill, Condover, was created a Baronet. 
 This creation was quite contrary to the custom of that 
 period, the baronetage being confined to gentlemen of 
 descent ; and Captain Thomas Leeke impleaded Sir Thomas 
 Harris in the Court of Chivalry, as unworthy of the dis- 
 tinction. 
 
 The Earl Marshal reported thereon to the King, who 
 thereupon wrote him the following letter (State Papers, 
 Domestic Series, James I., vol. cliii,, No. 54) : — 
 
 ' Right trusty and right welbeloved Cousin & Councellor, 
 ' Wee greete you well : Wee have considered of yor report made 
 unto us in the case of Sir Thomas Harris Baronet, and doe give 
 good allowance unto that which you have allready done, and because 
 wee doe thereby perceive that many particulars alleadged by either 
 party doe rest upon further proofe and that this cause may concerne 
 Sir Thomas Harris in the right of his inheritance, wee cannot but 
 commend your care in proceeding therein with all caution & 
 circumspection and therefore wee doe hould it fitt that if the Peti- 
 tioner Leeke doth intend to prosecute the same to sentence that he 
 doe formally proceede according to the custome & usage of the 
 Court Marshall as you shall direct, provided that there be respect 
 had to the paynes allready taken, & that such things as have been 
 confessed & agreede upon may not be without fruite, but stand good 
 for directing yor judgment in the sentence, whereunto our pleasure 
 is that you doe juditially proceede if either of the sayd partyes shall 
 require the same at yor hands ; and we doe further signifie unto you 
 that in the institution of Baronets our true intent and meaning was 
 & yett is, that no person whatsoever should be advanced to that 
 degree unless he were a person of undoubted gentrye, and descended 
 at least from a Grandfather who was a Gentleman, & that noe 
 supernumerary person should be admitted to be a Baronett above the 
 number of two hundred mentioned in our Letters Patents : willing 
 and commanding you that whensoever you shall finde any promoted 
 
136 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 to that place contrary to our intent and meaninge before expressed 
 
 you doe juditially proceede to their actuall degradation, that soe no 
 
 well deserving person may have just cause of complaint. Given &c. 
 
 (Endorsed) 'October 16 1623. 
 
 ' His Ma^^^ letter to the Earle Marshall concerninge 
 
 ' Sir Thomas Harris a Barronnett, &c.' 
 
 The following letter from Sir George Paul appears in 
 vol. clxxxv. of the same series, No. 9 1 : — 
 
 'Sir, 
 
 'Concerning the Complaintes made by Capten Leake unto my 
 Lord Duke & his Graces referrence thereof unto Mr. Comptroller 
 & other his Commissioners wee accordingly mett about the busines 
 & gave warning both to Mr. Harris Sir Thomas his sonne & Capten 
 Leake to be present. The Capten execused himself by a private 
 letter to Mr. Comptroller But Mr. Harris accompanied with one 
 of the Herallds, made good proofe of his fathers pedigree &c gentry, 
 aswell by entry in the office of Armes, in a visitacion of Shropshire 
 made in anno 1585 as by diverse deedes with Scales of Armes, 
 Coppies of Courte Rolles & other autentique writinges & proofes 
 from the 13th of Edward the fourthe unto the yeare of our lord 
 God 1623 At what time nine of the Cheife heralds of the King- 
 dome subscribed their names unto the said pedigree in testimony of 
 the truth thereof which gave us soe good satisfaccion, that wee then 
 resolved what to have done & soe much the rather because it appeared 
 unto us, by the Lord Keepers subscription to a peticion exhibited 
 by Leake against Sir Thomas Harris, that the said peticion was false 
 & scandalous & indiscreete in the highest degrie, as the peticioner 
 himself was reported to bee : But Sir there hath since that tyme 
 of our meetinge bin (as I heare) another stoppe made by Sir Raphe 
 ffreeman to whom for his better satisfaccion I have written at large 
 to the ende hee might also salve the wounde which hee hath made. 
 And soe in hast I take my leave, & rest. 
 
 ' Yor assured loving frind to Com. 
 
 'From Lambeth the xx^'^ 'Geo. Paule. 
 
 of March 1624.' 
 
EARLY HISTORY 137 
 
 Sir Thomas Harris ultimately presented the following 
 petition to the King, which sufficiently shows what had 
 taken place in the interval (^State Papers, Domestic Series, 
 James /., vol. clxxxv,, No. 92) : — 
 
 ' To THE KyNGS most EXCELLENT MATie. 
 
 ' The humble peticion of Sir Tho. Harris Baronett. Sheweth 
 that whereas about twelve yeres last past it pleased yor ma*'® to 
 graunt a Commission to ye lordes of ye Councell gyving them 
 power to elect to the nomber of 200 Baronettes & to graunt 
 warrantes for the passing of ther patentes under the greate Scale 
 with provision or limitacion thearin that ech of them so to be 
 elected shold be such as had landes of 1 000*' per annum & had 
 taken oath that he gave nothing for the same but what should be 
 expressed in the patent & whose grandfather bare armes which 
 commission was to endure for a certaine time After the ex- 
 piracion whearof yor ma*'^ by yor highnes letters patentes out of 
 yor highnes prerogative being ye supreame Judge & fountaine of 
 all honor did absolutely graunt the said dignity unto divers persons 
 any statut law ordinance or provision made to ye contrary thearof 
 notwithstandinge and among others it pleased yor ma*'® by yor 
 highnes letters patentes dated in Dec. 1622 to graunt the said 
 dignity unto yor petitioner upon ye humble suite & recommenda- 
 cion of the Right ho^'® the Erie of Anglesea albeit your petitioner 
 had a certificat from ye heraldes of armes unto the Right ho^'® ye 
 Earle Marshall that yor petitioner was a gent, of 3 discentes & bare 
 for his armes or 3 hedghoggs azure and the said Erie Marshall did 
 certify somuch unto yor ma*'®. 
 
 ' But so it is may it please yor ma*'® that one Simon Leake gent, 
 whom yor petitioners sonne did imploy & use as an agent in 
 obteyning of the sayd letters patentes and to whom yor said peti- 
 tioner's Sonne did gyve for his paynes thearin 30*' more then he had 
 agreed to gyve him according to the articles made betweene them 
 ready to be shewed which said Leake alone procured the said Certi- 
 ficates from the Earle Marshall and Herrolds and payed the fees 
 
138 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 thearof to each of them yett the sayd Leak contrary to his owne 
 acte by the procurement of some Knightes yor petitioner's neigh- 
 bours themselves disdayning the said dignity and yet envying others 
 soe dignifyed did exhibitt and prosecute a suite in the Cort of 
 Chivalry against yor petitioner for a supposed undue procuring of 
 the said Certificate from the sayd Herrolds and for the bearing of the 
 sayd Armes and also for the Quartering of some other armes In 
 which suite yor pef conceaving some hard measure to be ofFred 
 him and also for that he legaly tendring into the sayd Cort certaine 
 pleas and exhibites the same vv^ere disallowed thearuppon yor pet'' by 
 the advise of his Councell did appeale from the said Cort according 
 to 'the ancient presidentes thearof unto yor Ma^'^ in yor highnes 
 Cort of Chauncery, and exhibited his peticion unto the Right ho^^® 
 the Lord Keeper for a Comission of Appeale The consideration of 
 which petition the Lord Keeper referred unto yor Highnes Attorney 
 and Solicitor who uppon long serch of recordes and presidentes in 
 the Tower made theyr Certificat unto the Lord Keeper for the 
 approving of the said appeale to be just and lawful! but the same is 
 not yet granted depending which appeale the sayd Leake did exhibit 
 a scandelous peticion unto the sayd Lord Keeper to impugne the 
 granting of the said Comission of appeale for which his Lordship 
 severely reproving him as may appeare by the Answere unto the 
 said peticion yet the sayd Leake before the validity of the said 
 appeale was decided (being a president for future ages) and also well 
 knowing that yf yor petitioner his Councell or Proctor did appeare 
 or speak in the said cause in the Cort of Chivalry during the tyme 
 of the sayd appeale that then he should utterly overthrowe the 
 same and loose the benifitt thearof did notwithstanding proceede 
 in the sayd Cort of Chivalry and procured a sentence in the sayd 
 Cort of Chivalry by default against yor pef who cold not appeare 
 or make any defence thearunto howbeit yor pet"^ doth not doubt 
 but to make sufficient proof of his gentry whensoever he shall be 
 legally called thearunto both by Charters of yor highnes ancestors 
 and diverse deeds records and Cort Rolles from the 13 of Edward 
 the 4^^ as also by severall bookes in the office of armes all which 
 were truly drawne out and extracted by the 3 Kings and sixe others 
 
EARLY HISTORY 139 
 
 of the officers of armes as may appear by yor pef^ pedegree ready 
 to be shewed and subscrybed by them under their handes which 
 they are ready to justify and mainteyne to be good and sufficient 
 either before yor Ma*^^^ or any others indifferent judges whom yor 
 Ma*^'® shall please to nominate or appoint. 
 
 'Thearfore yor petitioners humble suite unto yor Ma*^'® is that 
 yor Ma*'® wold be pleased to suffer the Lord Keeper to 
 graunt the sayd Comission of appeale according to the 
 sayd Certificat of yor highnes Attorney and soUicitor in 
 that behalfe made whearby yor pet'^' may reverse the said 
 sentence pronounced against him in the sayd suite against 
 him by the sayd Leak. In which suite uppon full open- 
 ing thearof as yor pet"^ is assured by his Councell yor pet" 
 gentry will not come in question although yor pet"^ will 
 endeavour the same And yor pet"^ as in duty bound shall 
 ever pray for yor excellent Ma*'®. 
 (Endorsed) ' R. 27° Martii 1625. A Draught of Mr. Harris 
 
 pet" to his Ma*'® concerning the busines between him & 
 
 Capt. Leake.' 
 
 As a result the Baronetcy remained in the family, Sir 
 Thomas transmitting the honour to his son and heir, Sir 
 Paul, who served the office of High Sheriff of Shropshire 
 in 1637. The Baronetcy became extinct in 1685. 
 
 The dispute over the creation of this Baronetcy is a 
 further proof, if any were needed, of the social position 
 demanded of those on whom the dignity was conferred, and 
 how shocked were the feelings of the age when it imagined 
 that it had been given to a person not possessed of the 
 essential attributes of a gentleman by birth ; namely, the 
 being descended at the least from a grandfather who bore 
 hereditary coat armour, as well as being the owner of a 
 considerable income derived from his own broad acres. 
 
I40 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 The Baronetage received a great accession to its numbers 
 from Charles ii., which was only natural, considering the 
 events which had taken place between the death of his royal 
 father and his own restoration. About this time the pay- 
 ment of the fees, commonly called the Ulster fees, and other 
 charges necessarily incident to the passing of Patents began 
 to cease. In many instances the heads of some of the most 
 distinguished families in the kingdom received the degree 
 as a reward for the losses and sufferings they had gone 
 through and for their services rendered during the rebellion. 
 This remission of fees was made by special warrant from 
 the King, expressed in honourable terms. The warrant was 
 issued by the King, directed to the Treasurer, Chancellor, 
 Under-Treasurer, and Barons of the Exchequer, to cause a 
 tally to be struck in the Exchequer purporting the payment 
 thereof (the ancient form being still retained in the Patent) 
 as if it had actually been paid, and then the officials had their 
 quietus out of the Exchequer for the same. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE OF 
 SCOTLAND AND NOVA SCOTIA 
 
 On the 5th March 1496, John Caboto, a Venetian resident 
 in Bristol, and his three sons obtained from Henry vii. 
 letters patent for a voyage of discovery, as a result of which 
 they reached the Island of Newfoundland on the 24th June 
 1497. Nearly a century later, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, under 
 a patent granted by Queen Elizabeth, took possession of 
 Newfoundland ; and various settlements were subsequently 
 attempted. 
 
 Early in 1621, Sir William Alexander of Menstrie, 
 Viscount, and afterwards Earl of Stirling, who followed 
 James the Sixth of Scotland to London, and who, after 
 holding various offices, had been made Master of Requests 
 for Scotland, became interested in the English settlements 
 in Virginia or New England, and resolved to embark in 
 colonial adventure on his own account. 
 
 He accordingly obtained from James i. the grant of a 
 large and extensive territory on the mainland, to the east of 
 the river St. Croix, and south of the St. Lawrence, ' lying 
 between our Colonies of New England and Newfoundland ' 
 as a foreign plantation. 
 
 On the 5th August 1621, the King addressed a letter 
 
 141 
 
142 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 from Beauvoir on this subject to the Lord Chancellor and 
 the other members of the Privy Council of Scotland, and 
 accordingly the Royal Warrant or signature for a Charter 
 was prepared and signed by the King at Windsor on the 
 loth September 1621, and on the 29th of the same 
 month the Charter under the Great Seal was duly passed 
 and registered. 
 
 In this Charter Sir William Alexander had almost un- 
 limited privileges and liberties conferred on him as the 
 King's hereditary Lieutenant-General, the lands of New 
 Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward's 
 Island, Gaspe, Anticosti, and all the adjacent islands being 
 erected into one whole and free lordship and regality in 
 favour of Sir William. 
 
 A similar Charter was granted on the 8 th November 
 1 62 1 to Sir Robert Gordon of Lochinvar and his second 
 son Robert, with the view of promoting colonisation. 
 
 Late in 1622, Sir William Alexander, after considerable 
 trouble in persuading suitable persons to set out for un- 
 known lands, came within sight of the shore near Cape 
 Breton ; but owing to storms, some of the company passed 
 the winter in St. John's Harbour, Newfoundland, sending 
 the vessel home for new supplies. The following year no 
 better success was obtained, and the proposed establishment 
 of a Colony was postponed, and the company returned to 
 England. 
 
 The following year Sir William Alexander published a 
 tract called ' An Encouragement to Colonies,' which, in 
 1630, six years later, was reissued under the title of 'The 
 
EARLY HISTORY 143 
 
 Mapp and Description of New England ; together with A 
 Discourse of Plantation, and Collonies also A relation of 
 the nature of the Climate, and how it agrees with our owne 
 Country England.' At the conclusion of this tract Sir 
 William stated that no one man could accomplish such an 
 undertaking by his own private fortunes ; but that ' if it 
 shall please his Majestie (as he hath ever beene disposed 
 for the furthering of all good Works more for the benefit 
 of his Subjects, then for his owne particular) to give his 
 helpe accustomed for matters of lesse moment hereunto, 
 making it appeare to be a Worke of his own, that others 
 of his subjects may be induced to concurre in such a 
 common cause, no man could have had my charge that 
 with more affection and sinceritie should have used his 
 endevours for discharging of the same, but I must trust 
 to be supplyed by some publike helps, such as hath beene 
 had in other parts, for the like cause whereunto, as I doubt 
 not, but many will be willing out of the noblenesse of their 
 disposition, for the advancing of so worthy a Worke, So 
 I hope will some others, the rather out of their private 
 respect to me, who shall continue as I have heretofore 
 done, both to doe and write in so farre, so meane an 
 abilitie as mine may reach, what (I conceive) may prove 
 for the credit or benefit of my Nation, to whom I wish all 
 happinesse.' 
 
 The personal influence of Sir William with the King 
 caused him to approve of the scheme of creating in Scotland 
 an hereditary dignity under the title of Knights Baronets of 
 Nova Scotia, by means of a scheme similar to that which 
 
144 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 had proved successful for colonising the districts in the 
 province of Ulster. James, in fact, was so pleased with the 
 idea that he addressed the following letter to the Privy 
 Council of Scotland : — 
 
 *From His Majestie anent Baronettis. 
 
 ' [James R.], 
 
 Right trustie and welbeloved Counsellour Richt 
 trustie and welbeloved Cosens and Counsello''^- and trustie and weil- 
 beloved Counsellours We greate you weill The Letter ye sent 
 giving us thankes for renueing of the name of that our ancient King- 
 dome vi^ithin America intreateing our favour for the furthering of 
 a Plantatioun ther, was verie acceptable unto us and reposeing upoun 
 the experience of uthers of oure subjects in the like kinde We ar 
 so hopefull of that enterprise that We purpose to make it a worke 
 of oure Owne And as We v^er pleased to erect the honour of 
 KNiCHT BARRONETTS within this oure Kingdome for advancement 
 of the Plantatioun of Ireland, So We doe desire to conferr the like 
 honour w^ithin that our Kingdome upoun suche as wer worthie of 
 that degree and will agree for some proportioun of ground within 
 NEW SCOTLAND furnishcing furth such a number of persones as salbe 
 condiscended upoun to inhabite there Thus sail both these of the 
 cheife sorte (avoydeing the usuall contentions at publick meetings) 
 being by this Heredetarie honour preferred to others of meaner 
 qualitie know ther owne places at home and likwyse sail have ther 
 due abroad from the subjects of our other countreyis accordeing to 
 the course apointed for that our ancient Kingdome And the 
 mentioning of so noble a cause within ther Pattents sail both serve 
 the more by suche a singular merite to honour them and by so 
 goode a ground to justifie our judgement with the posteritie But 
 thouch the conferring of honour be meerely Regall and to be done 
 by Us as We please yet We would proceed in no matter of such 
 moment without youre advyse our pleasure is haveing considered 
 of this purpose if ye find it as We conceive it to be both fitt for the 
 credit of that Our Kingdome and for the furtherance of that 
 
EARLY HISTORY 145 
 
 intended Plantatioun that ye certifie us your opiiiione concerning; 
 the forme and conveniencis thairof, togither withe your further 
 advyce what may best advaunce this so worthie worke which We 
 doe verie muche affect but will use no meanes to induce onie man 
 thereunto further then the goodnes of the busines and his awne 
 generous dispositione shall perswade Neither doe We desire that 
 onie man salbe sent for or travelled with by you for being Barronet, 
 but after it is founde fitt will leave it to their owne voluntarie 
 choise, not doubteing (howsoever some for want of knowledge 
 may be averse) but that ther wilbe a greater nomber than we 
 inttend to make of the best sorte to imbrace so noble a purpose 
 whereby bothe they in particular and the whole Natione generally 
 may have honour and profite And We wishe you rather to thinke 
 how remedies may be provyded against any inconveniencies that 
 may happin to occure then by conjecturing difficulties to loose so 
 faire and unrecoverable occasioun whiche other Nations at this 
 instant are so earnest to undertake. And for the better directinge 
 of your judgement We have appointed ane printed copie of that 
 Order quhiche was taken concerning the Barronettis of this our 
 Kingdome to be sent unto you as it was published by authoritie 
 from Us. So desireing you to haste back your ansueire that We 
 may signifie our further pleasure for this purpose We bid you 
 Fairweill. From Our Courte at Roystoun the 18 day of October 
 1624.' 
 
 It is doubtful whether the Order referred to in the latter 
 part of this letter was ^ His Majestie's Commission as 
 touching the creation of Baronetts ' published in 161 1, or 
 ' Three Patents concerning the Honourable Degree and 
 Dignitie of Baronets' published in 16 17, the contents of 
 which have previously been referred to. 
 
 This letter of the King was taken into consideration by 
 the Privy Council of Scotland, who, under date of the 
 23rd November 1624, sent the following reply : — 
 
 K 
 
146 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 *To His Majestie anent the Baronettis. 
 
 *MosT sacred Soverane, 
 
 'We have considerit of your Majesties letter concerning the 
 Barronettis and doe therby persave your Majesties great afFectioun 
 towards this your ancient Kingdome and your Majesties most 
 judicious consideratioun in makeing choise of so excellent meanes 
 both noble and fitt for the goode of the same, wherein seeing your 
 Majestie micht have proceidit without our advyce, and unacquenting 
 us with your Majesties royall resolutioun therein, we ar so muche 
 the more boundin to rander unto your Majestie our most humble 
 thankes for your gracious respect unto us not onlie in this but in all 
 uther thinges importeing this estate outher in credite or profit. And 
 we humblie wisse that this honour of Barronet souM be conferrit 
 upoun none but upon Knichtis and Gentlemen of chiefe respect for 
 their birth, place or fortounes, and we have taken a course by Pro- 
 clamatioun to mak this your Majesties gracious intentione to be 
 publicklie knowen that non heirafter praetending ignorance take 
 occasion inwardlie to compleyne as being neglected bot may accuse 
 thameselffis for neglecting of so fair ane opportunitie And whereas 
 we ar given to understand that the country of New Scotland 
 being dividit in twa Provinces and cache province in severall Dioceises 
 or Bishoprikis, and cache diocese in thrie Counteyis, and cache 
 countey into ten Baronyis, everie baronie being thrie myle long upon 
 the coast and ten myle up into the countrie, dividit into sex parocheis 
 and cache paroche contening sax thousand aikars of land and that 
 everie Baronett is to be ane Barone of some one or other of the saids 
 Barroneis and is to haif therein ten thowsand aikars of propertie 
 besydis his sax thousand aikars belongeing to his bur* (burgh) of 
 baronie To be holdin free blanshe and in a free baronie of Your 
 Majestie as the barronies of this Kingdome fFor the onlie setting 
 furth of sex men towardis your Majesties Royall Colonic armed, 
 apparelld, and victuald for two yeares And everie Baronet paying 
 Sir William Alexander Knicht ane thousand merkis Scottis 
 money only towards his past charges and endevouris Thairfore our 
 humble desire unto your Majestie is that care be taken by suirtie 
 actit in the bookis of Secreit Counsall, as was in the Plantatioun of 
 
EARLY HISTORY 147 
 
 Ulster that the said nomber of men may be dewlie transported 
 thither with all provisions necessar and that no Baronet be maid but 
 onlie for that cause And by some such one particular course onlie 
 as your Majestic sail appointe And that Articles of Plantatioun 
 may be set furth for encourageing and induceing all others who hes 
 habilitie and resolutioun to transport themselffis hence for so noble 
 a purpose. 
 
 ' Last we consave that if some of the Englishe who ar best 
 acquainted with such forrayn enterpreises wald joyne with the saids 
 Baronetts heir (as it is lilclie the lyker conditioun and proportioun 
 of ground wald induce thame to doe) That it wald be ane grite 
 encouragement to the furtherance of that Royall worke quhilk is 
 worth[ie] of your Majesties care And we doubte not sindrie will 
 contribute their help heirunto. So exspecting your Majesties forder 
 directioun and humblie submitting our opinione to your Majesties 
 incomparable judgement We humblie tak our leave prayeing the 
 Almichtie God to blisse your Majestic with long and happie Reigne. 
 From Edinbrugh the 23 of November 1624.' 
 
 This letter Is signed by twelve Members of the Privy 
 Council, and a week later was issued a Proclamation of the 
 Council announcing the King's resolution on the ist of 
 April the following year to proceed to the creating and 
 ranking of the one hundred Baronets referred to, and the 
 Knights and Esquires who were to receive the honour were 
 directed to appear previously to that day and have their 
 names enrolled in the Books of the Privy Council. The 
 following is the text of the Proclamation : — 
 
 ' Proclamatioun anent Baronetis. 
 
 ' Apud Edinburgh ultimo die mensis Novembris 1624. 
 
 ' At Edinburgh the last day of November The yeir of God 1600 
 
 Tuentie four yearis Our Soverane Lord being formarlie gratiousHe 
 
 pleased to erect the heritable honnour and title of ane Baronet as 
 
 ane degree, state and place nixt and immediatlie following the 
 
148 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 younger sones of Vicounts and Lordis Baronis of Parliament as ane 
 new honnour whairwith to rewaird new meritis Haveing conferrit 
 the same honnour place and dignitie upoun sundrie of the Knights 
 and Esquhyris of Ingland and Ireland to thame and thair airis maill 
 for ever In consideratioun of thair help and assistance toward that 
 happie and successfull plantatioun of Ulster in Ireland To the 
 grite strenth of that his Majesties Kingdome, incresse of his Hienes 
 revenues and help to manie of his Majesties goode subjects And 
 quhairas our said Soverane Lord being no les hopefull the plantatioun 
 of New Scotland in the narrest pairt of America alreadie discovered 
 and surveyed be some of the subjects of his Majesties Kingdome of 
 Scotland joyning unto New Ingland quhairin a grite pairt of his 
 Hienes nobilitie, gentrie, and burrowis of Ingland ar particularlie 
 interessed and hes actuallie begun thair severall Plantations thairof 
 And for that conceaving that manie his Majesties subjects of this 
 his ancient Kingdome emulating the vertews and industrious inter- 
 pryssis of utheris And being of bodies and constitutionis most able 
 and fitt to undergo the Plantatioun thairof and propagatioun of 
 Christiane relligioun will not be deficient in anie thing quhilk may 
 ather advance his Majesties Royall intentioun towards that Planta- 
 tioun or be beneficiall and honnourable to this his Hienes ancient 
 Kingdome in generall or to thameselfis in particular The samyn 
 being ane fitt, warrandable and convenient means to disburding this 
 his Majesties said ancient Kingdome of all such younger brether and 
 meane gentlemen quhois moyens ar short of thair birth worth or 
 myndis who otherwayes most be troublesome to the houses and 
 freindis from whence they ar descendit ( the common ruynes of 
 most of the ancient families) Or betak thameselfis to forren warke 
 or baisser chifts to the discredite of thair ancestouris and cuntrey 
 And to the grite losse of manie of his Majesties goode subjects who 
 may be better preservit to his Hienes use, honnour of thair freindis, 
 and thair awne comfort and subsistance Gif transplantit to the said 
 cuntrey of New Scotland, most worthie and most easie to be 
 plantit with christiane people and most habill by the fertilitie and 
 multitude of commodities of sea and land, to furnish all things 
 necessarie to manteine thair estaitis and dignitie as Landislordis 
 
EARLY HISTORY 149 
 
 thairof and subjects to his Majestic to be governed by the Lawis of 
 this his ancient Kingdome of Scotland And our said Soverane Lord 
 being most willing and desyreous that this his said ancient Kingdome 
 participate of all such otheris honnouris and dignities as ar erected in 
 anie of his Majesties others Kingdomes To the effect that the 
 Gentrie of this his Hienes said ancient Kingdome of Scotland may 
 both haif thair dew abroad amonge the subjects of utheris his 
 Majesties Kingdomes and at home amonge thameselffis according to 
 thair degree and dignitie As alsua his Majestic being most graciouslic 
 pleasit to confer the said honnour of heretable Baronet as ane 
 speciall mark of his Heighnes princelie favour upoun the Knights 
 and Esquyris of principall respect ffor thair birth worth and fortouns 
 Togidder with large proportionis of Landis within the said cuntrey 
 of New Scotland who sail be generouslic pleasit to set furth some 
 men in his Hienes Royal Colonic nixt going thither for that planta- 
 tioun. Thairfore his Majestic ordanis his Hienes lettrcs to be direct 
 chargeing Herauldis Purscvantis and Messengeris of Armes to pas to 
 the mercat Cros of Edinburgh and utheris placeis neidfull and thair 
 be oppin proclamatioun to male publicatioun of the premises And 
 that it is his Majesties princelie pleasure and expres resolutioun, to 
 male and creat the nombcr of Ane hundrcth heretable Baronettis of 
 this his Hienes Kingdome of Scotland be patentis under his Majesties 
 grite scale thairof Who and thair airis maill sail haif place and pre- 
 cedencie nixt and immediatlie after the youngest soncs of the 
 Vicounts and Lordis Barrounis of Parliament and the addition of the 
 word Sir to be prefixed to thair propper name and the style and the 
 title of Baronett subjoyned to the surname of everie ane of them 
 and thair airis maill Togithcr with the appellatioun of Ladie, 
 Madame, and Dame, to thair Wyffis in all tyme comcing with pre- 
 cedencie bcfoir all others Knights alsweill of the Bath, as Knights 
 Bachelouris and Bannarcttis (except these onlie that bcis Knighted 
 be his Majestic his airis and successouris in proper persone, in ane 
 oppin feild with banner displayed with new additioun to thair armes 
 and haill utheris praerogatives formarlic grantit be oure said Soverane 
 Lord to the saidis Barronettis of Ingland and Ireland Conforme to 
 the printed patent thairof in all poynts And that no persone or 
 
I50 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 personis whatsumevir sail be created and maid Barronetts bot onlie 
 such principall Knights and Esquyris as will be generouslie pleasit to 
 be Undertakeris of the said Plantatioun of New Scotland And for 
 that effect to act thameselfis or some sufficient cautioneris for thame 
 in the builcis of Secreit Counsaill befoir the first day of Apryll nixt 
 to come in this insueing year of God 1600 Tuentie fyve yearis To 
 sett furth sex sufficient men artificeris or laboureris sufficientlie 
 armeit apparrelit and victuallit for tua yeiris towards his Majesties 
 Royall Colonic to be established God willing thair for his Hienes 
 use dureing that space And that within the space of yeir and day 
 efter the dait of the said Actis under the pane of tua thowsand 
 merkis usuall money of this realme As also to pay to Sir William 
 Alexander Knight Maister of Requests of this Kingdome and 
 Lieutenant to his Majestic in the said Cuntrey of New Scotland 
 the sowme also of ane thowsand merkis money foirsaid for 
 his past chargeis in discoverie of the said Cuntrey and for sur- 
 rendering and resigning his interest to the saidis Landis and 
 Barronies quhilks ar to be grantit be our said Soverane Lord 
 to the saidis Barronettis and everie one of thame To be halden 
 in frie blensh of his Majestic his airis and successouris as frie 
 Barronies of Scotland in all tyme comeing And as of the Crowne 
 of the samyne Kingdome and under his Hienes grite scale thairof 
 without onie other fyne or compositioun to be payit to his Majestic 
 or his hienes thesaurar for the tyme thairfore. Quhilkis barronies 
 and everie one of thame sal be callit be suche names as seemes 
 meetest to the saids Barronetts And sail border on the sea coast or 
 some portative river of the said Cuntrey and conteine threttie thow- 
 sand aikers quhairof sextene thowsand aikers is intendit for everie 
 one of the saidis Baronetis thair airis and assignayis quhatsumevir 
 with ane Burgh of Barronie thairupoun And the remanent four- 
 tene thowsand aikeris for such other publick use and uses as for the 
 Crowne, Bishops, Universities, Colledge of Justice, Hospitals, Clargie, 
 Phisitiounis, Schools, Souldiouris and utheris at lenth mentionat in 
 the Articles and Plattforme of the said Plantatioun And forder 
 that his Majesties will and pleasure is That publict intimatioun be 
 maid as afoirsaid To all the saidis Knights and Esquyris who desyris 
 
EARLY HISTORY 
 
 151 
 
 to accept the said dignitie of Baronett and Baronic of Land upoun 
 the conditionis above exprest that betuix and the first day of Apryle 
 nixt to come they repair in persoun or by some Agent sufficientlie 
 instructed to the Lordis of his Majesties privie Counsall or to suche 
 as sal be nominat be his Hienes and intimat to thame be the saidis 
 Lordis to inroll thair names and ressave forder informatioun fra 
 thame concerning the said plantatioun and for passing of thair 
 infeftmentis and patents accordinghe And sicklylc that all otheris 
 personis who intendeth not to be Barronetts and that hath suche 
 affectioun to his Majesties service as they will also be Undertakers 
 of some proportionis of Land in New Scotland (as the nobilitie 
 gentrie and burrowis of Ingland hath done in New Ligland) may 
 herafter tak notice of the printed Articles of the Plantatioun of 
 New Scotland and informe thameselfis by all laughfull wayes and 
 meanis thairof With certificatioun to all his Majesties lieges and 
 subjects that immediatlie after the said first day of Apryle nixt to 
 come Our said Soverane Lord will proceid to the creatioun and 
 ranking of the saidis Barronettis, and passing of thair patents and 
 infeftments without respect to ony that sail happin to neglect to cum 
 in before the said day who ar heirby requyrit to tak notice heirof 
 and inroll thair names that thair neglect may be rather imput unto 
 thameselfis then to his Majestie who is so graciouslie pleasit to make 
 offer to thame of so fair ane occasioun of heretable preferment 
 honnour and benefite.' 
 
 No copy of the printed Articles of the Plantation of New 
 Scotland referred to in the above proclamation has ever been 
 discovered. 
 
 On the 17 th March 1625, Prince Charles addressed to the 
 Privy Council the following letter : — 
 
 ' Anent Baronettis 
 
 'Charles P., 
 
 ' Right trustie and right welbeloued Cosens and Counsellouris 
 and right trustie and welbeloued Counsellouris, Whereas it hath 
 pleased the Kingis Majestie in favour of the Plantatioun of Nova 
 
152 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Scotia to honnour the Undertakeris being of the ancientest gentrie 
 of Scotland with the honnour of Barronetts and thairin haif trusted 
 and recommendit Sir William Alexander of Menstrie to his 
 Counsell to assist him by all laughfuU meanis and to countenance 
 the bussienes by their authoritie. In like maner We do recommend 
 the said Sir William and the bussines to your best assistance hereby 
 declairing that we favour bothe the bussines and the persone that 
 followeth it in suche sort That your willingness to further it in all 
 you can sail be unto us very acceptable service So We bid you 
 hartelie farewell. From the Court at Theobalds, the 17 of Marche 
 1625.' 
 
 On the 23rd March 1625, the King addressed another 
 letter to the Privy Council, of which the following is a 
 copy : — 
 
 ' Anent Baronettis 
 
 'James R., 
 
 * Right trustie and welbeloued Counsellour Right trustie and 
 welbeloued Cosens and Counsellours and trustie and welbeloued 
 Counsellours We greete you weele We persave by your letters 
 directit unto us what care you haif had of that bussienes which 
 We recommendit unto you concerning the creatting of Knight 
 Baronettis within that our Kingdome for the Plantatioun of New 
 Scotland, and ar not onlie weele satisfied with the course that you 
 haif taikin thairin but likewayis it doeth exceidinglie content ws 
 that We haif so happielie fund a meanis for expressing of our affec- 
 tioun towards that our ancient Kingdome as we find by the consent 
 of you all so much tending to the honnour and proffite thairof, and 
 as we haif begun so we will continue requireing you in like maner 
 to persevere for the furthering of this Royall work that it may be 
 brought to a full perfectioun And as you haif done weele to warne 
 the auncient Gentrie by Proclamatioun assigneing thame a day for 
 comeing in and that you are carefuU to secure that which they sould 
 performe Our pleasure is to this end that this bussienes may be 
 carried with the lesse noice and trouble that everie ane of them that 
 doeth intend to be Baronet give in his name to our trustie and wel- 
 
EARLY HISTORY 153 
 
 beloued Sir William Alexander Knight our Lieutennant for that 
 enterprise or in cais of his absence to our trustic and welbeloued 
 Counsellour Sir John Scott Knight that one of thame after the 
 tyme appoyntit by the Proclamatioun is cxpyred may present the 
 names of the whole nomber that ar to be created unto thame 
 whome We sail appoynt Commissionaris for marshalling of them in 
 due ordour And becaus it is to be the fundatioun of so grite a 
 work bothe for the good of the Kingdome in generall and for the 
 particular enterest of everie Baronet who after this first protec- 
 tionarie Colony is seatled for secureing of the cuntrey may the 
 rather thairefter adventure for the planting of their awne propor- 
 tioun whiche by this meanis may be maid the more hopefull That 
 the sinceritie of our intentioun may be seen Our further pleasure 
 is that if any of the Baronettis sail chuse rather to pay two thowsand 
 merkis than to furnishe furth sex men as is intendit that then the 
 whole Baronettis mak chois of some certaine persones of thair 
 nomber to concurr with our said Lieutennant taking a strict course 
 that all the said monie be onlie applied for setting furth of the 
 nomber intendit or at the least of so many as it can convenientlie 
 furnishe And as we will esteeme the better of suche as ar willing 
 to imbrace this course so if any do neglect this samine and sue for 
 any other degree of honnour hereafter We will think that they 
 deserve it the lesse since this degree of Baronet is the next steppe 
 unto a further And so desiring you all to further this purpose als 
 far as convenientlie you can We bid you Farewell, from our Court 
 at Theobaldes, the 23 of Marche 1625.' 
 
 On the 27th of March, four days after the date of this 
 letter, James i. died at Theobalds. At the close of the 
 Charter or original Patent granted to Sir William Alexander, 
 dated the loth September 162 1, already referred to, the 
 King had engaged that all the privileges and liberties it so 
 bountifully conferred should be ratified, approved, and con- 
 firmed by the following Scottish Parliament. Parliament, 
 however, did not meet again during the lifetime of the King. 
 
154 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 It was clear, however, from his letter of the 27 th March, 
 the date of his Royal father's death, that Charles i. was not 
 likely to let the scheme drop; and on the 28th of May 
 following he raised Sir Robert Gordon, the second son of 
 the Earl of Sutherland, to the dignity of a Baronet of Scot- 
 land and Nova Scotia. Sir Robert thus became the premier 
 Baronet of this branch of the dignity ; and on the resigna- 
 tion of Sir William Alexander, his grant of sixteen thousand 
 acres of land in Nova Scotia was erected upon the Free 
 Barony and Regality of Sir Robert Gordon, in favour of 
 himself, his heirs male, and assignees whomsoever. 
 
 This Royal Charter, which was twice ratified and con- 
 firmed by Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, namely, on 
 the 31st July 1630 and the 28th June 1633, which was 
 recognised as valid by William in. under a Royal Warrant 
 in 1698, and which is secured under the clause in the Act 
 of Union in 1707, by which it is irrevocably settled and 
 declared, that ' No alteration shall be made in the laws which 
 concern private rights in Scotland, except for the evident 
 utility of the subject within Scotland,' was made, by sub- 
 sequent instruments under the Great Seal, the regulating 
 Charter for the Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia. 
 Although it is printed at length in Chapter 11., yet as it is 
 in Latin, it may be convenient to give an abstract in English 
 of the rights, privileges, and immunities conferred by the 
 Charter. 
 
 1st. 'Territorial. — A grant of 16,000 acres of land in the 
 Royal Province of Nova Scotia, as anciently bounded, which 
 comprehends Nova Scotia proper. Cape Breton, Anticosti, 
 
EARLY HISTORY 155 
 
 Gaspe, Prince Edward's Island, and New Brunswick, to be 
 incorporated into a full, entire, and free Barony and Regality 
 for ever, to be held of the Kingdom of Scotland in blench- 
 farm for payment yearly of one penny, if asked only ; the 
 said free Barony and Regality to extend three miles in 
 length along the sea coast, and six in length inland, with 
 gifts of benefices, patronage of churches, fisheries, huntings, 
 minerals, mines, pearls, jewels, offices, jurisdictions, and 
 power of pit and gallows, as plenary as had ever formerly 
 been enjoyed by whatsoever nobleman under the Crown of 
 Scotland ; also with express power of planting the said free 
 Barony and Regality, and of removing thence from Scot- 
 land, or any other country, persons, goods and chattels ; 
 with liberty to such persons, their children and posterity, 
 to have, hold, acquire, enjoy, and possess, all, and whatso- 
 ever, the liberties, privileges, and immunities of children 
 and natural-born subjects of the Kingdom of Scotland, and 
 the other dominion thereunto belonging, as if they had been 
 born in the said kingdom or dominions. 
 
 2nd. Seigneurial. — The right and liberty to erect cities, 
 towns, corporations, burghs of barony, etc. ; of nominating 
 provosts, baillies, justices of the peace, and other municipal 
 officers, etc. ; of making such particular laws, ordinances, 
 and constitutions as should be deemed expedient for the 
 good order and police of the free Barony and Regality, with 
 the heritable justiciary and sheriffship of the same ; the 
 power of judging and discerning in all causes, as well civil 
 as criminal, within the bounds ; of holding Courts of Justi- 
 ciary, Sheriff Courts, Baron and Barony Courts, and Courts 
 
156 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 of Free Regality ; of appointing their officers, and of ex- 
 acting and appropriating all escheats, amercements, etc, ; 
 also of imposing and levying tolls, customs, anchorages, 
 etc. etc. 
 
 2rd. Commercial. — The right of erecting free ports, har- 
 bours, naval stations, etc. ; of building ships, craft, vessels, 
 etc., as well for war as merchandise ; of importing and 
 exporting from and to Scotland, or any other country, wares, 
 merchandise, and commodities of whatever description, for 
 payment of the sum of five pounds Scots money of custom 
 for every hundred pounds only, without payment of any 
 other custom, impost, or duty of any kind ; also, of imposing 
 and exacting five pounds for every hundred, on all goods 
 imported into Nova Scotia by the Colonists, and ten per 
 cent, on all imported by foreigners. 
 
 4//z. Legislative. — The right, either personally or by 
 deputy, of a suffrage and vote in framing all and sundry 
 the laws to be made concerning the public state, good, and 
 government of the Royal Province of Nova Scotia, in all 
 assemblies, parliaments, synods, councils, and conventions, 
 to be called together, convened, or held for that end ; and 
 that no person or persons whatsover, who should not be 
 heirs of the said free Baronies of Regality, should have vote 
 or suffrage in framing whatsoever laws concerning the said 
 Province, without the advice, counsel, and consent of the 
 Baronets. 
 
 5//;. Dignitorial. — The hereditary style and title of Baronet, 
 with precedency between the degree of free Baron and the 
 degree of Lord, and privilege to resolve all questions con- 
 
EARLY HISTORY 157 
 
 cerning their place and prerogative by the use and practice 
 of custom and law, as the other hereditary degrees of dignity, 
 are ordained and directed concerning place, prerogative, and 
 precedency ; their wives to have and enjoy as Baronetesses 
 precedence above the wives of all Knights ; and their eldest 
 sons to possess in perpetual succession the right, on coming 
 of age, to demand inauguration as Knights of the reigning 
 Sovereign, without payment of fees or charges of any kind. 
 
 In addition to these rights and privileges, the Charters of 
 the Baronets of Scotland, 7$^rj"//>', contain a clause empowering 
 them to sit in the Scottish Parliament by deputy, when they 
 may be furth of the kingdom ; secondly, they grant that the 
 Baronets, and those who colonise their free Baronies and 
 Regalities in Nova Scotia, shall be judged, ruled, and 
 governed, in all time coming, in all cases, civil and criminal, 
 by the laws of the said Province of Nova Scotia only, and 
 not by others ; thirdly^ they provide that the Baronets shall 
 participate in all the privileges, liberties, immunities, profits, 
 and casualties whatsoever, that are specified in the Charters 
 and infeftments granted to Sir William Alexander, after- 
 wards Earl of Stirling, and his heirs, and that in as full, 
 free, and ample manner and form as if the said privileges, 
 prerogatives, immunities, etc., with all the clauses and con- 
 ditions relating to them, had been inserted at full length in 
 their patents ; fourthly, they dispense with non-entry, and 
 taking seisin in Nova Scotia, and grant authority to have 
 seisin and instruments of possession taken on the Castlehill 
 of Edinburgh, because the said Province of Nova Scotia, 
 and original infeftment thereof, is holden of the ancient 
 
158 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Kingdom of Scotland, and forms part of the county of 
 Edinburgh ; j^M/y, they promise for King Charles i., his 
 heirs and successors, in verbo principis, that the said Charters, 
 with all and sundry the privileges, liberties, clauses, articles, 
 and conditions, as specified, should be ratified, approved, and 
 confirmed by the Parliament of Scotland, in order that they 
 might have the strength, force, and effect of a decree and 
 sentence of that supreme and pre-eminent tribunal ; and, 
 sixthly, they stipulate and declare, that no lapse of time, 
 prescription, non-user, or any adverse circumstance whatso- 
 ever, shall ever bar the enjoyment of the rights which they 
 convey. 
 
 It should here be mentioned that the reason of Sir Robert 
 Gordon being selected for the first recipient of the honour 
 was that he, like Sir William Alexander, had been interested 
 in the object of colonisation ; and that on the 8th November 
 1 62 1 a Charter similar to the one granted to Sir William 
 on the loth September had been granted to Sir Robert and 
 his second son Robert. 
 
 Sir WilHam Alexander, who was appointed in 1626 one 
 of the principal Secretaries of State for Scotland, was raised 
 to the Peerage on the 4th September 1630 by the title of 
 Viscount of Stirling and Lord Alexander, and three years later 
 at the King's coronation at Holyrood was raised to the 
 dignity of Earl of Stirling, Viscount of Canada, etc. 
 
 The following precept may serve as an example of the 
 form or warrant issued for preparing a Charter under the 
 Great Seal, to convey, with the grant of lands, the title and 
 honours of a Nova Scotia Baronet : — 
 
EARLY HISTORY 
 
 159 
 
 ' Precept of a Charter to William, Earl Marischal. 
 
