Primogeniture and why it is important - a taster

Bagot gentleman from Levens Hall

When I read any historical romance set before the end of the 19^th century, the importance of siring a male heir is constantly reiterated. This is because most titles and quite a lot of property could only pass from father to a legitimate son. The rules of inheritance of titles hark back to ancient times (with a few exceptions, here and there) – certainly before the arrival of William the Conqueror on England’s shores.

So the basic rule is that,  where peers of the realm are concerned: Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts or Barons, (and Baronets who are not peers and do not sit in the House of Lords), the title always passes to the eldest legitimate male heir. Now by a title I mean people like the Duke of Devonshire or Earl Spencer (Princess Diana’s brother) and so on. Only their eldest surviving legitimate sons will inherit the title, or the nearest legitimate male relative in the direct male line..

There are also things called courtesy titles, which these days means that the eldest son of a Duke, Marquess or Earl can use one of his father’s lesser titles. The younger sons of Dukes and Marquesses are also addressed as Lord, whereas the younger sons of Earls are addressed The Honourable. (This is why Theo Brockworth’s (Marquess of Norcombe) brothers are all addressed as Lord in the Brockworth Chronicles. Younger sons of Earls are 'Honourable' as are the sons and daughters of Barons. However, the daughters of Dukes, Marquesses and Earls are all addressed as Lady.

Confusing, isn’t it? I'm not even going near Royal titles, which have a whole set of rules of their own!

It gets even more confusing when the primary direct male line dies out. If the Duke of Anywhere has no surviving male children or grandchildren, the College of Arms will look to see if he has any brothers. If they are living, then the eldest will become the heir presumptive; if the eldest brother is dead, then their sons, if any, come into the line of succession. It can get very complicated. The College of Arms keeps pedigrees of all the noble families, and will go back many generations to locate a valid direct male line ancestor from which there is still a line that has legitimate male descendants.

Lady Amelia Byron, Baroness Conyers by François-Hubert Drouais, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, there are certain old titles that can be inherited by females (which is a crucial factor in Lord Felix and Miss Fraser, which I am writing now). These usually date back to Tudor times or even earlier. Where there are no males in the direct line, the title may be inherited by females in the direct line. One of these is the Baronetcy of Darcy de Knayth, which was inherited by AmeliaByron, Baroness Conyers in 1778, although this was only confirmed after her death.  Again, it’s complicated. 

So, normally, the surname of a noble family will not change, as females usually adopt their spouse’s surname on marriage, and they are usually ineligible to inherit. So I suppose females who inherit a noble title do not NOT adopt their husband's surname and follow the conventional manner in these circumstances. I will investigate further.

If no legitimate heir, male or female, could be found, then the title could become defunct.

There are good sources that you can read that help expand most of which I have given above. There is a good article on Wikipedia that points out some other wrinkles that I have not gone into here, including the modern travesty perpetrated by misguided politicians, which now means that there are no hereditary peers in the House of Lords: Hereditarypeer

Harewood House

If you are not confused enough by now, I should add a word about entails. Whilst titles largely followed the rules of primogeniture, money, property and estates were inherited according to whether an entail was in place or not. An entail was a legal device that usually tied up most of a family's property, estates, and money, leaving it, once again, to the eldest legitimate son in the direct line. Other non-entailed property or money could be distributed at a person’s will, as it is today. In the case of entailed estates, if no legitimate heir could be found, then the entailed estates and properties became forfeit to the Crown.

A family with a problem if an entail was in place - wives and daughters did not usually inherit under entails and could often be left penniless or poorly provided for.

Unfortunately, this meant that women could be left with very little – hence the urgency in many families to marry their daughters off as quickly and as favourably as possible. Pride and Prejudice is the prime exemplar of this, where the Bennet home will go to Mr Collins on Mr Bennet’s death.

Entails were seen increasingly as a problem and were weakened in the 19^th century by successive Acts of Parliament, but were not completely abolished till 1925!

I will not go into settlements and dowries – that’s a whole different can of worms!

Probably only the Heralds at the College of Arms understand this all completely, so perhaps we should all pass swiftly on when we encounter a mistake in this area. I’ve probably made a few bloopers myself!

Happy reading, Detta.