 ' Preceptum Carte fact, per S. D. N. Regem predilecto sue con- 
 sanguineo Willielino Mariscalli Comiti Dno. Keith et Altrie &c. 
 Regni Scotie Mariscallo heredibus suis masculis et assignatis quibus- 
 cunque hrie [hereditarie] super tota et Integra ilia parte seu portione 
 regionis et dominii Nove Scotie ut sequitur bondat. et limitat, viz. 
 incipien. a maxima meridionali parte terre ex orientali latere fluvii 
 nunc Tweid appelat. prius autem Sancti Crucis et exinde pergendo 
 orientaliter sex miliaria per maris et littus et exinde pergendo bore- 
 aliter a maris littore in terra firma ex orien. latere ejusdem fluvii 
 observando semper sex milliaria in latitudine a dicto fluvio orienta- 
 liter donee extendat. ad numerum quadraginta octo millium acrarum 
 terre cum castris turribus fortaliciis &c. Quequidem terre aliaque 
 in diet, carta ad Dominum Gulielmum AUexander de Menstrie 
 hereditarie pertinuerunt et resignate fuerunt per ipsum in manibus 
 diet. S. D. N. Regis pro hac Nova Carta et infeodatione Prefato 
 predicto suo consanguineo Willielmo Mariscalli Comiti &c. desuper 
 conficienda Preterea cum clausula unionis in unam integram et 
 liberam baroniam et regalitatem omni tempore futuro Baroniam de 
 Keith Marschell nuncupand. tenen. de diet. S. D. N. Rege et suc- 
 cessoribus suis de corona et regno Scotie in libera alba firma pro 
 annua solutione unius denarii usualis monete dicti regni Scotie super 
 solum et fundum dictarum terrarum nomine albe firme si petatur 
 tantum vel alicujus earundem partis in die festo nativitatis Domini 
 nomine albe firme si petatur tantum Et quod unica sasina apud 
 Castellum de Edinburgh capienda et erit sufficiens pro omnibus et 
 singulis terris aliisque particulariter et generaliter suprascript. in 
 dicta carta content, et cetera in communi forma cartarum Baronetis 
 concess. Apud Aulam de Quhythall vigesimo octavo die mensis 
 Maii Anno Dni. Millesimo sexcentesimo vigesimo quinto. 
 
 ' Per Signet urn. ^ 
 
 The form of Charter or Patent issued in accordance with 
 the foregoing Precept has already been set out. 
 
 On the 1 2th July following, Charles i. by a Charter of 
 Novodamus ratified and renewed his father's grant in fee 
 
i6o A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 of Nova Scotia to Sir William Alexander, his heirs and 
 assignees, with extensive additional powers and privileges. 
 
 His Majesty having appointed the Castle of Edinburgh as 
 the place for giving sasine by infeftment, that ceremony 
 was performed and correctly implemented within the Castle- 
 gate, on the 29th September 1625. The instrument of 
 sasine bears that it was taken ' intra exteriorem portam,' and 
 was duly recorded in the general Register of Sasines kept 
 at Edinburgh, on the ist October following. This Charter 
 and sasine form effectual instruments, and constitute a 
 complete feudal right, title, and investment of the property. 
 
 It is material to mark its being specially declared in 
 verbo principis, that the Charters conveying these grants 
 ' shall be valid, sufficient, and effectual, in all time 
 coming, in all points as set forth, against the crown, 
 its heirs, and successors ' — ' nor shall be lawfully impugned 
 or called in question,' for ever acquitting and renouncing 
 ' all title, action, instance, and interest heretofore competent, 
 or that may be competent to us and our heirs and successors, 
 renouncing the same simpliciter jure lite et causa, cum pacto 
 de non petendo, etc' 
 
 Between the 28th May 1625 — on which day the Premier 
 Baronet of Scotland, Sir Robert Gordon, was created — and 
 the 1 9th July following, nine other grants of land of sixteen 
 thousand acres each, in Nova Scotia, were erected into free 
 Baronies and Regalities, and, with the hereditary title of 
 Baronet, were conferred upon Sir Alexander Strachan of 
 Strachan ; Sir William Keith, Earl Marshall ; Sir Duncan 
 Campbell of Glenorchy Campbell (now Marquess of Bread- 
 
EARLY HISTORY i6i 
 
 albane) ; Sir Robert Innes of New Innes (now Duke of 
 Roxburgh) ; Sir John Wemyss of New Wemyss (now Earl 
 of Wemyss and March) ; Sir David Livingston of Dunipace 
 Livingston ; Sir William Douglas of Douglas ; Sir Donald 
 Macdonald of Macdonald (now Lord Macdonald) ; and Sir 
 Richard Murray of Cockpool (now Earl of Mansfield). 
 
 On the 19th July 1625, Charles i. acquainted the Lords 
 of the Privy Council of Scotland that he had created the 
 above Baronets in the following letter : — 
 
 *To THE Privy Council of Scotland anent Baronettis 
 
 * Charles R., 
 
 * Right trustie and right welbeloued counsellour, right trustie 
 and right welbeloued cosens and counsellouris, and trustie and 
 welbeloued counsellouris, We greete you wele. Understand- 
 ing that our late deare Father, after due deliberatioun, for furthering 
 the Plantatioun of New Scotland, and for sindrie other goode 
 consideratiounis, did determine the creatting of Knight Baronettis 
 thair ; and that a proclamatioun wes maid at the mercatt croce of 
 Edinburgh, to gif notice of this his Royall intentioun, that those 
 of the best sort knowing the same might haif tyme to begin first, 
 and be preferred unto otheris, or than want the said honnour in 
 their awne default : And understanding likewayes, that the tyme 
 appoyntit by the Counsell for that purpois is expyred, We being 
 willing to accomplishe that whiche wes begun by our said deare 
 Father, haif preferred some to be Knight Baronettis, and haif grantit 
 unto thame signatouris of the said honnour, togither with thrie mylis 
 in breadth and six in lenth of landis within New Scotland, for thair 
 severall proportiounes : And now that the saidis Plantatiounes 
 intendit thair, tending so much to the honnour and benefite of that 
 our Kingdome, may be advanced with diligence, and that pre- 
 paratiounes be maid in due tyme for setting furthe a Colonie at the 
 next Spring, to the end that those who are to be Baronettis, and to 
 help thairunto, may not be hinderit by comcing unto us for pro- 
 
 L 
 
1 62 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 cureing thair grantis of the saidis landis and dignitie, bot may haif 
 thame there with lesse trouble to themselffis and unto us, We haif 
 sent a Commissioun unto you for accepting surrenderis of landis, 
 and for conferring the dignitie of Baronet upon suche as salbe fund 
 of qualitie fitt for the samine, till the nomber appoynted within the 
 said commissioun be perfited : And therefore our pleasure is, 
 That you exped the commissioun through the sealis with all 
 diligence, and that you, and all otheris of our Privie Counsell thair, 
 give all the lawfull assistance, that you can convenientlie afFoord for 
 accomplisheing the said worke, whereby Colonies sould be sett 
 furth ; and certifie from us, that as we will respect thame the more 
 who imbrace the said dignitie and further the said plantatioun, so if 
 ony Knight who is not a Baronet presoome to tak place of one who 
 is Baronet, or if ony who is not Knight stryve to tak place of one 
 who hes the honnour from us to be a Knight, inverting the order 
 usuall in all civile pairtis, we will that you censure the pairty 
 transgressing in that kynd, as a manifest contempnar of oure 
 authoritie, geving occasioun to disturbe the publict peace. So 
 recommending this earnestlie to your care. We bid you farewell. 
 Windsore, the 19th of July 1625.' 
 
 The Commission referred to in this letter was passed 
 under the Great Seal of Scotland, 25th July 1625; and it 
 empowered the Commissioners, or any six members of the 
 Privy Council, with ' full authority and commission to meet 
 at such days, and places, as they shall think expedient, and 
 there to hear the petitions of his Majesty's subjects who 
 intend the said plantation, and are willing to embrace the 
 same, and to confer, make, and thereupon conclude with 
 them to receive resignation of all lands lying within the 
 country of New Scotland, which shall happen to be resigned 
 in their hands as his Majesty's Commissioners by Sir 
 William Alexander, or his lawful procurators in his name, 
 
EARLY HISTORY 163 
 
 in favour of any person or persons, and to give and grant 
 new heritable infeftments under the Great Seal of his 
 Majesty's said Kingdom (viz. of Scotland) to those to 
 whom the said resignations are granted of the said Lands, 
 and of the degree, state, order, dignity, name, honour, title, 
 and style of Knight Baronet, with such like privileges, 
 prerogatives, immunities, liberties, and others, whatsoever, 
 which are granted, and to be granted, in the Charters already 
 passed to the Baronets of the said Kingdom, made by his 
 Majesty to be enjoyed and possessed heritably as an especial 
 token of his royal favour.' 
 
 The following Royal Proclamation was issued in August 
 1625 :— 
 
 * Proclamatioun concerning Baronnettis. 
 
 'Apud Edinburgh penultimo die mensis Augusti 1625. 
 * Forsameikle as our Souerane Lordis umquhile dearest Father of 
 blissed memorie for diverse goode ressonis and considderationis 
 moveing his Ma*i® and speciallie for the better encouragement of 
 his Hienes subjectis of this his ancient Kingdome of Scotland 
 towardis the plantatioun of New Scotland in America being 
 graciouslie pleased to erect the heretable dignitie and title of 
 Baronet as a degree of honour within the said kingdome (as 
 formerlie he had done in England for the plantatioun of Ulster in 
 Ireland) And being of intention to confer the said title and 
 honnour of Barronet onlie upoun suche his Ma*^ subjectis of the 
 said ancient Kingdome of Scotland as wald be undertakeris and 
 fiirtheraris of the Plantatioun of New Scotland and performe the 
 conditionis appoyntit for that effect Causit publict proclamatioun 
 to be maid at the Mercat Croce of Edinburgh be advise of his 
 Ma^ Counsell of the said Kingdome geving notice to the cheifF 
 gentrie and all his Ma'^''^^ subjectis of that Kingdome of his Royall 
 intention concerning the creating of Barronettis there, and that 
 
1 64 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 after a certain day now of a long tyme bypast prescryved be the 
 said proclamatioun his Ma*^® wald proceid to the creating of 
 Barronettis and conferring the said title and honnour upoun suche 
 personis as his Ma*^® sould think expedient having performed the 
 conditionis appoyntit for the said Plantatioun To the effect the 
 cheifest Knightis and Gentlemen of the Kingdome haveing notice 
 of his Ma*^®^ princelie resolutioun might (if thay pleasit be Under- 
 takeris in the said Plantatioun and performe the appoyntit conditionis) 
 be first preferred be his Ma*^'' and have the said heretable honnour 
 and title conferred upoun thame and there aires maill for ever or 
 otherwayes be there awne neglect and default want the same And 
 now our Souerane Lord being most carefull and desireous that his 
 said umquhile deerest Fatheris resolution tak effect for the weele 
 of this his said Kingdome and the better furtherance of the said 
 Plantatioun and otheris good considerationis moveing his Hienes, 
 His Ma''^'^ hathe already conferred the said heretable honnour and 
 title of Barronet upoun diverse his Ma^ subjectis of this his said 
 kingdome, of goode parentage, meanis and qualitie and grantit 
 chartouris to thame and there airis maill for evir under the Grite 
 Seale of the said kingdome conteining his Ma^ grant unto thame 
 of the said dignitie and of the particular landis and boundis of New 
 Scotland designit unto thame and diverse liberties and priviledgeis 
 contenit in there saidis patentis and is of the intention to grant the 
 like to otheris And for the better furtherance of the said Plantatioun 
 and performe the conditionis appoyntit for that effect and to haif 
 the said honnour and title conferred upoun thame may not be 
 hinderit nor delayit be going to Court to procure from his Ma*'® 
 there severall patentis and grantis of the said dignity and landis in 
 New Scotland to be grantit to thame but may haif the same heir in 
 Scotland with lesse truble to his Ma*'® and chargis and expenssis to 
 thameselfHs His Ma*'® of his royall and princelie power and speciall 
 favour hathe geven and grantit a commission and full power to a 
 select nomber of the Nobilitie and Counsell of this Kingdome whose 
 names are particularlie therein insert or ony five of thame the 
 Chancellair Thesaurair and Secretair being thrie of the five to 
 ressave resignationis of all landis within New Scotland whilk sal 
 
EARLY HISTORY 165 
 
 happin to be resignit be Sir William Alexander knight Maistcr of 
 Requestis to his Ma^"' for the said kingdome and his Ma^ Lieutennant 
 of New Scotland in favouris of whatsomevir personis and to grant 
 patentis and infeftmentis thairof againe to thame Together with the 
 said heretable honnour and title thay haveing alwayes first performed 
 to the said Sir William Alexander his aires or assignayis or thair 
 laugh full commissionaris or procuratouris haveing there powers the 
 Conditionis appoyntit for the furtherance of the said Plantatioun 
 and bringing thame a certificat thairof in write under the handis 
 of the said Sir Williame or his foresaidis to be shewn and producit 
 before the saidis commissionaris And his Ma*"^ haveing likewayes 
 gevin informatioun to the Lordis of his Secreit Counsell of this 
 kingdome to certifie his subjectis thereof concerning his princelie 
 will and pleasure anent the place due to the Barronettis and Knightis 
 of the said Kingdome Thairfore the saidis Lordis of Secreit 
 Counsell to the effect that nane pretend ignorance Ordanis letteris 
 to be direct chargeing herauldis and officiaris of armeis to pas to the 
 mercat croce of Edinburgh and all otheris placeis neidfull and mak 
 publict intimatioun to all his Ma^ leiges and subjectis of this 
 kingdome That all suche as intend to be Barronettis and Under- 
 takeris in the said Plantatioun and to performe to the said Sir 
 Williame or his foresaidis the Conditionis appoyntit for the further- 
 ance of the said Plantatioun and haveing a certificat under his hand 
 as said is may repair and resort to the saidis Commissionaris at all 
 tymes convenient and ressave grantis and patentis from thame under 
 the Grite Scale of this Kingdome of the landis of New Scotland to 
 be resignit in there favouris to the said Sir Williame or his foirsaidis 
 with the like liberties and priviledgeis and otheris whatsoevir as ar 
 grantit to the Barronettis alreadie maid in thair patentis alreadie 
 past under the said Grite Scale, and of the said heretable title and 
 honnour of Barronett to thame and there aires maill for ever and 
 tak place and precedence according to the dates of their severall 
 patentis to be grantit to thame and no otherwayes And in like 
 maner to mak publicatioun that his Ma^ princelie will and pleasure 
 is That the Barronettis of this Kingdome maid and to be maid, haif, 
 bald, tak, and enjoy in all tyme comeing freelie but ony impediment 
 
1 66 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 the place prioritie and precedence in all respectis grantit to thame in 
 thair severall patentis under the said Grite Seale and that no Knight, 
 Laird, Esquire, or Gentleman whatsoevir who is not a Barronett 
 presoome in ony conventioun or meeting or at ony tyme place or 
 occasioun whatsoevir to tak place praecedence or praeeminince befoir 
 ony who is or sal heirafter be maid a Baronet neyther ony who is 
 not a Knight tak place befoir ony who hathe the honnour to be 
 a Knight thereby inverting the ordour used in all civile pairtis 
 Certifieing all his Ma^ leiges and subjectis of this his kingdome and 
 everie ane of them who sail praesoome to do in the contrair heirof 
 That they sail be most seveirlie punist be his Ma"** and the saidis 
 Lordis of his Counsell as manifest contempnaris of his Ma*^®* royall 
 power and praerogative and thereby geving occasioun to disturb the 
 publict peace. 
 
 Subscribitur ut supra. 
 
 [Geo. Cancell. Roxburgh 
 
 MoRTOUN MeLROS 
 
 WiNTOUN LaUDERDAILL] 
 
 BUGCLEUGH 
 
 As a result of the special precedency given to the 
 Baronets, the Scottish Gentry who had not been raised to 
 the dignity early complained, as will be seen from the 
 following Memorandum : — 
 
 * Conventioun of Estates : — Anent Baronettis. 
 ' Apud Edinburgh secundo die mensis Novembris 1625. 
 
 ' Anent the Petitioun gevin in be the small Barronis proporting 
 that thay sustenit verie grite prejudice by this new erectit Ordour 
 of Barronettis and the praecedencie grantit to thame befoir all the 
 small Baronis and Freehalderis of this kingdome whairin thay 
 pretendit grit praejudice in thair priviledgeis and dignityis possest 
 be thame and thair praedecessouris in all praeceding aiges and thair- 
 foir thay desyrit that the Estaittis wald joyne with thame in thair 
 humble petitioun that his Ma*'® might be intreatted to suspend the 
 
EARLY HISTORY 167 
 
 praecedencie grantit to thir Barronettis untill the tyme that the 
 Plantatioun for the whillc this dignitie is conferred be first per- 
 formed be the Undertakeris Whairupon Sir William Alexander 
 cheifF undertaker of this Plantatioun being hard and he having 
 objectit unto thame his Ma^ royall prasrogative in conferring of 
 honnouris and titles of dignitie in matteris of this kynd importing 
 so far the honnour and credite of the cuntrey and that his Ma^ 
 praerogative wald not admitt ony sort of opposition, and that this 
 suspensioun of the Undertakeris praecedencie wald frustratt the 
 whole Plantatioun After that the small Barronis had most humblie 
 protestit that the least derogation to his Ma^ royall praerogative 
 sould never enter in thair hairtis and that thair Petitioun was in no 
 sort contrair to the same, and that thay acknawledged that the 
 conferring of honnouris did properlie belong to his Ma*'® as a poynt 
 of his royall praerogative. And thay undertooke that if it wer fund 
 meete be his Ma*'" and the Estaittis that this Plantatioun sould be 
 maid that thay upoun thair awin chairgis wald undertak the same 
 without ony retributioun of honnour to be gevin thairfoir. The 
 Estaittis haveing at lenth hard both the partyis It was fund be 
 pluralitie of voittis that the Estaittis sould joyne with thame in thair 
 petitioun foirsaid.' 
 
 On the -2 7th October 1625, a Convention was held at 
 Edinburgh. The Petition of the Scottish gentry was taken 
 into consideration, with the result as shown in the following 
 extract from the communication addressed by the Privy- 
 Council to the King : — 
 
 *MosT Sacred Soverane, 
 
 'The Convention of your Majesties Estaittis, which, by your 
 Ma^ direction wes callit to the tuentie sevent day of October last 
 being that day verie solemnlie and with a frequent and famous 
 nomber of the Nobilitie Clergy and Commissionaris for the Shyres 
 and Burrowis praeceislie keept, and the Taxatioun grantit, as our 
 former letter to your Majestie did signifie. 
 
 ' Upon the first second and thrid day of this moneth the Estattis 
 
1 68 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 having proceided to the considderatioun of the Propositions and 
 Articles sende downe be your Ma*'^ &c. 
 
 ' After that all thir Articles wer propouned hard discussit and 
 answeirit be the Estaittis in maner foirsaid Thair wes some peti- 
 tions gevin in be the small Baronis and Burrowis whairin thay 
 craved that the Estaittis wald joyne with thame in thair humble 
 Petitioun to your Ma*'® for obtaining your allowance thairof. 
 
 *Thay had ane other Petitioun and greevance foundit upon the 
 prasjudice alledged sustenit be thame by this new erectit Ordour of 
 Barronettis and the praecedencie grantit to thame befoir all the 
 small Barronis and Friehalderis of this Kingdome whairin thay prae- 
 tendit grite praejudice in thair priviledgeis and dignityis possest be 
 thame and thair praedecessouris in all praeceiding aiges. And 
 thairfore thair desire wes that the Estaittis wald joyne with thame 
 in thair humble Petitioun That your Ma"^ might be intreatted to 
 suspend the praecedencie grantit to thir Barronettis untill the tyme 
 that the Plantatioun for the whilk this dignitie is conferred be first 
 performed be the undertakeris Whairupon Sir William Alexander 
 cheif undertaker in this Plantatioun being hard and he haveing 
 objectit unto thame your Ma^ royall praerogative in conferring of 
 honnouris and titlis of dignitye in matteris of this kynd importeing 
 so far the honnour and credite of the cuntrey And that your Ma^ 
 praerogative wald not admit ony sort of oppositioun and that this 
 suspensioun of the undertakeris praecedencie wald frustratt the 
 whole Plantatioun After that the Small Baronis had most humblie 
 protestit that the least derogatioun to your Ma^ praerogative sould 
 never enter into thair hairtis and that thair petitioun wes in no sort 
 contrair to the same hot that thay acknowledged that the conferring 
 of honnouris did properly belong to your Ma*'® as a poynt of your 
 royall praerogative And thay undertooke that if it wer fund meete 
 by your Ma*'® and the Estaittis that this Plantatioun sould be maid 
 That thay upoun thair awne chargeis wald undertak the same 
 without ony retributioun of honnour to be gevin thairfoir. The 
 Estaittis haveing at lenth hard both partyis It wes fund be pluralitie 
 
EARLY HISTORY 169 
 
 of voitis that the Estaittis sould joyne with thame in thair Petitioun 
 foirsaid to your Majestic 
 
 (Sic Subscribitur) 
 
 Geo. Hay Roxburgh 
 
 ' Edinburgh Mar Melros 
 
 Octavo Novembris 1625 Mortoun B. Dumblane 
 
 Wyntoun Arcd Naper 
 
 Linlithgow 
 
 Notwithstanding the support accorded to the Petition by 
 the Convention, the King was determined that the new 
 Degree erected by his royal father, and supported by him- 
 self, should not be shorn of any dignity. He therefore not 
 only refused the prayer of the Petition, but intimated his 
 intention of conferring the additional honour of knighthood 
 on each Baronet's eldest son, on his attaining the age of one- 
 and-twenty, in the following letter addressed to his Privy 
 Council : — 
 
 ' To the Counsall 
 
 ^[Charles R.] 
 
 ' Right trustie and weilbeloued Counsellour Right trustie and 
 weilbelovit Cousines and Counsellours Right trustie and weilbeloved 
 Counsellours and trustie and weilbeloved Counsellours We Greet 
 you Weill Wheras our late dear Father did determyne the Creating 
 of Knyghts Barronetts within that our Kingdome haveing first had 
 the advyse of his privie Counsall therunto whoise congratulatorie 
 approbation may appear by a letter of thanks sent unto him thair- 
 efter And sieing the whole gentrie war adverteised of this his 
 Royall resolutioun by publict proclamationis that these of the best 
 sort knowing the same might have tyme to begin first and be 
 preferred unto uthers or then want the said honour in ther awin 
 default a competent tyme being appoynted unto them by the said 
 Counsall that they might the more advysedlie resolve with them 
 seliEs therein. In consideratioun whairof we wer pleased to give a 
 
lyo A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 commission under our great seall wherby the saidis Knights Barronetts 
 might be created according to the conditions formerlie condescendit 
 upoun And heirefter hearing that sindrie gentlemen of the best 
 sort wer admitted to the said dignitie we never haveing heard of 
 aney complaynt against the same till the work efter this maner was 
 broght to perfection it could not bot seame strange unto ws that 
 aney therefter should have presented such a petition as was gevin to 
 the last Conventioun so much derogatorie to our Royall prerogative 
 and to the hindering of so worthie a work or that the samyne should 
 have bene countenanced or suffered to have bene further prosecuted 
 Now to the effect that the said work may have no hinderance 
 heirefter our pleasur is that the course so advysedlie prescryved by 
 ws to the effect foresaid may be made publictlie knowen of new 
 wairning the said gentrie that they may ather procure the said 
 dignitie for them selffis or not repyne at others for doeing the same 
 And that you have a speciall care that none of the saidis Knyghts 
 Barronetts be wronged in ther priviledges by punisching aney 
 persone who dar presum to doe any thing contrarie to ther grants 
 as a manifest contemner of our authoritie and disturbours of the 
 publict peace And if it shall happin heirefter that the said Com- 
 mission by the death or change of any persones appoynted Commis- 
 sioneris to this effect shall neid be renewed Our further pleasur is 
 that at the desyre of our trustie and weilbelovit Counsellour Sir 
 William Alexander kny* our Secretarie or his aires the same be 
 gevin of new to the Commissioneris of our Excheker the Chan- 
 cellour Thesaurer or Thesaurer deputie or any tuo of them being 
 alwyse of the number giveing them such power in all respects as is 
 conteyned in the former Commission with this addition onlie that 
 we doe heirby authorize our Chancellour for the tyme being to 
 knyght the eldest sones of the saidis Knyghts Baronets being of 
 perfyte aige of 21 zeires he being requyred to that effect And we 
 will that a clause bearing the lyk power be particularlie insert in the 
 said new Commission if upoun the caussis forsaid it be renewed 
 And that the samyne by our said Chancellour be accordinglie per- 
 formed, So we bid, &c. 
 
 ^WhythallFeb. 12, 1626.' 
 
EARLY HISTORY 17 1 
 
 In accordance with the intimation contained in this letter 
 of the King's intention to renew the Commission for the 
 creation of Baronets of Scotland, and to knight their eldest 
 sons on their attaining the age of twenty-one years, the 
 King wrote the following letter to the Chancellor : — 
 
 * [Charles R.] 
 
 ' Right, &c. Wheras we have gevin Ordour by a former letter 
 that the Commission formerlie grantit by ws for creating of knyght 
 Barronettis in that our kingdome might be renewed at the desyre 
 of Sir William Alexander our Livetenent of New Scotland or his 
 Heynes whensoever they should desyre the samyne geving the power 
 in tyme comeing to the Commissioners of our Excheker which the 
 persones nominated in the preceiding Commission formerlie had and 
 that the eldest sones of all Baronettis might be knyghted being of 
 perfite aige of 21 yeirs whensoever they shall desyre the same 
 according to ther patents under our greit seall give power to yow or 
 our Chancellour thar for the tyme being to doe the same both for 
 frieing ws from trouble and saveing them from charges which ther 
 repairing thither for that purpois might procure Our pleasur is 
 that yow caus renew and expeid the said Commission under our great 
 seall as said is And in the meane tyme that yow knyght the eldest 
 sones of all and everie ane of such Baronettis who being of 21 yeres 
 of aige shall desyre the same without putting of them to aney 
 charges or expenssis For doeing whairof, &c. So we bid, &c. 
 Whythall 24 March 1626.' 
 
 On the 30th March 1626, the following Royal Proclama- 
 tion was issued from Holyrood : — 
 
 ' Apud Halyrudhous penultimo Martii 1626. 
 ' Forsamekle as our Soverane Lordis umquhile darrest Father of 
 blissed and famous memorie out of his princelie and tender regaird 
 of the honnour and credite of this his ancient kingdome of Scotland 
 And for the better encourageing of the gentrie of the said kingdome 
 In imitation of the verteous projectis and enterprises of others to 
 
172 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 undertak the Plantatioun of New Scotland in America determined 
 with advise of the Lordis of his privie Counsell the creating of ane 
 new heretable title of dignitie within the said kingdome callit Knight 
 Barronet and to confer the same upoun suche personis of goode 
 parentage meanis and qualitie as wald be undertakeris in the said 
 Plantatioun And of this his Royall and princelie resolution 
 Importing so far the honnour and credite of the Kingdome publica- 
 tioun and intimatioun wes maid be opin proclamatioun with all 
 solempnitie requisite to the intent those of the best not knawing the 
 same might haif had time first to begin and to haif bene preferrit to 
 otheris And then thrugh thair awne default or negligence the 
 want of the said honnour to haif bene imputt to thameselffis Like 
 as a competent tyme wes appoyntit and assignit be the saidis Lordis 
 unto thame for that effect whairthrow they might the more adviscdlie 
 haif resolved thairin And oure Souerane Lord following his said 
 darrest Fatheris resolutionis in this poynt causit not onlie renew the 
 said Proclamatioun Bot for the ease of his Ma^ subjectis and 
 saulfing of thame from neidles and unnecessair travell chairgeis and 
 expenssis grantit ane commissioun under his Grite Scale whairby the 
 saidis Knightis Barronettis might be created and thair patentis exped 
 in this kingdome Like as accordinglie sundrie Gentlemen of the 
 best sort embraced the conditioun of the Plantatioun wer admittit to 
 the said dignitie of Barronet and no question or objection wes moved 
 aganis the same till the worke wes brought to a perfectioun then 
 some of the gentrie repynning at the precedencie done to thir 
 Barronettis whilk proceidit upon thair awin sleughe and negligence 
 in not tymous imbraceing the conditionis of the said Plantatioun 
 They maid some publick oppositioun aganis the precedencie done to 
 thir Barronettis and so did what in thame lay to haif hinderit the 
 Plantatioun foirsaid, whairof informatioun being maid to his Ma**® 
 and his Ma**® considdering the goode and necessar groundis whairby 
 first his said darrest Father and then himself wer moved to creat the 
 dignitie and ordour foirsaid of Barronettis and his Ma**® continewing 
 in a firme and constant purpois and resolutioun that the worke 
 foirsaid sail yett go fordward and no hindrance maid thairunto 
 Thairfore his Ma**® with advyse of the Lordis of his Secreit Counsell 
 
EARLY HISTORY 173 
 
 Ordanis letters to be direct chargeing Officieris of armes to pas to 
 the Mercat Croce of Edinburgh and otheris places neidfull and thair 
 be opin publicatioun mak said publicatioun and intimatioun of his 
 Ma^ royall will and pleasur that the course so advysedlie prescryved 
 be his Ma*'^ to the effect foirsaid salbe yitt followit oute And 
 thairfore to wairne all and sundrie the gentrie of this kingdome 
 That thay either procure the said dignitie for thameselffis Or not 
 repyne at otheris for doing of the same And to command, charge 
 and inhibite all and sindrie his Ma^ leiges and subjects that nane 
 of thame presoome nor tak upoun hand to wrong the saidis Knightis 
 Barronettis in ony of thair priviledgeis nor to doe nor attempt ony 
 thing contrair to thair grantis and patentis Certifieing thame that 
 sail failzie or doe in the contrair That thay salbe punist as con- 
 tempnaris of his Ma*'^ inclination and disturbaris of the publick 
 peace. 
 
 ' [FoUowis His Majesties Missive for Warrand of the Act above 
 writtin.] 
 
 ' Right trustie and welbeloved Councellour, &c. (See supra^ 
 
 p. 144O 
 
 *So We bid you farewell Frome our Courte at Whythall the 
 12 of Februar 1626.' 
 
 It was only natural that the Heralds and other Officials 
 should expect the payment to them of fees by the newly 
 created Baronets; but Charles i., on having the matter 
 brought to his attention, and having made inquiry of the 
 practice prevailing in England, directed that no fees should 
 be demanded, although he raised no objection to their being 
 voluntarily tendered. 
 
 '[Charles R.] 
 
 * Right, &c. Haveing considered your letter concerning the fees 
 that ar clamed from the knyght Barronets thogh at the first it did 
 appear unto ws that none could justlie challenge fees of them by 
 vertew of any grant that was gevin befor that ordour was erected 
 
174 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 yet befoir we would resolve what was to be done heirin we caused 
 enquyre of the cheff heraulds and other officers within this our 
 kingdome wher the said dignitie of Barronet was first instituted by 
 our late dear Father And doe find that the baronetts ar bund to 
 pay no feyis nor did pay ever any thing at all save that which they 
 did voluntarlie to the heraulds of whom they had present use And 
 therfor sieing ther creation within that our kingdome is for so good 
 a caus wherby a Colony is making readie for setting furth this 
 next spring to begin a work that may tend so much to the honour 
 and benefite of that kingdome we would have them everie way to be 
 encouraged and not as we wryt befoir putt to neidles charges and 
 our pleasur is that none as Baronetts to be made be bund to pay 
 feys bot what they shalbe pleased to doe out of ther owin discretion 
 to the heraulds or to any such officiers of whom they shall have use 
 And as for ther eldest sones whensoever any of them is cum to 
 perfyte aige and desyrs to be knighted let them pay the feyis allowed 
 hertofor to be payed by other knights For doeing whereof We, &c. 
 Oatlandis 28 July 1626.' 
 
 ' Knightis Baronnettis and the Herauldis. 
 
 ' Apud Halyrudhous vigesimo Septembris 1626. 
 
 ' The whilk day the Letter underwritten signed be the Kingis 
 Ma*'® conteneing a declaration of his Royall Will and pleasure anent 
 the fees acclamed be the Herauldis and otheris from the Knyghtis 
 Barronettis and thair eldest sones being presentit to the Lordis of 
 Secreit Counsell and red in an audience They allowit of his Ma*'®^ 
 will and pleasure thairanent And Sir Jerome Lindsay knight Lyon 
 King at armes being callit upon and he compeirand personalie and 
 his Ma^ will and pleasure in this matter being intimat unto him he 
 with all humble and deutifull respect promeist that obedience suld be 
 given thairanent. Of the whilk Letter the tennour followis 
 ' Charles R. 
 
 'Right trustie, etc. (See supra^ p. 173.) 
 
 ' And so We bid you farewell From our Courte at Oatlandis the 
 28 of Julij 1626.' 
 
 In 1628, Sir William Alexander obtained an additional 
 
 i 
 
EARLY HISTORY 175 
 
 grant from Charles i. of a very extensive district in Canada, 
 on both sides of the river St. Lawrence, with all the rights 
 of property, powers, and privileges which had been granted 
 and confirmed to him, his heirs and assignees, in Nova 
 Scotia. In the preamble of Charles i.'s Charter of 2nd 
 February 1628, granting Canada to Sir William Alexander, 
 it is stated that his Majesty was perfectly mindful of his 
 * having sustained great charges and expenses in his various 
 undertakings in the providing of ships, engines of war, 
 ordinance and munitions in the conducting of Colonies ; as 
 also in exploring, settling, and taking possession of the 
 country,' — and ' for exciring the more earnest resolutions of 
 the said Sir William Alexander, his heirs and assignees, 
 portioners and associates, to further progress in so great an 
 enterprise,' he had Canada added to his grants. Thus show- 
 ing the high sense and satisfaction entertained by Charles i. 
 and his Government of the progress made by Sir William 
 Alexander in colonising Nova Scotia. 
 
 In the succeeding year Charles i. addressed the following 
 letters, both bearing date the 17th November 1629: — 
 
 ' To THE CONTRACTERS FOR BaRRONETTS. 
 
 '[Charles R.] 
 
 ' Right, etc. Whareas wee understand that out of your regard to 
 our service, and the honor of that our antient kingdome, for forther- 
 ing the plantatione of New Scotland, soe, oftentimes recommendit 
 by our late dear Father, and by our selff", you have agreet with our 
 trustie, etc. Sir Williame Alexander, oure secretarie for Scotland, for 
 advancing great soumes of money for that purpos, taking the benefitt 
 that may arrise by the erectione of Barronettis of the number granted 
 vnto him, as yet to be made for your releef, Wee do heartlie thank you 
 
176 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 for the same, and doe accept it as a most singulare service done unto 
 ws, wishing you to proceed with confidence and diligence, that the 
 nixt supplie may go out in time, fFor wee wilbe werie sorie and 
 loath to sie you suffer for soe generous ane actione, which may tend 
 soe much to our honour, and the good of that our kingdome ; and 
 for your better encouragement, and more speedie repayment, wher- 
 soever any persone of qualitie fitt for the dignitie of Barronet hath 
 any particulare favor to crave of ws, wee will and allow yow, accord- 
 ing to the severall charge that any of yow hath from ws, to require 
 them first to accept of the said dignitie, according to the conditiones 
 formerlie condiscendit upon, with others which shall male ws the 
 more willing to gratiefie them, fFor wee desire much to have that 
 work brought to perfectione. Soe willing that this our letter be 
 recorded in the books of our Counsell and Exchecq"", We, &c. 
 Whitehall, the 17 No"' 1629.' 
 
 'To THE Counsell. 
 
 ' [Charles R.] 
 
 ' Right trustie and right well-beloued Cousin and Counsellour, 
 right trustie and well-beloued Cousins and Counsellouris, and right 
 trustie and well-beloued Counsellouris, We Greete you well. 
 
 ' Whareas, upon good consideration, and for the better advance- 
 ment of the plantatione of New Scotland, which may much import 
 the good of our service, and the honor and benefeitt of that our 
 ancient kingdome, oure royall Father did intend, and we since have 
 erected the order and titill of Baronet, in our said ancient Kingdome, 
 which wee have since estabillished, and conferred the same upon 
 divers gentlemen of good qualitie ; and sieing our trustie and weil- 
 beloued counsellor Sir Williame Alexander knight, our principall 
 secretarie of that our ancient kingdome of Scotland, and our Leiwe- 
 tennant of New Scotland, whoe these many yeirs bygone has been 
 at great charges for the discoverie thareof, hath now in end setled a 
 Colonic thare, where his sone. Sir Williame, is now resident ; and 
 we being most willing to afford all possible means of encouragement 
 that convenientlie wee can to the Barronettis of that our ancient 
 kingdome, for the furtherance of soe good a wark, and to the effect 
 
EARLY HISTORY 177 
 
 they may be honored, and have place in all respectis, according to 
 their patents from ws, we have been pleased to authorise and allow, as 
 be theis presents for ws and our successors we authorise and allow, the 
 said Lewetennent and Baronettis, and everie one of them, and thare 
 heirs male, to weare and carry about their neckis in all time coming, 
 ane orange tauney-silk ribbane, whairon shall hing pendant in a 
 scutchion argent a saltoire azeuer, thairon ane inscutcheeine of the 
 armes of Scotland, with ane imperiall croune above the scutchone, and 
 incircled with this motto. Fax Mentis Honesty Gloria : Which 
 cognoissance oure said present Leivetennent shall deliver now to 
 them from ws, that they may be the better knowen and distinguished 
 from other persones : And that none pretend ignorance of the 
 respect due unto them, Oure pleasure therefore is, that, by oppen 
 proclamatione at the markett crosse of Edinburgh, and all other 
 head borrows of our kingdome, and such other places as you shall 
 think necessarie, you caus intimat our Royal pleasor and intentione 
 herin to all our subjectis : And if any persone, out of neglect or 
 contempt, shall presume to tak place or precedence of the said 
 barronnettis, thare wifFes or childring, which is due unto them by 
 thare Patents, or to wear thare cognoissance, wee will that, upon 
 notice thareof given to you, you caus punish such ofFendars, by 
 prisoning and fyning of them, as you shall think fitting, that others 
 may be terriefied from attempting the like : And We ordane that, 
 from tyme to tyme, as occasione of granting and renewing thair 
 patents, or thair heirs succeiding to the said dignitie, shall offer, 
 That the said poware to them to carie the said ribbine, and cog- 
 noissance, shalbe tharein particularlie granted and inserted ; And 
 Wee likewayis ordaine these presents to be insert and registrat in 
 the books of our Counsell and Excheq"^, and that you caus registrat 
 the same in the books of the Lyone King at armes, and heraulds, 
 thare to remain ad futurum rei memoriam ; and that all parties 
 having entres [interest] may have autentick copies and extractis 
 thareof: And for your soe doing, These our lettres shalbe unto 
 you, and everie one of you, from tyme to tyme your sufficient 
 warrant and discharge in that behalf. Given at our Court of 
 Whythall, the sevinteinthe of November 1629. 
 
 M 
 
178 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 ' To our right trustie and right well-beloued cousin and coun- 
 sellour ; to our right well-beloued cousins and counsellouris ; to our 
 right trustie and well-beloued counsellouris ; and trustie and well- 
 beloued counsellouris, the Viscount of Dupleine, our Chanceilor of 
 Scotland, the Earle of Monteith, the President, and to the remanent 
 Earls, Lords, and otheris of our Privie Counsell of our said king- 
 dome.' 
 
 The preceding letter was presented to the Privy Council 
 of Scotland on the 24th December 1629, who thereupon 
 framed the following Act: — 
 
 'Act anent the Cognoissance of the Knight Baronnets. 
 
 ' Apud Halyrudhous 24 die mensis Decembris 1629. 
 
 'The whilk day the missive underwrittin signed be the Kingis 
 Ma*'® being presented to the Lords of Secreit Counsell and read in 
 thair audience The saids Lords according to the directioun of the 
 said missive Ordanes the same to be insert and registrat in the Bookes 
 of Privie Counsell and Exchecker And siclyke thay ordaned the 
 same to be registrat in the Bookes of the Lyoun King at Armes 
 and Heraulds thairin to remaine ad futuram rei memor'iam And that 
 all parteis having interesse may have authentick copeis and extracts 
 thairof. Of the whilk missive the tennour followes, 
 
 ' Charles R. 
 
 ' Right trustie and right &:c. (See supra^ p. 176.) 
 Whitehall, the 17 of November 1629.' 
 
 In February 1630, Baronets and others sent out a fleet of 
 fourteen ships, furnished with men, women, children, and 
 all necessaries, to commence a Colony, which they did at 
 Port Royal, now called Annapolis. The Estates of Scot- 
 land, on the 31st July 1630, ratified and confirmed the 
 rights and privileges of the Nova Scotia Baronets, having 
 ' dulie considered the benefit arising to the Kingdom by the 
 
EARLY HISTORY 179 
 
 accession of New Scotland, and the successful Plantation 
 alreadle made there by the Baronets.' 
 
 On the 31st July 1630, the Charters of James i. and 
 Charles i. erecting the Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia, 
 and all the acts and proceedings of the Privy Council there- 
 anent, were approved and confirmed by the Parliament of 
 Scotland. The following is a copy of the Act : — 
 
 ' Apud Halyrudhous, ultimo die mensis Julij, 1630. 
 
 'The Estates presentlie conveened, all in one voice, ratifies, 
 allowes, approves, and confirmes the Dignitie and Order of Knight 
 Barounets, erected be his Ma^'^, and his lait deere Father of blessed 
 memorie, and confered by thame upon sindrie Gentlemen of good 
 qualitie, for thair better encouragement and retributioun of thair 
 undertakings in the Plantatioun of New Scotland ; with all the 
 acts of Secreit Counsell and proclamatiouns following thairupon, 
 made for maintening of the said dignitie, place, and precedencie 
 thairof, and ordains the same dignitie place and precedence dew 
 thairto, to continew and stand in force in all tyme comming ; and 
 that intimatioun be made heirof to all His Ma*'^'^ leiges be opin 
 proclamatioun at the mercat croce of Edinburgh, and other places 
 neidfull. 
 
 'The Estaites presentlie conveened, having dewlie considderit 
 the benefite arysing to this Kingdome by the accessioun of New 
 Scotland, and of the successfull plantatioun alreadie made there by 
 the gentlemen undertakers of the same. In regarde whairof, and 
 that the saids lands and territoreis of New Scotland, ar by the 
 patent thairof made in favours of S*^ WiUiame Alexander of Men- 
 strie Knight His Ma*^'^ Secretarie, annexed to the Crowne Thair- 
 foir the saids Estaits all in one voice hes concluded and agreed, that 
 His Ma^'® sail be petitioned to mainteane his right of New Scotland 
 And to protect his subjects undertakers of the said plantatioun in 
 the peaceable possessioun of the same As being a purpose highlie 
 concerning his Ma*®'® honnour and the good and credite of this his 
 ancient Kingdome.' 
 
i8o A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 On the 5th May 1631, Charles i. issued the following: — 
 
 'Signature of Commission for the Barronetts 
 ' These conteyne ane Ratificatioun of the two former Com- 
 missions of Barronetts and all Patents and Infeftments granted con- 
 forme thairto, preceiding the date heirof, with ane new commission 
 gevin power to certane Commissioners above nominat or any fyve 
 of them to receave resignation of lands lyand within the countrie 
 of New Scotland, upoun the resignation of your Ma*®'^ Secretarie 
 Sir William Alexander Lieutennent of Nova Scotia ; and to grant 
 infeftments thairupon of the saids lands to the persones in whois 
 favours the samyne is made, togidder with the title and dignitie of 
 Barronett : And also conteynes ane Ratificatioun of the Seall and 
 Armes of New Scotland, with power to the saids Commissioners, 
 with advyse of the said Sir William Alexander, to change the 
 samyne : And last, conteynes ane Ratificatioun of ane warrant 
 gevin by your Ma*'^ to the saids Barronetts for bearing and wearing 
 of ane badge, and cognoscence, with a new warrant for bearing and 
 wearing of the samyne in maner above specifeit, dischergeing the 
 use of the saids former commissions efter the date heirof j and this 
 to indure without revocation ay and whill the full number of Ane 
 Hundreth and Fyftie Barronetts be made and compleit. 
 Greenwich, 5 May 1631.' 
 
 The Lords of the Privy Council of Scotland subsequently 
 received the following letter from the King, dated at Green- 
 wich, the 1 2th July 1631 : — 
 
 '[Charles R.] 
 
 ' Right trustie and right weilbelouit Cousine and Counsellour, &c. 
 Seeing we have sene, by a letter from yow, the ordour of Barronets 
 erected by our late dear Father and ws, for furthering the Plantation 
 of New Scotland, was approved by the whole Estats of our king- 
 dome at the last Convention ; And that we understand, both by 
 ther reports that cam from thence, and by the sensible consideration 
 and notice taken therof by our nyghbour cuntreyis, how well that 
 work is begun. Our right trustie and weilbeloued counsellour Sir 
 
EARLY HISTORY i8i 
 
 William Alexander our Leivtenncnt ther haveing fullie performed 
 what was expected from him, for the benefite which was intendit for 
 him by these Barronets, being verie desyreous that he should not 
 suffer thcrin, bot that both he and others may be encouraged to pro- 
 secute the good begining that is made, as we hartelie thank all such 
 as hath contribute ther ayde by contracting with him for advanceing 
 of the said work alreadie. Our pleasur is that yow seriouslie consider, 
 either amongst yow all, or by a Committie of such as ar best 
 affectionat towards that work, how it may be best brought to per- 
 fection ; for we are so far (whatever contraversie be about it) from 
 quyting our title to New Scotland and Canada, that we wilbe verie 
 carefull to manteane all our good subjects who doe plant themselffis 
 there, and lett none of the Barronets anyway be prejudged in the 
 honour and priviledges conteynit in ther Patents by punisching of 
 all that dare to presume to wrong them therin, that others may be 
 encouraged to tak the lyk course, as the more acceptable unto ws 
 and the nearer to a title of Nobilitie, wherunto that of Barronets 
 is the next degrie : And if the said Sir William as our Livetennent 
 of New Scotland shall convene the Barronetts to consult togidder 
 concerneing that Plantation, we herby authorise him, and will yow 
 to authorise him as far as is requisit for that effect, willing that 
 Proclamatioun be made of what we have signifeid, or of what yow 
 shall determine for furthering that work, wherof we recomend the 
 care to yow, as a matter importing speciallie our honor and the good 
 of that our ancient kingdome. From our Mannour at Greenwiche, 
 the twelfe day of Julij 1631.' 
 
 On the 28th of the same month the following Proclama- 
 tion was issued from Holyrood : — 
 
 ' Apud Halyrudhous, 28 Julij 1631. 
 
 ' Forsamekle as the order of Barronnets erected by our Souerane 
 Lord and his lait dear Father of blessed memorie for fordering 
 the plantatioun of New Scotland wes approvin be the whole Estaits 
 of this kingdome at the last Conventioun and his Majesties under- 
 standing by many reports that come from hence, and by the sensible 
 
1 82 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 consideratioun and notice taken thairof by nighbour countreis how 
 Weill that work is begun, His Majesteis right traist cousine and 
 counseller the Viscount of Stirline his Majesteis lieutennent there 
 haueing fullie performed what wes expected from him for the 
 benefite whilk wes intendit by these Baronnets : And His Majestie 
 being verie desirous that he sould not suffer thairin but that both 
 he and others may be encouraged to prosecute the good beginning 
 that is made His Majestie for this effect is so farre (what ever con- 
 traversie be anent it) from quitting his title to New Scotland and 
 Cannada that his Majestie will be verie carefull to mainteane all his 
 good subjects who doe plant thameselfes there and will lett none of 
 the Baronnets be anie waye prejudged in the honnour and priviledges 
 conteanit in thair Patents, bot will punische all that darre presoome 
 to wrong thame thairin, for encourageing of others to take the lyke 
 course as the more acceptable to his Majestie and the nearer to ane 
 title of nobilitie whairunto that of Baronnet is the nixt degree And 
 Ordanis letters to be direct chargeing officiaris of armes to pas and 
 make publicatioun heirof be opin proclamatioun at the Mercat Croces 
 of the heid Burrowes of this kingdome and uther places neidfull, 
 quhairthrow nane pretend ignorance of the same.' 
 
 At a meeting of the Privy Council held at Holy rood the 
 same day, the following Commission was granted : — 
 
 'Commission anent Baronnets 
 
 ' The Lords of Secreit Counsell for the better furderance and 
 advancement of the plantatioun of New Scotland, Gives and grants 
 Commission be thir presents to Thomas Erie of Hadinton Lord 
 Privie Scale, George Erie of Wintoun, Alexander Erie of Lin- 
 lithgow, Robert Lord Melvill, Johne Lord Tracquair, Archibald 
 Lord Naper, David Bishop of Rosse, Sir Archibald Achesone 
 Secretarie, Sir Johne Hamiltoun of Magdalens Clerk of Register, 
 Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall knicht baronnet Advocat, Sir George 
 Elphinstoun Justice Clerk, Sir Johne Scot of Scotistarvet, and Sir 
 James BailHe, Or anie fyve of thame without excluding of anie 
 others of the Counsell who sail be present To conveene and meit 
 
EARLY HISTORY 183 
 
 with William Viscount of Stirline and the Knights Baronnets at 
 such tyme and place as the said Viscount of Stirline sail appoint 
 And to conferre with thame upoun the best meanis for the furdering 
 of the said Plantatioun And to make and sett doun Overtures 
 thereanent And to present and exhibit thame to the saids Lords 
 to the intent they may allowe or rectifie the same as they sail thinke 
 expedient 
 
 *Followes his Majesteis missive for Warrand of the Act above 
 writtin. 
 
 * Charles R. 
 
 ' Right trustie and weilbelouit Cousine and Counsellour . . . 
 (See supra^ p. 180.) 
 
 'From our Mannour at Greenwiche, the tw^elf day of Julij 1631.' 
 
 On the 14th of June 1632, Charles addressed a letter to 
 the Lord Advocate requiring him ' to draw up a sufficient 
 warrant for our hand, to pass under our great seal, to our 
 right trustie the Viscount of Stirling, to go on with the 
 work of planting Nova Scotia'; and on the 15th of August 
 following he addressed a letter to the Baronets of Scotland, 
 both of which letters show his anxiety that the Baronetage 
 of Scotland and Nova Scotia should realise the objects for 
 which it was created. 
 
 On the 24th of April 1633, the King wrote to the Lords 
 of Council signifying his pleasure that, whensoever any of 
 his subjects of England or Ireland should take lands holden 
 of him in New Scotland, their Patents should be passed at 
 as easy a rate as if they were natural subjects of Scotland, 
 and that there was no truth in the report that he had totally 
 lost his intention of planting in Nova Scotia, and that he 
 intended to prosecute the work, and complete the intended 
 number of Knight Baronets. 
 
1 84 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 The King being in Scotland the following June, the Par- 
 liament on the 28 th of that month passed an Act containing 
 the following clauses : — 
 
 'Our Sovereign Lord, and Estates of this present Parliament, 
 ratifies and approves the Act of General Convention of Estates at 
 Holy-rude House the sixth day of July, in the year of God 1630, 
 whereby the said Estates have ratified and approved of the Dignities 
 and Order of Knight Baronet, with all the acts of Secret Council 
 and proclamations following thereupon, made for the maintaining 
 of the said dignity, place, and precedencie thereof.' 
 
 'And His Majestie and Estates aforesaid will, statute, and ordain, 
 that the said letters patent charters and infeftments, and the said 
 dignity, title, and order of Baronets, and all letters patent and infeft- 
 ments of land and dignities granted therewith to any persons what- 
 soever, shall stand and continue in force, with all liberties, privileges, 
 and precedencies thereof, according to the tenor of the same, and in as 
 ample manner as if the bodies of the said letters patent, infeftments, 
 &c., were herein particularly ingrost and exprest, and ordain intima- 
 tion to be made thereof by open proclamation to all his Majestie's 
 Hegis at the Market Crosse of Edinburgh, and other places needful, 
 that none pretend ignorance thereof.' 
 
 The effect of this Act was to give to the Charters of the 
 Stirling family and of the Baronets the force and effects of 
 Acts of Parliament, and by the Charters referred to in the 
 statute the province of Nova Scotia was annexed, and incor- 
 porated with the kingdom of Scotland, and made an integral 
 part and portion of that realm. 
 
 On the 14th September 1633, Charles issued a Commission 
 for the purpose of passing infeftments to lands in Nova 
 Scotia, which Commission the Lords of the Privy Council 
 took upon them on the 1 5th of February following. 
 
 At this sederunt the Council ordered letters to be issued 
 
EARLY HISTORY 185 
 
 charging officers of arms to pass and make publication by 
 open proclamation at the market crosses of the head burghs 
 of the kingdom and other places, an Act embodying the 
 letters of Charles i. already quoted, expressing his Majesty's 
 intention of continuing the plantation of Nova Scotia, and 
 to encourage it by all lawful helps thereunto, as well by 
 completing the intended number of Baronets as otherways. 
 
 From this date until Charles's death in 1649, ^^e creation 
 of Baronets continued ; and during his reign, from the erec- 
 tion of the dignity in Scotland in 1625 until his death, one 
 hundred and twenty-two Baronets appear to have been 
 created, of whom about one hundred and eleven had grants 
 of 16,000 acres each, which were erected into free baronies 
 and regalities. 
 
 Owing to the state of the Stirling family, and the civil 
 war, the Baronets of Nova Scotia created from 1638 to the 
 Union in 1707 did not receive the stipulated territorial 
 qualification of 16,000 acres of land with their titles. As, 
 however, by the original arrangement no Baronet was to be 
 created in Scotland except for the purpose of planting Nova 
 Scotia, and as the Commission to the Privy Council autho- 
 rised the creation of a hundred and fifty Baronets, the 
 members created after 1638 were equally entitled to have 
 grants of land with those created before that date. 
 
 The Earl of Stirling, on the 29th January 1640, executed 
 a deed constituting two Writers to the Signet his procurators 
 for receiving the composition and sums of money for dis- 
 posing and resigning certain proportions of land in Nova 
 Scotia, and procuring to sundry persons the infeftments of 
 
1 86 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 the same from his Majesty, with the honour and dignity 
 of Baronet. This was the last act of the Earl of Stirling 
 with reference to the creation of Baronets, he dying shortly 
 afterwards. 
 
 There is evidence in existence that at this period Long 
 Island, or, as it was then called, Stirling Island, was a 
 flourishing colony ; and from that time to the Union a series 
 of official records exists, showing that the rights of the 
 Stirling family and of the Baronets were allowed. In 1656, 
 Sir Charles St. Estienne, created a Baronet 30th November 
 1629, who had built a fort called La Tour on the east side 
 of the St. John's river, and had made good his occupation 
 for several years against the French, came over to England, 
 and made good his title under Sir William Alexander, when 
 his right was restored by Oliver Cromwell. 
 
 In 1 69 1, William and Mary granted a Charter to the 
 colony of Massachusetts Bay, in which Acadia, or Nova 
 Scotia, is mentioned, and reservation made of the lands and 
 hereditaments of any person or persons, bodies public or 
 corporate, to whom, by virtue of any previous grant, they 
 might belong; and seven years later, in 1698, the Charter 
 of Sir Robert Gordon, the premier Baronet, was officially 
 recognised and confirmed by William in. by the following 
 sign-manual : — 
 
 ' These contain your Majesty's warrant for a Charter to be passed 
 under your Great Seal of Scotland, in favour of Sir William Gordon, 
 of the title and dignity of Baronet, and the lands and barony of 
 Gordon in Nova Scotia, in America, annexed thereto.' 
 
 The Great Seal Record of Scotland accordingly bears that 
 
EARLY HISTORY 187 
 
 upon the 27th June 1698 a Charter of Novodamus passed 
 upon this Royal Warrant, and infeftment was taken as 
 authorised by the Charter at the Castle of Edinburgh, and 
 duly recorded in the Register of Sasines. Various other 
 Baronets resigned their grants and titles into the hands of 
 the Crown during the same reign, and procured patents of 
 Novodamus. 
 
 By the Act of Union in 1707, nine years after the date 
 of this Charter of Novodamus to the premier Baronet, it is 
 stipulated, declared, and irrevocably settled, that ' whilst the 
 laws which concern public right, policy, and civil govern- 
 ment may be made the same throughout the United Kingdom 
 of Scotland and England, no alteration shall be made in the 
 laws which concern private rights, except for the evident 
 utility of the subjects within Scotland.' 
 
 Two years after the Union there was a restitution by the 
 French of the possessions of the Scottish Crown, but whether 
 the Baronets took any steps at the time for the recovery of 
 their estates in Nova Scotia does not appear. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 
 
 The covenanted privileges conferred on the Baronetage 
 are : — 
 
 Under the first Letters Patent : — 
 
 I. The dignity, state, and degree of Baronet. 
 11. Precedency for themselves, their wives, children, 
 and others. 
 
 III. Style and title. 
 
 IV. Only two hundred Baronets of England to exist at 
 
 one time. 
 V. No degree, order, name, title, dignity, or state 
 under the degree, dignity, or state of Barons of 
 England to be ever created which would or 
 could be superior or equal to the degree and 
 dignity of Baronet. 
 VI. If any Baronet of the said two hundred should die 
 without heirs male, no other Baronets of England 
 to be created, but the number of two hundred 
 to diminish accordingly. 
 
 Under the second Letters Patent the privileges are : — 
 VII. A newly defined precedency. 
 
 188 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 189 
 
 VIII. A repetition of privilege No. V., with the addition 
 that no person or persons beneath the degree of 
 Lords of Parliament of England, except the 
 persons enumerated, should ever have place, pre- 
 cedence, or pre-eminence over, or equality with, 
 Baronets ; and that no person or persons should 
 have or take place between Baronets and the 
 younger sons of Viscounts and Barons [hereditary, 
 of course]. 
 
 And, as an ampliation of the King's favour — 
 IX. Rights of knighthood for Baronets and their eldest 
 
 sons. 
 X. Addition of the Arms of Ulster in armorial bearings. 
 XI. A place near the Royal Standard in battle. 
 
 XII. A funeral ceremony ' meane betwixt that of a Baron 
 and a Knight.' 
 
 XIII. The right for all Baronets, then and in future, to 
 
 have Letters Patent under the Great Seal of 
 England to the effect of the former and present 
 Letters Patent of creation. 
 The Third Letters Patent, ratifying and confirming, with 
 more particularity, the above privileges, adds : — 
 
 XIV, The Degree of Baronet to be, and be reputed to be, 
 
 a Degree of Dignity Hereditary, mean in place 
 betwixt the Degree of a Baron and the Degree of 
 a Knight. 
 XV. Eldest sons of Baronets to precede eldest sons of all 
 Knights, whatever their Order ; with similar 
 provisions respecting other sons, etc. 
 
I90 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 XVI. Doubts or questions arising in future concerning 
 precedency, privilege, or other matter touching 
 Baronets to be decided according to the rules, 
 custom, and laws of other Degrees of Dignity 
 Hereditary. 
 
 The Baronets of Ireland enjoy all the rights and privileges 
 confirmed in the Letters Patent last recited ; and the same 
 were continued to Baronets of Great Britain and to Baronets 
 of the United Kingdom. 
 
 The Baronets of Scotland enjoy the same privileges, except 
 the Ulster augmentation ; and the following were conferred 
 upon them in addition, all being confirmed by the Scottish 
 Parliament : — 
 
 XVII. Grants of land in Nova Scotia, with plenary baronial 
 rights and jurisdiction, and legislative powers, in 
 that plantation. 
 XVIII. Precedency above lesser Barons in Scotland. 
 XIX. Addition of the Arms of Nova Scotia in armorial 
 
 bearings. 
 XX. Power to Members thereof to sit and vote by 
 deputy in the Scottish Parliament when absent 
 from the Kingdom. 
 And, by virtue of King Charles's further Ordinance, 
 dated 17th November 1629 — 
 XXI. Right to wear about the neck the badge of Nova 
 Scotia, suspended by an orange-tawny ribbon. 
 
 Having enumerated the privileges in chronological order, 
 they can now be referred to at greater length. 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 191 
 
 I. The dignity^ state^ and degree of Baronet. — The pre- 
 ceding chapters have dealt very fully with this subject ; but 
 the following memorandum, preserved in the Public Record 
 Office, is interesting {State Papers^ Domestic Series^ James I., 
 vol. Ixxxix. No. 6) : — 
 
 'Baronet. Ar. a hand g. 
 
 ' Baronet is a new created & distinct title of Knighthood under 
 K. James, who for certaine disbursments towards the Plantacion 
 in Ulster in Ireland, created divers into this dignity & made it 
 hereditary. The particulars of the Patent shall instruct you. 
 Ordinamus (saith the King) ereximus Constituimus et creavimus 
 quendam statum gradum dignitatem nomen et Titulum Baronetti 
 (Anglice of a Baronet) infra hoc regnum Anglie perpetuis tempori- 
 bus duraturum, & then gives the title to the Created, to him and 
 his heires male of his body. 
 
 ' And that he shall have precedency in all writing sessions and 
 salutacions before all Kn*^ as well of the Bath as Kn*^ Bachelors, 
 and also before all Bannerets created or hereafter to be created 
 excepted only illis Militibus Banerettis quos sub vexillis regiis in 
 exercitu Regali, in aperto bello, et ipso Rege personaliter presente 
 explicatis, et non aliter creari contigeret. And that their wivis 
 and eldest sones respectively have precedence. 
 
 ' That they should be impleaded and sue by the adicion of Baronet. 
 
 ' That to the name of them and the heirs males of ther bodies in 
 sermone Anglicano et omnibus scriptis Anglicanis preponatur hac 
 adicio viz. Anglice Sir and that their wives have the titles of Lady 
 Madam & Dame : with a grant quod nee nos nee heredes vel 
 successores nostri de caetero in posterum erigemus, ordinabimus 
 constituemus aut creabimus infra hoc Regnum nostrum Anglise, 
 aliquem alium gradum ordinem nomen titulum dignitatem sive 
 statum sub vel infra gradum dignitatem sive statum Baronum hujus 
 Regni nostri Angliae, qui erit vel esse possit superior vel aequalis 
 gradui vel dignitati Baronettorum predictorum ; and further that 
 after the proposed number of 2 hundred made, quod tunc nos non 
 creabimus vel preficiemus aliquas aliam personum vel personas in 
 
192 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Baronettum vel Baronettes regni nostri Anglie, sed quod numerus 
 dictorum 200 Baronettorum ea racione de tempore in tempus 
 minuetur et in minorem numerum cedet et redigetur. 
 
 ' Upon point of precedency a great controversy grew afterwards 
 between these new Baronets and the yonger sonnes of Viscounts 
 and Barons, and after the Councell on both parts 3 severall dayes 
 at larg heard, by his Ma*'^ in person it was decreed adjudged and 
 established that the yonger sons of Viscounts & Barons shall take 
 place and precedency before all Baronets. And that such Banerets 
 as shal be made by the K. Ma*^^ his heirs and successors under his 
 or their Standard, displayed in an Army Royall in open warre, and 
 the K. personally present for the terme of the lives of such Banerets 
 and no longer (according to the most auntient institucion) shall for 
 ever hereafter in all places and upon all occasions take place & 
 precedence as well before all other Banerets whatsoever (no respect 
 being had to the tyme and priority of their Creacion) as likewyse 
 before the yonger Sonnes of Viscounts and Barons and also before 
 all Baronets. And againe that the yonger sonnes of Viscounts and 
 Barons and allso all Baronettes shall in all places and upon all 
 occasions take place and precedence before all Banerettes whatso- 
 ever other then such as shal be made by the K. himself his heires 
 and successors in person and in such speciall case manner and forme 
 as aforesaid. And that the Kn*^ of the most ho^'^ order of the 
 Garter, the privy Councellors of his Ma*'^ his heires and Successors, 
 the Master of the Court of Wards and Liveries : the Chancellor and 
 Under Treasurer of the Exchequer, Chancellor of the Duchy, the 
 Chief Justice of the Kings Bench, M"" of the Rolls, Chief Justice 
 of the Common Pleas, the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and all 
 other the Judges and Barons of the degree of the Coife of the said 
 Court now and for the tyme being shall by reason of their ho^'® 
 order and imployment of State and Justice have place and precedence 
 in all places and upon all occasions before the yonger Sonnes of 
 Viscounts and Barons, and before all Baronettes, any custome use 
 ordinance or other thing to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 * And that no other person or persons whatsoever under the 
 degree of Barons of the Parliament shall take place before the said 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 193 
 
 Baronets, except only the eldest sonnes of Viscounts and Barons 
 and others of higher degree whereof no question ever was or can 
 be made. 
 
 'And in the same decree his Ma*^'^ further granted to Kn* the 
 present Baronets, which were then no Kn*% and that the heirs male 
 of the body of every Baronet hereafter when he shal be of 21 yeares 
 upon knowledge thereof given to the Lo. Chamberlyn of the hows- 
 hould or Vice chamberleyn for the tyme being or in their absence 
 to any other officer attending upon his Ma*^^ person shal be knighted 
 by his Ma^'® his heirs and successors. 
 
 *And that the Baronettes and their descendants shall and may 
 beare either in a Canton in their Armes or in an Inscothean at their 
 election, the armes of Ulster, that is Argent a hand gueules. 
 
 *And also that the Baronettes for the tyme being and the heires 
 males of their bodies shall have places in the armies of the K'^ Ma*^ 
 his heirs and successors in the gross neer about the Royal Standard 
 of the K. his heires & successors for the defence of the same. 
 
 ' And lastly that the Baronets and the heirs males of their bodyes 
 shall have 2 assistants of the body to support the Pall, a principall 
 mourner and 4 assistants to him at their funeralles, being the meane 
 betwixt a Baron & a Kn*.' 
 
 In further support of the assertion that Baronets are 
 members of the Nobiles Majores, the following particulars 
 taken from an old writer show the similarity between 
 Baronets and Barons, Lords of Parliament : — 
 
 *(i) In the manner of their creation, which is by the King him- 
 self, by letters patent under the great seal of the kingdom and in 
 much the same form and words as barons are, with a mero motu 
 speciali gratia, &:c., and an eo quod expressa mentio de vero valore 
 annuo, vel de certitudine praemissorum. 
 
 ' (2) It is likewise, as Lord Coke observes, a local title. 
 
 ' (3) It is hereditary, which no degree below a parliamentary 
 baron but this is. 
 
 ' (4) As the sons and their wives, and the daughters of such 
 
 N 
 
194 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 barons have an established rank and precedency, so likewise have all 
 the sons and their wives, and the daughters of baronets. 
 
 *(5) No title or dignity between Barons, lords of parliament of 
 England, and baronets is ever to be created which shall be higher, 
 or equal to Baronets. 
 
 '(6) The place of baronets of a foreign kingdom is regulated in 
 the same manner as that of the greater nobility or Nobiles Majores, 
 and not as that of Knights, who have in all countries place and pre- 
 cedency according to their priority of Knighthood, whereas the 
 greater nobility, be they ever so ancient, shall go below, as puisnes, 
 those of the same degree in the nation in which they may be 
 resident, as barons of Ireland residing in England, give place to 
 all of the same degree of this Kingdom ; so in Scotland, before the 
 Union, the Scottish barons, dukes etc., took place before the 
 English, and vice versa in conformity to the law of nations. Thus 
 all baronets of Great Britain here take place of Baronets of Ireland 
 or Nova Scotia, and were so placed in the cavalcade of the late 
 King George i. an incontestable proof of their being considered not 
 as a species of Knighthood, but of the nobiles majores, or, as some 
 have styled them, a middle degree of nobility. 
 
 'And thus from the manifest likeness this order bore, and the 
 nearness of its situation unto barons, lords of parliament, it was 
 with much propriety and significancy denominated and styled 
 Baronettus, i.e. baro minor, a lesser or inferior baron : But not 
 because, as some have fancied, they take place next to barons' 
 younger sons ; a grosser error surely than that of those who have 
 esteemed them Knights, and so called them as Knights baronets, 
 which is sufficiently refuted by this determination alone, which we 
 find in our law books : " That if the heir of a tenant in Knight's 
 service, who was under age at his father's death, and so in ward was 
 made a baronet by the King, it did not discharge such heir from 
 being in ward, or if he were made a knight any more than if he 
 had been made a baron or an earl" (Coke's Rep.^ par. 12, p. 81). 
 And it is no less clear that between barons' younger sons and 
 baronets (who are here considered as in a distinct degree of men) 
 in respect of their several degrees there is no manner of similitude, 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 195 
 
 the former having by no law any higher name than that of esquire, 
 which is not peculiar or appropriate to them, but common to many 
 others.' 
 
 In Selden's Titles of Honor is printed a Baron's Patent of 
 James i., passed about the time of the erection of the 
 Baronetage, in which the operative words are the fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 ' Sciatis igitur quod nos, etc. presfatum A. B. ad statum, gradum, 
 dignitatem et honorem Baronis B. de C. in Comitatu N. ereximus 
 prasfecimus et creavimus, ipsumque A. B. Baronem B. de C. pra- 
 dictOj tenor e prasentium prasficimus, constituimus et creamus 
 eidemque A. B. Statum, gradum, dignitatem, stilum, titulum, 
 nomen et honorem Baronis B. de C. etc. Habendum et tenendum, 
 etc., volentes et per praesentes insuper concedentes, pro nobis 
 haeredibus et successoribus nostris quod praedictus A. B. et heraedes 
 sui masculi praedicti nomen, statum, gradum, stilum, dignitatem, 
 titulum et honorem praedictum successive gerant et habeant et 
 eorum quilibet habeat, et gerat et per nomen Baronis B. de C. 
 vocentur et nuncupentur et quilibet eorum vocetur et nuncupetur^ 
 quodque idem A. B. et heraedes sui masculi praedicti successive 
 Barones B. de C. in omnibus teneantur et ut Barones tractentur, 
 teneantury et reputentur, et eorum quilibet tractetur teneatur^ et 
 reputetur^ habeantque teneant, etc' 
 
 [The words not in italics are identically the same with those adopted in the early 
 Patents of the Baronets.] 
 
 II, Precedency for themselves ^ their wives ^ children, and 
 others. — The exact precedency of Baronets as regards Peers 
 and their children and Knights was fixed distinctly by their 
 Patents, and the royal founder's decrees of 16 12 and 161 6, 
 already set out ; but their precedency in connection with 
 State functionaries was not so easily settled, and has naturally 
 been of gradual growth. 
 
 The Patents of the first created Baronets clearly stated 
 
196 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 that their precedency was before all Knights as well of the 
 Bath as of Knights Bachelors, and also before all Knights 
 Bannerets already created or hereafter -to be created, except 
 those made under the royal standards in open war, the King 
 himself being personally present. 
 
 As a result of the dispute between the younger sons of 
 the Viscounts and of the Barons on the one hand, and the 
 Baronets on the other, already referred to, the Decree of 
 James i., of the 28th May 161 2, ordained that the younger 
 sons of Viscounts and of Barons should take place and pre- 
 cedency before the Baronets, the Decree also ordained that 
 in addition to Bannerets made by the King, his heirs and 
 successors, those made by his son, Henry Prince of Wales, 
 under similar conditions, also Knights of the Garter, and 
 certain officials by reason of their honourable orders and 
 employment of State and justice, should have precedence 
 before the younger sons of Viscounts and of Barons and the 
 Baronets, any custom, use, ordinance, or other thing to the 
 contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 As the creation of Knights Banneret is now practically 
 obsolete, and as the honour of election to the Order of the 
 Garter has not been conferred on any person below the rank 
 of a Peer since Sir Henry Lee (or Lea) was installed on the 
 24th May 1597, special mention in this Decree of Knights 
 Banneret and Knights of the Most Noble Order does not 
 now concern the Baronetage, whilst for centuries before the 
 erection of the Degree it had been customary to confer 
 special precedence on high Judicial, Ecclesiastical, State, and 
 Court functionaries. 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 197 
 
 Many of the official positions referred to in this Decree 
 have ceased to exist, but others have been created, to the 
 holders of each of which a special precedence has been 
 assigned, necessitating from time to time a rearrangement 
 of the scale of precedence. This scale is set out at length, 
 as regards the precedence of the members of the Royal 
 family and of the Peers and gentry of the United King- 
 dom, in the principal Peerages and Baronetages published 
 annually, and it has in the past shown Baronets in the place 
 next after the cadets of a Baron's family, where James 
 decided to place them in perpetuity. 
 
 The statutes, therefore, ^^ Geo. iii. c. 24, s. 4, and 
 5 Vict. c. 5, s. 25, which allowed the Vice-Chancellors of 
 the Court of Chancery to rank before Baronets, infringed 
 the prerogative of the Baronets. Although they have been 
 repealed, further attempts to interpose new Judicial officers 
 between the Peerage and the Baronetage should be watched 
 and resisted. 
 
 According, however, to a well-known legal authority, 
 another not uninteresting question concerning the preced- 
 ence of Baronets will doubtless occur some day. In an 
 article in The Law Magazine and Review for February 
 1898, he writes as follows : — 
 
 'By the terms of the Letters Patent constituting the older 
 Baronets of England and Great Britain, it is directed that the 
 following Judges shall take precedence of the Order, viz., the Chief 
 Justice of the King's Bench, the Master of the Rolls, the Chief 
 Justice of the Common Pleas, the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, 
 "and all and singular the Judges and Justices of either Bench and 
 the Barons of the Exchequer, of the Degree of the Coif, for the 
 
198 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 time being." Of the Degree of the Coif signifies one who has 
 been created a Serjeant ; the Degree of Serjeant, when joined to 
 the Judicial appointment, being deemed to be entitled by virtue of 
 its high honour to rank above the Order of Baronets, but only, be 
 it observed, when those two honourable distinctions are united. The 
 Judge of the Court of Admiralty, for instance, although a judge of 
 a superior court, had not the Coif, and therefore always ranked 
 after^ and not before. Baronets. 
 
 *In 1873, on the passing of the Supreme Court of Judicature 
 Act, it was enacted (sect. 8) that no person appointed a Judge of 
 the High Court of Justice, or of the Court of Appeal, should thence- 
 forth be required to take or to have taken the Degree of Serjeant- 
 at-Law. The result of this new law is well known. No Judge 
 has since it has been passed applied for the Coif, and the ancient 
 Order of Serjeants has practically ceased to exist. For all purposes 
 of common law and equity, for all purposes of procedure and prac- 
 tice, a Judge without the Coif is as good a Judge as one with the 
 Coif. It is for social purpose that a difference exists: and umbrage 
 might properly be taken by a Baronet if not accorded his due 
 precedence before those Judges who are not of the Coif, on State 
 occasions, or in the presence of the Sovereign. The present Lord 
 Chief Justice of England has not the Coif, but independently of 
 that he takes precedence as a Peer, so his case is not in point. But 
 Mr. Justice Hawkins is not a peer, nor has he the Coif, and the 
 same is the case with the other Judges of the Queen's Bench 
 Division, viz. Justices Mathew, Day, Wills, Grantham, and others 
 more recently appointed. Nor would it, we submit, be in the 
 power of Her Majesty to confer the lost pre-eminence on Judges 
 who have failed to attain the Degree of the Coif; for the Letters 
 Patent emphatically declare that, "neither wc nor our heirs or 
 successors will hereafter create within our Kingdom of England 
 any other Degree, Order, Name, Title, Style, Dignity, or State, 
 nor give or grant place, precedence, or pre-eminence, to any person 
 under or below the degree, dignity, or state of a Baron of Parlia- 
 ment, who shall be superior or equal to the dignity of a Baronet, 
 nor shall any person under the degree of a Baron (except those 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 199 
 
 previously excepted by the Letters Patent) by reason of any con- 
 stitution, dignity, office, or other thing whatsoever, now or here- 
 after, have, hold, or enjoy place, precedence, or pre-eminence before 
 a Baronet." 
 
 *The Judicature Acts of 1873 and 1875 have been fertile in 
 creating new Judicial officers ; but the fact that the Lords of 
 Appeal in Ordinary are constituted Barons for life, saves the appoint- 
 ment from being de jure that which it is de facto ^ viz. a new and 
 dangerous attack on the precedence of the Order ; for it is, as above 
 pointed out, prejudicial to the grant of the dignity of a Baronet 
 that new degrees or titles should be interposed between his Order 
 and the Peerage.' 
 
 Amongst themselves, the Baronets of the five classes of 
 creation take precedence according to the date of their 
 respective Patents, as do also their wives and children. 
 
 The scale of precedence prevailing since 1612 places the 
 sons of Baronets as follows : — 
 
 Eldest sons of the younger sons of Peers. 
 
 Eldest sons of Baronets. 
 
 Eldest sons of Knights of the Garter. 
 
 Eldest sons of Bannerets not made by the King in person. 
 
 Eldest sons of Knights. 
 
 Younger sons of Baronets. 
 
 Younger sons of Knights. 
 
 The younger sons of a deceased Baronet take place of the 
 younger sons of the present holder of the title. 
 
 A protest must here be recorded against the practice of 
 editors of Peerages in placing in their scale of precedence 
 numerous persons above the eldest sons of Baronets, all of 
 whom created before December 1827 are entitled to be 
 
200 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 created knights, without any proper warrant having been 
 issued giving these persons such precedence. 
 
 The sons of Baronets are ' Esquires,' and the eldest sons 
 of such Baronets of Scotland as are also Barons are styled 
 ' Masters ' of their family barony. 
 
 The wives of Baronets and of their eldest sons have the 
 same ' place and precedency during their lives, next unto, 
 and immediately after that place that is due, and belongeth 
 unto the wives of the younger sons of Viscounts and Barons 
 and to the daughters of such Viscounts and Barons/ A 
 Dowager-Baronetess while a widow has precedence over the 
 living Baronet's wife. 
 
 The scale of precedency for ladies hitherto prevailing is 
 therefore as follows : — 
 
 Wives of the younger sons of Barons. 
 Wives of Baronets. 
 
 Wives of Bannerets not made by the King in person. 
 Wives of Knights. 
 
 Wives of the eldest sons of the younger sons of Peers. 
 Daughters of the younger sons of Peers. 
 Wives of the eldest sons of Baronets. 
 Daughters of Baronets. 
 
 Wives of the eldest sons of Knights of the Garter. 
 „ „ Knights Banneret. 
 
 Knights. 
 Daughters of Knights. 
 Wives of the younger sons of Baronets. 
 
 The daughters of Baronets have each the rank of their 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 201 
 
 eldest brother, they are therefore ladies by blood ; and if 
 they marry inferior persons, they still retain their rank, it 
 being character indelebilis. They take precedence above 
 the wives of Archbishops, Bishops, Judges, and other per- 
 sonages filling high offices in the State. 
 
 In 1788 a dispute took place as to the precedency of 
 the daughters of Baronets and the granddaughters of Peers, 
 which was referred to the Earl-Marshal, who decided in 
 favour of the latter in accordance with the above scale of 
 precedency, as recorded in the following letter of the Earl- 
 Marshal and the Report of the College of Arms : — 
 
 * Norfolk House, 
 
 '25th May 1789. 
 
 'My Lord, 
 
 'In Obedience to his Majesty's Commands signified to me by 
 your Lordship's Letter of the 20th of June 1788, directing me to 
 take into Consideration a Memorial presented to his Majesty from 
 the Baronets of England and Great Britain, and to report to your 
 Lordship for his Majesty's Information my Opinion upon the Claim 
 stated in the said Memorial, I have considered of the same, and 
 having directed search to be made in the College of Arms for 
 Orders and Precedents relative thereto, I transmit to your Lordship 
 the Report I received from the Kings, Heralds and Pursuivants of 
 Arms. 
 
 'I beg the favour of your Lordship to lay the same before his 
 Majesty, and to represent to his Majesty my humble opinion that 
 as the Claim stated in the said Memorial rests solely upon a decision 
 alleged to have been made by his Majesty in 1761, by which such 
 of her Majesty's Maids of Honor as were daughters of Baronets 
 were ranked before such as were granddaughters of Peers, but of 
 which decision there is no official Record, a Patent declaring the 
 Right of Precedence to such of the Parties as his Majesty in his 
 
202 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 great Wisdom shall deem intitled to it would be the most effectual 
 means of obviating all future doubts upon the subject. 
 ' I have the honor to be, 
 ' My Lord, 
 ' Your Lordship's most humble Servant, 
 
 ' Norfolk, E. M. 
 'To the Right Hon¥.« Lord Sidney, 
 one of his Majesty's principal 
 Secretaries of State, &c. &c. &c.' 
 
 'To THE Most Noble Charles Duke of Norfolk, 
 ' Earl-Marshal and Hereditary Marshal of England. 
 
 'The King's Heralds and Pursuivants of the College of Arms in 
 Chapter assembled in obedience to your Grace's commands to take 
 into consideration the Memorial of the Baronets of Great Britain 
 claiming precedency for their daughters before the granddaughters 
 of Peers, most respectfully report to your Grace : 
 
 ' I. That by a Decree made in the loth year of King James 
 the First, the younger sons of Viscounts & Barons have precedence 
 before all Baronets. 
 
 '2. That in the patent of every Baronet it is declared "That if 
 any doubts or Questions as to any place, precedence, privilege, or 
 other thing touching or concerning the said Baronet and his said 
 Heirs Male and their Wives, and the first born sons of the Wives, 
 the younger sons, daughters and v^^ives of the younger sons or any 
 of them shall hereafter arise which neither by these our Letters 
 Patent nor by other Letters Patent heretofore made in this behalf, 
 are determined, such doubts or questions shall be determined and 
 adjudged by and according to such other Rules Customs and Laws 
 (as to place, precedence or other things concerning them) as other 
 Degrees of hereditary Dignity are ordered governed and adjudged." 
 And they submit to your Grace whether the present Question may 
 not be determined by another Clause in the same Patent, which 
 runs thus : — 
 
 "And in regard that the said Degree of a Baronet is a Degree 
 of hereditary Dignity, the first-born son or Heir-male 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 203 
 
 apparent and all the rest of the sons and their wives and 
 the daughters of the said Baronet & of his said Heirs-male 
 respectively shall have and hold place and precedence 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 sons and daughters by force of these presents ought 
 to have place and precedence." 
 
 * From which they infer that the sons and daughters of Baronets 
 are to give place and precedence to the sons and daughters of all 
 persons to whom their fathers give place and precedence. 
 
 * That in a Manuscript in the College of Arms intitled " Motives 
 to induce the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons 
 House of Parliament to petition his Majesty for the revoking and 
 abolishing of the Degree of Baronets lately erected by his Highness' 
 Letters Patent," it is stated as the first and principal Grievance 
 "That Baronets by these Letters Patents are to have precedence 
 before the Descendants from the younger children of Barons, Earls, 
 Dukes, &c." — By which it appears that the sons and daughters of 
 Baronets were not at that time considered as intitled to such prece- 
 dence, for if they were, it would certainly have been so stated as a 
 greater Grievance. 
 
 *That at the Coronation of King Chas. 11., S^ Chas. Stanley, 
 S^ Francis Fane, and S"^. Henry Fane were ranked according to their 
 blood as grand-children of Earls by the Lord High Steward, the 
 Lord High Chamberlain, the Lord High Constable, the Earl-Mar- 
 shal, and the Lord Chamberlain, above all Baronets but having been 
 created Knights of the Bath (whose rank is below that of Baronets) 
 a doubt seems to have arisen as to their place, and therefore the 
 King confirmed to them, their said Rank of Blood by a Warrant 
 under His Royal Sign-Manual, of which a copy is inclosed. 
 
 'That in the Tables of precedency transmitted from Garter to 
 Garter, the daughters of Peers' younger sons are placed above the 
 daughters of Baronets, as will appear by the following extract : — 
 
204 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 * Wives of Viscounts' younger Sons. 
 ' Wives of Barons' younger Sons. 
 
 * Wives of Baronets. 
 
 ' Wives of Bannerets. 
 
 * Wives of Knights of the Bath. 
 ' Wives of Knights Bachelors. 
 
 * Wives of the eldest sons of the younger sons of Peers. 
 ' Daughters of the younger sons of Peers. 
 
 * Wives of the eldest sons of Baronets. 
 
 * Daughters of Baronets. 
 
 'Wives of the eldest sons of Knights. 
 ' Daughters of Knights. 
 ' Wives of Baronets' younger sons. 
 *From all which the Officers of Arms would think themselves 
 warranted in the opinion, that the daughters of Peers' younger 
 sons should have place and precedence before the Daughters of 
 Baronets. 
 
 ' But it being alleged in the said Memorial, that in the appoint- 
 ment of the Maids of Honor at the Establishment of her Majesty's 
 Household, this question had received a contrary decision, application 
 was made to Lady Warren (daughter of Sir Cecil Bishopp, Bar*.), 
 and to Miss Beauclerk (daughter of Lord Henry Beauclerk, a 
 younger son of the Duke of St. Albans), and the following account 
 received in a letter from Lady Warren, viz. : — 
 
 '"In the year 1761, when her Majesty Queen Charlotte's 
 Household was established, and I was appointed one of 
 her Majesty's Maids of Honor, there was a dispute which 
 of the six was to take place, & consequently a Reference 
 made to his Majesty, who was pleased to determine that 
 t\i& daughters of Baronets should take place; in confirma- 
 tion of which her Majesty's Maids of Honor were 
 appointed to take place as follows, Miss Bishopp, Miss 
 Wrottesley, Miss Beauclerk, &c. By this determination 
 I likewise had the first choice of the appartments allotted 
 to us, &c." 
 ' Her Ladyship added by way of conversation, but did not think 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 205 
 
 fit to give it under her hand, that the Duke of Manchester, when 
 Lord Chamberlain, told her, that the above determination w^as 
 afterwards altered^ and that the daughters of Peers' younger sons 
 were placed above the daughters of Baronets at Court Balls, &c. 
 
 * If the Determination mentioned in her Ladyship's Letter were 
 officially signified to your Grace in the usual manner, it would be 
 the duty of the Office to pay Obedience thereto. If standing upon 
 its present Authority it should be thought to oppose their opinion 
 and the matter be yet considered in any degree doubtful, the Officers 
 of Arms beg leave to suggest to your Grace their idea. 
 
 'That as the precedence between Peers' younger sons and 
 Baronets (Fathers of the parties to the Parties to the present 
 dispute) was heretofore settled by a Declaratory Patent under the 
 Great Seal, as above-mentioned, they humbly conceive that a 
 similar Patent would be an effectual means of adjusting the present 
 Question. 
 
 ' All which is most respectfully submitted. 
 
 * Isaac Heard, Garter. 
 
 * Thos. Lock, Clarenceux. 
 
 * George Harrison, Norroy. 
 ' Jno. C. Brooke, Somerset, 
 'Ralph BiGLAND, Richmond. 
 
 ' Francis Townsend, Windsor. 
 ' Benjn. Pingo, York. 
 ' Edmd- Lodge, Bluemantle. 
 *JoHN Atkinson, Rouge Croix.' 
 
 Appeals were made at different times to the Heralds' 
 College relative to the precedence which ought to be allowed 
 to the Baronets of Scotland in English assemblies, etc. This, 
 however, is not a point of ceremonial within their cognisance, 
 it being in fact a point of law arising out of the 4th 
 article of the Act of Union, in these words : — ' And that 
 there be a communication of all other rights, privileges, and 
 
2o6 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 advantages, which do or may belong to the subjects of either 
 kingdom, except where it is otherwise expressly agreed in 
 these articles.' 
 
 The exception referred to is the 23rd article of the Act 
 of Union, which continues the distinction between the peers 
 of the two kingdoms ; but as no such exception was made 
 in regard to the Baronets of Scotland, they became entitled 
 to a full and unqualified community of rights, privileges, 
 and advantages with the Baronets of England, and rank 
 according to the dates of their respective patents under the 
 authority of the 4th article, in like manner as the peers 
 would have done if it had not been otherwise provided by 
 the 23rd article. 
 
 In Heraldic Anomalies, a work published early in the 
 century, it is stated that ' the wives of Baronets have as 
 Baronetesses a higher rank than their husbands, for they 
 take place of all Knights' Ladies ; whereas Baronets have 
 not precedency of Knights of the Garter, or of Knights 
 Bannerets created by the King himself in person under his 
 banner displayed in a Royal army in open war. 
 
 * The same may be said of the wives of Baronets' sons, 
 and of the daughters of Baronets. They precede the wives 
 of the sons and daughters of all Knights whatsoever.' 
 
 At the funeral of H.R.H. Princess Amelia Sophia 
 Eleanora, second daughter of George 11., in Henry vii.'s 
 Chapel, on the nth November 1786, the chief mourner's 
 (a Duchess) train was borne by a Baronet's wife. 
 
 At the funeral of H.R.H. Princess Amelia, in St. George's 
 Chapel, Windsor, on the 13 th November 18 10, the train of 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 207 
 
 the Countess of Chesterfield, chief mourner, was borne by 
 Lady Halford, a Baronet's wife. 
 
 The precedency of the eldest sons of Baronets was acknow- 
 ledged in the nomination and placing of the Knights of the 
 Bath at the Restoration, previous to the coronation of 
 Charles 11., when, after the Baronets, their eldest sons imme- 
 diately followed. Sir Charles Cornwallis, Sir John Monson 
 and Sir Bourchier Wrey, eldest sons of Baronets of England, 
 were placed above Sir John Coventry, grandson of Lord 
 Coventry, and Sir John Bramston and Sir Edward Heath, 
 sons of the Lords Chief-Justices Bramston and Heath, and 
 many other Knights of the Bath. 
 
 On the re-establishment of the Order of the Bath in 1725, 
 immediately after the Baronets, who followed the Privy 
 Councillors, in the appointment of the stalls for the Knights, 
 Robert Clifton, Michael Newton, William Yonge, and John 
 Monson, esquires (eldest sons of Baronets), occur, and are 
 placed above the other Knights elected. 
 
 It is worthy of note that Sir Charles Stanley, also Francis 
 and Henry Fane, grandchildren of Earls, were placed amongst 
 the Knights of the Bath, before Baronets of the same order, 
 at the coronation of Charles 11. ; yet, elsewhere, they could 
 not retain this rank above Baronets, without a special warrant 
 from the King, which extraordinary favour they obtained 
 (14 June 13, Car, 11. , Earl Marshal's book^ J. 25, /o. 88, 
 in College of Arms') : ' This seems to be an act of mere power, 
 in favour of these gentlemen, if we reflect on the decree 
 concerning Baronets' precedence, which runs thus : That no 
 degree is to be created, nor place given, to any others (than 
 
2o8 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 what are therein mentioned) which shall be equal to or above 
 them, under lords of Parliament of England ; how, then, 
 can they who are below such lords (and not their sons), nor 
 above their eldest sons, if not above Viscounts' eldest sons 
 (who are immediately after Lords ; as Baronets' eldest sons 
 are next after Earls' younger sons) precede Baronets ? ' 
 
 III. Style and 'Title. — Until the erection of the Baronetage, 
 the possessors of hereditary titles bore the distinctive style 
 of their rank, whether territorial or family, before their name ; 
 for example, ' Duke of Norfolk,' ' Earl Percy ' ; but when 
 conferring on his new hereditary dignity the designation of 
 Baronet, the Royal founder ordained that it should be borne 
 after the family name of the holders, the word ' Sir ' being 
 placed before the first Christian name. 
 
 The latter word, which in England for many centuries 
 had been prefixed to the Christian names of Knights, is 
 derived from Cyr, Ku/9, the abbreviation of the Greek 
 word KvpLo<; ; and, as a legal addition, is part of the names 
 of Baronets and Knights, and may never be omitted. Selden, 
 in his Titles of Honour, observes that the Jews retained this 
 native word, as given to Knights, in their Hebrew instru- 
 ments, not presuming, for its peculiar signification, to give 
 it any translation. The word was much used to the Greek 
 emperors, and in France was for a long time peculiarly 
 appropriated to their monarchs. In feudal days there was 
 something very courtly in the formal address ' Sir Knight.' 
 
 It is evident, from a perusal of the Decrees of James i., 
 that at the time he was contemplating the erection of the 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 209 
 
 Baronetage he had in his mind a dignity akin to Knighthood, 
 but to be vastly superior to it by reason of its being a 
 dignity hereditary. It was therefore natural, though surely 
 to be regretted, that he ordained that the Knightly title 
 should be assumed, coupled with an addition, after the 
 surname, to denote the hereditary distinction. 
 
 The placing of the word ' Baronet ' before the surname 
 or territorial title would now doubtless sound for a week 
 or two peculiar to ears not accustomed ; but had it been 
 adopted in the first instance, it would in those days have 
 been accepted as the natural sequence of the creation of 
 the dignity. Certainly it would have conduced to simplicity 
 and correctness. The identical prefix of a Baronet and a 
 Knight is, however, on a par with the ridiculous custom 
 which has gradually grown in social intercourse, of describing 
 every Peer, with the exception of the Dukes, by the title of 
 ' Lord.' The Continental aristocracy find no difficulty in 
 making use of their proper title, although Monsieur le 
 Marquis, Monsieur le Comte, Monsieur le Vicomte, 
 Monsieur le Baron is more cumbersome than would be our 
 equivalent of Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. 
 
 While referring to this subject, an even more ridiculous 
 custom has arisen in English society of losing sight of, to a 
 great extent, the courtesy title of ' Honourable ' borne by the 
 younger sons of Earls, Viscounts, and Barons, and also by 
 their eldest sons where their father does not possess a second 
 title. Two hundred years ago, when all possessing actual 
 or courtesy titles were known to each other, the failure to 
 call their friends by their proper designation was of little 
 
2IO A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 if any consequence ; but in the present day, with its 
 numerous social sets, in many of which those I am re- 
 ferring to mingle, at public dinners and other ceremonials, 
 the practice of announcing and calling one entitled to bear 
 the courtesy title of Honourable as Mr., or by a simple 
 naval or military rank, causes endless mistakes and con- 
 fusion which might easily be avoided. A few years ago 
 an attempt was made to induce those bearing the courtesy 
 title of ' Honourable ' to agree amongst themselves to use 
 it on their visiting cards and when being formally announced, 
 but unfortunately it was not successful. 
 
 ' The Baronets hold a mean or middle degree between 
 Lords and Knights, it being the only hereditary degree of 
 honour the Commons of England have. The word " Com- 
 mons," in its largest sense, by common law, comprehends 
 all persons who are not Peers of the realm, from the highest 
 to the lowest, so that Dukes' sons, considered in this sense, 
 are alike Commoners with others who are not Peers ; and as 
 such are gentlemen without title. For (by whatever titles 
 they are commonly called) by law they enjoy no higher names 
 than Esquires, and are so called in legal proceedings, as writs, 
 etc., which is no name of dignity ; whereas Baronets by law 
 enjoy a title of honour and legal dignity, and must be so 
 called in legal proceedings, as writs, etc' 
 
 The Baronets have no fixed and unchangeable title-name. 
 All that they can transmit to posterity is merely the prefix 
 ' Sir ' and suffix ' Baronet.' There is no provision what- 
 ever in the Letters Patent that the same surname and local 
 title shall always appear between the prefix and suffix, and 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 211 
 
 accordingly names are unfortunately changed and added to at 
 pleasure until all identity in this respect is lost between an 
 old family and its existing representative. This is strangely 
 unsuited to a Degree Hereditary ; and it would be much 
 to its interest that Her Majesty should decree that in 
 the creation of Baronets in future, a clause shall be added 
 to their Patents, providing that the surname and local title 
 under which each is raised to the dignity shall for ever 
 belong to his Baronetcy, and the surname be used on all 
 occasions as the proper and lawful and perpetual surname 
 of himself and his successors. 
 
 As a courtesy designation. Baronets, upon the erection of 
 the degree, and until about the end of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, were styled ' The Honourable.' This was only natural, 
 having regard to the hereditary character of what was 
 called in King James's time ' the honourable degree and 
 dignitie of Baronet.' A Duke being styled ' Most Noble,' 
 a Marquess ' Most Honourable,' Earls, Viscounts, and Barons 
 
 * Right Honourable,' it followed that the style of ' Honour- 
 able ' should be prefixed by the courtesy of society at large 
 to the newly created hereditary degree. 
 
 Instances of this courtesy style are numerous throughout 
 England, Scotland, and Ireland, some being on tombs, others 
 in deeds, letters, and other writings. Some Baronets were so 
 addressed by Oliver Cromwell. 
 
 Looking to analogies, it would not be inappropriate were 
 Baronets to be designated as *Very Honourable,' leaving 
 
 * Honourable ' to be used solely for the younger sons of 
 Peers. The style of ' Honourable,' however, does not 
 
212 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 interfere with the courtesy title of the younger sons of 
 Peers, as it is always conjoined with a Baronet's title. 
 
 In a book in the library of the College of Arms (J. 9 
 p. 192), it is recorded that Sir William Segar, when Garter 
 King of Arms, in a declaratory Patent relative to the old 
 arms, quarterings, etc., of Sir Edward Dering, styled this 
 Baronet * honorabili viro domino Edwardo Dering, militi et 
 baronetto.' He so styled him quatenus a Baronet, Sir 
 Edward not being in any office which would of itself entitle 
 him to be called ' The Honourable.' 
 
 In the Universities, by the statutes, Baronets enjoy much 
 the same privileges (whilst there) as the highest nobility, 
 and are accordingly styled noblemen in the old and proper 
 fashion. 
 
 Although the Patents decree ' that the style and addition 
 of Baronet shall be put at the end of the name ' of all 
 Baronets, yet it was only natural that an abbreviation of a 
 word of three syllables, coming after two names pre- 
 fixed by ' Sir,' should come to be adopted. The simplest 
 and most natural abbreviation is B\ which was frequently 
 employed, as was also Bar', by those who may have thought 
 the former not sufficiently explicit. Among the lazy and 
 illiterate, however, the latter abbreviation was made into 
 a word of one syllable — ' Bart,' which unfortunately has 
 become adopted even by some Baronets themselves. 
 
 The attention of members of the Degree having been lately 
 called to the advisability of discontinuing this abbreviation, 
 many Baronets at once recognised its unsuitability, and have 
 adopted the word in full when describing themselves in deeds 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 213 
 
 and official notices, and either append the word in full after 
 their signature, or use the abbreviation B'. 
 
 The Patents enact that a Baronet ' shall be named, 
 nominated, called, plead, and be impleaded by the name 
 
 of Baronet, and that the style and addition of 
 
 Baronet shall be put at the end of the name of the said 
 
 and of his said Heirs male in all our Letters 
 
 Patent, Commissions, and Writs and in all other Charters, 
 Deeds, and Letters by virtue of these presents, as a true, 
 lawful, and necessary addition of dignity'; hence many 
 Baronets now print the word ' Baronet ' in full or the 
 abbreviation B*. on their visiting cards. 
 
 The following extract from Hawkins' Fleas of the Crown^ 
 vol. ii. cap. 23, § 104, is interesting : — 
 
 ' Sec. 104. It seems that the common law in no case requires any 
 other description of an appellant or appellee, but by their name of 
 baptism and surname, unless they be of the degree of a Knight or 
 of some higher dignity ; in which cases, whether the name or dignity 
 be ancient, or (as some say) of a new creation, as that of baronet, 
 &c., it ought to be added to the name of baptism and surname ; and 
 if it be of the degree of nobility, it ought to supply the place of the 
 surname. And it seems that the law was so curious in this par- 
 ticular, that if a plaintiff, in any action, gained a new name of 
 dignity hanging a writ, he made it abateable ; but this inconvenience 
 is remedied by 1 Edw. vi. c. 7, s. 3, by which it is enacted " That 
 if any plaintiff in any manner of action shall be made a duke, 
 archbishop, marquis, earl, viscount, baron, bishop, knight, justice of 
 either bench, or serjeant-at-law, depending the same action, that 
 such action for such cause shall not be abateable or abated." But 
 it hath been holden (i Sid. 40, Lit. Rep. 81) that the dignity of a 
 baronet is not within this statute because there was no such dignity 
 at the time of the making of it.' 
 
214 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 The following is the case referred to, and is contained in 
 Thomas Siderfin's Reports, 1657-1670, page 40: — 
 
 'Sir Heath versus Pagget. 
 
 * En AfF le tenant plead que le Defendant fuit fait Miles Balnei 
 pendant le breve & le Defendant monstre que per Lestatute E. 6, 
 cap. 7, est provide que le breve ne abatera lou le Plaintiff est fait 
 Chevalier, Et le doubt fuit si un Chevalier del Bath soit deins ceo 
 Statute. Et tenetur que cy, Et issint touts auter Chevaliers. Mes 
 un Baronet nest deins ceo Stat si non que il soit auxy un Chevalier.' 
 
 In the State Trial of George Edmonds and others for 
 seditious conspiracy in 1 8 2 1 , it was shown to have been the 
 invariable course to place Baronets at the head of the list in 
 nominating a special jury. Chief Justice Abbott (after- 
 wards Lord Tenterden) after mentioning this added : — 
 
 * Whatever form may be adopted, they will not necessarily be 
 found there. It might be matter of accident in whatever way the 
 selection is made. But in point of rank, they have a right to be 
 placed first, and, therefore, they are and have a right to be — and 
 may have enjoy hold and take place and precedence by virtue of the 
 dignity of a Baronet aforesaid and by force of these presents as well 
 as in all commissions writs letters patent writings appellations 
 nominations and directions in all sessions meetings assemblies and 
 places whatsoever next and immediately after the younger sons of 
 Viscounts and Barons — these Letters Patent give him a right to 
 be first named upon the list. There are no Letters Patent in 
 respect of a Knight ; but he has precedence before Esquires. It has 
 been customary to place him, therefore, before them.' 
 
 IV, Only two hundred Baronets of England to exist at one 
 time. — As already stated, James i. proposed to limit the 
 number of Baronets to two hundred, so that when any of 
 these titles became extinct others should not be created, and 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 215 
 
 consequently the degree would tend to increase in dignity. 
 This limitation was kept up at first, as is evidenced by the 
 following letter of the 26th June 1623 from the Attorney- 
 General {State Papers, Domestic Series, James /., vol. cxlvii.. 
 No. 6s) :— 
 
 *SlR, 
 
 * Having received from you a significacion of his Ma^^*^^ pleasure 
 for drawing up a Bill to create Mr. Corbett a Baronett and con- 
 ceiving by your letter that the number of Baronettes hath bene once 
 filled and that this man is to come in place of one that is dead with- 
 out issue I doubted whether his Ma**® were informed or do remember 
 that by expres covenant with such as have bene formerly advanced 
 to that dignity his Ma*'® hath agreed not only that the number of 
 Baronettes shall never exceed two hundred but that the number 
 being once full if any of them dye without issue male his Ma*'® will 
 create no more but suffer the number to decrease, And therefore 
 though I have prepared the Bill as I am commanded yet I held it 
 my duty to informe you thereof that if his Ma*'® be not already 
 acquainted with it he may not unawares do that which being 
 Rightly informed he would not give way unto. And so I humbly 
 rest. 
 
 ' Att your honors commandment 
 
 'Thomas Coventrye.' 
 
 * Inner Temple, 26 June 1623. 
 *This bearer informes me that it is his 
 
 Ma*'®^ intent to discharg the mony usually 
 payed for that degree yor warrant importing 
 not so much I thought not fitt to deliver 
 the patent and discharge to the party but 
 both for that, and for the reason in my 
 letter to addresse it to yow if it be his 
 Ma*'®^ pleasure that it shall proceed you 
 w^ilbe pleased to send me v/arrant for the 
 little bill that is drawne for the discharge as 
 yow have for the patent itself. 
 
2i6 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 (Endorsed) '20 June 1623 Mr. Atturney generall to Mr. Secret. 
 Conwey. Concerninge a Graunt of a Barronnett to Mr. 
 Corbett. 
 
 (Addressed) ' To the Right Ho^'^ Sir Edward Conwey Knight one 
 of his Ma*'®^ principall secretaries. 
 
 In the same collection of papers will be found the follow- 
 ing under date 23rd March 1625 : — 
 
 ' Blank Warrant for the grant of a Baronetcy, in place of Sir 
 Rich. Robartes, Bar*., now made a Baron. 
 
 'Blank Warrant for grant of a Baronetcy, in place of Sir Fra^. 
 Ashby, dead without issue male. 
 
 ' Warrant for a grant of a Baronetcy to Hugh Cholmley, in place 
 of Sir Peter Curteen, deceased.' 
 
 It would thus appear that the Royal intention of limiting 
 the degree to the descendants of the two hundred Baronets 
 was first altered to limiting the holders of the title to the 
 same number by filling up vacancies which occurred through 
 the extinction of titles. It is however by no means certain 
 that James i. ever really exceeded his own limit, as although 
 his total creations of Baronetcies amounted to 204, yet in 
 defence of this excess of four, it is urged in the essay printed 
 in Wotton's Baronetage^ the four ' were to fill vacancies that 
 happened, not by death or attainder, but by promotion to a 
 higher dignity, so that he did not go beyond his engage- 
 ment.' The four Baronets advanced by the King to 
 Peerages were Sir Robert Dormer, Sir Thomas Ridgeway, 
 Sir WiUiam Hervey, and Sir Thomas Beaumont. Later on 
 all limitation was withdrawn, and the creation of new Baron- 
 etcies is entirely in the discretion of the reigning Sovereign. 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 217 
 
 V. No degree, order, name, title, dignity, or state, under 
 the degree, dignity, or state of Barons of England, to be ever 
 created, which would, or could be, superior or equal to the 
 degree and dignity of Baronet. — This will be found dealt with 
 under VIII. 
 
 VI. If any Baronet of the said two hundred should die with- 
 out heirs male, no other Baronets of England to be created, but 
 the number of two hundred to diminish accordingly . — This has 
 been already referred to under IV. 
 
 VII. A newly defined precedency . — This will be found fully 
 dealt with in Chapter II., where the Royal decree of 28th 
 May 1 612 is given at length. 
 
 VIII. A repetition of privilege No. V., etc. — After the 
 controversy of precedence between the younger sons of 
 Viscounts and Barons and the Baronets had been settled, 
 nothing appears to have arisen to have called for any remon- 
 strance from the members of the Baronetage with the 
 exception of the precedence given to certain Judges who 
 have not attained the degree of the Coif, referred to in the 
 article quoted on pages previous from 'The Law Magazine, 
 until the announcement in August 1897 that the sons and 
 daughters of life peers were to be formed into a special 
 class, having a precedence among themselves, and to take 
 precedence immediately before Baronets. This, however, is 
 referred to later. 
 
 IX. Rights of Knighthood for Baronets and their eldest sons. 
 — The Letters Patent of 14 James i. finally ratifying, con- 
 
21 8 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 firming, allowing, and approving of the Hereditary Dignity, 
 State, Title, and Degree of Baronet, with all the rights and 
 privileges of the previous Patents of the 9th and loth 
 James i., contain the following clause : — ' And further of 
 Our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion. 
 We do hereby declare and express our true intent and 
 meaning to have been, and do hereby promise and grant 
 for Us, our heirs and successors, to and with such Gentle- 
 men as now be, or at any time hereafter shall be Baronets ; 
 That so soon as they or any of them shall attain to the age 
 of one-and-twenty years. And likewise so soon as the 
 eldest son or apparent heir male of the bodies of them, or 
 any of them, shall during the life of their Father or Grand- 
 father attain to the age of one-and-twenty years ; and that 
 the said Baronets, or the said eldest sons or apparent heirs 
 males, shall be presented to Us by the Lord Chamberlain of 
 our household, or Vice-Chamberlain for the time being, or 
 in their absence by any other Officer attending upon the 
 person of Us, our heirs or successors to be made Knights 
 that they and every of them shall from time to time be made 
 Knights by Us, our heirs and successors accordingly.' This 
 Hereditary privilege was apparently designed to com- 
 memorate the feudal custom incident to a tenure in chivalry, 
 under which the eldest son of the Lord was made a Knight 
 with much ceremony and pomp, while also serving the pur- 
 pose of giving a title to a Baronet's eldest son, to be enjoyed 
 by law, and not by mere courtesy, as in other Degrees. 
 
 As a consequence of these Letters Patent, the Patent of 
 every Baronet created prior to the Revocation by George iv. 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 219 
 
 of this promise and grant referred to hereafter, contained a 
 
 clause ratifying the privilege. 
 
 The Patents of Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia 
 
 created prior to 1633 contain the following covenant and 
 
 grant : — 
 
 * Moreover We out of our special grace and favor, certain know- 
 ledge mere motion and deliberate mind, by these presents, and with 
 the advice aforesaid (viz., of the Privy Council) for Us, our Heirs 
 and Successors, will, concede, declare, and promise, that at whatever 
 time, and so soon as, the Eldest Son and Apparent Heir-male of 
 
 the said Sir A B Baronet, or the Eldest Son and Apparent 
 
 Heir-male of whatsoever Heirs-male succeeding to him, shall attain 
 the age of twenty-one years, that they, and every one of them 
 respectively by Us, our Heirs, and Successors, shall be inaugurated 
 Knights whensoever they, or any of them, shall require that Order 
 without any Fees, or expense whatsoever.' 
 
 The Patents of all Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia, 
 
 created after 1633, contain either the above clause or else 
 
 the following general clause : — 
 
 ' We give, grant, and confer, on the said A B , and his 
 
 Heirs-male, for ever, the title, dignity, order and honor of knight- 
 baronet, ordaining them, their Wives, and Children to use and 
 enjoy the same title, with all privileges, immunities and honors of 
 every kind belonging to Knights Baronets, in virtue of whatsoever 
 Acts, Statutes, Diplomas, or Customs, existing in these Our 
 Dominions.' 
 
 The Parliament of Scotland held at Edinburgh on 28th 
 June 1633, Charles i. being present in person, passed a law, 
 willing, statuting, and ordaining, that the Dignities and 
 Order of Knight Baronet, with all Letters Patent granted 
 therewith to any person or persons whatsoever, together 
 with all Acts of the Privy Council, and Proclamations there- 
 
220 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 anent, shall stand and continue in force according to the 
 tenor of the same, and in as ample manner as if the bodies 
 of the said Letters Patent, Acts, and Proclamations were 
 therein particularly engrossed and expressed. 
 
 On the loth May 1636, Charles i. issued a Warrant to 
 the Chancellor of Scotland, directing him to knight the 
 eldest sons of Baronets desiring the honour, which was duly 
 recorded as follows : — 
 
 * Anent Knighting of Baronnets Sonnes. 
 
 * Apud Edinburgh 16 Junij 1636. 
 ' Forsamekle as the Kings Majestic having formerlie upon verie 
 good considerations both for freithing his Ma^^*^ frome truble and 
 saving of the parties whome it concernes frome charges Give 
 warrand and direction to his Ma^-^^® Chanceller for the time being 
 That the eldest sonnes of all Baronnets being of the age of 21 
 yeeres sould be knighted whensoever thay sould desire the same 
 according to thair patents under the Great Scale And his Ma*'^ being 
 yctt willing upon the same consideratiouns that the said course be 
 continued His Majestic for this effect hes gcvin warrand to the Lord 
 High Chanceller of this kingdome to knight the eldest sonnes of all 
 and everie ane of suche Baronnets who being of the perfyte age of 
 21 years compleit sail desire the same without putting thame to 
 anie charges and expensses As in the said warrant presentit and 
 exhibite this day before the Lords of Secreit Counsell at lenth is 
 conteanit Quhilk being read heard and considderit be the saids 
 Lords and thay with all humble and dewtifull respect acknowledge- 
 ing his Majesteis gratious will and pleasure in this mater They 
 ordaine the said warrand to be insert and registrat in the bookes of 
 Privie Counsell and to have the force of ane act of Counsell in time 
 comming To the end the said Lord Chanceller may knight the 
 saids eldest sonnes of all Baronnetts without fordcr warrand and that 
 all whome it may concerne may take notice of his Majesteis Royall 
 pleasure heerin and ordanis letters to be direct to make publication 
 heirof wherthrow nane pretend ignorance of the same. 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 221 
 
 *Follo\ves His Majesteis missive for warrand of the Act foresaid.' 
 
 'Charles R. 
 
 ' Right Reverend Father in God We greit you weill Whereas 
 We vi^er pleased by our letter unto our lait Chanceller to give 
 powder unto him or anie other for the time being that the eldest 
 sonnes of all Baronnetts might be knighted being of the perfyte age 
 of 21 yeeres whensoever they sould desire the same according to 
 thair patents under our Great Scale both for freing Ws from trouble 
 and saving thame frome charges whiche thair repairing hither for 
 that purpose might procure and now being willing upon the like 
 consideration that the same sould be continued We have thought 
 fitt heirby to renew our pleasure unto yow for that effect and 
 thairfoir We will that yow knight the eldest sonnes of all and euerie 
 one of suche Baronnetts who being of the perfyte age of twenty- 
 one yeeres sould desire the same, without putting thame to anie 
 charges or expensses And Our further pleasure is that yow make 
 ane Act of Counsell heirupon That your successors in your charge 
 of Lord Chanceller doe the same without anie further warrand and 
 that all others whome it may concerne may take notice of our 
 Royall pleasure heerin for doing whairof these presents sail be your 
 warrand We bid you farewell Frome our Courte at Whitehall, the 
 10 of Maye 1636.' 
 
 A Baronet was not a Knight as well as a Baronet until 
 he had actually presented himself before the Sovereign and 
 obtained the honour of Knighthood, as illustrated by the 
 following case : — 
 
 Sir Henry Ferrers, Baronet, was indicted by the name of 
 Sir Henry Ferrers, Knight, for the murder of one Stone, 
 whom one Nightingale had feloniously murdered. Sir 
 Henry was accused of being present, and aiding and abetting. 
 Upon this indictment. Sir Henry Ferrers being arraigned, 
 said that he was never knighted, which being confessed, the 
 
222 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 indictment was held not to be sufficient. Wherefore he was 
 indicted de novo by the name of Sir Henry Ferrers, Baronet. 
 On the 19th December 1827, an Ordinance was passed by 
 George iv. withdrawing the privilege of claiming Knight- 
 hood by those Baronets who were not already Knights, and 
 by the eldest sons of Baronets on their attaining the age 
 of twenty-one, from all creations after that date, in the 
 following words : — 
 
 * Revocation of the Promise and Grant contained in the 
 Letters Patent of 28 May 10 James i. for knighting Baronets 
 and their Heirs Male when they should attain the age of 21. 
 
 ' George the Fourth by the Grace of God. To all to whom 
 these presents shall come Greeting. Whereas Our late Royal 
 Progenitor King James the First by Letters Patent bearing date 
 at Westminster the twenty-second day of May in the ninth year 
 of his Reign for himself his heirs and successors did ordain erect 
 constitute and create a certain State Degree and Dignity name and 
 title of a Baronet within his then Kingdom of England to endure 
 for ever And Whereas the said King James by certain other 
 Letters Patent bearing date at Westminster the twenty eighth 
 day of May in the tenth year of his reign did make a certain 
 Ordinance Establishment and final decree upon a Controversy of 
 Precedence between the younger Sons of Viscounts and Barons 
 and the Baronets and touching some other points also concerning 
 as well Bannerets as the said Baronets whereby His Majesty was 
 graciously pleased (amongst other things) to Knight the then present 
 Baronets that were no Knights and did also by those Presents of 
 his mere motion and favor promise and grant for himself his heirs 
 and successors that such Baronets and the heirs males of their bodies 
 as thereafter should be no Knights when they should attain or be 
 of the age of One and twenty years upon knowledge thereof given 
 to the Lord Chamberlain of the Household or Vice-Chamberlain 
 for the time being or in their absence to any other Officer attending 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 223 
 
 upon his Majesty's person should be Knighted by his Majesty his 
 heirs and successors as by the said several Letters Patent reference 
 being thereunto had will (amongst other things) more fully and at 
 large appear Now know ye that v.e for divers good causes and 
 considerations us hereunto moving Have thought fit to revoke 
 determine and make void And by these presents for us our heirs 
 and successors Do revoke determine and make void the said promise 
 and grant in the said last mentioned Letters Patent contained with 
 respect to all Letters Patent for the creation of Baronets to be 
 made and granted after these presents And that the said Letters 
 Patent shall be made hereafter without such clause as hereinbefore 
 mentioned without prejudice nevertheless to any Letters Patents 
 heretofore granted or to the rights and privileges now by Law 
 belonging to any Baronet and his heirs male. In Witness &c. 
 Witness &c. the nineteenth day of December. 
 ' By Writ of Privy Seal.' 
 
 Now it will be observed that this Revocation is distinctly 
 stated to be without prejudice to any Letters Patent granted 
 prior to its issue ; and although for some reason or other, 
 difficult to explain, the privilege has been rarely claimed 
 during the present century, yet until quite recently it was 
 granted as a matter of course when so claimed. 
 
 On the 2 1 St February 1865, ^^^ Lord-Lieutenant of 
 Ireland knighted Mr. George Clendinning O'Donel, eldest 
 son and heir-apparent of Sir Richard Annesley O'Donel, the 
 fourth Baronet, in compliance with the clause in the patent 
 of Baronetcy of 2nd December 1780 ; while on the I2th 
 February 1874, Mr. Ludlow Cotter, eldest son of Sir James 
 Cotter, Baronet, was knighted at Windsor on coming of age. 
 
 On the 20th July 1836, Mr. Richard Broun, eldest son 
 and heir to the Baronetcy of Broun of Colstoun, made a 
 formal appHcation to the Lord Chamberlain requiring that 
 
224 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 officer, in terms of the constitution of the Baronetage, to 
 present him to the Sovereign for inauguration as Knight. 
 The application set forth the special clauses in the constitu- 
 tion of the Baronetage which rendered it compulsory on the 
 Crown to discharge this peculiar service ; and it was accom- 
 panied by such documents and certificates as were deemed 
 by counsel sufficient to warrant the demand. A very 
 lengthy correspondence followed, with the result that the 
 claim was not allowed, the decision being communicated to 
 Mr. Broun in the following letter : — 
 
 ' Whitehall, 
 
 'August 4th, 1836. 
 
 *SlR, 
 
 ' I am directed by Lord John Russell to acknowledge the receipt 
 of your letter of the 30th ultimo, and to acquaint you in reply that 
 the application which was made by you to the Lord Chamberlain 
 of His Majesty's Household, claiming the honour of Knighthood, 
 in consideration of your being the eldest son of a Baronet, was 
 referred, by his Lordship's direction, for the consideration of the 
 Kings at Arms, who have reported that inasmuch as the Patent 
 granting the Dignity of a Baronet to your alleged ancestor. Sir 
 James Broun, Bar*., of Colstoun, did not contain any Clause 
 authorising his eldest son to claim the honour of Knighthood, they 
 are of opinion that you have no claim to that honour upon the 
 ground set forth in your application, and Lord John Russell 
 therefore directs me to express his regret that he cannot recommend 
 to His Majesty to accede to your request. 
 * I have the honour to be, 
 *Sir, 
 ' Your obedient Servant, 
 
 ' (Sgd.) Fox Maule.' 
 
 Mr. Broun, however, declined to accept this decision as 
 
 final, on the ground that the reason for the refusal was 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 225 
 
 unsound, he contending that the grant in favour of the 
 eldest sons of the Baronets of Scotland was made a statute 
 law of Scotland by the King and the Scottish Parliament, on 
 the 28 th June 1633, since which time it had been solemnly- 
 ratified by the Act of Union. After a series of references 
 and delays, the Lord Chamberlain finally, on the 8th 
 December 1841, decHned to grant Mr. Broun's request. 
 
 At a meeting of the Committee of the Baronetage for 
 Privileges, referred to later on in this work, held at the 
 Clarendon Hotel, London, on the loth May 1842, the 
 following resolutions were passed : — 
 
 ' First^ That in the opinion of this Committee the course followed 
 by the Crown Officers in the case of Mr. Broun's appHcation for 
 Knighthood, is in direct contravention of the constitution of the 
 Baronetage, a statute law of the realm of Scotland, the Articles of 
 Union, the obligation of the Coronation Oath, and the unbroken 
 precedents of 230 years. 
 
 ' Secondj That, after a careful review of the whole proceedings, 
 this Committee do, on behalf of the Baronets of the several creations 
 in the United Kingdom, record their unanimous protest against the 
 irregular opinion of the Attorney, and Solicitor-General of England, 
 upon which the Lord Chamberlain has arrived at the supposition that 
 he cannot consistently w^ith his duty present Mr. Broun to Her 
 Majesty for knighthood. 
 
 ' Third, That Sir Robert Peel, as the head of the Government, be 
 informed that the Lord Chamberlain has refused, on the applica- 
 tion of a Baronet's Eldest Son for Knighthood, to discharge the 
 duty imposed upon him by the Constitution of the Baronetage ; 
 and that the Right Honourable Baronet be requested by this Com- 
 mittee, as the immediate adviser of the Sovereign, to interpose his 
 official authority in order that the Lord Chamberlain may be directed 
 to present to Her Majesty the Eldest sons of all applying Baronets 
 for Knighthood according to the tenor of the Letters Patent, Statutes, 
 
 p 
 
226 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 and other instruments, whereby successive Monarchs have bound 
 themselves and their successors to the Throne.' 
 
 These resolutions, together vi^ith an abstract of the pro- 
 ceedings of the Committee relating to this case, were trans- 
 mitted on the following day to the Prime Minister, who 
 replied on the i8th May to the effect that he approved of 
 the course pursued by the Lord Chamberlain, and that he 
 must decline therefore to interpose his official authority for 
 the purpose of inducing the Lord Chamberlain to depart 
 from it. 
 
 This reply having been laid before the Committee, they 
 adverted to the subject in the Report made to the Annual 
 Meeting of the Baronetage, held on the 4th of June, in the 
 following terms : — 
 
 ' Considering that a Petition from the Order praying for a judicial 
 hearing before the Queen in Council has been refused j that the 
 opinions of Counsel have been taken upon the subject, and that they 
 have reported they think there is no tribunal whereby the Lord 
 Chamberlain can be compelled to discharge the duty imposed upon 
 him by the Letters Patent of the lOth and 14th Jac. i. ; that the 
 compact between the State and the Baronets of Scotland is, that 
 their Eldest Sons shall be inaugurated Knights (Equites Aurati) 
 by the reigning Sovereign, whensoever they, or any of them, shall 
 require that Order ; that the Lord Chamberlain, on the formal 
 requisition of Mr. Broun, has declined to present him to the Sove- 
 reign for inauguration as a Knight ; and finally, that the Prime 
 Minister by approving of the course taken by the Lord Chamberlain 
 in the face of a recorded Protest of the Committee has sanctioned 
 a transaction of the most illegal, arbitrary, and unprecedented 
 nature, your Committee are of opinion that the time has arrived 
 when it devolves upon the Order either to submit to a course which 
 would countenance the doctrine that the Queen is not bound by 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 227 
 
 the acts of her predecessors — would warrant the supposition that 
 there was no faith or honour in the mind of His Majesty King 
 Charles i., when he promised, on the word of a Prince, for himself 
 and his successors, that this particular Grant should be onerous on 
 the Crown — and which would for ever compromise the dearest 
 rights and immunities of the Baronetage, or else to assert and make 
 good this vested and indefeasible prerogative, by such acts and 
 regulation of the Body, as shall comport with the dignity of the 
 Order — evince its wonted fealty to the Commonwealth — and uphold 
 those principles of honour, justice and truth, which are the basis of 
 all Law and Privilege in the Realm.' 
 
 At the Anniversary Meeting held on the 4th June the 
 above proposition was considered ; and subsequently, on the 
 motion of Sir William Ogilvie, seconded by Sir R. Jodrell, 
 it was unanimously resolved — 
 
 ' That the Prime Minister having approved of the course pursued 
 by the Lord Chamberlain in the case of Mr. Broun's application 
 for Knighthood, which course the Committee for Privileges, after 
 mature deliberation, have found and declared to be in direct con- 
 travention of the Constitution of the Baronetage, a Statute Law of 
 the Realm of Scotland, the Articles of Union, the obligations of 
 the Coronation Oath, and the unbroken precedents of 230 years, 
 this General Meeting do require of Mr. Broun, in whose person 
 the national rights of the Eldest Sons of the whole Baronets in the 
 United Realm have been violated, that he will, in virtue of his 
 being a Knight de jure^ as the Eldest Son of a Member of the Order 
 of ancient creation, vindicate this fundamental and unalienable 
 privilege of the Eldest Sons of Baronets, by henceforth using, taking, 
 and enjoying the ancient chivalrous dignity of a Knight (Eques 
 Auratus) with the immunities and precedencies thereunto belong- 
 ing : and that the Committee for Privileges do record the same in 
 the Journals of the Order, that the precedent may rule in future 
 the cases of all such Eldest Sons of Baronets as may hereafter apply 
 for Knighthood under the Letters Patent of the loth and nth 
 
22 8 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Jac. I., and experience a similar arbitrary and illegal course of pro- 
 cedure on the part of the responsible Officers of the Crown.' 
 
 This Resolution having been passed, Mr. Broun rose and 
 addressed the Meeting, and formally assumed Knighthood, 
 throwing the responsibility of his doing so upon the Lord 
 Chamberlain and the Prime Minister who sanctioned the 
 Lord Chamberlain's conduct. 
 
 On the 17th May 1895, Mr. Claude Champion De 
 Crespigny, eldest son of Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny, 
 claimed the honour of knighthood in accordance with the 
 clause contained in the Patent of the 31st October 1805 > 
 and after considerable correspondence on the subject, the 
 following letter was received from the Home Office : — 
 
 ' Whitehall, 
 
 ' I2th March 1896. 
 
 *SlR, 
 
 'With reference to your letter of 17th May last, 
 addressed to the Lord Chamberlain, claiming the honour of Knight- 
 hood, as eldest son of the present Sir Claude de Crespigny, Bar*., 
 I am directed by the Secretary of State to acquaint you that he has 
 consulted the Prime Minister on the subject, and is informed that 
 Lord Salisbury is advised by the Lord Chancellor that the claim in 
 the Patent of Baronetcy, upon which your application is based, is 
 not, in his Lordship's opinion, valid, and that accordingly Lord 
 Salisbury regrets that he is unable to submit your name to the 
 Queen for the honour aforesaid. 
 ' I am, Sir, 
 
 ' Your obedient Servant, 
 
 'Charles S. Murdoch. 
 *C. C. DE Crespigny, Esq.' 
 
 It is exceedingly difficult to form any opinion as to why 
 the clause in the Patents of Baronets granted before the 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 229 
 
 19th December 1827, relating to knighthood, should not be 
 
 valid, and the following extract from a letter of Sir William 
 
 Betham, a former Ulster King of Arms, and a recognised 
 
 authority on all matters appertaining to Dignities, may be 
 
 here given : — 
 
 ' I am surprised to hear such a doubt started by the Law Officers 
 of the Crown, as that the Sovereign has not a right to bind his 
 successors to confer the honor of Knighthood on the Eldest Sons of 
 Baronets; for it was part and parcel of the Constitution at the 
 foundation of the Order, and consequently part of its essence, and 
 therefore inseparable from it.' 
 
 It has been suggested that should this privilege of claiming 
 knighthood be definitely abandoned by the Baronets of 
 older creations, a substituted privilege commemorative of 
 their former right might be conceded to them. The 
 Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath are entitled 
 to bear supporters to their Arms although those holding 
 this distinction rank beneath the Baronetage. 
 
 At the present time the Baronets (as such) are not 
 entitled to bear supporters. In the time of James i. 
 supporters were confined to Peers and Knights of the Garter ; 
 and they were not borne by Knights of the Bath until the 
 creation of the Order as a regular Military Order of Knight- 
 hood, by George i. in 1725, for which purpose a special 
 statute was issued. 
 
 The decree of 1612 assigned the armorial distinction to 
 be borne by the Baronets of England and their descendants, 
 as being ' either in a canton in their coat-of-arms, or in an 
 inescutcheon, at their election, the arms of Ulster, that is, in 
 a field argent, a hand gules, or a bloody hand.' 
 
230 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 It does not appear that there is any authority either 
 in their patents or elsewhere for the Baronets of Scotland 
 to bear supporters, although Edmondson in his book on 
 Heraldry (vol. i. p. 193) states : ' The Nova Scotia or Scotch 
 Baronets are by their patents of creation allowed to carry 
 supporters, notwithstanding that privilege was not indulged 
 to the baronets of England at the time of the institution of 
 their dignity. Some of them indeed bear supporters, but 
 it is by virtue of a royal license obtained for that especial 
 purpose.' 
 
 In the later Patents of Baronets of Scotland occurs the 
 following clause respecting their armorial bearings : ' Manda- 
 mus per praesentes Leoni nostro Regi armorum suisque 
 fratribus fecialibus ut tale additamentum armorum prassenti- 
 
 bus insigniis praenominati A B sicuti talibus casibus 
 
 usitatum est dent et praescribant.' 
 
 This clause is sometimes varied, as, for example, the fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 ' Leoni porro Armorum Regi ejusque fratribus fecialibus 
 
 additamenta praesentibus insigniis armoriis dicti A B 
 
 quas huic occasioni congrua et idonea videbuntur dare et 
 prasscribere imperamus.' 
 
 Should supporters be granted to the Baronetage, they 
 might be either at choice or else consist of two Equites 
 Aurati, commemorative of the Order of Knighthood, with 
 which all Baronets created prior to December 1827 and their 
 eldest sons were connected. 
 
 Before leaving this subject, the following letter from Sir 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 231 
 
 Warwick Hele Tonkin, written ist February 1842, is worth 
 recording : — 
 
 ' It is clearly established by precedents that there are two ways 
 of conferring the Dignity of Knighthood by the accolade or by 
 Patent. I take it, therefore, the Baronets are Knights by the 
 latter mode, and I prove it by the following admissions in public 
 ceremonies and Courts of Law. 
 
 ' When the Installation of the Knights of the Bath took place in 
 Westminster Abbey more than thirty years ago, many Baronets 
 acted as proxies j this they could not have done had they not been 
 Knights by Patent or by being dubbed by the Sovereign : ergo 
 the privilege of the Baronets and Knights are intimately blended 
 together. 
 
 * Now, with respect to the open and full recognition in Courts 
 of Law, I will refer you to the last Writ of Rights, tried in England 
 at two different Assizes, consequently before four Judges, where 
 three Baronets and one Knight were summoned to come girt zvith 
 Swords and [cum gladio cinctus) as Knights. 
 
 ' Of this proceeding you have the date, names, and particulars, 
 and as a trial took place, the event is recorded. Thus, then, the 
 privileges of Knighthood are recently confirmed, need I add that 
 the girding with a sword of the infant Prince of Wales is the ancient 
 mode of conferring Knighthood. The Collar of S.S., the Spurs, 
 Signet Ring, and Badge or Star being appended as mere adjuncts 
 of the Sword which was formerly, and is now, in Russia an emblem 
 of nobility. 
 
 'The Foreign Office in granting permission, and I am yet to 
 know what legal rights they assume to deny it, to wear a Foreign 
 Decoration, especially assume " the privileges of Knights Bachelor" ; 
 now, if you look into Ashmole's History of the Garter, you see that 
 the Baronets and Knights are united in the proposed distinction 
 recommended by the then Heralds in 1627. What is the difference, 
 then, existing between the two Orders, precedence and the trans- 
 mission of the title to the first, but equal privileges as Knights ? 
 The Baronet's eldest son is a Knight de Jure, since the Knight's 
 
232 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 eldest son is an Esquire de facto ; union is strength, let these Knightly 
 Orders coalesce to establish their privileges at Court and elsewhere. 
 The Herald's College are no corporation in Law, the Lord Chamber- 
 lain has no legal power, it is to the Throne we all must look for a 
 reception, and not to the minister of the day. Let a deputation 
 present a petition to the Queen, there are peers who are Baronets 
 as well as Knights, to them delegate your memorial, it will add to 
 the splendour of the dignity of the Throne, and confirm our attach- 
 ment the stronger to the foundation of all honour.' 
 
 In addition to the above letter, Sir Warwick Hele Tonkin 
 wrote the following observations on the Writ of Right : — 
 
 'The last which was tried in England, by this it would appear 
 that Baronets were legally allowed to be " Knights," Equites Aurati, 
 since they were summoned as Knights as well as Baronets ; how far 
 such summons was strictly right and legal cannot now be proved, 
 since the Law regarding " Writs of Right " is abolished, and the 
 question cannot now be mooted although it evidently admits of a 
 doubt — the word Knight evidently intending to convey in its mean- 
 ing simply Knight Bachelor — which dignity every Knight of an 
 Order must have before he can be admitted or wear a Decoration 
 of the Garter, Bath, Thistle, or any other Order of English Knight- 
 hood. 
 
 'The claim to the title of Knight has been legally established 
 on this Trial, and this admission would entitle any Baronet (not a 
 Knight Batchelor) to all the honors and privileges of the Accolade. 
 The decision is therefore highly important to the Baronets, as it 
 would clearly appear they may wear a Badge or Decoration without 
 the personal honor of being Knighted by the Sovereign.' 
 
 The account of what took place on the occasion referred 
 
 to is recorded in Woolmer's Exeter Gazette^ as follows : — 
 
 '1837. 
 'Devon and Exeter Lent Assize. 
 'Writ of Right. 
 'At half-past 12 o'clock this day four Knights, Sir John Duntze, 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 233 
 
 Sir John Duckworth, Sir Robert Newman, Baronets, and Sir WiUiam 
 Hele Tonkin, Knight, being summoned by virtue of a Warrant 
 from the Sheriff" of the County of Devon, appeared in Court each 
 girt with a sword, to be sworn in accordance with the ancient 
 ceremony. It is more than half a century since this curious Law 
 procedure, which is the last resource for the recovery of Real Estate, 
 has taken place in this county, and it may never occur again in 
 England, as the original Statute is repealed, excepting in cases where 
 suits have been previously pending. The names of the parties in 
 this present case are : — 
 
 ' Henry Richards, Demandant, 
 
 'and 
 
 ' Lewis Gidley, Tenant. 
 
 ' The form of proceeding was as follows : — The Counsel moved 
 that the Four Knights be sworn, after which they retired to select 
 Twenty Gentlemen from the Special Jury List, who are termed 
 " Recognitors." 
 
 ' The Knights then returned into Court and presented Twelve 
 out of the Twenty who had been elected by them at the present 
 Assize to constitute a Jury for the next Summer Assize, which 
 Jury must include the four Knights, and will be denominated The 
 Grand Assize. 
 
 'The attendance of the Four Knights girt with Swords is indis- 
 pensably necessary, as the absence of one would render all the trouble 
 and expense useless. 
 
 ^ Note. — The Knights were sworn in open Court before Mr. 
 Baron Gurney : — All the Knights were in attendance at the follow- 
 ing Assize, and all the special Jurymen selected ; the Cause came 
 on, and was tried. 
 
 ' The presence of all was extraordinary, as some casualty might 
 have intervened. 
 
 ' It was the last " Writ of Right " tried in any county in England.' 
 
 X. Addition of the Arms of Ulster in armorial bearings. — 
 
 The Second Letters Patent of the loth May 161 2 enacted: — 
 
 ' The Baronets and their descendants shall and may bear, 
 
2 34 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 either in a Canton in their coat of arms, or, in an inies- 
 cutcheon, at their election, the Arms of Ulster, that is, in 
 a field argent, a hand gules, or a bloody hand.' This was, 
 of course, to commemorate the fact that the degree had been 
 instituted for the protection of that province. 
 
 The Ulster cognisance as usually blazoned is a hand 
 sinister, but in Mr. Broun's Baronetage for 1843 ^^^ 
 engraved two very ancient seals of the Arms of Ulster, in 
 both of which a dexter hand appears. One is the copy of 
 an impression of a seal which was found between 1830 and 
 1840 in the vicinity of Magherafelt, and which is considered 
 to have belonged to Murtogh Roe, or the Red O'Neill, 
 lord of Clanaboy, whose family for seven hundred years 
 were hereditary monarchs of Ireland, and who, according to 
 the annals of the Four Masters, died in 1 47 1 . The other 
 is a facsimile of the impression of a very ancient silver seal 
 supposed to have belonged to Hugh O'Neill, King of 
 Ulster, and was in the collection of Sir Robert Walpole, 
 at Strawberry Hill. The inscription bears no date, but is 
 as follows: '6". Odonis O' Neill Regis Hybernicorum Vltonia' 
 
 Sylvanus Morgan in his Sphere of Gentry, published in 
 1 66 1, states that the Canton of the Shield or the Escutcheon 
 of Pretence bearing the Ulster Hand is not to be taken up 
 at pleasure, but is to be allowed by a certificate, quoting 
 as his authority one granted by Sir William Segar to Sir 
 Richard Baker, Baronet, as follows : — 
 
 ' To all and singular persons, as well Nobles, as others, to whom 
 this present Certificate shall come, William Segar Garter, principal 
 King at Arms, sendeth greeting in our Lord God everlasting. 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 235 
 
 Know ye, that I the said Garter, at the request of the much 
 Honoured Sir Henry Baker, Knight, and Baronet, have added, and 
 annexed to his Antient Coat of Arms, which is Azure, three Swans 
 heads erased proper, an Escoucheon Argent charged with a hand 
 Sinister Gules extended in Pale, being the Arms of the ancient 
 Kings of Ulster in Ireland, and that Honourable augmentation, 
 which now it hath pleased his Majesty to grant and confer unto the 
 Baronets for their more honour, and to their issue for ever, &c.' 
 
 XI. A place near the Royal Standard in battle. — The 
 Second Letters Patent of the loth May 16 12 enacted : — 
 
 ' The Baronets for the time being, and the heirs-males 
 of their bodies, shall have place in the Armies of the King's 
 Majesty, his heirs and successors, in the gross, near about 
 the royal standard of the King, his heirs and successors, 
 for the defence of the same.' 
 
 This honourable position was valuable only to Baronets 
 created or born within a limited period of the erection of 
 the dignity, and the privilege has become practically obsolete. 
 It appears, however, to have been linked from the first 
 with a recognised right of the Baronetage to be represented 
 on occasions of state ceremony, such as coronations, 
 public funerals, and processions. This indeed was natural ; 
 for in the Royal Founder's Decrees, and in Patents of 
 creation, it is provided that the new Baronet may have and 
 take his appointed place and precedence by virtue of the 
 dignity of Baronet in all ' sermons, conventions, assemblies, 
 and places whatsoever.' 
 
 At the funeral of Henry, Prince of Wales, 7 th December 
 161 2, the Baronets went above the Prince's Treasurer of 
 his Revenues, the Treasurer of his Household, and the 
 
236 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Master of the Horse to the Prince ; and particular Baronets 
 were in honourable services, as the banner of the earldom 
 of Carrick was borne by a Baronet, when that of Chester 
 was borne by Lord Howard of Effingham ; the great 
 standard of the Prince was borne by a Baronet, as was also 
 his coronet ; the canopy of black velvet was borne over his 
 effigies by six Baronets, and ten banneroUs about the body 
 by ten other Baronets. Among the ' blackes ' allowed for 
 the several degrees was included seven yards for Baronets 
 and eight for their servants or followers. Early in the 
 procession the servants of Baronets had a place assigned to 
 them after the servants of Knights and before the servants 
 of sons of Barons. 
 
 In the procession to Parliament in 16 14, Baronets went 
 above the King's Attorney-General, and the Solicitor-General, 
 the King's Sergeants and Knights of the Bath. They also 
 went above those who had been the King's Ambassadors 
 and Lords Presidents in Ireland. 
 
 At the funeral of Queen Anne of Denmark, who died 
 2nd March 16 18, and was buried on the 13th May follow- 
 ing. Baronets went above the following principal officers 
 of the Prince of Wales's Court, viz. : the Cofferer, the 
 Comptroller and Treasurer of the Household, the Keeper 
 of the Privy Purse, the Master of the Wardrobe, and the 
 Prince's Chief Commissioners, and next above Sir John 
 Bennet the Chancellor to the Queen. 
 
 In the solemn procession made by James i. to St. Paul's 
 Cathedral on 26th March 1620, Baronets took place of 
 such Knights as had been Ambassadors, Lords Presidents 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 237 
 
 of the provinces in Ireland, and Lords Deputies of that 
 Kingdom. 
 
 In the procession to Parliament in 1620, Baronets went 
 above the King's Attorney-General, and the Solicitor-General, 
 the King's Sergeants and Knights of the Bath, the Master 
 of the Ordnance, Masters of the Requests, Gentlemen of 
 the Bedchamber to the King, the Vice-Admiral and Knight 
 Marshal, the Treasurer of the King's Chamber, and Master 
 of the Jewel Office. 
 
 At the funeral of the illustrious Prince Ludowic, Duke 
 of Richmond and Lenox, who was of the royal family, 
 and burled in Westminster Abbey, 19th April 1624, 
 Baronets went immediately after the Chancellor of the 
 Duchy of Lancaster, and their servants accordingly. 
 
 At the funeral of George Monk, Duke of Albemarle, 
 who was buried by His Majesty's order in the chancel of 
 Westminster Abbey, 13th May 1670, Baronets in a body 
 went above the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, 
 the Knights Marshal and King's Cofferer, as also Knights 
 of the Bath ; and themselves immediately next after Sir John 
 Trevat, the principal Secretary of State, and William Pier- 
 point, Esquire, son of the Earl of Kingston, who walked 
 together. 
 
 At the funeral of James i., the Standard of the Crest of 
 Ireland was borne and offered by a Baronet, Sir Thomas 
 Button ; at that of the illustrious Duke before mentioned, 
 in 1624, the Banner of Stewart, quartered, was borne by 
 Sir Robert Napier, Baronet ; and at that of the Duke of 
 Albemarle, Sir Thomas Vincent, Baronet, bore the banner 
 
238 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 of Beauchamp, supported by Sir Edward Bray, Knight, on 
 one side, and Colonel Molesworth on the other. 
 
 At the funeral of H.R.H. Henry Frederick, Duke of 
 Cumberland, in Henry vii. Chapel, Westminster, on the 
 28 th September 1790, the train of the chief mourner 
 (a Duke) was borne by a Baronet. 
 
 In the ceremonial for the public funeral procession of 
 Lord Nelson from Greenwich Hospital to the Admiralty 
 on the 8th January 1806, and on the next day to St. Paul's, 
 Baronets were allotted their place in the procession, as also 
 at the funeral of William Pitt in Westminster Abbey on 
 the 22nd of the following month. 
 
 XI I . A funeral ceremony ' meane betwixt that of a Baron and 
 a Knight^ — The Second Letters Patent of the loth May 
 1 61 2 enacted : — 
 
 * The Baronets and the heirs-males of their bodies shall 
 have two assistants of the body to support the pall, a 
 principal mourner, and four assistants to him at their 
 funerals, being the mean betwixt a Baron and a Knight.' 
 
 XIII. T!he right for all Baronets^ then and in future^ to have 
 Letters Patent under the Great Seal of England to the effect of 
 
 former Letters Patent of creation and of these presents. — This 
 right appears to have been strictly adhered to. 
 
 XIV. T^he Degree of Baronet to be^ and be reputed to be, a 
 Degree of Dignity Hereditary^ mean in place betwixt the Degree 
 of a Baron and the Degree of a Knight. — It does not appear 
 that any suggestion has ever been made to create any 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 239 
 
 hereditary degree since the erection of the Baronetage, 
 and indeed it would be difficult to suggest any useful 
 purpose which would be served by so doing. 
 
 Many new orders of Knighthood have been created in 
 order to confer personal distinction ; but for those deemed 
 worthy of receiving an honour to be transmitted to their 
 offspring, the augmentation in numbers of the already estab- 
 lished six hereditary degrees has been considered sufficient. 
 
 XV. Eldest sons of Baronets to precede eldest sons of all 
 Knights^ whatever their Order ; with similar provisions respect- 
 ing other sons^ etc. — Notwithstanding the fact that Knights 
 of the Garter take precedence of Baronets, yet the eldest 
 sons of the latter take precedence of eldest sons of Knights 
 of the Garter (as such), and consequently of the eldest 
 sons of all other Knights. The younger sons of Baronets 
 take precedence immediately before the younger sons of 
 Knights of the Garter, and consequently before the younger 
 sons of all other Knights. 
 
 XVI. Doubts or questions arising in future concerning preced- 
 ency, privilege, or other matter touching Baronets to be decided 
 according to the rules, custom, and laws of other Degrees of 
 Dignity Hereditary. — This privilege was conferred on the 
 Baronetage by its Royal Founder by his Decree of 161 6, 
 issued five years after the erection of the Degree. In the 
 interval he had settled the very serious dispute which had 
 arisen at the instance of the younger sons of the Viscounts 
 and of the Barons, recorded in Chapter III., and he evidently 
 intended that any future questions relating to the Baronetage 
 
240 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 should be regulated according to the rules, customs, and laws 
 of the Peerage. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, there is not in existence a single 
 tribunal which even claims for itself the right to deal with 
 doubts and questions relating to the sixth hereditary degree, 
 and as a result there has arisen a very serious abuse in the 
 Baronetage of the assumption of the title in many instances 
 by those who have no right whatever to bear it. 
 
 The hostihty of the Baronets to the Order of George in., 
 issued in 1783, that every Baronet should register his pedi- 
 gree in the College of Arms, led, unfortunately, to its revoca- 
 tion. In former times the visitation of the Heralds was to 
 a certain extent a restraint on the unlawful usurpation of 
 any name or title to honour or dignity, as they had the power 
 to reprove, control, and make infamous by Proclamation all 
 such offenders. 
 
 Before any Peer can take his seat in the House of Lords, 
 he has to adduce proper legal proof to that body that he is 
 the person entitled to succeed his predecessor in the title ; 
 but on the death of a Baronet there is no tribunal to prevent 
 an unlawful claimant posing as his successor. Where a 
 Baronet has succeeded to the title held by his father, or 
 uncle, it is not, of course, likely that any one will venture 
 to make himself ridiculous by placing himself in competition 
 for the Dignity. A false assumption of a Baronetcy is, as 
 a rule, made by some one bearing the same name, and usually 
 connected with the family of a Baronetcy, which up to the 
 time of the assumption was supposed to have become extinct 
 through failure of issue. 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 241 
 
 These false assumptions commenced many generations ago, 
 and it is probably no exaggeration to state that many are 
 now wrongfully describing themselves as Baronets who firmly 
 believe they are entitled to do so in consequence of their 
 father, grandfather, or perhaps great-grandfather, having so 
 styled themselves. 
 
 The question of how to deal with these false assumptions 
 is at present under the consideration of the Baronetage. 
 
 XVII. Grants of land in Nova Scotia^ with plenary baronial 
 rights and jurisdiction y and legislative powers, in that plantation. 
 — This has been so fully referred to in the preceding Chapter 
 dealing with the early history of the Baronetage of Scotland 
 and Nova Scotia, that it is unnecessary to do more than state 
 that the following Chapter also contains a reference to the 
 efforts made in 1845 ^7 certain Baronets, whose ancestors 
 had not received their lands, to obtain possession of them 
 more than two centuries later. 
 
 XVIII. Precedency above lesser Barons in Scotland. — The 
 lesser Barons were those persons who had Charters of Barony 
 from the King, i.e. had their lands erected into Baronies. 
 They sat in Parliament until 1585, when they were excused 
 from attendance on condition of sending representatives, 
 a measure which had actually been put on record so far back 
 as 1487. 
 
 The following is a copy of the Charter granting to James 
 
 Colvill the Barony of Culross, bearing date the 20th June 
 
 1589:— 
 
 ' Carta, &c. Jacobi Colvill de Easter Weems, et Haeredibus 
 Masculis de Corpore suo legitime procreatis, seu procreandis, quibus 
 
242 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 deficientibus, propinquioribus et legitimis Hasredibus suis masculis 
 quibusq. cognomen et Arma de Colvill gerent. omnes et singulas 
 terras, dominia, baronias, quae ad Monasterium de Culross, et 
 patrimonium ejusd. juste pertinuerunt, quosquidem omnes et singulas 
 terras annexavimus in unum temporalem baroniam omni tempore 
 afFuturo cum titulo et nomine Baroni^^ de Culross, nuncupandum 
 dando et concedendo memorato Jacobo Colvill, Haeredibus suis 
 masculis et assignatis prescriptis, Titulum, Honorem, et Statum 
 LiBERi Baronis ratione diet, terrarum, simiter et adeo libere sicuti 
 aliquis alius Bard infra Regnum nostrum habuit, habet, vel quovis 
 tempore praecedenti habere poterit. Et volumus quod ille honora- 
 bitur cum Ditione [lie Badge) et Armis Liberi Baronis prout 
 congruit imposterum Baro de Culross appellandus, et quod diet. 
 Jacobus Colvill de Easter Weems, Haeredes et successores sui, 
 Barones de Culross vocabuntur.' 
 
 XIX. Addition of the Arms of Nova Scotia in armorial 
 bearings. — This privilege can be more conveniently referred 
 to in conjunction with the Badge to which Nova Scotia 
 Baronets are entitled, and is therefore dealt with under No. 
 XXI. It may, however, be here pointed out that the Nova 
 Scotia Arms is the addition which the Baronets were to bear 
 on their shields, while the Badge is a personal decoration 
 not granted until four years later. 
 
 XX. Power to Members thereof to sit and vote by deputy in 
 the Scottish Parliament when absent from the Kingdom. — It 
 appears to be uncertain whether this privilege was ever 
 exercised by the Baronets entitled thereto. 
 
 XXI. Right to wear about the neck the Badge of Nova Scotia j 
 suspended by an orange-tawny ribbon. — The distinctive cognis- 
 ance assigned to the Baronets of Scotland was, on the insti- 
 tution of this branch of the Degree, the arms of Nova Scotia, 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 243 
 
 ' Dicti baronetti gererent vel in paludamentis vulgo lie cantoun 
 in thair coatt of airmis, vel in scutis, thair scutcheonis pro 
 suo arbitrio, arma Nove Scotie.' 
 
 It appears from blanks in the early Signatures and Charters 
 that at that date the arms of Nova Scotia had not been 
 decided upon ; but Nisbet, in his work on Heraldry, gives 
 the following description of the arms as granted : — ^Argent, 
 a cross of St, Andrew azure (the badge of Scotland counter- 
 changed), charged with an escutcheon of the royal arms, 
 supported on the dexter by the royal unicorn, and on the 
 sinister by a savage or wild man, proper ; and for the crest, 
 a bunch of laurel and a thistle issuing from two hands con- 
 joined, the one being armed, the other naked, with this 
 motto : " Munit hasc altera vincit." ' 
 
 In 1629, after Nova Scotia had been sold to the French, 
 Charles i. authorised the Baronets of Scotland and their heirs- 
 male to wear and carry about their necks in all time coming 
 an orange-tawny silk ribbon, whereat hung a scutcheon 
 argent, a saltier azure, and thereon an inescutcheon of Scot- 
 land, with an imperial crown above the escutcheon, and 
 encircled with the motto : ' Fax mentis honestas gloria.' 
 
 Nisbet, after giving the above description of the badge, 
 adds : ' The wearing of which badge about the neck was 
 never much used, but carried by way of canton or escutcheon 
 in their armorial bearings without the motto ' — ' by way of 
 canton, dexter, and sinister ; also by way of an inescutcheon. 
 There 's this difference to be observed, when the badge of 
 Nova Scotia is placed in a canton, and when on an in- 
 escutcheon ; in the first, the inescutcheon of Scotland is 
 
244 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 ensigned with the Imperial crown, whereas the canton cannot 
 be ensigned by reason of its position ; in the last, the 
 escutcheon which it contains is ensigned with the imperial 
 crown, and not the inescutcheon contained.' 
 
 Some Baronets add the badge as an extra-scutal appendage 
 to their arms, hanging by its ribbon ; but it cannot be 
 charged on the shield. 
 
 The terms of the royal letter, dated the 17 th November 
 1629, given in full in Chapter IV., were: 'We authorise 
 and allow the said Lewetennent [Sir William Alexander] and 
 Baronettis and everie one of them, and thare heirs male, to 
 weare and carry about their neckis in all time coming, ane 
 orange tauney-silk ribbane, whairon shall hing pendant in a 
 scutchion argent a saltoire azeuer, thairon ane inscutcheeine of 
 the armes of Scotland, with ane imperiall croune above the 
 scutchone, and incircled with this motto, " Fax Mentis 
 Honesty Gloria" : Which cognoissance oure said present 
 Leivetennent shall deliver now to them from ws, that they may 
 be the better knowen and distinguished from other persones.' 
 
 In a very interesting article on ' The Insignia of the 
 Baronets,' which appeared in the Scottish Antiquary for April 
 1898, written by its learned editor, Mr. J. H. Stevenson, 
 F.S.A. Scot., he calls attention to the fact that the King's 
 letter of 1629 does not give the tincture of the oval on 
 which it is placed, but that the general practice in the Office 
 of Lyon King of Arms has been to make it blue. Mr. 
 Stevenson, however, gives three instances where the oval 
 is gold — one being on a portrait in the Parliament House, 
 Edinburgh, and the other two in coats-of-arms in the Lyon 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE DEGREE 245 
 
 Office. He also adds that in an Heraldic manuscript in 
 the Advocates' Library the oval is green. 
 
 The practice of wearing the badge by the Baronets of 
 Scotland and Nova Scotia appears to have fallen into de- 
 suetude ; and in 1775 Lyon King of Arms issued a circular 
 letter to those Baronets of this creation, calling their attention 
 to this fact. As a result, a meeting of the Baronets of Scot- 
 land took place in Edinburgh on the 14th June 1775, a resolu- 
 tion was passed to resume the badge, and the following letter 
 was addressed to the Earl of Suffolk, requesting him to lay 
 the intentions of the Baronets of Scotland before the King : — 
 
 * Edinburgh, June 15, 1775. 
 * My Lord, 
 
 * In consequence of a circular letter from the office of 
 the Lord Lyon King of Arms, directed to the Baronets of Scotland 
 created before the Union, there was yesterday a meeting of the 
 Order held here ; where, from respect to the Crown which conferred 
 these honours, and in justice to their own families, they resolved 
 unanimously to resume the Badge of their Order. 
 
 'They have directed us to inform your Lordship of their proceedings, 
 and to intreat of you to lay their intentions before the best of Sovereigns. 
 ' We have the honour to enclose a copy of the circular letter sent 
 us by the Lyon-office ; an authenticated extract of the Royal 
 Warrant for wearing the Badge of the Order ; and a copy of the 
 minutes of the proceedings of yesterday. 
 
 ' We have the honour to be, 
 ' My Lord, 
 
 ' Your Lordship's most obedient, 
 
 ' And most humble servants, 
 '(Signed) Robert Gordon, Praeses. 
 William Forbes. 
 Home John Dalrymple. 
 Alexander Maxdonald. 
 A. Stirling.' 
 
246 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 The following letter was also sent to Lyon King of 
 Arms : — 
 
 'Edinburgh, June 28, 1775. 
 ' My Lord, 
 
 ' As a Committee of the Baronets of Scotland, who 
 met here on the 14th instant, we have the honour to enclose for your 
 Lordship a copy of the proceedings of the meeting, and of the letter 
 which they wrote to the Earl of Suffolk. 
 
 * In conformity to the orders of the meeting, we also, in the name 
 of it, return our thanks to your Lordship, for the obHging attention 
 which upon this occasion you have shown to the honours of your 
 country ; an attention which, while it flatters us greatly, must also 
 add respect to your Lordship, and an office which we consider as one 
 of the guards of the honours of families. 
 
 ' We have the honour to be with the highest respect, 
 ' My Lord, 
 
 ' Your Lordship's most obedient 
 * And most humble servants, 
 ' (Signed) William Forbes. 
 John Inglis. 
 John Dalrymple. 
 Alexander Dick. 
 John Gordon.' 
 
 The Gentleman's Magazine^ under date 29th November 
 1775, records the result of this resolution : — ' Several Scotch 
 Baronets appeared at Court in the ensigns of an Order which 
 has lain dormant near 150 years. It was originally called 
 "A Nova Scotia Order," and has been lately revived.' 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 LATER HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 In the progress of time, as was only natural, abuses crept 
 into the degree, and pretenders to the dignity from time to 
 time appeared, claiming to be the successors of Baronets, 
 the similarity of their family name affording frequently the 
 sole ground for their assumption of the title. 
 
 Representations were from time to time made to the 
 Crown by the Baronets, with the result that on the 3rd 
 December 1783 a Royal Warrant was issued with a view 
 to correct the most important abuse, namely, the wrongful 
 assumption of the style and title, and prohibiting the in- 
 sertion of the title in any commission, warrant, or appoint- 
 ment thereafter to be issued from any of the Public Offices, 
 without a certificate of the right of the respective parties so 
 using the title being first obtained from the College of 
 Arms. 
 
 This Warrant was published in the London Gazette, 2nd 
 to 6th December 1783, as follows : — ■ 
 
 'College of Arms, Dec"" 6th 1783. 
 
 ' His Majesty has been pleased by Warrant under His Royal 
 Signet and Sign Manual, bearing Date at St. James's the 3rd 
 Instant, to declare and ordain, that, for correcting divers Abuses 
 which have of late Years crept into the Order of Baronets, 
 
 247 
 
248 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 (many Persons having assumed that Title without any just Right) 
 and for preventing the like in future, the Title of Baronet should 
 not, from the Date thereof be inserted in any Commission, Warrant, 
 Appointment, or other instrument, thereafter to be issued to any 
 Person claiming or using the said Title from either of His Majesty's 
 Offices of Secretary of State, or from any other of His Majesty's 
 Offices whatever, until such Person so claiming or using the said 
 Title, or some one on his Behalf, should have proved his Right 
 thereto in His Majesty's College of Arms, and produced a Cer- 
 tificate thereof from the said College, under the Common Seal of 
 that Corporation. 
 
 'And that His Majesty's Secretaries of State for the Time being, 
 should not, from thenceforth, prepare any Warrant to pass under 
 the Royal Signet and Sign Manual, for the purpose of advancing 
 any Person to the Degree of a Baronet of Great Britain, until 
 it should appear, by a proper Certificate, that the Family Arms of 
 the Person so intended to be advanced, together with so much of 
 his Pedigree at least as may be necessary to ascertain the Descent 
 of the Title, should have been duly registered in His Majesty's 
 College of Arms ; and that the Clerk of the Crown for the Time 
 being should transmit all Patents of Baronets, thereafter to be 
 created, as soon as might be after they should have passed the 
 Great Seal, to the Register of the College of Arms, for the Purpose 
 of an authentic Registry thereof in the said College, which Patent, 
 so registered, should be returned to the Clerk of the Crown, for 
 the Use of the Person to whom the same should be granted. 
 
 * Surrey, D. E. M.' 
 
 On the publication of this Warrant, a number of the 
 Baronets, although the step taken was intended for their 
 protection, and made in consequence of the representa- 
 tions of many of their own body, took offence. At a 
 meeting of several Baronets held at the Star and Garter, 
 Pall Mall, on the 12th May 1784, it was resolved that a 
 General Meeting of Baronets of Great Britain should be 
 
LATER HISTORY 249 
 
 held on the 22nd of the same month ; and accordingly on 
 that day fifty-three Baronets attended, with Sir Henry 
 Hoghton in the chair. 
 
 A Resolution was passed electing a Committee of twenty- 
 one Baronets to consider the Warrant of the 3rd December 
 1783, and what steps would be most proper to take there- 
 upon ; and Mr. Joseph Edmondson, Mowbray Herald 
 Extra, was appointed Secretary. 
 
 Accordingly, at a Meeting of the Committee held on the 
 25th May, the Royal Warrant was taken into consideration ; 
 and Sir Henry Hoghton, Sir Harbord Harbord, and Sir 
 George AUanson Winn were appointed to wait on the 
 Deputy Earl Marshal, and request to be informed of the 
 specific abuses alluded to in the Warrant. 
 
 Two days later the Committee met again at their head- 
 quarters, the Star and Garter in Pall Mall, when the 
 deputation informed the Committee that they had waited 
 on Lord Surrey and conversed with him on the subject. 
 
 His Lordship informed them that the Order arose from 
 a representation to him, that several had assumed the title 
 of Baronet who neither themselves nor Ancestors had been 
 so created, that persons got their names inserted as Baronets 
 in Commissions, which were to pass under the King's Sign 
 Manual, and that from such time they assumed the title. 
 
 His Lordship further said he had, from a regard to and a 
 wish to support the Order of Baronets, taken that as the best 
 and most effectual mode in his power to prevent such innova- 
 tions in future, and that he could not inform the Committee 
 of any mode of removing or getting out of the list those 
 
252 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 At a meeting of the Committee held on the 2nd June, 
 it was arranged that Sir Henry Hoghton, Sir Harbord 
 Harbord, and Sir George AUanson Winn should wait upon 
 Lord Surrey, show him a copy of the Petition, and request 
 him to favour them with some plan to be laid before the 
 Committee as should appear to him proper for establishing 
 a Committee of Baronets, who might in conjunction with 
 his Lordship, assisted by the College of Arms, decide upon 
 such disputed claims as might be referred to them, or for 
 any other matters relating to their Order, and to request 
 the attendance of some of his Lordship's Officers, who might 
 inform the Committee in what manner the Baronets' Patents 
 of creation were formerly registered in the College of Arms, 
 and in what manner they were at that time registered. 
 
 Two days later the Committee again met, when Mr. 
 Edmondson, their Secretary, submitted a plan ' for the 
 better regulation of the Order and to prevent the abuses 
 therein.' This was read and ordered to be entered in the 
 Minutes. 
 
 At a meeting on the 8th June, Mr. Heard and Mr. 
 Brooke, Officers of the College of Arms, attended by order 
 of the Deputy Earl Marshal, and were asked several 
 questions ; but not being fully prepared with answers, they 
 were desired to attend the next Committee, and at the 
 meeting on the 1 1 th June they accordingly attended and 
 laid several papers before the Committee for their con- 
 sideration. 
 
 A General Meeting of the Baronets was held on the 
 29th June 1784, at which it was resolved the Petition to 
 
LATER HISTORY 253 
 
 the King should be delivered as soon as convenient, also 
 that fair copies should be made for each Secretary of State, 
 and that a paper setting forth the inconveniences of the 
 Earl Marshal's Order, as also the request of the Baronets 
 for a mode to be established by them for the better 
 regulation of the Order, be given to each Minister, 
 
 A considerable number of meetings of the Committee 
 was held ; and at a General Meeting of Baronets held on 
 the 19th February 1785, Sir Harbord Harbord read the 
 following letter from Lord Sydney, received by him that 
 morning : — 
 
 ' Lord Sydney presents his compliments to Sir Harbord Harbord, 
 and in return to the Petition delivered to him by Sir Harbord 
 Harbord, Sir Edward Astley and Sir George Allanson Winn has the 
 honor of acquainting him that there will be no difficulty in recalling 
 the Proclamation of which the Baronets complain, that the King's 
 Servants will be ready to consider of any plan of a Court of Honour 
 or Committee to be established consisting of a number of their own 
 Order to prevent the title of Baronet being assumed by those who 
 have not a right to it. But with regard to the wearing a Badge as 
 an Hereditary Order, many objections have been raised to it, and it 
 seems by no means agreeable to many of the Order of Baronets 
 themselves, so that it will be impossible to comply with that part of 
 the Petition.' 
 
 The following resolutions were then passed : — ' That the 
 Committee be empowered to take such measures as they 
 shall find necessary to obtain the immediate repeal of the 
 Order of the Deputy Earl Marshal of the 6th December 
 1783'; also, 'That the Committee be empowered to take 
 such further steps as they shall think prudent relative to the 
 other parts of their petition.' 
 
2 54 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 As a result of this movement, the following Order was 
 issued : — 
 
 ' College of Arms, 
 
 'February 28, 1785. 
 
 'Whereas it hath been represented to His Majesty, that some 
 inconveniences have arisen in carrying into execution part of the 
 regulations contained in His Majesty's Warrant of the 3rd of 
 December 1783 relative to the Order of Baronets His Majesty hath 
 been graciously pleased by another Warrant under His Royal Signet 
 and Sign Manual bearing date the 24th instant to suspend the 
 several Regulations contained in the above-mentioned Warrant of 
 the 3rd December 1783 except the clause v^^hich relates to such 
 Persons as shall have been or may be created Baronets after the date 
 of the said Warrant of the 3rd of December 1783 till such other 
 Regulations in this matter shall be adopted as may not be attended 
 with such inconveniences. 
 
 'Surrey, D. E. M.' 
 
 The prayer for the personal decoration of the Baronets, 
 in addition to the badge enjoyed by the Baronets of Scotland 
 and Nova Scotia, was therefore not complied with, one 
 reason being that it would have tended to reduce in value 
 personal distinctions awarded for public services, naval, 
 military, or civil. 
 
 It is recorded in a manuscript book of collections in 
 Heralds' College that Sir Thomas Frankland, Baronet, 
 when upon a mission at the Court of Lisbon, wore as a 
 badge, suspended by a ribbon of three colours, the bloody 
 hand of Ulster enamelled on a white field, and set round 
 with diamonds. This badge is now in the possession of Mrs. 
 Frankland-Russell-Astley of Chequers Court, Buckingham- 
 shire, who has also a similar one set round with coloured 
 
LATER HISTORY 
 
 "^SS 
 
 stones. It is said Sir Thomas wore the badge appended to 
 his button-hole by a twisted ribbon of three different colours, 
 namely, blue, green, and red. 
 
 As long ago as 1627, the Baronets, in conjunction with 
 the Knights Bachelors, endeavoured to obtain a declaration or 
 order from the King that they should wear a distinctive badge 
 upon their bodies to distinguish one Order from another, and 
 give to each respect proper and reverence correspondent. 
 
 With this object in view they approached Henry Rich, 
 Earl of Holland, who was Captain of the King's Guard, and 
 the representation set forth in substance that, as the honour 
 of Knighthood in divers degrees, with some additions of title 
 and perpetuity thereof, had been, and was, daily imparted 
 from His Royal Majesty to worthy persons and families 
 within his realm of England and Ireland ; ' and as divers 
 were supposed surreptitiously to assume that honour never 
 really conferred by His Majesty, so it seemeth a thing very 
 consonant and much to be desired that His Majesty would 
 be pleased, for a more eminent manifestation of his Royal 
 greatness, and for the discoverie of the aforesaid surrepti- 
 tious assumers, to institute and appoint some distinctive 
 Badge to be worn and carried by all Baronets and other 
 Knights upon their bodies, in such eminent manner and 
 with such diff^erence of the matter and colour of the said 
 Badge, or of the ribband or other thing wherein it shall 
 be borne, or that every man who shall behold and see any 
 such honoured person, may presently discover his degree 
 and title of honour,' 
 
 A cross of gold was suggested as most fitting, and reasons 
 
256 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 for the same assigned ; and further, that those taking the 
 said badge should have precedence of all who might refuse 
 to take the same, though they should subsequently take it ; 
 and that no such distinguished Baronet or Knight should 
 have his person arrested without being first called before 
 the Earl Marshal to answer the complaint against him. 
 
 As a result of the appeal made to him, the Earl of 
 Holland addressed the following letter to the Officers of 
 Arms : — 
 
 *To my very Loving Friends Sir Richard St. George and Sir 
 John Borough, Knights, and the rest of His Majesty's Officers of 
 Arms — or to so many of them as are in town at receipt hereof. 
 
 ' HOLLANDE.' 
 
 * After my hearty commendations unto you — 
 
 ' Whereas there hath been a proposition made unto me to move 
 His Majesty to declare His Royal pleasure by proclamation that 
 all Baronets and Knights Bachelors should wear several Orders in 
 Ribands of several colours to distinguish one Order from another, 
 and both from persons of inferior quality, in such sort as the 
 Knights of the Bath by His Majesty's commandment at this time 
 do, I have thought fit to recommend the same to your considera- 
 tion, who are best able to judge of matters of this nature, and to 
 entreat your opinion of the fitness and conveniency thereof on His 
 Majesty's behalf and that of his subjects. 
 
 'Whereon desiring your Answer with all convenient speed, I 
 bid you heartily farewell and rest. 
 
 ' Your very loving friend, 
 
 ' HoLLANDE. 
 
 * Whitehall, 29th June, 1627.' 
 
 To this letter the Officers of Arms sent the following 
 reply : — 
 
LATER HISTORY 257 
 
 'To the Right Hon. our very good Lord Henry Earl of Holland, 
 at the Court. 
 
 * Right Honourable and our very good Lord, 
 
 ' Whereas Your Lordship w^as pleased by your Letter of the 
 29th of June last past (inscribed to us Sir George St. George and 
 Sir John Borough, Knights, and the rest of His Majesty's Officers 
 of Arms, or unto so many of them as were then in town), to 
 recommend unto our consideration a Proposition made unto Your 
 Lordship to move His Majesty to declare His Royal pleasure by 
 proclamation that all Baronets and Knights Bachelors should wear 
 several Orders in Ribands of several colours to distinguish one 
 Order from another, and both from persons of inferior quality, in 
 such sort as the Knights of the Bath by His Majesty's Command- 
 ment at this time do, and to entreat our opinion of the fitness and 
 conveniency thereof on His Majesty's behalf, and that of his 
 subjects, and hereon declare our answer with all convenient speed, 
 which Letter being delivered unto Mr. Henry St. George, 
 Richmond Herald, upon Saturday, being the 7th of this instant 
 July, we whose names are hereunto subscribed (the rest of our 
 Society being out of town) were forthwith assembled at our usual 
 place of meeting in the Office of Arms, and having with as much 
 deliberation and maturity as the shortness of time would permit, 
 taken into our consideration the premises, we do most humbly 
 Certify unto your Lordship as followeth, — 
 
 'As touching differences, and marks upon robes or in apparel, 
 for distinguishing of degrees and orders, we find the same not 
 only frequent among other nations, but by the ancient usages and 
 customs of this Realm, as time and place required, to have been 
 formerly observed in England. For so were, and yet are, the 
 degrees of Princes, Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and 
 Barons, distinguished by the number of barrs on their robes among 
 the greater nobility ; And for Distinction of Orders, the Knights 
 of the Garter were formerly distinguished from others, by their 
 George and Garter^ and not long since by their Blue Riband added 
 unto the former. So likewise were Knights (now called Bachelors) 
 anciently known by their Belts, their Collar of S.S. of Gold, their 
 
 R 
 
258 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 gilded Spurs, and Swords ; and Esquires by their Collar and Spurs 
 of Silver. The Knights of the Bath have also lately been dis- 
 tinguished from other Knights by their Carnation Riband and 
 Jew^el appendent. Of all which v^^e find not that any one so w^orn 
 hath at any time been held or considered as unfit or inconvenient 
 either to the King or subject, but taken and esteemed as a peculiar 
 mark of sovereignty in the giver, and an eminent token of Honor 
 in the receiver, — some of them having been by public Acts of 
 Parliament allowed, and none of them (for ought we know) con- 
 demned by any. And that formerly all Estates, by their differences 
 in apparel, were thought fit to be distinguished according to their 
 Estates pre-eminences, Dignities, and Degrees, is clearly expressed 
 in the preamble to the Statute on Apparel, 24 Hen. viii. cap. 4. — 
 ' The consideration whereof showeth us to be of opinion that 
 if there were respective Ornaments worn for the distinction of 
 the Degree of a Baronet, and the Order of Knights-Bachelors, 
 it would no way be unfit or inconvenient either to His Majesty or 
 to His Subjects. But whether His Majesty's pleasure in this behalf 
 should be declared by proclamation, or what the marks of difference 
 in these cases should be, we must, as in duty bound, humbly leave 
 the same to the consideration of His Majesty. 
 
 ' All which by way of answer to your honourable Letter we do 
 in all humbleness Certify, and remain your Lordship's most humbly 
 to be commanded. 
 
 ' Ri. St. George, Clarencieux. 
 
 Jo. Borough, Norroy. 
 
 Wm. Penson, Lancaster. 
 
 Hen. St. George, Richmond. 
 
 Hen. Chittinge, Chester. 
 
 Jo. Philpot, Somerset. 
 'At the Office of Arms, 
 i6th July, 1627.' 
 
 On the 15th December following, Sir Robert Heath, the 
 Attorney-General, wrote to Sir William Segar, King of 
 Arms, as follows : — 
 
LATER HISTORY 259 
 
 *SlR, 
 
 ' I understand that about July last yourself and the rest of the 
 Heralds, or some of your Society, made a Certificate to his Majesty 
 concerning the Baronets etc. — I have received lately a Command- 
 ment from the King concerning that business ; and as I shall have 
 use of the said Certificate for his Majesty's service, I pray you make 
 me a copy thereof with all convenient speed. 
 
 ' So with my love and service to yourself 
 
 ' I remain your very loving friend 
 
 * Ro. Heath. 
 '15 December 1627.' 
 
 It does not appear, however, that the King was advised to 
 comply with the request, as no Order was made, nor any 
 badge, ornament, or vestments assigned to either the 
 Baronets or the Knights. 
 
 After the second unsuccessful attempt to obtain a badge 
 made at the same time, the Baronets were successful in their 
 application that the terms of the Royal Warrant of the 
 3rd December 1783 should be rescinded, no further movement 
 was made by the Baronetage until 1834, when Mr. Richard 
 Broun, heir-apparent to Sir James Broun of Colstoun, 
 Haddingtonshire, a Baronet of Scotland and Nova Scotia, 
 already referred to as having at a meeting of Baronets 
 assumed knighthood on the honour being refused him 
 when claimed, revived all the questions relating to the 
 privileges of the Degree. 
 
 After a conference with his friends in the Baronetage, 
 Mr. Broun issued a short statement of the original institu- 
 tion of the Degree, dated the 9th August 1834, to which 
 was annexed a private Circular intimating that it was put 
 
26o A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 forward by a few members of the Baronetage desirous of a 
 revival of the rights and privileges which had fallen into 
 disuse. The Circular also requested the recipients to com- 
 municate whether they would take part in the proceedings 
 either personally or by proxy. 
 
 As a result of this Circular and further correspondence, a 
 preliminary Meeting of Baronets was held at the Clarendon 
 Hotel, Bond Street, London, on the 26th May 1835. The 
 proceedings commenced by Sir Charles Cockerell, Baronet, 
 M.P. for Evesham, expressing the hope that the circum- 
 stance of his having been one of the Baronets who had taken 
 an interest in originating the measures before the Meeting, 
 would be considered as an apology for taking a lead in the 
 proceedings. He then proposed that Sir Francis Shuckburgh, 
 the senior Baronet present, should preside upon the occasion, 
 which was unanimously approved. 
 
 Sir Francis Shuckburgh having taken the chair, observed 
 that the object of the meeting over which unexpectedly he 
 had the honour to preside was, as stated in the second para- 
 graph of the Circular convening it, for the purpose of 
 taking into consideration a case that had been prepared to 
 establish, by charter and other documentary evidence, the 
 right of the Order to enjoy the style of ' The Honourable,' 
 the conjunct dignities of ' Knight & Baronet,' to wear the 
 Collar of S.S., etc., to bear Supporters, etc., and to deter- 
 mine what further steps should be adopted for the revival of 
 their privileges ; also to take into consideration a proposal 
 which would be submitted for petitioning His Majesty to 
 grant that the Ulster Badge might be worn upon the person. 
 
LATER HISTORY 261 
 
 Sir Francis then requested Mr. Broun to read the Case 
 referred to in the Circular. 
 
 After a few prehminary remarks, in which he referred to 
 the number of Baronets who were in sympathy with the 
 movement, Mr. Broun read the Case which he had prepared, 
 the object of which, as stated in the preamble, was by 
 adducing in detail from official records, ancient manuscripts, 
 and the writings of genealogical and heraldic authorities, 
 extracts and notices corroborative of their truth, to establish 
 seriatim the accuracy of the conclusions arrived at. 
 
 The^^Case stated that the Inquiry divided itself into four 
 branches : — 
 
 I. To establish the right of the Baronets, individually 
 and conjunctly, to enjoy the honorary epithet of 
 'The Honourable,' 
 
 1. To prove that the Baronetage is, like the Peerage, a 
 union of Dignities ; and that the members of it 
 are entitled to enjoy the style of * Knight & 
 Baronet,' together with the immunities and insignia 
 pertaining to both. 
 
 3. To prove that the Baronetage, in right of its being 
 
 a conjunct Dignity, is privileged to wear the 
 Collar of S.S,, etc. 
 
 4. To show that the Baronetage are entitled to bear 
 
 Supporters, Coronets, etc. 
 
 It is not necessary to give any extracts from the Case, as 
 the various points raised in it have either already been 
 referred to in preceding chapters, or will be mentioned later 
 
26o A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 forward by a few members of the Baronetage desirous of a 
 revival of the rights and privileges which had fallen into 
 disuse. The Circular also requested the recipients to com- 
 municate whether they would take part in the proceedings 
 either personally or by proxy. 
 
 As a result of this Circular and further correspondence, a 
 preliminary Meeting of Baronets was held at the Clarendon 
 Hotel, Bond Street, London, on the 26th May 1835, The 
 proceedings commenced by Sir Charles Cockerell, Baronet, 
 M.P. for Evesham, expressing the hope that the circum- 
 stance of his having been one of the Baronets who had taken 
 an interest in originating the measures before the Meeting, 
 would be considered as an apology for taking a lead in the 
 proceedings. He then proposed that Sir Francis Shuckburgh, 
 the senior Baronet present, should preside upon the occasion, 
 which was unanimously approved. 
 
 Sir Francis Shuckburgh having taken the chair, observed 
 that the object of the meeting over which unexpectedly he 
 had the honour to preside was, as stated in the second para- 
 graph of the Circular convening it, for the purpose of 
 taking into consideration a case that had been prepared to 
 establish, by charter and other documentary evidence, the 
 right of the Order to enjoy the style of ' The Honourable,' 
 the conjunct dignities of ' Knight & Baronet,' to wear the 
 Collar of S.S., etc., to bear Supporters, etc., and to deter- 
 mine what further steps should be adopted for the revival of 
 their privileges ; also to take into consideration a proposal 
 which would be submitted for petitioning His Majesty to 
 grant that the Ulster Badge might be worn upon the person. 
 
LATER HISTORY 261 
 
 Sir Francis then requested Mr. Broun to read the Case 
 referred to in the Circular. 
 
 After a few preHminary remarks, in which he referred to 
 the number of Baronets who were in sympathy with the 
 movement, Mr. Broun read the Case which he had prepared, 
 the object of which, as stated in the preamble, was by 
 adducing in detail from official records, ancient manuscripts, 
 and the writings of genealogical and heraldic authorities, 
 extracts and notices corroborative of their truth, to establish 
 seriatim the accuracy of the conclusions arrived at. 
 
 The^Case stated that the Inquiry divided itself into four 
 branches : — 
 
 I . To establish the right of the Baronets, individually 
 and conjunctly, to enjoy the honorary epithet of 
 ' The Honourable.' 
 
 1. To prove that the Baronetage is, like the Peerage, a 
 union of Dignities ; and that the members of it 
 are entitled to enjoy the style of ' Knight & 
 Baronet,' together with the immunities and insignia 
 pertaining to both. 
 
 3. To prove that the Baronetage, in right of its being 
 
 a conjunct Dignity, is privileged to wear the 
 Collar of S.S., etc. 
 
 4. To show that the Baronetage are entitled to bear 
 
 Supporters, Coronets, etc. 
 
 It is not necessary to give any extracts from the Case, as 
 the various points raised in it have either already been 
 referred to in preceding chapters, or will be mentioned later 
 
262 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 on. At the conclusion of Mr. Broun's reading, the Chair- 
 man expressed the strong sense which he entertained of the 
 satisfactory and conclusive nature of the evidence adduced in 
 support of the rights and privileges of the Baronetage ; and 
 eventually a resolution was passed for convening a General 
 Meeting of Baronets on the 22nd June following to pass 
 resolutions declaratory of the intention of the Degree to 
 reserve the rights and privileges pertaining to the Baronetage, 
 which had fallen into disuse, and also to petition the Crown 
 that the Ulster Badge should be worn upon the person. 
 
 A Provisional Committee was appointed, Mr. Richard 
 Broun being requested to act as its Honorary Secretary ; 
 and a subscription list was opened. 
 
 As a result, two petitions were presented to the King, set- 
 ting forth the grounds on which the Baronets claimed to have 
 prefixed to their names the style of ' Honourable,' praying 
 for grants of Supporters to their arms, vestments, and other 
 decorations of estate, and a distinctive badge; also to hold 
 a Chapter. 
 
 These petitions were eventually referred to the College of 
 Arms through the Earl Marshal, who, after consideration, 
 issued the following Report : — 
 
 * Report of the College of Arms upon the Petition of certain 
 Baronets of England, Scotland, and Ireland and of the 
 United Kingdom, addressed to His Majesty King William iv., 
 and through the Earl Marshal referred to the consideration 
 of the College of Arms, 29 August, 1835. 
 
 'College of Arms, 31st October, 1835. 
 *My Lord Duke, 
 
 'The Members of this College, assembled in Chapter, 
 
LATER HISTORY 263 
 
 having, in obedience to your Grace's commands, signified in your 
 letter of the 29th of August last, transmitting two Petitions 
 addressed to the King by certain Baronets of England, Scotland, 
 Ireland, and of the United Kingdom, taken the same and the 
 accompanying Papers and Drawings into their consideration, have 
 the honour to report to your Grace their opinion thereon. 
 
 ' The Prayer of one of these Petitions is, that his Majesty would 
 be pleased to direct and command the proper Officers, 
 
 * istly. To receive, consider, and report to his Majesty upon 
 
 the evidence to be produced in support of the claim of the 
 Petitioners to the style of" The Honourable'''* : 
 
 * 2ndly. To issue His Royal Warrant to Garter King of Arms, 
 
 and his fraternity, to assign Supporters to all Baronets : 
 '■ 3rdly. To issue a similar Warrant to the Master of the Robes, 
 or other proper Officer, to assign to the Petitioners appro- 
 priate Vestments and other Decorations of Estate^ in virtue 
 of their conjunct dignities of Baronet and Knight, 
 according to the relation of the Order to the Orders of 
 Nobility, and the principle laid down in the final decree 
 in 1 61 6, of King James the First : 
 
 * 4thly. To approve the formation of a Chapter of Baronets for 
 
 the regulation of the Order by statutes to be prepared by 
 the Petitioners, and afterwards submitted for His Majesty's 
 royal approval and sanction. 
 
 'The Prayer of the other Petition is — 
 
 *That His Majesty would be pleased, by His Royal Warrant, 
 to grant permission to the Petitioners to wear, with an 
 appropriate ribbon suspended on their persons, when they 
 approach the Royal Presence (as usual with all other 
 degrees in the State similarly privileged) the Badge which 
 was conferred upon their ancestors by the illustrious 
 Founder of their Honours. 
 
 ' I. In regard to the claim of the Petitioners to be styled " The 
 Honourable " — 
 
 * We beg leave to observe that the evidence, adduced in the 
 
264 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 subjoined case of the Petitioners, in support of the allegation, " That 
 the Order of Baronets did, before as well as subsequently to the 
 Revolution, enjoy such style, though it has now fallen into disuse," 
 and consisting of instances of the attribution of such style in printed 
 Books, Deeds, Letters, Monumental Inscriptions, and elsewhere, 
 cannot be received as authority for the same. If Baronets have 
 been so addressed on the occasions mentioned, such address has 
 been no more warranted by authority than when the same style 
 has been applied to Field Officers in the army and others, and been, 
 in such cases, an evident infringement on the style which is given 
 by courtesy to the sons of Earls, Viscounts, and Barons, whilst the 
 style, place, and precedence of Baronets were definitely fixed by 
 the Decree of King James the First, to be after the younger sons 
 of Viscounts and Barons. 
 
 * The style of " The Honourable ' is given to the yudges and to the 
 'Barons of the Exchequer^ with others ; because, by the Decree of 
 the loth of King James the First, for settling the place and pre- 
 cedency of the Baronets, the Judges, and Barons of the Exchequer, 
 as well as others therein mentioned, were declared to have place and 
 precedence before the younger sons of Viscounts and Barons. 
 
 ' But the Patents of Baronets, having expressly designated and 
 fixed what their style shall be, viz. that the appellation of "iS/r" 
 shall be prefixed to their Christian names, and that of *' Baronet" 
 added to their surnames, we humbly conceive that no other appella- 
 tion was intended by the Founder of the Order to be given to them ; 
 and that the style of " The Honourable^'^ if conceded, would create 
 such confusion, and interfere with and intrench upon the privilege 
 which courtesy has assigned to the sons of Peers of the Realm, and 
 others adverted to. 
 
 ' 2. On the arguments for conceding to the Baronets the privilege 
 of bearing Supporters to their arms — 
 
 ' We have the honour to observe, with reference to the four 
 grounds upon which the claim to such Privilege is stated by the 
 Petitioners to rest — 
 
 * I. That the Letters Patent of King James the First, and 
 Charles the First, do not contain, as inferred in the case 
 
LATER HISTORY 265 
 
 of the Petitioners, any direction whatever, positive or 
 implied, upon the point in question : 
 
 *2. That the Provision, cited from the Decree of the lOth 
 James the First, for ordering and adjudging any question 
 that might thereafter arise touching the privileges or 
 other matters concerning Baronets, according to the usual 
 rules, customs, and laws by which matters concerning 
 other degrees of dignity hereditary are ordered and 
 adjudged, could not have contemplated any question con- 
 cerning the bearing of Supporters, the right to which was 
 then limited to the Peers of the Realm and the Knights 
 of the Garter : 
 
 * 3. That the exceptions to the general rule, by which the 
 bearing of Supporters is now limited to the Peers of the 
 Realm, the Knights of His Majesty's Orders, and the 
 Proxies of Princes of the Blood Royal at Installations, 
 have been, by the especial grace and favour of the Crown, 
 either in reward of eminent services and merits, or upon 
 consideration of the weight of which the Sovereign alone, 
 as the Fountain of Honour, has the right of judging. 
 
 « We do not feel it necessary to offer any observations upon 
 the practice referred to under this head, in the case of the 
 granting Supporters to Baronets by the Lord Lyon King 
 of Arms in Scotland, which, not being founded, so far as 
 we are apprized, upon any authority emanating from the 
 Crown, can surely not be adduced as examples for imita- 
 tion in this part of the United Kingdom. 
 
 'The assertion, in the case of the Petitioners, "that the 
 Charters of the Royal Founders of their Order expressly 
 and specially warrant and empower the King of Arms to 
 assign Supporters and a peculiar Coronet or Cap of Estate 
 to the Baronets," requires no comment ; as, upon refer- 
 ence to the Letters Patent cited, they are found to 
 contain no words which could bear that construction. 
 
 '4. That the grants of Supporters to the Knights Grand 
 Crosses of the Order of the Bath, which are founded upon 
 
266 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 a statute of that Order, upon its Institution in 1725, being 
 for special, military, naval, and diplomatic services, and a 
 personal distinction, and coupled with a personal decora- 
 tion by the hands of the Sovereign, cannot be considered 
 as a precedent for perpetuating that Distinction in the 
 Families of Baronets, although they have a higher place 
 in the Tables of Precedency. 
 
 ' If the right to such honourable distinction were to be deter- 
 mined by Precedency, the younger sons of Peers, and the 
 Judges and others, who by the Decree above referred to 
 have higher place than those younger sons, and conse- 
 quently take precedence of Baronets and Knights Grand 
 Crosses of the Bath, would, upon the same principle, have 
 a claim thereto : and the Privilege, if conceded upon such 
 ground, would come to be so diffused and common as to 
 render it of little value to those who, by ancient usage, or 
 by especial Grace and Favour of the Crown, are now or 
 may become entitled thereto. 
 
 ' Finally, we beg leave to remark, upon this part of the case 
 of the Petitioners, that the armorial Distinctions of the 
 Baronets are clearly defined by the Decree of the loth of 
 James the First, before cited, which declares that they 
 shall bear, either in a canton in their coat of arms, or in 
 an inescocheon, at their election, the Arms of Ulster^ a 
 privilege which was afterwards set forth in the Letters 
 Patent of Creation of Baronets down to the present time. 
 
 ' 3. The claim of the Petitioners to Vestments and other Decora- 
 tions of Estate is stated, in their case, to rest partly upon the Charters 
 of the Royal Founders of their Order, viz. "that Baronets shall be 
 ordered and adjudged, in all matters, as the other degrees oi dignity 
 hereditary are ordered and adjudged," and partly " upon the usual 
 rules, customs, and laws for place, precedence, and privilege," and 
 the circumstance "that all the various degrees of dignity personal 
 have had assigned to them Vestments of Estate." 
 
 ' Upon this claim we humbly submit that neither do the Charters 
 or Letters Patent referred to bear out this assertion, nor is there 
 
LATER HISTORY 267 
 
 any analogy established, in the case of the Petitioners, between a 
 supposed right to particular Vestments of Estate, in virtue of their 
 dignity, and the rights of the Peers of Parliament to Robes of 
 Estate and parliamentary, or the rights of the Knights of the Royal 
 Orders to particular Robes under the Statutes of the Orders to 
 which they respectively belong. 
 
 'The '■^ other Decorations of Estate'''' alluded to, are enumerated in 
 the case of the Petitioners, and delineated in the accompanying 
 drawings, as follows : — 
 
 *"i. The Baronets claim the right of wearing a dark-green 
 dress^ as the appropr'iate costume pertaining to them as 
 Equites Aurat'i. 
 
 2. The Collar of SS. 
 
 3. The Belt. 
 
 4. The Scarf. 
 
 5. A Star. 
 
 6. A Pennon. 
 
 7. A White Hat and Plume of White Feathers. 
 
 8. The Thumb Ring and Signet. 
 
 9. The Sword, Gilt Spurs, &c." 
 
 This claim purports to be founded upon the clause heretofore con- 
 tained in Patents granting the dignity of Baronet, whereby the 
 King, in pursuance of an ordinance to that effect contained in the 
 final decree before referred to of the loth of James the ist, cove- 
 nanted and granted to and with the person advanced to the dignity 
 that His Majesty, his heirs and successors, would immediately after 
 the passing of the same create and make the Grantee, being of full 
 age, a Knight, and also confer the same honour upon his first-born 
 Son or Heir male apparent, being of full age, upon Notice given to 
 the Chamberlain or Vice-Chamberlain of the Royal Household for the 
 time being. 
 
 'This promise and grant were revoked, determined and made 
 void, by Letters Patent dated the 19th December in the 8th year 
 of His late Majesty King George iv., with respect to all Letters 
 Patent for the creation of Baronets to be granted after that date ; 
 
268 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 saving, of course, the rights and privileges then by law^ belonging 
 to any Baronet, 
 
 ' Upon a reference to the Record of Knights it appears that, in 
 pursuance of the Ordinance in question, thirteen Baronets w^ere (in 
 order, probably, to place them on the same footing with others who 
 had been knighted previously to their advancement to the Baronet- 
 age, and to enable them to use the same style of " Knight and 
 Baronet ") knighted by King James the First within the two years 
 following the date of the Ordinance ; and we find no instance of 
 such knighthood during the remainder of that and the whole of the 
 succeeding reign. 
 
 * Without entering, therefore, into a discussion how far "the 
 Decorations of Estate " claimed by the Petitioners are to be classed 
 amongst the appendages of Knights Bachelors, or considering the 
 numerous objections applying to the Drawings of Decorations 
 accompanying the Petition, we shall only beg leave to observe that 
 the allegation, reiterated throughout the case of the Petitioners, that 
 Baronets are seized of "the conjunct dignities of Baronet and 
 Knight," is not supported by historical fact ; Knighthood being 
 a strictly personal honour, conferred only by the Sovereign or his 
 Lieutenant or Commissioner, or by Letters Patent under the Great 
 Seal. 
 
 ' 4. Upon the prayer of the Petitioners that there may be formed 
 *'« Chapter of Baronets for the regulation of the Order by Statutes 
 to be prepared by them and submitted for His Majesty's approval." 
 
 * It is our humble opinion that the Baronetage being an herditary 
 dignity, whose privileges are already clearly defined and established 
 by the several Letters Patent and other Acts of the Crown by 
 which they are governed, as well as set forth and recited in every 
 Patent conferring the honour, there does not appear to us to be any 
 necessity for assimilating them to the Royal Orders of Knighthood 
 by constituting them a capitular body. 
 
 ' With reference to the Petition praying that the Baronets may 
 wear suspended by a ribbon on their persons "M^ 'Badge conferred 
 upon their ancestors^"* we submit the following remarks : — 
 
 ' There is not any record of a Badge having been, as here assumed, 
 
LATER HISTORY 269 
 
 conferred upon the Baronets of England, Ireland, Great Britain, or 
 the United Kingdom, who by their Patents are to "bear either in 
 a canton in their coat of arms, or in an escutcheon, at their pleasure, 
 the arms of Ulster (to wit) a Hand Gules or a Bloody Hand in a 
 Field Argent." 
 
 'This distinction is purely armorial ; and the option of bearing 
 the Arms of Ulster, on a canton or upon an escutcheon in their 
 coat of arms ^ was given only in reference to the possible description 
 of heraldic charges which might render the one mode of displaying 
 the added bearing more convenient than the other. That this is 
 the true construction of the Ordinance is evident from the practice 
 which has always obtained, of placing the Ulster Arms either in 
 canton, or in an escutcheon on a chief, or in the body of the coat 
 of arms. 
 
 'King Charles the First having thought fit, for the advancement 
 of the Plantation of Nova Scotia, to extend, in 1625, the Order of 
 Baronets, by creating Baronets of Scotland, the Patents of creation 
 granted thereupon were precisely in the same phraseology, in regard 
 to the style, place, precedency, and other privileges, as those of the 
 Patents of Baronet granted by his royal predecessor ; but with 
 different armorial distinctions, the Baronets of Scotland being 
 directed to bear, as an addition to their arms, either on canton or 
 inescutcheon at their option the Ensign of Nova Scotia being 
 Argent the ancient Arms of Scotland upon a Saltire Azure sup- 
 ported on the dexter by the Royal Unicorn and on the sinister 
 by a Savage proper, and for the crest a Branch of Laurel and a 
 Thistle issuing from two hands conjoined, the one being armed 
 the other naked, with this motto, "Munit haec et altera vincit." 
 And we have no evidence of any Ordinance having been issued, 
 between 1625 ^'^^ the date of the Union, for altering the mode so 
 prescribed of distinguishing the Arms of Baronets of Scotland. 
 
 'It appears that King Charles, by his Royal Warrant of 17 
 November 1629, without reference, however, to his prior Ordinance 
 in regard to this armorial distinction, was pleased to grant a part 
 of it in the form of a Badge to Sir William Alexander, His Majesty's 
 Lieutenant in Nova Scotia, and the Baronets so created " for the 
 
270 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 better advancement of the Plantation of New Scotland," and their 
 heirs male, permitting them to wear about the neck " an orange- 
 tawny silk Ribbon whereon shall hang pendent in an Inescutcheon 
 Argent a Saltire Azure thereon an Inescutcheon of the Arms of 
 Scotland with an Imperial Crown above the Scutcheon and in- 
 circled with this motto : * Fax mentis Honestae Gloria ' ; which 
 cognisance His Majesty ordains his said then Lieutenant shall 
 deliver to them, ' that they may be the better known and distin- 
 guished from other persons.' " 
 
 ' The Warrant also ordains that " from time to time, as occasion 
 of granting or renewing their patents, or their heirs succeeding to 
 the dignity, shall offer, the said power to them to carry the said 
 Ribbon and cognisance, shall be therein particularly granted and 
 inserted ' ; but we do not find, upon examining such Patents of 
 Baronets of Scotland, after the date of the said Royal Warrant, as 
 we have had the opportunity of inspecting, that the direction to 
 grant and insert in subsequent Patents the permission to wear such 
 Ribbon and Badge was complied with. It may therefore be ques- 
 tionable whether the distinction of a Badge so granted by that Royal 
 Warrant was not intended to be limited to those upon whom the 
 honour had been conferred in reward for their exertions in the 
 settlement of the Colony of New Scotland. 
 
 ' It is undoubtedly in the power of His Majesty, in his wisdom 
 and in the exercise of his Royal Prerogative, to assign to Baronets, 
 Knights, and any other class of his subjects a Badge, in imitation of 
 the grant made by his Royal Predecessor King Charles the First to 
 the Baronets of Scotland : but we humbly submit how far an 
 hereditary personal decoration in the nature of a Ribbon and Badge 
 (which, if conferred upon the Baronets, would at once decorate 
 upwards of 900 persons, and entail such decoration upon the heirs 
 male of their bodies for ever), would not be an anomaly in this 
 country where personal decorations have been hitherto received only 
 from the hands of the Sovereign by the Knights and Members of 
 his Royal Orders, or by Individuals who have been honoured with 
 medals in commemoration of eminent services rendered to the 
 State. 
 
LATER HISTORY 271 
 
 'To this observation we may be permitted to add that, in the 
 year 1784, a Petition, having a similar object, was presented to His 
 late Majesty King George the Third ; but it does not appear that 
 His Majesty was pleased to accede to the prayer thereof. 
 ' By order of Chapter, 
 
 ' Chas. Geo. Young, 
 * To His Grace York Herald and Register. 
 
 ' The Earl Marshal, 
 * &c., &c., &c.' 
 
 As a consequence of this Report, the prayer of the peti- 
 tioners was not conceded by the Crown, notwithstanding 
 which Mr. Broun and the Baronets associated with him 
 persevered in their endeavours. 
 
 The Committee of Baronets took into special considera- 
 tion so much of the Report of the Officers of Arms as related 
 to the Badge, and submitted for the consideration of the 
 Secretary of State for the Home Department some special 
 observations, with the hope of removing his impression that 
 he could not advise the King to comply with the prayer of 
 the Baronets. 
 
 Correspondence took place between the Committee and 
 the Home Office, and also between both and the College 
 of Arms. 
 
 On the 30th May 1836, a general meeting of Baronets 
 was held, at which the following Address and Petition to 
 His Majesty King William iv. was adopted, and copies 
 were sent on the 13th June to Lord John Russell, M.P., 
 the Home Secretary, who on the same day replied he would 
 be happy to receive a deputation from the Baronets three 
 days later at the Home Office. 
 
272 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 'To His Most Excellent Majesty 
 ' King William the Fourth 
 
 ' &c. &c. 
 
 ' The Most Humble and Dutiful Address of the 
 ' Baronets of Ulster. 
 
 'Sire, 
 
 'We whose names are hereunto annexed Baronets of Ulster of the 
 various creations of England, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, 
 approach your Majesty with sentiments of the most profound attach- 
 ment to your Royal Person, and of loyalty to that Throne of which 
 those enjoying the Hereditary Dignity we represent have ever been 
 the strenuous supporters. 
 
 'Sire, on the 8th of July last, on the occasion of our laying before 
 your Majesty certain proceedings instituted by us with a view to restor- 
 ing our Order to the original excellence on which it was placed by its 
 Royal Founder King James i., we embraced the opportunity of praying 
 Your Majesty to grant us, as a boon proceeding from your Royal grace 
 and favour, the privilege of wearing as a Badge, on our persons at Court 
 and on other suitable occasions, the cognizance or device assigned to 
 our Order to commemorate the objects for which it was erected. 
 
 'Sire, Your Majesty having been pleased to receive that Petition 
 in the most gracious manner, and to assure the deputation who 
 presented it that your Majesty would take a personal interest in our 
 wishes, it is with deep regret that we learn by a communication 
 from Your Majesty's Secretary of State for the Home Department, 
 dated the 23rd November last, that obstacles have interposed to 
 delay the fulfilment of Your Majesty's most gracious intention. 
 
 ' Sire, after the lapse of two centuries during which every class of 
 Your Majesty's subjects have received large accessions of rights and 
 privileges, we approach Your Majesty, the Fountain of Honour, 
 and sole Arbiter in all matters of Dignity, most humbly representing 
 the anomalous condition in which we are placed when compared 
 with our Brethren of Nova Scotia. 
 
 ' Sire, we cannot but more strongly hope for the sympathy of your 
 Majesty the supporter, as well as the distributor of all State Honours, 
 when we inform Your Majesty that our Order and Rank are neither 
 
LATER HISTORY 
 
 273 
 
 understood, nor appreciated at the various Courts of Your Majesty's 
 allies, and that we are often when present at those Courts set aside 
 and postponed to our acknowledged inferiors in rank, solely because 
 our personal distinction has no outward decoration or Badge. 
 
 * Sire, most humbly hoping that your Majesty, in furtherance of 
 already expressed gracious intentions towards our body, will be 
 pleased to put us on the same footing with the Baronets of Nova 
 Scotia (who are of subsequent creation) as regards a Badge, and 
 praying that your Majesty may long continue in peace, prosperity 
 and happiness to sway the Sceptre of this great Nation. 
 ' We remain. Sire, 
 ^ With the most profound respect, loyalty, and veneration 
 
 ' Your Majesty's most obedient, most dutiful, 
 ' and most faithful Subjects and Servants. 
 'Signed in the name, by the authority, and on the behalf 
 ' of the following Baronets concurring therein. 
 
 Roger Greisley, Bar*. 
 Chairman. 
 (Names follow.) 
 
 The result of this Petition is shown in the following letter: — 
 
 ' Whitehall, 
 
 'Julys, 1836. 
 'Sir, 
 
 'I have had the honour to lay before His Majesty a copy of the 
 Address of the Baronets intended for presentation to His Majesty. 
 
 ' His Majesty was pleased to say that he would receive the 
 Address of the Baronets at the Levee whenever they wished to 
 present it, and that he should then refer it to me, as his Secretary of 
 State for the Home Department. 
 
 ' Having considered the object of the Address, and the Report of 
 the Herald's College, my impression undoubtedly is, that I cannot 
 advise his Majesty to comply with its prayer. 
 ' I have the honour to be 
 
 ' Your most Obedient Servant, 
 'Sir R. Greisley Bar*. 'J. Russell. 
 
 ' &c. &:c. &c.' 
 
274 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 At a special meeting of the Baronets' Committee, open to 
 all Baronets and their eldest sons, held at the house of Sir 
 Robert Fitzwygram, Baronet, Connaught Place, London, Sir 
 Francis Shuckburgh, Baronet, in the chair, Mr. William 
 Crawford, Barrister-at-Law, Standing Counsel to the Com- 
 mittee, read a most able address of great length on the subject 
 of the Chartered Rights and Privileges of the Degree. 
 
 This Address, which was subsequently printed in 1837, 
 and privately reprinted in 1898, after setting out the First 
 Patent of James i., his Decrees of 16 12 and 16 16, pro- 
 ceeded to refer to the privileges of the Degree, and gave 
 very numerous examples to show that the style of ^ Honour- 
 able ' was commonly applied to Baronets for at least 150 
 years after the erection of the dignity. He then cited 
 many examples to prove that Baronets claimed and enjoyed 
 the personal dignity of Knighthood, and subsequently pro- 
 ceeded to expose many fallacies upon which the Officers of 
 Arms had founded the opinions expressed in their Report 
 of the 31st October 1835 ^° ^^^ ^^^^ Marshal. 
 
 In all the Royal and state processions (five in number) 
 which occurred in the reign of James i., subsequent to the 
 erection of the Degree, the Baronets enjoyed their place 
 and precedency, they also attended their Royal Founder's 
 funeral. 
 
 In consequence of the plague raging in London at the 
 time of the coronation of Charles i., no public ceremonial 
 took place. In the list, however, of the nobility privately 
 present on that occasion, the names of many Baronets appear. 
 The rights of the Degree were practically in abeyance during 
 
LATER HISTORY 275 
 
 the civil wars, and the Baronets allowed them to remain 
 dormant since. 
 
 It appeared, therefore, to the Committee of Baronets that 
 a suitable occasion on which these could be revived would 
 be on the coronation of Queen Victoria, and accordingly 
 they resolved to present the following Petition to Her 
 Majesty, which was adopted at a General Meeting of the 
 Baronetage, held on the 22nd March 1838 : — 
 
 'TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN 
 
 ' The Petition of the Baronets of the Realm of the various 
 Creations — English^ Scottish and Irishj — 
 
 ' Most Humbly Sheweth, 
 
 ' That from the foundation of the Monarchy down to the period 
 of the erection of the Baronetage in the year 161 1, by the ancient 
 rules, laws, and customs of the Realm, all classes of Dignity 
 Hereditary have enjoyed and exercised the privilege of attending 
 their Sovereigns on all great State occasions in the proper place 
 appertaining to their several dignities. 
 
 'That in the year 161 1, King James i. erected the Order of 
 Baronets, being the sixth degree of Dignity Hereditary in the 
 Realm. 
 
 'That in the year 16 16, King James i. by a final decree and 
 establishment ratified and confirmed the privileges of the Baronets, 
 conferred by former charters, and granted in addition (among other 
 things), " that the said title, stile, dignitie and degree of Baronet, 
 shall be and shall be reputed and taken to be a title, stile, dignitie, 
 and degree of dignitie hereditary, meane in place betwixt the degree 
 of a Baron and the degree of a Knight." 
 
 'That by the same charter it was also granted, "that if any 
 doubts or questions not heereby nor by any our recited letters pattents 
 cleared and determined doe or shall arise concerning any place, 
 precedency, priviledge, or other matter touching or concerning the 
 same Baronets, and the heires males of their bodies, such doubts or 
 
276 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 questions shall be decided and determined by and according to such 
 usuall rules, custome, and lawes for place, precedency, priviledge, 
 and other matters concerning them, as other degrees of dignity 
 hereditary are ordered and adjudged." 
 
 *That the confusion of hereditary and other honors, which 
 obtained during the Commonwealth, caused the chartered rights and 
 privileges of the Order to which your Majesty's Petitioners belong, 
 to become dormant ; but they most dutifully submit to your 
 Majesty, that, as those rights and privileges arising out of charters 
 and decrees of your Majesty's Royal Predecessors, are still in full 
 force and operation, it is fully competent for your Majesty graciously 
 to carry into effect the distinguished favor of which their ancestors 
 were the immediate objects, at the period of the erection of the 
 hereditary degree of Baronet. 
 
 'That your Petitioners hailing with the most devoted loyalty and 
 attachment to your Majesty, your Majesty's happy accession to the 
 Throne of these realms, are most desirous of testifying their venera- 
 tion and loyalty to their august Sovereign, by attending in their 
 proper place to do suit and service with the other hereditary degrees 
 of dignity at the Coronation of your Majesty. 
 
 *That, although your Majesty's Petitioners never undervalued or 
 lost sight of the distinguished privileges attaching to the Order, by 
 virtue of its Royal Charters, yet they never so highly appreciated 
 their value as at the present auspicious moment, when the destinies 
 of this great and happy Country are committed to the hands of a 
 Princess who so abundantly merits, and so fully enjoys, the con- 
 fidence, the love, and loyal attachment of all classes of her subjects. 
 
 'Wherefore may it please your Most Gracious Majesty to take 
 the premises into your favorable consideration, and to issue your 
 Royal Commands to the proper Officers of the Crown, to provide a 
 suitable place, and befitting vestments of estate for your Petitioners, 
 at the approaching ceremonial of a Coronation ; and in the event of 
 your Majesty requiring the advice of the Law Officers of the 
 Crown, that your Majesty's Petitioners may be at liberty to appear 
 by Counsel in support of the same ; And your Majesty's Petitioners, 
 as in duty bound, will ever pray.' 
 
LATER HISTORY 277 
 
 This Petition was forwarded to the Queen through the 
 Home Office on the 9th April 1838, and was referred to the 
 Earl Marshal, who reported it to be his opinion, that there 
 could be no ground for such a claim, and that a compliance 
 with its prayer would lead to very great embarrassment. 
 
 In order, therefore, to have a judicial determination upon 
 the claim of the Baronets for place at the coronation of the 
 Sovereign, the Committee on the 28th April presented a 
 petition to the Lords and others of the Privy Council, sitting 
 as a Court of Claims. 
 
 The Privy Council heard the application of Counsel in 
 support of the claim on the 26th June, but came to the 
 conclusion that they were not competent to entertain the 
 Petition. They stated, however, that it was open to 
 the Baronets to petition the Queen to refer the claim to the 
 Attorney-General and Solicitor-General, or to bring it by 
 petition before the Queen in Council. 
 
 Had the Committee in the first instance adopted the 
 latter suggestion, there would' not have been time to obtain 
 a decision before the Coronation took place ; they, therefore, 
 on the 8 th June, presented a petition to the Queen, praying 
 a reference of the claim to the Law Officers of the Crown. 
 On the 22nd of June, the Secretary of State informed the 
 Committee that ' Her Majesty had not given any commands 
 on the subject of the Petition.' 
 
 A General Meeting of Baronets took place at the 
 Clarendon Hotel on the loth July 1838, at which the 
 events just recorded were reported and a number of resolu- 
 tions passed, including one to prosecute the rights and 
 
278 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 privileges of the Degree and other matters to an issue, by 
 seeking by petition a hearing of, and judicial determination 
 upon, its claims before the Queen in Council, that tribunal 
 being the one before which, in 1612, the question of pre- 
 cedency between the Baronets and the younger sons of 
 Viscounts and of Barons was argued and decided. 
 
 At a Special Meeting of the Committee held on the 
 14th May 1840, it was resolved to issue a Report to the 
 Baronetage, together with a notice inviting them to attend 
 a special meeting to be called for Thursday the 28th May. 
 
 The Report referred to previous Reports made explaining 
 the proceedings of the Committee from the period of its 
 formation on the 22nd June 1835 to the loth July 1838, 
 and then referred to the unsuccessful attempt to obtain from 
 the Crown recognition of the right to obtain Knighthood by 
 the eldest sons of Baronets on attaining the age of twenty- 
 one. After some general remarks on the Baronetage, the 
 Committee recommended that a permanent Committee 
 should be named by a General Meeting with full power 
 and authority to attend to the common interests of the 
 body, to collect and preserve Records, etc., and that it 
 should be composed of 100 Members, viz. 20 Baronets of 
 England, 16 of Scotland, 14 of Ireland, 22 of Great Britain, 
 and 28 of the United Kingdom. 
 
 The Report concluded with a recommendation that the 
 attention of the Order should in the first instance be con- 
 centrated on the maintenance of the chartered rights of 
 Baronets and their eldest sons to receive Knighthood, the 
 Riband and Badge, upon Supporters, etc. 
 
LATER HISTORY 
 
 ■19 
 
 A Meeting was accordingly held on the 28th May 1840 ; 
 and at an adjourned General Meeting of the Baronetage 
 held at the Clarendon Hotel, London, on the 15 th June 
 1840, over which Sir Henry Martin, Baronet, presided, a 
 series of resolutions was passed, forming a permanent Com- 
 mittee of Privileges for the Baronetage, ' with full power 
 and authority to attend to, and act for, the common good 
 and benefit of the Order in all matters appertaining to its 
 state and dignity, to collect and preserve records, and other- 
 wise to carry into effect such special instructions as, from 
 time to time. General Meetings of the Order, by resolu- 
 tions duly proposed, deliberately discussed, and afterwards 
 registered, shall give and ordain.' 
 
 The Meeting then adjourned until the 1 5th July following, 
 on which date ' The Committee of the Baronetage for Privi- 
 leges ' was founded, and consisted of Baronets and their heirs, 
 while such Peers and Privy Councillors being Baronets as 
 concurred in the proceedings were virtute officii Honorary 
 Members. Sir Francis Shuckburgh, Baronet, was appointed 
 Treasurer ; Mr. Richard Broun, Honorary Secretary and 
 Registrar ; and Committee Rooms were taken at the 
 Clarendon Hotel. 
 
 On the 2nd February 1841 a special Report on Sup- 
 porters, etc., was adopted by the Committee, and the 
 following Recommendations were agreed to : — 
 
 'That Supporters, and the other Exterior Heraldic Ornaments, 
 of right incidental to the Baronetage, be adopted by a formal and 
 solemn resolution of the Order, grounded upon this Report ; which 
 Resolution shall be binding henceforth and for ever upon all such 
 
28o A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Baronets of the several creations as shall concur in its justice and 
 propriety. 
 
 ' That, as Exterior Ornaments only indicate political rank, and 
 do not particularize families, it is advisable that Supporters be brought 
 v^^ithin the influence of the laws w^hich regulate heraldic accompani- 
 ments in general ; and accordingly, that power shall be given by the 
 Order to this Committee to assign such Supporters, and other 
 external ensigns, to members, on their individual application, as 
 shall appear to the Committee best calculated to avoid confusion, 
 and to accomplish all the objects which such additamenta are 
 designed to effect. 
 
 ' That every Baronet taking Supporters, or other Exterior Orna- 
 ments, in virtue of the recommendation above given, shall register 
 them in the Heralds' Colleges of his native kingdom, or in the office 
 of "The Committee of the Baronetage for Privileges," in order that 
 such a record may be made of the same as shall perpetuate their 
 descent with his family honours for ever.' 
 
 At a General Meeting of the Baronetage held on the 
 14th May 1 841, the Special Report from the Committee on 
 Supporters, etc., dated 2nd February 1841, which had been 
 communicated to the Members of the Baronetage, was taken 
 into consideration ; and it was stated that no replies had been 
 obtained from any Member dissenting from the clauses 
 therein drawn, or objecting to the course of the recom- 
 mendations set forth in it ; and after reciting various 
 documents, including Mr. Crawford's Address upon the 
 Chartered Privileges of the Baronetage, dated 15 th July 
 1837, it was unanimously resolved and declared — 
 
 'That the Recommendations set forth in the Special Report 
 from the Committee for Privileges, on Supporters, and other exterior 
 Heraldic Ornaments shall, as finally revised and settled this day, have 
 the strength and effect of Resolutions to be acted upon by all such 
 
LATER HISTORY 281 
 
 Members of the Order of the several creations (Ulster, Nova Scotia, 
 British and United Kingdom) as now, or at any time hereafter, may 
 concur in their propriety, and, accordingly, that the Committee for 
 Privileges shall be empowered to register the Arms of all such 
 Baronets as shall make application to that effect, with Supporters, 
 and other exterior Heraldic Ornaments, in accordance with the 
 principles laid down in the said Recommendations and the rules and 
 customs which regulate the Armories of the other Degrees of 
 Dignity Hereditary ; such rules and customs having been expressly 
 laid down and appointed by King James the First, the Royal 
 Founder of the Baronetage (for himself, his heirs and successors), 
 as standing and certain Laws whereby the Arms of Baronets at all 
 times, and in every reign, are to be charged and augmented. 
 
 ' That the ancient honorary style of " The Honourable " which 
 was attributed to the Order by its Royal Founder, and universally 
 ascribed to Baronets and Baronetesses in former reigns, shall be 
 resumed.' 
 
 At a General Meeting held on the 4th June 1841, the 
 following Resolution, together with a number of others, 
 was passed : — 
 
 ' That all Baronets in future be requested to put Baronet, or its 
 abbreviation, after their names on their cards of address, and also 
 after their signature in all writings and namings, etc., as a proper 
 and suitable distinction of their rank.' 
 
 On the 1 8th September 1841, after applications had been 
 reported from a number of Baronets intimating their inten- 
 tion to act on the Resolution passed on the 14th May, and 
 requesting that their Arms might be registered in the books 
 of the Committee, the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Broun, laid 
 before the Committee an heraldic drawing, showing the 
 manner in which it was suggested the Resolution of the 
 General Meeting might be carried into practical effect, and 
 
282 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 then read a very long Exposition, showing that Baronets are 
 privileged to augment their Arms with such exterior Heraldic 
 Ornaments as indicate Baronial and Equestrian Dignity. 
 
 The Applications to the Committee were made in the 
 following form : — 
 
 ' To THE Committee of the Baronetage for Privileges. 
 
 * Noble Sirs, 
 
 ' It being my intention to act on the Resolutions of the General 
 Meeting of the Order, passed on the 14th of May last, relative to 
 Supporters and other exterior Heraldic Ornaments, I request that 
 my Family Arms, as described on the margin, may be registered 
 in the Books of the Committee, with Supporters and other exterior 
 Heraldic Ornaments, in conformity with the principles laid down 
 in the said Resolutions. 
 
 ' I have the honor to be, 
 * Noble Sirs, 
 
 ' Your most obedient Servant, 
 
 ' Bar*.' 
 
 In Accordance with these applications the Committee issued 
 Certificates on vellum in the following form : — 
 
 ' Committee of the Baronetage for Privileges. 
 
 * London, 184 
 ' The Royal Founder of the Baronetage having for himself his 
 Heirs and Successors granted and appointed that the usual Rules 
 and Custom which regulate the Armories of the Other Degrees 
 of Dignity Hereditary shall be standing laws whereby the Arms 
 of all Baronets shall be charged and augmented, And the Honour- 
 able Sir Baronet of having intimated to the Com- 
 mittee for Privileges his intention to act upon the Resolutions of 
 the General Meeting of the Order held on the 14th day of May 
 
LATER HISTORY 283 
 
 1 841 relative to Supporters and other Exterior Heraldic Orna- 
 ments, 
 
 'This is to certify that in terms of a minute passed in Com- 
 mittee on the 5th of June last the Arms of the said noble Baronet 
 have been duly registered in the Books of the Committee with the 
 Insignia of right incidental to Baronetage and Knightly Dignity 
 and as exemplified upon the margin are as follows : — 
 
 'Coat 
 
 ' Supporters. Two Equites Aurati proper. 
 
 • 'Crest 
 
 'Motto 
 
 'Coronet, Mantle, Helmet, Collar of S.S., Badge and Wreath 
 as blazoned in the Atchievement. 
 
 'Given under the Seal of the Order this day of 184 . 
 
 ' (Signed) R. Broun, Eq. Aur., 
 
 ' Hon. Secretary and Registrar.' 
 
 Seal 
 
 At a Meeting of the Committee held on the loth May 
 1842, Sir Henry Mervyn Vavasour, Baronet, in the chair, 
 the Committee took into consideration a Memorial from 
 Mr. Broun relative to his application to the Lord Chamber- 
 lain to present him to the Queen for inauguration as a 
 Knight. The result of this application, and the consequent 
 proceedings at the Annual Meeting on the 4th June follow- 
 ing, when Mr. Broun formally took upon himself knight- 
 hood, have already been narrated in the previous chapter. 
 
 At a Meeting of the Committee held on the 20th June 
 1842, letters were read from Members who had been absent 
 
2 84 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 from the Meeting of the 4th, offering to the Honorary- 
 Secretary their congratulations on the manner in which he 
 had been called upon to assert his natitial dignity ; and in 
 consequence of suggestions to that effect from various 
 quarters, a resolution was passed to the following effect : — 
 
 ' That a Testimonial, comprising the insignia appertaining to the 
 degree of Eques Auratus, should be presented to Sir Richard Broun 
 on the occasion of his taking up his Knighthood under the requisi- 
 tion of a General Meeting, as a pledge of their approbation of his 
 conduct, and their determination to revive all the rights and orna- 
 ments belonging to that ancient equestrian honor.' 
 
 A number of Baronets were appointed Trustees, and 
 empowered to take whatever steps were necessary to carry 
 this resolution into effect. 
 
 As a result, the so-styled Sir Richard Broun, at a Meeting 
 on the 27 th May 1843, was presented with a Testimonial 
 which comprised a golden Collar of S.S., a Sword, Ring, 
 Spurs, etc. 
 
 It is exceedingly doubtful whether the Collar of S.S. 
 ought to have been included in the insignia of Knighthood, 
 as it is by no means clear whether this Collar has ever, at 
 any time, had any connection with Knighthood. 
 
 Its origin is at the present time unknown, and the number 
 of attempts to solve the enigma has caused it to be described 
 by Mr, Albert Hartshorne, who wrote a very able article 
 on it in l^he Archaeological Journal^ vol. xxxix., the crux 
 antiquariorum. 
 
 Its meaning has been variously explained as derived from 
 — (i) St. Simplicius, (2) Salisbury (Countess of), (3) Soissons 
 
LATER HISTORY 285 
 
 (Martyrs of), (4) Silentium, (5) Societas, (6) Souvenez, 
 (7) Souverayne, (8) Seneschallus, (9) Sanctus. 
 
 Mr. Hartshorne considers that the testimony for the first 
 six is very dubious, while there is more or less indirect 
 evidence in support of the other three. There is a good 
 deal to be said in favour of ' Seneschallus,' for John of 
 Gaunt was Seneschal, or High Steward of England, and the 
 employment of the Collar of S.S. as the ' Livery ' of the 
 great Lancastrian party during the reigns of Henry iv,, 
 Henry v., and Henry vi. is a matter of history. 
 
 The earliest pictorial example noticed is a drawing in the 
 British Museum by Nicholas Charles, Lancaster Herald, 
 from a window of old St. Paul's, of the arms of ' Time- 
 honoured Lancaster,' within a Collar of S.S. of the early 
 form, namely, a buckling-strap with S's upon it at intervals. 
 
 The earliest sculptured example appears to be that repre- 
 sented on the effigy of Sir John Swinford, who died in 137 1. 
 Now, even if it could be shown that this effigy was sculptured 
 many years after his death, Mr, Hartshorne points out that 
 the fact still remains that this Knight was entitled to wear 
 a Collar of S.S. , and it consequently follows that this decora- 
 tion was an established collar of livery when Henry of 
 Lancaster, Earl of Derby, was yet a boy, since he was not 
 born until 1360. This would seem at once to dispose of 
 the favourite conjecture that the collar was first devised by 
 Henry iv., when he was Earl of Derby, in allusion to his 
 motto, ' Souverayne.' 
 
 In support of ' Sanctus,' it may be urged that Church 
 vestments were frequently powdered with S's for Sanctus. 
 
286 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Mr. J. G. Nichol, in an article in Notes and ^eries, is 
 in favour of the theory that the S is derived from Sene- 
 schallus. It still forms part of the official dress of the Lord 
 Chief-Justice of England, and the Lord Mayor of London, 
 which is also in favour of the assumption that it was origin- 
 ally a livery collar of a high functionary. 
 
 At the same time, an Act passed in 1532-33, being 24 
 Henry viii. c. 13, enacts 'That no manne, onelesse he be 
 a knight . . . weare any coler of golde named a coler of S,' 
 And in a Chaucer, printed in 1598, occurs ' lyeth buried . . . 
 with his image lying over him ... a collar of esses gold 
 about his necke , . . being the ornament of a knight,' 
 
 These two references, however, must not be taken as 
 proving anything — the writers in both may have been mis- 
 taken : many writers have ignorantly assumed that the collar 
 of the Order of the Garter is a Collar of S.S., which it certainly 
 is not, any more than are the Collars of the other Orders of 
 Knighthood. Should it be decided later to accord a Collar 
 to the Baronets, a special one should be designed. 
 
 In the chapter dealing with the early history of the 
 Baronetage of Scotland and Nova Scotia, the narrative was 
 carried down to 1709, two years after the Union. A 
 succession of historical events occurred to cause their rights 
 to fall into a state of desuetude. These events were the 
 rebellions of 171 5 and 1745, the revolt of the United States 
 of America in 1776, and the French Revolution, with the 
 long Continental wars following. 
 
 In 1 69 1 the territories and colonies known by the name 
 of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, the Colony of New 
 
LATER HISTORY 287 
 
 Plymouth, the Province of Maine, and Nova Scotia, were, 
 in terms of a charter known as the Massachusetts Charter, 
 united and incorporated, and a tract of land within was 
 assigned to some Protestants from Ireland and the Palatinate. 
 This led the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay to claim 
 not only a right to the government, but also to the territory, 
 although up to this time they had neglected this particular 
 tract of land. In consequence of this claim, a case was 
 submitted, in August 1731, to the Attorney-General and 
 Solicitor-General, asking for their opinion on the following 
 points : — 
 
 1. Whether the pursuers, if they ever had any right to 
 the tract claimed, had not by their neglect, and even refusal 
 to defend, take care of, and improve the same, forfeited 
 their said right to the government, and what right they 
 had Tinder the charter, and now have, to the lands ? 
 
 2. Whether by the said tract being conquered by the 
 French, and afterwards re-conquered by General Nicholson 
 in the late Queen's time, and yielded up by France to Great 
 Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht, that part of the charter 
 relating thereto became vacated ? And whether the govern- 
 ment of that tract, and the lands thereof, are not absolutely 
 re-vested in the Crown ; and whether the Crown has not 
 thereby a sufficient power to appoint governments, and 
 assign lands to such families as shall desire to settle there ? 
 
 To these questions the law officers of the Crown replied 
 that they were of opinion the pursuers had not been guilty 
 of any laches of a kind to create a forfeiture of the rights 
 conveyed by their charter ; that the country not having 
 
288 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 been yielded by the Crown of England to France by any 
 treaty, the conquest thereof by the French created — accord- 
 ing to the law of nations — only a suspension of the property 
 of the former owners and not an extinguishment ; and that 
 upon the re-conquest of it by General Nicholson, all the 
 ancient rights, both of the province and of private persons, 
 subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, did revive, and 
 were restored jure postliminii ; that the Crown had not power 
 to appoint a particular governor of this part of the province, 
 or to assign lands to persons desirous to settle there ; and 
 that upon the whole matter, they considered the pursuers 
 ought not to be disturbed in their possession, or interrupted 
 in carrying on their settlement of the lands granted to them 
 within the district in question. 
 
 In 1734, between two and three years after this opinion 
 had been given, in a case which appeared to be identical with 
 the claims of the Baronets of Scotland to the grant of lands 
 in Nova Scotia comprehended in their Patents, meetings of 
 these Baronets took place in London ; but there do not 
 appear to be any records in existence showing what tran- 
 spired, or the result of their deliberations. 
 
 In 1763, Nova Scotia was restored to the British Crown 
 by the Treaty of Paris ; and fourteen years later, on the 1 9th 
 February 1777, the Baronets of Scotland held a meeting in 
 Edinburgh relative to their lands in that province, with the 
 Earl of Home as 'Preses,' and appointed a standing com- 
 mittee. Lord Elibank, a member of this Committee, drew 
 up an address to Lord George Germaine on the Claims of 
 the Baronets. 
 
LATER HISTORY 289 
 
 This address, after being referred to Sir Harry Mon- 
 creiffe and Sir James Foulis, was finally approved by the 
 Committee in Edinburgh, on the 25th March 1777, and 
 was forwarded to London to be presented to the Minister. 
 
 The actual date of the Address was 27th March 1777, 
 and it was signed on behalf of the Baronets of Scotland and 
 Nova Scotia by five of their number. The Preamble adverts 
 to the institution of the dignity, to the Acts of Parliament 
 confirming its rights, to the endeavours made by the first 
 created Baronets to improve their new acquisitions in Nova 
 Scotia, to the calamities of the latter portion of the reign of 
 Charles i., which soon diverted their attention from that 
 country, to its seizure by the French, and its restoration to 
 the English Crown. It then proceeded : ' The Baronets of 
 Nova Scotia presume that no prescription of land can operate 
 against them while their property was forcibly withheld from 
 them by a hostile nation. They can, therefore, have no 
 doubt that their lands have now legally reverted to them, 
 and have directed us to solicit your Lordship's countenance 
 and assistance in making application to His Majesty to 
 restore them to those rights of their ancestors. 
 
 ' The difficulty of assembling so many different claimants 
 may have hitherto prevented a general application. And 
 the impropriety of separating particular pretensions from 
 the general interest of the Order may have hindered indi- 
 viduals from advancing their particular claims. But we 
 flatter ourselves your Lordship will not think a general 
 application now too late. We ask not for new rights ; we 
 ask only the possession of rights already established. We 
 
290 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 have the honour to rank ourselves with those friends of 
 Government whose attachment to the laws and liberties of 
 their country hath taught them zeal for the dignity of the 
 Crown, and affection for the person of the Sovereign. If 
 His Majesty should be pleased to reinstate us in our ancient 
 properties, we know that the influence which might arise 
 to us upon the continent of America would be faithfully 
 employed in His Majesty's service ; and, we flatter our- 
 selves, might be of some importance in disseminating the 
 principles of genuine patriotism and loyalty,' 
 
 This Address appears to have been presented in May 
 1777, but what answer, if any, was made to it does not 
 appear. Since then the revolt of the United States, the 
 French Revolution, Continental wars, and the insurrection 
 in Canada prevented the Baronets of Scotland and Nova 
 Scotia from taking any steps for the revival of their rights 
 and privileges in Nova Srotia, until Mr. Richard Broun 
 (who, as has already been narrated, took up the cause of the 
 Baronetage as a whole in 1834) espoused the cause of the 
 Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia two years later. 
 
 A General Meeting of Baronets of Scotland and Nova 
 Scotia, attending personally or by proxy, took place in 
 Edinburgh on 21st October 1836, Sir John Campbell, 
 Baronet of Ardnamurchan, being in the chair. A case was 
 read by Mr. Broun, showing the right of each Baronet to 
 have a grant of land in Nova Scotia of 16,000 acres in 
 extent ; that there were then existing about 150 Baronets ; 
 that during the reign of Charles i., one hundred and eleven 
 had their grants assigned to them by Charter ; that these 
 
LATER HISTORY 291 
 
 grants had been twice ratified by Acts of the Scottish 
 Parliament, and were declared to be valid and effectual 
 notwithstanding non-user, presumption, and any other 
 casualty whatsoever. The case was ordered to be printed 
 and circulated, preparatory to a special General Meeting 
 being held to consider what further measures should be 
 adopted. 
 
 On the nth of May 1837, a Meeting of Nova Scotia 
 Baronets was held in London, and another on the 15th of 
 the same month. On the latter occasion a document was 
 drawn up and signed by the Marquess of Downshire, 
 Lord Kilmaine, Major-General Sir James Cockburn, B*., 
 Sir Archibald Murray, B*., Lieutenant-General Sir F. G. 
 Maclean, B*., and Sir F. G. Cooper, B*., stating ' that 
 having considered the instruments, and the statement laid 
 before them in reference to the claims of the Nova Scotia 
 Baronets, they were of opinion that these claims were such 
 as to render any proposal for their revival entitled to the 
 best consideration and support of the Members of the 
 Order ; and farther, that they should be ready to attend 
 to any proposals that a competent assemblage of the 
 Baronets in Edinburgh might think it right to suggest.' 
 
 A third Meeting of the Nova Scotia Baronets took place 
 on the 29th May in Edinburgh, when it was resolved that a 
 Case should be drawn up for the opinion of Counsel, and 
 that a fund to defray expenses should be raised. 
 
 Throughout the greater portion of 1837 and 1838, the 
 most alarming distress prevailed in the Western Highlands 
 and Islands of Scotland, and a public Meeting on the 
 
292 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 subject took place at the Mansion House, London, on the 
 nth March 1837, which resulted in the formation of a 
 Relief Committee, of which Alderman Sir John Pirie, B*., 
 was nominated the Treasurer. Owing to the distress, and 
 also to an outbreak in Canada, no Meetings of the Nova 
 Scotia Baronets took place in 1838. 
 
 On the 26th June 1839, the 'London Highland Destitu- 
 tion Relief Committee ' presented a representation to the 
 Government recommending the immediate adoption of a 
 systematic plan of emigration by whole families as the only 
 means of preventing a recurrence year after year of the same 
 distress to which the Highland peasantry were subjected ; 
 and on the ist August, Dr. Rolph and Bishop Macdonell 
 arrived at Liverpool from Canada on a mission to promote 
 emigration to these colonies. On the 4th October, the 
 former was present at the General Meeting of the Highland 
 Society at Inverness, and on the i8th of the same month he 
 attended a large public meeting in Glasgow. 
 
 A day or two before the General Meeting of ' The 
 Central Agricultural Society,' held in London on the 12th 
 December 1839, Dr. Rolph called upon Mr. Broun, and 
 expressed a wish to attend the meeting and dinner. The 
 Central Society, of which Mr. Broun had been one of the 
 founders, and of which he was one of the Honorary 
 Secretaries, enrolled about eighty of the local associations. 
 Finding from Dr. Rolph that his mission to this country 
 was to promote emigration to Canada, it led to him and 
 Mr. Broun eventually co-operating to found a public 
 company for emigration and colonisation. 
 
LATER HISTORY 293 
 
 Accordingly, on the loth January 1840, Dr. Rolph 
 attended a great public Meeting of Highland proprietors 
 and others, held in Edinburgh, and presided over by the 
 Duke of Argyll, and as a result of this and other Meetings 
 ' The North American Colonial Committee ' was on the 
 6th May formed, with Dr. Rolph as Honorary Secretary, 
 
 In the meantime the House of Assembly of Upper 
 Canada addressed Her Majesty on the 8th February, pray- 
 ing her to promote emigration ; and during the latter half 
 of the year Dr. Rolph was engaged in Canada, and was 
 appointed by Lord Sydenham Emigration Agent for the 
 Canadian Government. He returned to England in 
 January of the following year, and was engaged continually 
 with Mr. Broun on the proposed Company. 
 
 On the 20th February it was settled that the seignories 
 of D'Aillebout and de Ramsay should be purchased as a 
 basis for the Company's first operations. Dr. Rolph was 
 the Agent for their sale, and it was arranged they should 
 be taken in Mr. Broun's name, the price ultimately being 
 arranged at ^20,000, payable in five yearly instalments. 
 
 A Meeting of Nova Scotia Baronets was immediately 
 summoned, which met on the nth March 1841, the 
 Marquess of Downshire being in the chair. The copy 
 of a proposed memorial to the Colonial Minister on behalf 
 of the Baronets was laid on the table, also the prospectus 
 of a proposed public Company for colonising such lands 
 as might be given in lieu of the original grants. 
 
 Another Meeting was held on the 6th April at the 
 Thatched House, St. James's, the Marquess of Huntly being 
 
294 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 in the chair, and a further Meeting on the 28 th of the 
 same month, at which it was resolved an Association should 
 be formed for the combined purposes of promoting emigra- 
 tion, establishing the rights, and managing the properties, 
 in Nova Scotia, of the Baronets who should join it. 
 
 A Circular was accordingly issued from 21 Wigmore 
 Street, Cavendish Square, dated the 7th July 1841, and 
 signed by Mr. Broun, announcing the passing of this 
 resolution, and that since the meeting arrangements had 
 been made to carry the objects contemplated into effect, 
 the Scottish and British-American Association having been 
 formed on the principles adverted to in the abstract from 
 its constitution which accompanied the Circular. 
 
 The Circular then went on to state that, to enable the 
 Association to carry out effectively its joint views, it had 
 already acquired by purchase two valuable seignories in 
 North America, comprising eighty thousand acres of valu- 
 able soil, to which would progressively be added the grants 
 of the concurring Baronets, or such new lands as the 
 Government might give in exchange for them. 
 
 It also suggested that by the plan proposed, the Baronets 
 joining the Association would be relieved from the trouble 
 and expense connected with prosecuting their respective 
 claims in Nova Scotia, and, in the event of the claims being 
 established, from the additional trouble and expense of 
 planting their particular grants. It pointed out that rights 
 having a legal existence, but not reduced into actual posses- 
 sion, and therefore comparatively valueless, each concurring 
 Baronet would on their being realised receive ;^ 10,000 
 
LATER HISTORY 295 
 
 worth of paid-up shares in the Capital Stock of the Associa- 
 tion, and ^6000 in money, deducting only from the amount 
 of the latter sum the expenses connected with prosecuting 
 and establishing the joint claims. 
 
 Accompanying this Circular was the abstract from the 
 Constitution referred to, which was headed by the name 
 of the Association ; a statement that its capital was one 
 million pounds in fifty-pound shares, on which was to be 
 paid a deposit of five pounds a share ; and a steel-engraved 
 map of the ancient province of Nova Scotia, showing the 
 position of the lands originally granted to the Baronets of 
 Scotland and Nova Scotia. 
 
 The object of the Association was stated to be the pro- 
 motion of the settlement of Nova Scotia, and the establish- 
 ment of the rights and the administration of the properties 
 of such of the Baronets of Scotland as should consent to 
 join it. The constitution was stated to contain provisions 
 to the following effect : — 
 
 ' 1st. That the Association shall purchase the grants of each of 
 the one hundred and eleven Baronets of Scotland created prior to 
 1638 who actually had lands assigned to them on the following 
 terms, viz. at a rate not exceeding ^^i per acre ; two-thirds of the 
 purchase money to be liquidated in paid-up shares of the capital 
 stock of the Association, the remainder in cash, subject only to the 
 deduction of any expenses that may be incurred by the Association 
 in recovering the same. 
 
 ' 2nd. That the Association will purchase the claims which each 
 Baronet of Scotland, created from 1638 to the Union, has against 
 the Crown for a territorial qualification in Nova Scotia of 16,000 
 acres, in virtue of the Constitution of the Baronetage, upon the 
 same terms and conditions as above set forth. 
 
296 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 ' 3rd. That the Association, immediately on a contract having 
 been made with each concurring Baronet to the effect above 
 specified, shall pursue, promote, and realise the claims and interests 
 of the said Baronets, either w^ith the Crown, the Treasury, the 
 Colonial Office, or in such other way as the Board of Commissioners 
 and their legal advisers shall deem most expedient. 
 
 '4th. That each Baronet of Scotland, being a peer, who shall 
 join the Association on the terms laid down, shall be a Vice-President 
 of the Association, and as such have a voice and control in the 
 management of its affairs. 
 
 ' 5th. That each Baronet of Scotland not being a peer, who shall 
 join the Association, shall be a member of the Consulting Council 
 of the Association, and as such have a voice and control in the 
 management of its affairs. 
 
 ' 6th. That the executive management of the Association shall be 
 in a Board of Commissioners, composed of Baronets and Share- 
 holders. The Commissioners to be the owners of properties con- 
 taining at least 10,000 acres of land in North America, conveyed 
 to the Trustees of the Association in furtherance of its objects, or 
 the holders of at least ;^iooo stock each in the capital of the 
 Association. Which Board of Commissioners, aided by the Con- 
 sulting Council (which will be composed of the President, Vice- 
 President, Trustees, and concurring Baronets), shall have the power 
 to realise the residuary rights and privileges of the Baronets, either 
 by a process of law, or by a compromise with the Government, as 
 shall be deemed most advisable. 
 
 ' 7th. That no Baronet shall have any interest or benefit in the 
 Association who shall not signify his concurrence in the above plan, 
 in writing to the Commissioners, prior to the ist day of September 
 next.' 
 
 Meetings were held on the 4th, 6th, and 7th of May, 
 and on the loth May a Draft Prospectus of the proposed 
 Company was read, corrected, and ordered to be printed, 
 Dr. Rolph reporting that the Duke of Argyll had stated his 
 willingness to receive a deputation from the Company. The 
 
LATER HISTORY 297 
 
 Prospectus was revised at a Meeting on the 1 3th, and on the 
 17 th a series of resolutions for the formation and manage- 
 ment of ' The Scottish and British-American Association for 
 Emigration and Colonisation ' was adopted. 
 
 Inter alia, these set forth that the seignories of D'Aillebout 
 and de Ramsay should, with the baronies of New Carnoustie 
 and Banff Ogilvie (Sir William Ogilvie's grants which he 
 agreed to convey to the Company), be the basis of the 
 Company's operations. The most ample powers were taken 
 under the Articles of Agreement for the executive manage- 
 ment of the Company, and Mr. Richard Broun and Dr. Rolph 
 were empowered as a deputation to wait on the Nova Scotia 
 Baronets in London and procure their adhesion. 
 
 In accordance with his promise, the Duke of Argyll 
 received on the 25th May a deputation from the Company, 
 consisting of Mr. Richard Broun and Dr. Rolph ; and after 
 ascertaining the principles on which it was to be constructed, 
 consented to become its President, and a few days later a 
 Prospectus, with His Grace's name printed thereon as Pre- 
 sident, was forwarded to the Marquis of Downshire. 
 
 Mr. Richard Broun, on the 7th July, sent a Circular Letter 
 to the Baronets of Scotland, informing them of the resolu- 
 tion come to at the Meeting of the 28th April in favour of 
 the formation of a public Association, for the combined 
 purpose of promoting emigration, establishing the rights, 
 and managing the properties in Nova Scotia, of the Baronets 
 who should join it. The fact of the Duke of Argyll having 
 consented to become President of the Association was set 
 out in the Circular. 
 
298 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 This was followed by Mr. Richard Broun arranging with 
 Dr. Rolph to hold meetings in Scotland to further the objects 
 of the Company, but the latter was suddenly recalled to 
 Canada. He sailed on the 8 th of August, three days after 
 the constitution of the Company was signed. 
 
 Nothing of moment occurred until the 2nd February the 
 following year, when a Meeting of Nova Scotia Baronets 
 was held at the house of Sir Frederick Hamilton, and a 
 resolution was passed that in the opinion of the Meeting the 
 Scottish and British American Association was well adapted 
 to relieve Scotland of her surplus population, to strengthen 
 British interests in North America, and to effect the com- 
 bined objects of establishing the rights and making available 
 the properties in British America of such Baronets as should 
 join it. It was further resolved that the concurring Baronets 
 who were Peers should be added to the list of Vice-Presi- 
 dents, and the Baronets not Peers to the list of the Consulting 
 Council, and that the proceedings of the Meeting should be 
 communicated to them. 
 
 Dr. Rolph returned from Canada on the 23rd March 
 accompanied by Sir Allan Macnab, who was shortly after- 
 wards elected a Commissioner. On the i8th April they 
 had an interview with the Duke of Argyll, who appointed 
 the following Friday, the 22nd inst., for a Meeting of the 
 Consulting Council of the Scottish and British-American 
 Association. 
 
 The first Meeting of this Consulting Council took place 
 accordingly on the day appointed, the Duke of Argyll, as 
 President, being in the chair. Various Reports were made, 
 
LATER HISTORY 299 
 
 including one from the Board of Commissioners, setting 
 forth that the Constitution had been carefully revised since 
 the meeting on the 2nd February, and that during the same 
 time arrangements had been entered into for the purchase of 
 several extensive seignories. The Report having adverted 
 to Lord Stanley's reply to the Memorial of the Nova Scotia 
 Baronets, a long discussion ensued upon the propriety of 
 making the revival of the rights of the Baronets too pro- 
 minent a feature in the operations of the Company, instead 
 of the first resolution on the paper of business, v^^hich was 
 to the effect * that the Association should substantiate by all 
 legal means the rights and privileges of the Nova Scotia 
 Baronets, and that a deputation should wait on Lord Stanley 
 on the subject.' It was then proposed and carried ' that 
 the general objects of the Association — namely, emigration 
 and colonisation — should be immediately proceeded with ' ; 
 and the consideration of the other matters was adjourned 
 until the Friday following, the 29th inst. 
 
 At this adjourned Meeting of the Consulting Council, the 
 Marquis of Downshire filled the chair, a letter from the 
 Duke of Argyll regretting his absence being read. The 
 attention of the Council was drawn to a variety of docu- 
 ments relative to the state of distress in Scotland, and the 
 necessity for emigration, and a Report from the Board of 
 Commissioners was read by Dr. Rolph. The Prospectus 
 was revised, and the title of the Association was amended by 
 striking out the words ' Scottish and.' After other business 
 had been transacted, including the authorisation of a Deputa- 
 tion from the Board of Commissioners to visit Scotland, it 
 
300 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 was ordered that copies of the Prospectus, together with 
 the proceedings of the Meeting, should be communicated to 
 the absent members of the Scottish Baronetage. This was 
 followed by public Meetings in Edinburgh and Glasgow. 
 
 The third Meeting of the Consulting Council took place 
 on Wednesday, the 8th June 1842, the Duke of Argyll in 
 the chair. A Report from the Board of Commissioners 
 was read as to business transacted since the last Meeting, 
 including the entering into contracts for the acquisition of 
 land in Prince Edward's Island, and in Canada East four 
 seignories. The Report also set forth that the Commis- 
 sioners expected to send a body of emigrants to Prince 
 Edward's Island before the close of the season ; and having 
 immediate reference to the completion of the purchases 
 already made, and the advances which might be required 
 to promote emigration to the properties of the Association, 
 it recommended that the sum of ^50,000 should be raised 
 by the issue of Debentures. 
 
 A considerable discussion took place on this proposition, 
 and the clause relative to Debentures was altered to the 
 effect that the Commissioners proposed to raise the sum 
 required by an issue of 10,000 shares in the capital stock 
 of the Association in this country, and by an equal amount 
 of land shares in Canada. It was then resolved that a sub- 
 scription should be immediately opened for shares. The 
 Report of the Council was printed and circulated immediately 
 afterwards. 
 
 A few days afterwards a Share-list was issued with the 
 following heading : — 
 
LATER HISTORY 301 
 
 'British American Association. 
 * We, whose names are hereunto annexed, do agree to 
 subscribe for the number of shares and amount of stock of 
 the above Association set opposite to our respective signa- 
 tures, and to pay a deposit! of ^^5 per share thereon to the 
 Bankers of the Association when shares to the amount of 
 ^50,000 have been taken, upon having twenty-one days' 
 notice thereof.' 
 
 The subscription was started by the Duke of Argyll, who 
 subscribed for fifteen shares for himself and ten for his 
 son, the Marquis of Lome. 
 
 Immediately after this, the Association was advertised in 
 the newspapers. The Prospectus was headed with the name 
 of the Company, the ' British American Association for 
 Emigration and Colonisation,' round the Arms, Supporters, 
 Crest, and Motto of Nova Scotia. The capital was 
 j^ 1, 000,000 in j^2o shares, with a deposit of ^^5 per share. 
 The President was the Duke of Argyll ; fifteen Vice-Pre- 
 sidents, all Peer-Baronets, followed ; and then a long list of 
 the Consulting Council, consisting almost entirely of Baronets, 
 the exceptions being the Lords Provost of Edinburgh and 
 Glasgow, The Chisholm, and three other gentlemen. There 
 were seven Commissioners, of whom six were Baronets, 
 together with the usual Officers ; and the Headquarters of 
 the Association were at 29 New Bridge Street. 
 
 The Prospectus stated that the object of the Association 
 was ' to promote the Colonisation of our North American 
 Provinces by a transfer of the surplus population of the 
 
302 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 United Kingdom upon a national scale, and by such an 
 infusion of capital into them as shall lead to an immediate 
 and wide development of their inexhaustible resources.' 
 
 The Prospectus also contained the following clause : — 
 ' There is one feature in the constitution of this Associa- 
 tion as connected with Scotland, and with the interests of 
 the Scottish Emigrant, too important to be passed over. 
 The undertaking will be supported by an union with the 
 Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia, an Order originally 
 created to further the settlement of British North America, 
 by which its objects are closely interwoven with the interests 
 of a large portion of the Scottish Nobility ; and by the 
 members of that Order, assisting in its Councils, and con- 
 ducting its management, a careful supervision is provided 
 over all the interests, not only of the shareholders, but more 
 especially of the emigrants confided to its care — a super- 
 vision not ceasing with their landing in a new country, but 
 continuing till they shaU be located on their settlement, and 
 providing for their future happiness and advantage.' 
 
 At a Meeting of the Board held on the 8th July, an 
 arrangement was entered into with Mr. Maitland, the pro- 
 prietor and editor of the Emigranfs Gazette^ to take 250 
 copies weekly for circulation, and from this time until the 
 breaking up of the Institution these papers were sent 
 weekly to the Duke of Argyll, the Baronets of Scotland, 
 and others. In these papers the advertisement of the Com- 
 pany continually appeared, and it contained weekly a notice 
 of the proceedings of the Company. 
 
 The Duke of Richmond presided at a dinner given by 
 
LATER HISTORY 303 
 
 the Commissioners on the 15th July to Sir Allan Macnab, 
 previous to his departure for Canada, to commence his 
 duties there as Chief Commissioner for the Company, The 
 party was a very influential one, including five ex-Governors 
 of Canada. 
 
 Sir Robert Barclay withdrew from the Board on the 26th 
 
 July- 
 
 Sir Allan Macnab left for Canada on the 2nd August, 
 followed by Dr. Rolph on the 19th of the same month, 
 Mr. Broun being engaged shortly afterwards in connection 
 with the sailing of a ship, the Barhadoes^ chartered by the 
 Association to take out Mr. Haldon and a few workmen 
 engaged by him to the estates contracted for in Prince 
 Edward's Island. Mr. Broun opened the banking account 
 of the Association on the 23rd September by paying in 
 ^250, being the deposit of £^ per share on fifty shares 
 taken by him. This and the same amount paid in by 
 Sir William Ogilvie and Dr. Rolph, in all ^750, appears 
 to have been the only money paid in to the account of 
 this unfortunate enterprise, which was shortly afterwards 
 broken up. 
 
 The Barhadoes left for Gravesend on the 19th September, 
 and sailed finally on the ist November with 20 men, 
 12 women, 16 children, and 14 crew, 62 in all; but she 
 was recalled in consequence of the following circumstances. 
 Her sailing had previously been delayed by the institution 
 of certain inquiries by Lord Stanley, the Secretary of State 
 for the Colonies, instigated by some one whose name he 
 refused to divulge. 
 
304 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 On the 22nd September a complaint was laid at the 
 Mansion House before Sir John Pirie, Baronet, the Lord 
 Mayor, at the instance of some men who had entered into 
 an agreement with Mr. Haldon. At the instigation of the 
 Lord Mayor, the matter appears to have been amicably 
 settled, the men on the 25 th October executing a receipt for 
 moneys paid them by Mr. Haldon, and expressing their 
 entire approval of all his acts in connection with their 
 engagements with him. 
 
 For some reason, however, Sir John Pirie made some 
 injurious remarks against the British- American Association, 
 and wrote to the Duke of Argyll, asking His Grace whether 
 he was a shareholder in the Company, and considered him- 
 self liable for the pecuniary transactions of the parties in 
 London who had the management of its concerns. 
 
 In reply, the Duke wrote the following letter, which 
 appeared in the 'Times newspaper of the 2nd November 
 1842 :— 
 
 'To THE Lord Mayor. 
 
 'My Lord, 
 
 ' I am very much obliged to your Lordship for your com- 
 munication of the 25th instant. I certainly took a deep interest in 
 the British American Emigration Society, having upon my estates 
 in the Western Highlands and Islands too large a population for the 
 space inhabited by them, and w^ishing, of course, that many of them 
 should have the opportunity, if they wished it, of emigrating to 
 North America, in such a manner as v/ould be most advantageous 
 for themselves, I consented to be named President of the Society ; 
 but from several of their proceedings lately, I am novv^ desirous of 
 vi'ithdrawing my name from the roll of subscribers or shareholders, 
 as they are called ; and I have desired my agent, Mr. Nettleship of 
 
LATER HISTORY 305 
 
 4 Trafalgar Square, to inquire into the late proceedings before your 
 Lordship, and to acquaint you with the result. 
 
 *I certainly do not consider myself responsible for any of the 
 pecuniary transactions of the parties in London, who assume the 
 management of the Company's affairs at present. 
 
 ' I subscribed in June last ;^5oo, upon the implied and understood 
 condition, that no step involving any expenditure of money was to 
 be undertaken on the part of the company till the sum of ^50,000 
 was duly certified to have been subscribed or placed to the company's 
 credit by some means or other ; and I was quite surprised to observe 
 the question brought before your Lordship lately as to wages, etc., 
 to be paid to some operatives and emigrants upon the company's 
 account. Referring your Lordship to my agent, Mr. Thomas 
 Nettleship, 4 Trafalgar Square, for any further information relative 
 to my connection with the company. 
 
 ' I remain, your Lordship's obedient servant, 
 
 * Argyll. 
 
 * Inverary Castle, Oct. 27.' 
 
 The same post which took the Lord Mayor's letter to 
 the Duke conveyed one also to him from Mr. Broun, 
 explaining that the complaints made against Mr. Haldon 
 in no respect affected the Association, but of this letter 
 the Duke took no notice ; and on the 9th November there 
 appeared in the 'Times newspaper a letter from his solicitors 
 to the effect that he was not a shareholder in the Association, 
 that he had never contemplated deriving personally any 
 profit from its operations, and that he had also withdrawn 
 from the office of President. 
 
 A Committee of Liquiry into the affairs of the Association 
 was appointed which sat from the 9th to the 23rd December 
 1842, during which time the Committee had before them 
 the books, documents, papers, and accounts connected with 
 
 u 
 
3o6 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 the formation and objects of the Association, and subjected 
 the whole of the executive officers to a strict viva voce 
 examination, after which they issued a report to the effect 
 that the objects of the Association were worthy of support ; 
 that the properties acquired, consisting of 443,594 acres, had 
 been selected with care ; that the affairs of the Association 
 had been administered with economy, none of the principal 
 officers having received any remuneration for their services, 
 and regretting the attack which had led to the breaking up 
 of the Association. 
 
 A Meeting of a public character was held in the City of 
 London on the 23rd December, Sir William Ogilvie, Baronet, 
 being in the chair, at which this report was read. 
 
 Lord Stanley, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 
 having in his place in Parliament, on the 24th April 1843, 
 made some observations with reference to the British- 
 American Association which were, in the opinion of Mr. 
 Broun, not in accordance with the facts, that gentleman 
 addressed a public letter to his lordship explanatory of the 
 charges made against the Association, showing that to the 
 Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, or to Sir 
 John Pirie, were justly to be ascribed the whole losses 
 sustained, sufferings endured, and distresses occasioned, by 
 the destruction of the Company, and asking at his lordship's 
 hands justice and reparation for the wrongs which had been 
 inflicted. 
 
 To this letter Lord Stanley made no reply ; and as he 
 also refused to give up the name of the individual who 
 addressed to him the letter which had occasioned the delay 
 
LATER HISTORY 307 
 
 in the sailing of the Barbadoes, and had thereby originated 
 the series of casualties which terminated in the destruction 
 of the Association, a petition was presented to the House 
 of Commons from Mr. Broun on the 24th April 1844 
 asking the House to move an address to Her Majesty for 
 the production of the letter, and to appoint a Select Com- 
 mittee to investigate all the circumstances of the case. 
 
 About this time the Duke of Argyll was, in an action 
 tried before Lord Chief-Justice Denman, found liable as 
 one of the shareholders of the British-American Association. 
 The day following the Globe newspaper introduced into its 
 leading article certain statements with regard to its executive 
 officers which caused Mr. Broun to bring an action for 
 damages against its proprietors. 
 
 In the meantime the following Petition was presented to 
 the Queen through the Home Office : — 
 
 'TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY QUEEN 
 VICTORIA 
 
 ' The Petition of the undersigned Knights Baronets of Scotland and 
 Nova Scotia J 
 ' Humbly Sheweth, 
 
 'That Your Majesty's illustrious Ancestor King Charles the ist 
 of happy memory established the Noble Order of Knights Baronets 
 of Scotland and Nova Scotia, to which your petitioners have the 
 honor to belong by descent, and amongst other valuable privileges 
 which he bestowed on it, was that of His Majesty's Hereditary 
 Lieutenant of Nova Scotia being entitled to convene the Baronets 
 in an Assembly or Chapter. That the dormancy of the said 
 hereditary office of Lieutenant has prevented any such Chapter 
 from having been held for many years, and that thus abuses are 
 said to have arisen and rumours throwing doubts on the validity of 
 
3o8 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 some of the titles on the Roll of the Baronets of Scotland and Nova 
 Scotia have been frequently and w^idely circulated especially of late 
 years to the great prejudice of your petitioners and the Order to 
 which they belong for if it were true that any of these titles had 
 been taken up without any just right, it would be not only a 
 disgrace to the Order itself, but it would imply a serious breach of 
 Your Majesty's Royal Prerogative ; Your Petitioners therefore do 
 most humbly implore Your Majesty that you would be graciously 
 pleased to allow their Order an opportunity of wiping off all such 
 foul aspersions, by issuing Your Royal mandate that a Chapter of the 
 Order shall be forthwith held at Edinburgh, to meet afterwards as 
 occasion may require in time coming and that all individuals for the 
 first time requiring admission to the said Chapter, shall be called 
 upon to produce such reasonable proofs as may satisfy Your Majesty's 
 Lord Advocate or Solicitor General for Scotland, or any other Law 
 Officer that Your Majesty may be graciously pleased to appoint for 
 this purpose, that their titles to seats thereat are admissable ; And 
 may it please Your Majesty farther to ordain, that the Baronet of 
 Eldest Creation present shall always preside at all meetings of any 
 such Chapter. We also crave Your Majesty that powers may be 
 granted to the said Chapter to regulate and determine all matters 
 concerning the Baronetage of Scotland and Nova Scotia that may 
 be brought before it and afterwards sanctioned by Your Majesty ; 
 and Your Petitioners would especially beseech Your Majesty that in 
 order to secure the future purity and integrity of the Order, and as 
 a safeguard for Your Majesty's Royal Prerogative, You would be 
 graciously pleased to ordain that no Baronetage of Scotland and 
 Nova Scotia dormant or otherwise shall in future be taken up by 
 any individual whatsoever until he shall have produced satisfactory 
 proof of his right thereto before the said Chapter, always excepting 
 from this the eldest legitimate Son or Nephew of a Baronet of 
 Scotland and Nova Scotia, directly succeeding to the title of his 
 Father or Uncle deceased or a younger brother succeeding to that 
 of an older. 
 
 * Humbly beseeching Your Majesty most graciously to Grant 
 this their Petition, or to afford such other remedy for the 
 
LATER HISTORY 309 
 
 evil complained of, as to Your Majesty may appear to be 
 most fitting your Majesty's Petitioners as in loyalty and 
 duty bound, will ever most anxiously Pray for Your Royal 
 Person. 
 
 ' Edinburgh, 8th June 1842. 
 ' (Signed) Caithness. 
 '&c., &c.' 
 
 At a meeting of Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia 
 held in London on the 31st October 1843, the Marquis of 
 Downshire presiding, a resolution was passed to the effect 
 that negotiations should be continued through Mr. Woodman 
 of Amherst with the Colonial authorities in New Brunswick 
 relative to the territorial rights of the Baronets. By a letter 
 dated from Fredericton, June 14, 1843, that gentleman 
 reported that, in accordance with the instructions he had 
 received, he had made a journey to Fredericton and opened 
 a communication with Sir William Colebrooke, the Lieutenant- 
 Governor of New Brunswick, on the subject of a grant of 
 land in that province for the Baronets ; that he found Sir 
 William a zealous and active personage in the cause of 
 colonisation and emigration ; that by the settlement of the 
 Boundary Question nearly the whole line of road between 
 Nova Scotia and Canada would have to be altered and 
 made anew ; that Sir William had suggested that the grant 
 should be taken on the line of road and in separate selected 
 tracts, by which the best lands might be secured, the onus 
 of settling them, and making the road through them, to 
 be undertaken by the Baronets, at periods to be stipulated 
 with the Government ; and that a Petition on the subject 
 should be presented to the Colonial Minister. 
 
3IO A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 This letter was accompanied by the copy of one dated 
 3rd June 1 843, which Mr. Woodman had previously received 
 from Sir William Colebrooke, and in which his Excellency 
 says — ' That he had considered the conversation which he 
 had had with him on the subject of the views of the Nova 
 Scotia Baronets ; and taking, as he did, great interest in 
 them, it has occurred to him to suggest that these views 
 might be much advanced by employing Dr. Gesner to 
 examine the lands, which are vacant in various districts, 
 and to report on their capabilities ' . . . ' that the application 
 of the Baronets should specify the condition upon which 
 they desire to acquire lands wherever they may be found 
 suitable ; and that in the course of the summer Dr. Gesner 
 would obtain such information as would enable them to 
 make a selection with full confidence,' 
 
 A General Meeting of Baronets of Scotland and Nova 
 Scotia was held in Glasgow on the 8th August 1844, at 
 which Sir John Campbell, Baronet of Ardnamurchan, was 
 in the chair; and after a number of documents had been 
 laid before the meeting. Sir R. Broun read a Report of the 
 steps which had been taken since 1835 for the revival 
 of the territorial rights of the Baronets of Scotland and 
 Nova Scotia in British America, and of the circumstances 
 which had occurred to suspend the proceedings since 
 October 1842. 
 
 At the conclusion of the reading of this Report a 
 resolution was passed directing it to be printed and cir- 
 culated amongst the Members of the Nova Scotia Baronets 
 preparatory to a meeting to be held later in Edinburgh. 
 
LATER HISTORY 311 
 
 A resolution was also passed directing that copies of the 
 Prospectus of ' The Scottish Company for advancing the 
 Plantation of Nova Scotia and Canada' should also be 
 sent to each Member with a request that they would 
 communicate with Sir R. Broun whether they would con- 
 sent to join it or not, 
 
 A General Meeting of Baronets of Scotland took place on 
 yth November 1 844, at which a Committee was appointed. 
 
 At a Meeting of the Committee of Baronets for Nova 
 Scotia Rights, appointed by the General Meeting on the 
 7th November 1844, held in Edinburgh the 9th September 
 1847, 3.fter the business had been transacted, a Report was 
 read by Sir Richard Broun relative to the proceedings then 
 in progress in London for the revival of the rights of the 
 Degree, by means of a ' Petition of Right ' ; a copy of the 
 joint legal Opinion of Messrs. M. D. Hill and J. Chisholme 
 Anstey, M.P., was also submitted. 
 
 According to the latter, the two Counsel concurred in 
 thinking that the Baronets of Scotland, created from 1625 
 to 1638, held their respective Baronies of 16,000 acres in 
 Nova Scotia, given with their titles, in feu blanch farm, and 
 as liege regal Fiefs, immediately of the kings of Scotland ; 
 that the Baronets created between 1638 and the Union in 
 1707 had the same equitable rights to Baronies of 16,000 
 acres in Nova Scotia as they would have had if their Charters 
 had been made out ; that the rights and privileges of the 
 whole Body were valid and subsisting, not having been 
 extinguished or impaired by statutes of limitation, adverse 
 possession, foreign conquest, non-usage, or any other cause 
 
312 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 or circumstance whatsoever ; and that it was open and com- 
 petent to the Baronets to recover the same by an application 
 to the Sovereign in person as the Fountain of Justice, 
 through the legal medium of a Petition of Right. 
 
 The attention of the Committee was specially called, first, 
 to the fact that, on the erection of the Scottish Baronetage, 
 it was made a covenant between the Crown and the nation 
 that no Baronet ever should be created within the Kingdom 
 of Scotland except for the express purpose of advancing the 
 plantation of Nova Scotia (which comprehends New Brunswick, 
 Gaspe, Cape Breton, Prince Edward's Island, etc.), and that 
 each Baronet, in consideration of the contribution of 3000 
 merks towards the plantation, should receive, as a territorial 
 qualification for his title, 16,000 acres in one or other of the 
 districts of the Province, the same to be held of the Scottish 
 Crown as a free Barony and Regality, with seat and voice in 
 the Provincial Parliaments, and other great and important 
 privileges ; second, to the circumstance that the Crown 
 Precepts to the Baronets created subsequent to 1638 
 authorised their patents to be so prepared as to convey to 
 them and their heirs all rights, privileges, and immunities 
 whatsoever, that are vested in the senior Members of the 
 Order quasi Baronets ; and third, to the comprehensive 
 binding and effectual words used in the Patents of the junior 
 Members, which declare and provide that they shall be 
 Baronets with ' no less liberty and extent of right in all 
 respects than is enjoyed by those of prior creation, under 
 whatsoever laws, statutes, customs, commissions, or con- 
 stitutions.' 
 
LATER HISTORY 313 
 
 The Committee, having taken the Report and statements 
 into consideration, passed, in addition to others, the following 
 resolutions : — 
 
 ' I. That the Committee, as representing the general interests of 
 the Order, receive with satisfaction the Report as to the progress 
 of business now made, approve of the presentation to her Majesty of 
 a Petition of Right, in accordance with the Opinion of Counsel, 
 and direct that all due diligence be used to urge forward the pro- 
 ceedings to an immediate conclusion. 
 
 ' 2. That the Members present are unanimously of opinion, under 
 the present distress existing in the British Islands, that the due 
 location and settlement of the common properties of the Baronets 
 in Nova Scotia as originally bounded, could not fail to prove highly 
 beneficial both to the mother country and the colony, and that 
 every possible effort on the part of those interested should now be 
 directed to that important end.' 
 
 On the 2nd June 1848 a deputation of Baronets of Scot- 
 land waited upon Lord Grey, the Colonial Secretary, pursuant 
 to a series of resolutions which were passed by the Committee 
 at a meeting held in London on the 23 rd of May, and 
 placed in his hands a Memorandum and Protest, which com- 
 menced by stating that the objects for which the deputation 
 had been appointed were threefold : — 
 
 * ( I ) To present a copy of a compilation entitled " The Nova 
 Scotia Question, with observations geographical and statistical — 
 Historical summary of events relative to the Baronetage of Scotland 
 and Nova Scotia — Roll of existing Members — List of charters, and 
 opinions of Counsel." 
 
 * (2) To submit on behalf of the Order, that, in lieu of all terri- 
 torial claims, a consolidated grant shall be made to the Baronets of 
 2,500,000 acres of the vacant land in New Brunswick, upon the 
 line of the proposed Railway between Halifax and Quebec. 
 
314 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 *(3) To place in the hands of her Majesty's Government a 
 formal protest against the sale, grant, or concession of any of the 
 vacant territory within the province of New^ Scotland, as originally 
 bounded, pending the settlement of the Claim of Right nov^^ urged 
 by the Baronets.' 
 
 This preamble was followed by arguments in support, the 
 document being signed by order of the Committee by Sir 
 W. A. Maxwell, B^, as Preses, and Sir Richard Broun, B* 
 
 Meetings were held in 1849, at which a 'Petition of 
 Right ' and an Address to the Queen were discussed and 
 agreed upon, but no practical result was obtained by the 
 Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia in connection with 
 their claim in respect of lands under Charters granted to 
 their predecessors more than two centuries earlier. 
 
 The Committee of the Baronetage for Privileges were 
 equally unsuccessful in obtaining for the Degree generally 
 the various claims they had from time to time put forward, 
 and it was consequently dissolved. The failure of these 
 two movements should not, however, be any discouragement 
 to the Baronetage in the prosecution of their undoubted 
 rights to the removal of abuses connected with their Degree 
 and the maintenance of their covenanted privileges. 
 
 The enormous support accorded to Sir Richard Broun is a 
 proof of the necessity felt half a century ago by the Baronetage 
 of an organisation to protect these privileges. It is, however, 
 to be regretted that a pugnacious attitude was adopted, and 
 that proposals for a fancy dress and the formation and pro- 
 motion of commercial enterprises in connection with the 
 Baronetage of Scotland were included in the programme. 
 
LATER HISTORY 315 
 
 On the 27th August 1897, a notice appeared in the 
 newspapers of that date to the effect that the Queen had 
 issued an Order that the sons and daughters of Life Peers 
 should in future bear the title of ' Honourable,' and have a 
 precedence amongst themselves according to the date of 
 their fathers' patents ; whereupon a long correspondence 
 appeared in the newspapers, commencing with a letter signed 
 * Justitias Tenax,' protesting on behalf of the Baronets that 
 this Order was an infringement of their privileges. This 
 letter, together with the most important ones connected with 
 the correspondence which followed, will be found in the 
 Appendix. 
 
 A few days afterwards the authorship of the first letter 
 was owned by Sir Charles H. Stuart Rich, Baronet, of 
 Shirley, who put himself in communication with other 
 Baronets, as a result of which a Meeting was held at the 
 Bristol Hotel, London, on the loth November following. 
 
 At this Meeting Rear-Admiral Sir Lambton Loraine, 
 Baronet, was voted to the Chair, and a Committee was 
 appointed to make arrangements for holding in London a 
 General Meeting of the Baronetage in order to form a 
 permanent Society. Sir Charles Rich, Baronet, F.S.A., and 
 Mr. Francis W. Pixley, F.S.A., were appointed Honorary 
 Secretaries of this Committee. 
 
 Unfortunately, at the same time, an attempt was made by 
 a well-known genealogical writer to form what he called a 
 Committee of the Order of Baronets with Vice-Presidents, 
 Companions, etc., and there is no doubt that the circulars 
 issued by him to this end led away many who were as yet 
 
3i6 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 ignorant that a Society was in process of formation by the 
 Baronets themselves. The attempt, however, to exploit the 
 Baronetage as a private venture collapsed almost immedi- 
 ately, and many who had supported the movement deserted 
 it in favour of the real and properly appointed Provisional 
 Committee. 
 
 The General Meeting of the Baronetage convened by this 
 Committee was held on the 26th January 1898, at the Hotel 
 Victoria, London, Sir Lambton Loraine, B*, being voted 
 to the Chair. At this Meeting the Honourable Society of 
 the Baronetage was formed, with Sir Charles Rich, B*, as 
 its Treasurer, and Mr. Pixley as Registrar. An Executive 
 Committee was appointed, and instructions for their guid- 
 ance were passed. 
 
 A very large number of Baronets (about one hundred and 
 eighty) were enrolled at this Meeting as the first Members 
 of the Honourable Society, and their names published on 
 the following day. 
 
 The Royal Warrant giving precedence to the children of 
 Life Peers and erecting them into a special class between 
 the younger sons of Barons and the Baronets was published 
 in the London Gazette of the i6th August 1898, and was as 
 follows : — 
 
 ^ Whitehall^ August iSth, 1898. 
 ' The Queen has been pleased to issue a Warrant under Her 
 Majesty's Royal Sign Manual to the following effect : — 
 
 'nCTORU,R. 
 ' Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of 
 Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, To Our 
 
LATER HISTORY 317 
 
 Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin and Councillor 
 Henry, Duke of Norfolk, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of 
 the Garter, Earl-Marshal and our Hereditary Marshal of England, 
 Greeting ! 
 
 ' Whereas We did by a Warrant, under Our Royal Sign Manual 
 and Signet, bearing date the twenty-second day of December, one 
 thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, declare that the u^ife of a 
 Lord of Appeal in Ordinary then appointed or that thereafter 
 might be appointed, whose husband was not otherwise entitled to 
 sit in the House of Lords, should be entitled, so long as she 
 continued his wife or remained his widow, to the style, rank, and 
 precedence, of a Baroness of these Our Realms, together with the 
 rights and privileges thereto appertaining, according to and from 
 the date of his appointment, and did therein and thereby declare 
 that nothing contained in the said Warrant should be deemed or 
 construed to authorise or permit any of their children to assume or 
 use the prefix of Honourable, or to be entitled to the style, rank, 
 or precedence, of the children of a Baron : 
 
 ' Now Know Ye that We deem it expedient to assign and grant 
 to all the children lawfully begotten of the said Lords of Appeal in 
 Ordinary heretofore appointed, or that may be hereafter appointed, 
 certain style, title, rank, and precedence, as is hereinafter declared. 
 
 * We hereby revoke and altogether make void so much of Our 
 aforesaid Warrant of the twenty-second day of December, one 
 thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, as is inconsistent with, or 
 contrary to the provision of, this Our present Warrant, and We do 
 hereby declare with respect to all of the surviving children of the 
 undernamed persons, all of whom either were formally or are now 
 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, namely : — Colin Blackburn, Lord 
 Blackburn, deceased ; Edward Strathearn Gordon, Lord Gordon of 
 Drumearn, deceased ; John David Fitzgerald, Lord Fitzgerald, 
 deceased ; William Watson, Lord Watson ; Edward Macnaghten, 
 Lord Macnaghten ; Michael Morris, Lord Morris ; James Hannen, 
 Lord Hannen, deceased j Charles Synge Christopher Bowen, Lord 
 Bowen, deceased ; Charles Russell, Lord Russell of Killowen (now 
 Lord Chief-Justice of England) j and Horace Davey, Lord Davey j 
 
31 8 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 as also with respect to the children of any Lord of Appeal in 
 Ordinary hereafter to be appointed and created a Lord of Parliament 
 for life ; that such children shall have and enjoy on all occasions 
 the style and title enjoyed by the children of hereditary Barons of 
 these Our Realms, together with the rank and precedence next to 
 and immediately after the younger children of all hereditary Barons 
 now created or hereafter to be created, and immediately before all 
 Baronets. 
 
 * Our Will and Pleasure, therefore, is that you, Henry, Duke of 
 Norfolk, to whom the cognizance of matters of this nature doth 
 properly belong, do see this Our Order kept and observed, and that 
 you do cause the same to be recorded in our College of Arms, to 
 the end that Our Officers of Arms and all others upon occasion 
 may take full notice and have knowledge thereof. 
 
 * Given at Our Court at Saint James's^ the thirtieth day of 
 March^ One thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, in 
 the sixty-first year of Our reign. 
 
 'By Her Majesty's command. 
 
 ' M. W. Ridley: 
 
 This document, not issued until more than four months 
 after signature by Her Majesty, had taken about a year 
 altogether to prepare, for its purpose was publicly acknow- 
 ledged in August 1897, as already shown. 
 
 The Honourable Society of the Baronetage lost no time 
 in making a protest as public as the Warrant itself, by 
 means of a letter, signed by its Registrar, addressed to the 
 leading London newspapers, a copy of which will be found 
 in the Appendix. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 LETTERS TO NEWSPAPERS referring to the Pre- 
 cedence GIVEN TO Children of Life Peers and the 
 Royal Warrant of the 30TH March 1898. 
 
 The Times^ 31st August 1897. 
 
 ' To the Editor. 
 
 'Sir, 
 
 'I see in the daily papers of the 27th inst. that in future 
 the children of legal life peers are to be styled " Honourable " and 
 to take precedence immediately after the children of barons and 
 before all baronets. Surely this is a direct infraction of the under- 
 taking given by James i. w^hen he instituted the Baronetage, that 
 neither he nor his successors w^ould at any time create any dignity 
 whatsoever mean between the barons and the baronets. 
 
 'I wonder what the barons would say if the children of bishops 
 were given precedence of their children, or the rest of the Peers if 
 the Lord Chancellor's or Lord Chamberlain's children were suddenly 
 given a new and unprecedented place in the social scale. 
 
 ' For many years the Baronetage has been slowly but surely dis- 
 credited. The baronet's position quasi baronet has long been ignored 
 in State functions. Their ancient privileges have disappeared, and 
 the style of Honourable, justly accorded them until the latter part 
 of the last century, has long been denied them ; and now an edict 
 has gone forth lowering the order in the social scale. 
 
 ' Only last year we had an instance of this when a baronet's eldest 
 son claimed his knighthood on attaining his majority, yet, in defiance 
 of the statutes of the Baronetage, the Lord Chamberlain refused to 
 recognise the validity of the claim. 
 
 * Surely it is time that the baronets as a body took some steps to 
 
 319 
 
320 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 protect their rights and the ancient dignity of their order. They 
 are a powerful body, and it rests largely with themselves whether 
 they will calmly sit still and allow their honour to be surely but 
 steadily discounted. If the legal life peers' children had been placed 
 on a par with the barons' children, perhaps the baronets could not 
 have objected ; though it is, I think, unprecedented for official rank 
 to convey precedence to children. But I cannot think that the 
 baronets will submit to a further infraction of the covenants of the 
 order without striking a blow in their defence. 
 
 ' I am, Sir, 
 
 ' Your obedient Servant, 
 
 'JusTiciiE Tenax.' 
 
 The Times, i8th August 1898. 
 *The Baronetage and the Children of Lords of Appeal. 
 ' To THE Editor. 
 
 *SlR, 
 
 ' Observing that the Royal warrant giving titles to the 
 children of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary with precedence before all 
 baronets is now gazetted, I am instructed to inform you that the 
 Honourable Society of the Baronetage has from the first called in 
 question, as it does still, the legality of the advice given to the 
 Sovereign which has led to the issue of this warrant. 
 
 *The warrant, in itself a curiosity for the genealogist, is in direct, 
 I might say flagrant, contravention of James i.'s decree, dated 
 May 28, 1 61 2. In this instrument the King binds not only 
 himself, but his heirs and successors also, not at any time to erect, 
 create, or constitute any degree, order, name, title, style, dignity, or 
 state, nor to give place, precedency, or pre-eminence to any person 
 or persons, whatsoever beneath the degree of Lords of Parliament 
 which should be or accounted to be higher, before, or equal to the 
 degree, dignity, or place of baronets. 
 
 ' The warrant, moreover, rides roughshod in quite an easy way 
 over Royal covenants, expressed in the language of the decree, made 
 with individual baronets in their patents of creation. 
 
APPENDIX 321 
 
 'The baronetage is not aware of any definite repudiation of 
 James's decree, or of the individual covenants having been made by 
 the Crown. 
 
 ' Had her gracious Majesty elevated the persons concerned into 
 any existing degree or order, baronets could have nothing to say, 
 but as the Royal warrant involves a clear breach of one of the 
 privileges which, held by them in trust for their posterity, it con- 
 cerns their honour to defend, they will have no option as to the 
 course now incumbent upon them. 
 
 * The Honourable Society, intending to petition the Crown, has 
 hitherto scrupulously avoided publicity, and my committee regret 
 the necessity now forced upon it to depart for a moment from this 
 principle. 
 
 ' I have the honour to remain. Sir, 
 
 ' Your most obedient servant, 
 
 * Francis W. Pixley, 
 
 * Registrar of the Honourable Society 
 
 of the Baronetage. 
 
 '58 Coleman Street, London, E.C., August 17.' 
 
 The Times, 22nd August 1898. 
 
 'To THE Editor. 
 
 'Sir, 
 
 ' In The Times of the i8th inst., a gentleman in the City 
 writes on behalf of the " Society of the Baronetage " to complain of 
 the Royal Warrant of March 30, regarding the style and rank of 
 the sons and daughters of life peers. 
 
 'It is a new proposal to regulate the fount of honour from 
 Coleman Street ; but if the baronets will employ some clearer- 
 minded agent than their new "Registrar," they will discover that 
 titles divide themselves into two classes — first, actual ; and secondly, 
 courtesy ; that the titles now held by life peers' children come 
 under the second heading ; and, further, that the March warrant 
 hardly creates any fresh dignity, but rather cancels the peculiar 
 disability under which certain peers' sons and daughters suffered 
 
 X 
 
322 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 since 1876. They were the sons and daughters of a baron and a 
 baroness, the former ennobled for higher reasons than generally 
 influence the creation of a peerage, and yet they were practically 
 illegitimatised. This probably lowered the value of their high 
 position in the estimation of those peers who were called on to 
 represent the House of Lords in its double capacity. Such peers 
 are now, by an alteration of the 1876 Act, lords of Parliament for 
 their natural life — like all other barons — and the usual courtesy 
 precedence is accorded to their wives and children. No new 
 degree " beneath a lord of Parliament " has been created now or 
 since 1876. 
 
 *I am, etc., 
 
 «A. B. C. 
 * August 20.' 
 
 The Daily News^ 22nd August 1898. 
 
 'To THE Editor. 
 'Sir, 
 
 ' The gentleman who in " The Daily News " of Thursday 
 signs himself as the Registrar of that somewhat mysterious body 
 " The Honourable Society of the Baronetage " should moderate the 
 ardour of his claims. The demand for precedence over the sons of 
 Life Peers, which he bases on the original charter of James i., only 
 recalls the degraded origin of the title. Till that time knighthood 
 was the most honourable of English dignities, and Queen Elizabeth 
 added lustre to the status of a peer when she dubbed him knight for 
 valiant deeds. But when that most despicable of English Kings, 
 James vi. of Scotland, arrived from the North, he was sadly in want 
 of funds, and proceeded to sell for ready cash hereditary knight- 
 hood to those who could afford to pay his price. This course was 
 worthy of the man who put that true knight Raleigh to death. But 
 what should we think to-day if the Victoria Cross were made an 
 hereditary decoration ? Since the time of James i. baronetcies have 
 been granted for services rendered, and any payments in return have 
 been decently veiled in contributions to party needs. But those 
 
APPENDIX 323 
 
 baronets who are particularly proud of their ancestry as holding an 
 original title of James i. creation should let sleeping dogs lie. At 
 present the newly-formed Honourable Society of the Baronetage is 
 becoming ridiculous. 
 
 ' Historian.' 
 
 The Daily News^ 23rd August 1898. 
 
 'To THE Editor. 
 
 'Sir, 
 
 ' I shall be obliged if you will allow me to say one word 
 in respect to your article on the protest of the baronets. The 
 contention that the Sovereign has power to revoke engagements 
 entered into by her predecessors on the Throne appears to me a 
 somewhat dangerous doctrine for a Liberal paper to enunciate. I 
 had imagined that this question had been settled even as recently as 
 the Wensleydale case in the House of Lords, when the Peers, not a 
 very revolutionary body, clearly laid down the doctrine that the 
 power of the Sovereign in the creation of honours was limited by 
 Parliament, and the contract entered into between the Throne and 
 Parliament at the time of the Act of Succession. Were it otherwise, 
 no man, or order of men, would be safe. 
 
 ' It may be argued that precedency is a small matter — in this case 
 a very small one, for the number of the children of life Peers is 
 limited, nor is it likely that a baronet of ancient and territorial rank 
 is likely to suffer in influence or power through the interpolation of 
 a few not very influential persons between himself and the peerage ; 
 but what is of importance in the State is that contracts entered into 
 shall be carried out, and that the Sovereign, being the chief of all 
 orders in the land, shall be as jealous of their privileges as they are 
 themselves. And, on the whole, is it more curious to observe the 
 baronets as a body crying " Privilege," " Privilege," than to observe 
 the same phenomenon in, say, the House of Commons, and is the 
 right of the baronets of Nova Scotia to wear a ribbon and jewel 
 very much more absurd than that which allows a bishop to wear a 
 mitre, a judge a wig, an officer a sword, a member of Parliament a 
 
324 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 hat within the precincts, or a County Council labourer to have the 
 privilege of preventing his colleague from working more than eight 
 hours a day ? All orders of mankind have and should have their 
 privileges and should be jealous of them, and it is no more ridiculous 
 for the upper classes to fight for theirs than for the middle or lower 
 classes to maintain theirs, and each class deserves the sympathy of 
 just men when they combine to defend them. The fact that I do 
 not understand the importance of wearing or refraining from wear- 
 ing a hat in the presence of the Speaker gives me no warrant for 
 saying that this is absurd, nor does the maintenance of the rank 
 granted by the Sovereign to the ancestors of the baronets justify 
 you, Sir, in ridiculing it as worthless on the ground that you do not 
 understand its importance. 
 
 * I remain, Sir, 
 
 ' Your obedient Servant, 
 
 * Heir Presumptive.' 
 
 The Times^ 24th August 1898. 
 
 *To THE Editor. 
 
 'Sir, 
 
 * " A. B. C," in your columns of to-day, claims that the 
 " titles now held by life peers' children " come under the heading 
 of " courtesy titles." Courtesy titles indeed ! Since when have 
 " courtesy " titles been created by Royal Warrants ? 
 
 ' I hold that no style and title at all are given in the Warrant of 
 March 30, because no such belongs in law to the children of 
 hereditary barons, although they are held in the Warrant to " en- 
 joy" them. Precedence is all that is given, and such gran: is, as 
 Mr. Pixley has conclusively shown (and "A. B. C." cannot abridge 
 his quotation at his pleasure), in flagrant opposition to the binding 
 promises made by the fount of honour to whom the erection of the 
 baronetage is due. 
 
 ' Do any of us deny the Queen's power to bind her successors to 
 a certain line of conduct when vested interests are affected ? 
 
APPENDIX 325 
 
 * Can any instance be adduced where the covenant of a Sovereign 
 has been overridden without a repudiation of the same in terms ? 
 
 ' May I add that the constitution of the baronetage as a sixth 
 hereditary degree rests on three letters patent of James i., which 
 must be carefully read by those who wish to understand its 
 historical position. The unrest which has from time to time 
 characterised it is most plainly due to the strange views acted upon 
 by King James, as follows — 
 
 ' He had created baronets to occupy, in his own Royal language, 
 the mean position "betwixt a baron and a knight" ; that is to say 
 a baronet would be between these in the scale of precedence, just as 
 a baron would be between a viscount and a baronet. But when 
 this well-understood and natural English scheme of precedence 
 regulating the position of all members of their families had been 
 assumed by the first ninety-two baronets created, the King, after 
 long controversy with five of their number, refused to allow them 
 precedence over barons' sons and younger sons of viscounts, on this 
 most strange assumption — namely, that as these honourable persons 
 (esquires by law) were " sprigs of their fathers' nobility," therefore 
 they were more fit to be placed on a level with the very honourable 
 head of an ennobled family (enjoying his baronet's title by law) 
 than with the sprigs of this father's nobility. 
 
 ' So it came about that any landless cadet born in the degree next 
 immediately above baronet was appointed a higher place than the 
 great landed proprietors and manorial lords who received baronetcies. 
 For two and a half years afterwards no one accepted a baronetcy. 
 
 * At this present period of Queen Victoria's glorious reign it is 
 not agreeable to find her Majesty's advisers counselling her Majesty 
 to imitate, with aggravation, the crowning mistake of James i. Far 
 better would it have been for a dignity, which it is the true interest 
 of the Crown to support, if, as a Jubilee or Diamond Jubilee 
 commemoration of so splendid a reign, our gracious Sovereign had 
 released the Baronetage from its anomalous position by promising 
 to restore it gradually to the position rightly taken by the ninety- 
 two baronets aforesaid, under the saving clause contained in James's 
 final decree dated 161 6. 
 
326 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 * In itself the giving of rank to the offspring of office-holders is 
 quite a new departure, rights of precedence having been limited 
 heretofore to the holders of high office themselves. Your corre- 
 spondent hardly improves matters by laying down the very funny 
 doctrine that without certain rights of rank or precedence the 
 children of life peers are " practically illegitimate." 
 
 ' Personally, like others, I care little for the trumperies of pre- 
 cedence ; but, possessing, as I do, a king's solemn promise made to 
 my ancestors, myself, and my posterity in letters patent under the 
 Great Seal, I would rather be a man defending that promise than a 
 person clamouring for distinction, with pretensions which I do not 
 think any baronet is legally obliged to recognise. 
 ' I have the honour to be. Sir, 
 
 * Your obedient servant, 
 
 ' A Baronet (English creation). 
 
 * August 22.' 
 
 The Daily News, 27th August 1898. 
 
 *To THE Editor. 
 
 'Sir, 
 
 ' I have just seen a letter in your issue of the 22nd inst., 
 carrying the signature " Historian " beneath the usual misrepre- 
 sentations and parrot-cries concerning the baronetage. In these 
 days of shallowness it is customary for ignorance to be paraded as 
 knowledge, but better things are expected from " Historians." 
 
 'Your correspondent begins with a blunder in speaking of "the 
 demand for precedence" (over others) as though it originated with 
 the baronetage. Any ordinary observer knows that it is the sons of 
 Lords of Appeal who have been demanding precedence, and titles 
 too, and thereby seeking to disturb the whole fabric of English 
 rules of precedence, since never before has rank been given to the 
 issue of office-holders, as such, either in the House of Lords or out 
 of it. 
 
 * " Historian " then runs amuck at the origin of the baronetage 
 and shows either his absolute ignorance of the service to the King 
 
APPENDIX 327 
 
 and State rendered by the early baronets, or else purposely sup- 
 presses it. Where is the fool who does not know that service to 
 the State is either personal or pecuniary, or both, and in all ages has 
 been a fit subject for reward ? Who but " Historian" and his kind 
 think any the worse of, (say,) the Duke of Westminster's ancestors 
 because a baronetcy was the first hereditary title conferred on the 
 family of Grosvenor, and was the only one belonging to them for 
 seven generations ? Who but they are unaware that the family of 
 their leader. Lord Rosebery, was first ennobled by a baronetcy, and 
 that nearly one-sixth of the baronetage of "degraded origin" (sic) 
 is represented in the peerage, while one of the "degraded origin " 
 persons is actually a life peer ? 
 
 'Of course our "Historian" knows nothing about the sale of 
 peerages and knighthoods in Stuart times ; and to judge from the 
 tenour of his letter he thinks that modern people acquiring great 
 riches in trade, or turning their political coat, and in both cases 
 giving contributions to the party chest, " decently veiled," are more 
 worthy to be honoured as baronets than men of the olden time who 
 furnished regiments for the King's service, guarded his standard in 
 battle, and bequeathed to the nation men, plenty of whom have 
 been among our foremost statesmen, administrators, diplomatists, 
 soldiers, and sailors. He is heartily welcome however to his 
 opinion. 
 
 'Then we have "Historian" talking about " hereditary knight- 
 hood," a thing which has never existed, for knighthood has always 
 been personally bestowed. He means by this name, I suppose, to 
 designate the baronetage, and here again. Sir, is exhibited culpable 
 ignorance on the part of a person claiming to write fact. A 
 baronet's patent of creation is like that of a baron, and constitutes 
 him a baronet simply, with remainder. Originally this was all he 
 had ; but at a later date James, by a well-known edict, ordered to 
 be added (among others) a clause enabling any baronet and his 
 eldest son, who should desire it, to claim knighthood in person from 
 the Sovereign as an additional dignity. Thus was provided by 
 charter a second title to be borne at will by a baronet's eldest son, 
 while second titles of peers so borne by their sons remained a matter 
 
328 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 of courtesy ; but some ninety-two baronets already created at the 
 time of the edict did not, of course, have any option of a secondary 
 honour contained in their patents. 
 
 'As "Historian" considers knighthood to have been the most 
 honourable of English dignities, it may help him to find out a little 
 more about " degraded origins of titles " if I inform him that it can 
 be seen in the list of the said ninety-two baronets that fifty-six of 
 them were created from the ranks of the knights themselves, while 
 all were heads of great families. 
 
 ' I trust, Sir, I am not making inordinate demands on your space, 
 but sometimes it is as well not to let ignorance and presumption 
 have it all their own way. 
 
 ' I have the honour to be. Sir, 
 
 ' Your obedient servant, 
 
 ' Baronettus. 
 
 'August 25.' 
 
INDEX 
 
 Albemarle, Duke of — 
 
 Precedency of Baronets at funeral of 
 George Monk, 237. 
 Alexander, Sir William — 
 
 Charter and grant of lands in Nova 
 Scotia, 141 et seq. 
 Amelia Sophia Eleanora,Princess — 
 
 Baronet's wife at funeral of, 206. 
 Amelia, Princess — 
 
 Baronet's wife at funeral of, 206. 
 Anne, Queen of Denmark — 
 
 Precedence of Baronets at funeral of, 
 236. 
 Appendix — 
 
 Letters to newspapers, 319. 
 Argyll, Duke of — 
 
 His connection with the Scottish and 
 British-American Association, 296 
 et seq. 
 Arms — 
 
 Bannerets' arms borne in a square 
 
 shield, 8. 
 Baronets must originally have been 
 descended of a grandfather who 
 bore, 19. 
 College of; see College. 
 Registration of arms by Committee of 
 Baronetage for privileges, 281 et seq. 
 Arms, Officers of — 
 
 Letter to, from Earl of Holland, 256. 
 Their reply, 257. 
 Assumption of the Title — 
 
 Remarks on improper, 240. 
 Attorney-General — 
 
 Letter from, as to limitation of the 
 number of Baronets, 215. 
 
 Letter from, as to a proposed badge, 
 259. 
 
 Bacon — 
 
 Premier Baronet, 20. 
 Badge — 
 
 Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia, 
 
 242 et seq. 
 Proposed badge for baronets of England, 
 
 etc., 255. 
 Reason of College of Arms for non- 
 grant of a badge to Baronets of 
 England, etc., 268. 
 Bannerets — 
 Arms of, 8. 
 
 Ceremony of creation of, 6 et seq. 
 Confused with Baronets, 2 et seq. 
 Described as chevaliers a banier, 6. 
 „ milites vexillati, 6. 
 
 „ milites vexilliferi, 6. 
 
 Institution of, 5. 
 Baron's Patent — 
 
 Similarity of operative words in Patent 
 of Baronet and in, 195. 
 Barons — 
 
 Dispute between Baronets and younger 
 sons of, 113. 
 Baronet — 
 
 Bacon the premier, 20. 
 Banneret confused with, 2 et seq. 
 Creation of a, 24. 
 Dignity, state and degree of, 191. 
 Funeral ceremony of a, 238. 
 Nobilis Major, a, 11, 193. 
 Patent of a ; see Patent. 
 Sixth degree of hereditary nobility, 11. 
 329 
 
330 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Word Baronet a necessary addition of 
 dignity, 29, 36, 47, 54, 86, 210, 212 
 et seq. 
 Baronetage — 
 
 Early history of the, 108. 
 Erection of the, i. 
 Honourable Society of the, 316. 
 Later history of the, 246. 
 Opposition to the erection of the, 108. 
 Baronetage of Scotland and Nova 
 Scotia — 
 Early history of the, 141. 
 Institution of the, 1 54. 
 Origin of the institution of the, 143. 
 Proclamation announcing the proposed 
 institution of the, 147. 
 Baronets — 
 
 Dispute between younger sons of Vis- 
 counts and of Barons and the, 113. 
 Eldest sons of Baronets have preced- 
 ence of eldest sons of all Knights, 
 239. 
 Meetings of, 226, 227, 245, 248 et seq.; 
 
 271, 277 et seq.; 315 ^/ seq. 
 Nobiles Majores, 11, 193. 
 Precedence of daughters of, 200, 204. 
 „ sons of, 199. 
 
 „ wives of, 200, 204. 
 
 „ wivesof sonsof, 200, 204. 
 
 Precedency of, 12, 18. 
 Barrenberg — 
 
 Battle of, I. 
 Bart — 
 
 Objection to this abbreviation of 
 Baronet, Preface, 212. 
 Bath — 
 
 Precedency at restoration of the Order 
 of the, 207. 
 Betham, Sir William — 
 
 Opinion of, as to knighthood of eldest 
 sons of Baronets, 229. 
 Bond — 
 
 Form of, to be given by Baronets on 
 payment of balance of their fees, 102. 
 
 British-American Association — 
 
 History of the, 299 et seq. 
 Broun, Richard — 
 
 Dispute as to his right to knighthood, 
 
 22^ et seq. 
 Invites the Baronets to consider their 
 
 privileges, 259 f/ seq. 
 Presentation to, 284. 
 
 Caboto, John — 
 
 His voyage to Newfoundland, 141. 
 Carleton, Sir Dudley — 
 
 Letters to, 113, 116, 118, 130, 134. 
 Chamberlain, Sir John — 
 
 Letters from, 113, 116, 118, 130, 134. 
 Chapter of Baronets — 
 
 Reasons of College of Arms against 
 formation of a, 268. 
 Charles I. — 
 
 Creation of first Baronet of Scotland 
 
 by, 154. 
 Letter to the Contractors for Baronets 
 
 from, 175. 
 Letters to Privy Council of Scotland, 
 
 161, 167, 169, 176, 180. 
 Warrant of, as to knighting of eldest sons 
 of Baronets of Scotland, 220, 221. 
 Charles II. — 
 
 Precedency of Baronets at coronation 
 of, 203. 
 Charles, Prince — 
 
 Letter to Privy Council of Scotland, 
 
 Charter — 
 
 Abstract of rights conferred by Royal 
 Charter of Baronets of Scotland and 
 Nova Scotia, 154. 
 
 Novodamus, of, 159. 
 
 Precept of, 159. 
 
 William and Mary, of, 186. 
 Charter of Barony — 
 
 Example of a, 241. 
 Chevaliers a Banier — 
 
 Bannerets described as, 6. 
 
INDEX 
 
 33^ 
 
 Collar of S.S. — 
 
 Remarks on, 284. 
 College of Arms — 
 
 Appeals to, as to precedence of Bar- 
 onets of Scotland, 205. 
 Report of, as to precedency of daugh- 
 ters of Baronets, 202. 
 Report of, as to Supporters, 262. 
 Colville of Culross — 
 
 Charter granting Barony of Culross, 
 241. 
 Commission — 
 
 For accepting surrender of lands and 
 conferring Baronetages of Scotland 
 and Nova Scotia, 162. 
 For passing infeftment to lands in 
 
 Nova Scotia, 184. 
 James i/s, to the Lord Chancellor, 
 
 i8th November 1614, 126. 
 Respecting further plantation of Nova 
 
 Scotia, 182. 
 Signature of Commission ratifying 
 
 former Commissions, 180. 
 Touching the creation of Baronets, 93. 
 Commissioners — 
 
 Instructions to be observed by, 97. 
 Committee of the Baronetage for 
 Privileges — 
 Formation of the, 279. 
 Contractors for Baronets — 
 Letter of Charles i. to the, 175. 
 Convention of the Estates — 
 
 Memorandum relating to the, 166. 
 Cope of Hanwell — 
 
 Ancestry of, 2 1 . 
 Corporation — 
 
 Grant of a Baronet's Patent to a, 92. 
 Cotton, Sir Robert — 
 
 Supposed by some to be the originator 
 of revival of title of Baronet in 161 1, 
 I. 
 Creation — 
 
 Of a Baronet, 24. 
 
 Cumberland, Henry Frederick, 
 Duke of — 
 Baronet bore train of chief mourner at 
 funeral of, 238. 
 
 Dalyson Baronetcy — 
 
 Omission to seal Letters Patent ot, 40. 
 Decree — 
 
 28th May 1612, 119, 
 
 13th March 16 16, 13c. 
 De Crespigny, Claud Champion — 
 
 Refusal of Knighthood to, 228. 
 De Hoghton of Hoghton Tower — 
 
 Ancestry of, 20. 
 
 Earl Marshal — 
 
 Letter from James i. to, 135. 
 
 Letter to Lord Sydney from, 201. 
 Early History — 
 
 Baronetage of England and of Ireland, 
 io8. 
 
 Baronetage of Scotland and Nova 
 Scotia, 141. 
 Edinburgh Castle — 
 
 Place for giving sasine by infeftment, 
 160. 
 Edmondson, Joseph — 
 
 Secretary to Committee of Baronets in 
 1783, 249. 
 England — 
 
 Baronets of, 24. 
 
 Early History of Baronets of, 108. 
 
 Erection of the Baronetage of, i. 
 Exchequer — 
 
 Payment of Baronets' fees into the, 
 
 lOI. 
 
 Fane, Sir Ralph — 
 
 Creation as a Baronet of, 8. 
 
 Grant of Manor and Advowson to, 9. 
 
 Translation of the Grant, 10. 
 Fees — 
 
 Payable on creation, 171 et seq. 
 
 Payable on issue of Patent, 103. 
 
 Remission of, 140. 
 
332 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 Ferrers, Sir Henry — 
 
 His indictment quashed for incorrect 
 description, zzx et seq. 
 Flower of Nobilitie — 
 
 Reference of James i. to, 120, 125. 
 Frankland, E'r-' Sir Thomas — 
 
 Badge worn by, 254. 
 Funerals — 
 
 Precedence of Baronets at public, 206, 
 235, 236. 
 
 George i. — 
 
 Cavalcade on arrival of, 13. 
 George hi. — 
 
 Petition of Baronets against Royal 
 Warrantof, December 1783, to, 250. 
 Gordon, B^- Sir Robert — 
 
 Charter to, 142. 
 
 Creation of, as first Baronet of Scotland 
 and Nova Scotia, 1 54. 
 
 Patent of Baronetage to, 59. 
 Great Britain — 
 
 Baronets of, 24. 
 Gresley of Drakelowe — 
 
 Ancestry of, 21. 
 
 Sir Roger, 273. 
 
 Harris, B'^- Sir Thomas — 
 His petition to James i., 137. 
 Objection to his creation, 1 34 et seq. 
 Hawkins, 'Pleas of the Crown' — 
 Extract from, as to the termination 
 'Baronet,' 213. 
 Heralds — 
 
 Fees payable to, 173 et seq. 
 Heralds' College ; see College of 
 
 Arms. 
 Holland, Earl of — 
 
 Appeal of the Baronets respecting a 
 badge to, 255. 
 Honourable — 
 
 Petition of the Baronets to be styled, 
 
 262. 
 Reason for styling Judges, etc., 264. 
 
 Remarks on courtesy title of, 209. 
 Title applicable to the Baronetage, 211. 
 Honourable Society of the Bar- 
 onetage — 
 Formation of the, 316. 
 
 Instructions — 
 
 To be observed by Commissioners, 97. 
 Ireland — 
 
 Baronets of, 24. 
 
 Early Baronetcies existing in, i. 
 
 Early history of Baronetage of, 108. 
 
 Institution of Baronetage of, 24, 42. 
 
 James I. — 
 
 Commission of, touching the creation 
 
 of Baronets, 9 3 . 
 Commission for taking the Oaths of 
 
 the Baronets, 100. 
 Commission to the Lord Chancellor, 
 
 etc., to treat with Baronets, 126., 
 Death of, 153. 
 
 Decree of 28th May 161 2, 119. 
 Erection of the Baronetage by, i . 
 Final decree of the King in 1616, 130. 
 Letter to Earl Marshal as to Sir Thomas 
 
 Harris, Bt., 135. 
 Letters to Privy Council of Scotland 
 
 from, 144, 152. 
 Letter from Privy Council of Scotland 
 
 to, 145. 
 Petition from Sir Thomas Harris, Bt., 
 
 to, 137. 
 Precedency of Baronets at funeral of, 
 
 237. 
 Jury— 
 
 Baronets invariably placed at head of 
 
 list of a special jury, 214. 
 
 Knight-Banneret ; see Banneret. 
 Knighthood — 
 
 Revocation of Promise and Grant as to 
 knighthood of eldest sons, 39, 222. 
 
INDEX 
 
 323 
 
 Right of Baronets and their eldest sons 
 
 to, 217 et seq. 
 Warrant of Charles I. as to knighthood 
 
 of eldest sons, 220. 
 
 Ladies — 
 
 Creation as Baronets of, 91. 
 Lake, Sir Thomas — 
 
 Letter from, 117. 
 Letters Patent — 
 
 Listitution of a Baronet is by, 26. 
 Right of all Baronets to have letters 
 
 patent of creation, 238. 
 See also under ' Patents.' 
 Life Peers — 
 
 Warrant respecting children of, 316. 
 Limitation — 
 
 Of the Dignity to two hundred, 25, 
 214. 
 Lord Chancellor — 
 
 Letter of Charles i. as to knighting of 
 eldest sons of Baronets to the, 171. 
 LuDowic, Prince and Duke of Rich- 
 mond AND Lenox — 
 Precedence of Baronets at funeral of, 
 237. 
 Lyon King of Arms — 
 
 Letter respecting Badge of Baronets 
 of Scotland from a Committee ot 
 Baronets to, 246. 
 
 Memorandum — 
 
 Form of, previous to preparation of 
 Letters Patent, 26. 
 Milites vexillati — 
 
 Bannerets described as, 6. 
 Milites vexilliferi — 
 
 Bannerets described as, 6. 
 Monk, Duke of Albemarle — 
 
 Precedency of Baronets at funeral of, 
 237. 
 Musgrave of Edenhall — 
 
 Ancestry of, 20. 
 
 Nelson, Lord — 
 
 Baronets allotted their place at public 
 funeral of, 238. 
 Nobiles Majores — 
 
 Baronets are, 11, 193. 
 Nobiles Minores — 
 
 Baronets are not, 1 1 . 
 Noblemen — 
 
 Title not confined to Peers of Parlia- 
 ment, 12. 
 Nova Scotia — 
 
 Addition of arms of, in armorial bear- 
 ings of the Baronets of Scotland, 242. 
 Baronets of, 24. 
 Meetings of Baronets of, 245, 288 
 
 et seq. 
 Petition to Queen Victoria of, 307. 
 Rights of Baronets of Scotland to wear 
 badge of, 242. 
 NOVODAMUS — 
 Charter of, 187. 
 
 Oath — 
 
 Commission to the Lords, etc., for 
 taking the oath of the Baronets, 100. 
 
 Form of the, 98, loi. 
 Oliver Cromwell — 
 
 Baronetcy created by, 92. 
 
 Patent — 
 
 Fees payable on issue of, 103. 
 Forms of — 
 
 Baronet of England, 27. 
 
 „ Great Britain, 32. 
 
 „ Ireland (English), 52. 
 
 „ Ireland (Latin), 42. 
 
 „ Scotland, 59. 
 
 „ United Kingdom, 41. 
 
 Paul, Sir George — 
 
 Letter respecting case of Sir Thomas 
 Harris from, 136. 
 Peers — 
 
 Dispute as to precedency between 
 
334 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE 
 
 daughters of Baronets and grand- 
 daughters of, 201. 
 PiXLEY, Francis W. — 
 
 Honorary Secretary with Sir Charles 
 Rich, Bt., of ' Provisional Committee 
 of the Baronetage,' 315. 
 Registrar of the ' Honourable Society of 
 the Baronetage,' 3 1 6. 
 Poll Taxes — 
 
 Payments at the Ordinance in 1641. 
 Precedency of Baronets — 
 
 Above lesser Barons in Scotland, 241. 
 
 After the Union, 206. 
 
 At Funerals, 206, 235, 236. 
 
 Before the Union, 12. 
 
 Complaint of Scottish gentry as to the, 
 
 166, 167. 
 General Remarks on, 18, 1 1 1 et seq. ; 
 
 195^/ seq. 
 In Processions, 236, 237. 
 Settlement of dispute concerning, 239. 
 Special precedency conferred by Letters 
 Patent, 91. 
 Precept — 
 
 Of a Charter to convey with grant of 
 lands, title, etc., of a Baronet of 
 Scotland and Nova Scotia, 159. 
 Prince of Wales, Henry — 
 
 Baronets at funeral of, 235. 
 Privileges of the Baronetage — 
 
 Enumeration of the, 188 et seq. 
 Privy Council of Scotland — 
 
 Letters from James i. to the, 144, 152. 
 „ to James i. from the, 145. 
 „ from Prince Charles to the, 
 
 151. 
 „ from Charles I. to the, 161, 169, 
 
 176, 180. 
 „ to Charles i. from the, 167. 
 Processions — 
 
 Precedency of Baronets in, 236, 237. 
 Proclamations — 
 
 Concerning the Baronetage of Scot- 
 land, 147, 163, 171, i8x. 
 
 Project for erecting the Dignity — 
 Document in the Public Record Office, 
 16. 
 
 Receipt — 
 
 Form to be given to Baronets on pay- 
 ment of their instalments, 103. 
 Receiver — 
 
 Warrant appointing a Receiver of Fees, 
 106. 
 Revocation — 
 
 Of the Promise and Grant for knight- 
 ing eldest sons, 222, 240. 
 Rich, Henry, Earl of Holland — 
 Appeal of the Baronets respecting a 
 badge to, 255. 
 Rich, B^- Sir Charles H. Stuart — 
 Honorary Secretary with Mr. Pixley of 
 ' Provisional Committee of the Bar- 
 onetage,' 315. 
 Letter respecting the Order regarding 
 
 Children of Life Peers, 315. 
 Treasurer of the ' Honourable Society 
 of the Baronetage,' 316. 
 Royal Decree — 
 
 James i., 28th May 1612, 119. 
 James i., 161 6, 130. 
 Royal Standard — 
 
 Right of Baronets in Battle to be near 
 the, 235. 
 Russell, Lord John — 
 
 Letter in reply to ' Petition ' to Wil- 
 liam IV. from, 273. 
 
 Scotland — 
 
 Baronets of, 24. 
 Scottish and British-American 
 Association — 
 
 History of the, 294 et seq. 
 Scottish Corporation — 
 
 Grant of a Baronet's Patent to the, 92. 
 Scottish Gentry — 
 
 Complaint as to precedency of Baronets 
 by the, 16S et seq. 
 
 \ 
 
INDEX 
 
 33S 
 
 Segar, Sir William — 
 
 Letter from the Attorney-General re- 
 specting a proposed badge to, 259. 
 Shellev of Michelgrove — 
 
 Ancestry of, 20. 
 Shirley, Sir Thomas — 
 
 Supposed originator of revival of title 
 of Baronet in 161 1, 2. 
 Shuckburgh, B'r- Sir Francis — 
 Treasurer of the ' Committee of the 
 Baronetage for Privileges,' 260, 279. 
 Sir— 
 
 Origin of the word, 208. 
 Skory, Silvanus — 
 
 His scheme to increase fees payable by 
 Baronets, 130. 
 Special Remainders — 
 
 Examples of Baronetcies created with, 
 90. 
 S.S. Collar of — 
 
 Remarks on, 284. 
 Strivelin — 
 Battle of, 2. 
 Style and Title — 
 
 Remarks on, 208. 
 Suffolk, Earl of — 
 
 Letter respecting the Nova Scotia 
 Badge to the, 245. 
 Supporters — 
 
 Reasons of College of Arms for not 
 
 conceding, 264 et seq. 
 Remarks on, 229. 
 
 Special Report of ' Committee of the 
 Baronetage for Privileges' on, 279. 
 Sydney, Lord — 
 
 Letter respecting Royal Warrant of 
 3rd December 1783 from, 253. 
 
 Tonkin, Sir Warwick Hele — 
 Letter as to Knighthood from, 231. 
 Remarks as to Writ of Right by, 
 232. 
 
 Traouair — 
 
 Letter to the Laird of, 22. 
 Ulster — 
 
 Addition in Armorial bearings of Arms 
 of, 233. 
 
 Rebellion in, 18. 
 
 Right of Baronets to bear the Arms of, 
 229. 
 United Kingdom — 
 
 Baronets of the, 25. 
 
 Vane (or Fane), Sir Ralph — 
 
 Grant to, 9 et seq. 
 Victoria, Queen — 
 
 Petition of Baronets as to attendance 
 
 at her Coronation to, 275. 
 Petition of Baronets of Scotland to, 
 307. 
 Viscounts — 
 
 Dispute between Baronets and younger 
 sons of, 113. 
 
 Walsingsham, Thomas — 
 
 Remarks on battle of Strivelin, 2. 
 Warrant — 
 
 Appointing Receiver of Fees payable 
 
 by Baronets, 106. 
 Form of Warrant previous to prepara- 
 tion of Letters Patent, 27. 
 3rd December 1783, as to registration 
 
 of pedigrees, 247. 
 30th March 1898, as to children of 
 
 Life Peers, 316. 
 Partial Revocation of Warrant of 3rd 
 December 1783, 254. 
 Watson, Thomas — 
 
 Receiver of Fees paid by Baronets, 106. 
 Wauchtan — 
 
 Letter to the Laird of, 22. 
 Wemyss — 
 
 Letter to the Laird of, 22. 
 William iv. — 
 
 Petition of Baronets to, 272. 
 

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