Page:Dod's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage etc. of Great Britain and Ireland.djvu/41

 PRECEDENCE 17 always taken precedence next after the Arch- bishop of Armagh, and the Act of Union placed him immediately before the Lord High Treasurer ; see preceding article. 15. Lord High Treasurer. — This is the position which the law assigns to the Lord High Treasurer, whenever there happens to be svich an officer. The modern practice is to appoint certain commissioners for the performance of the duties of this office who are usually called " Lords of the Treasury," but who have no special rank in right of their offices. At present, there- fore, there is no one to enjoy this position in the scale of precedence. 16. Lord President of the Privy Council. — In modern times the President of the Council is usually a member of the House of Peers. He enjoys the place here assigned to him, provided he be of the degree of a baron or above it ; but as none of lower degree has ever been appointed to the office, this has always been his place. 17. Lord PeiVY Seal. — The rule which applies to No. 16 is equally applicable to the present case. This is the position of the Lord Privy Seal, pro- vided he be of the degree of a baron or higher. 18. Lord Great Chamberlain. — The person who fills the office of Great Chamberlain does not occupy this position in the scale of precedence unless he happens to be a duke. If a marquess, he takes precedence of all other marciuesses ; if an earl, viscount, or baron, of all others of his own degree. But this precedence is strictly official. By a private Act of Parliament, 1 Geo. I. cap. 3, the place to which this officer was entitled under the 31st of Henry VIII, cap. 10, is ■declared thenceforth to be only held ^'hile he is in the actual execution of his office. From 1838 to 1870 the office was filled jointly by the Marquess of Cholmondeley and Lord Willoughby De Eresby, and they therefore had different positions in consequence of differing in the rank of their peer- ages, while neither of them took the position indicated by this article, though if either had at any tjme received a dukedom, this would be his place. 1!). Lord High Constable. — At present there is no such officer as Lord High Constable, but whenever the Crown appoints one, this is his place, supposing him to be a duke ; if of any lower ra,nk, his place would be at the head of all of his own •degree. Vide No. 31, No. 42, No. 55, and No. 71.' 20. Earl Marshal. — The present Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, happens to be the premier duke of England, but any duke holding the office would take precedence of all other dukes, and, if he belonged to any lower rank in the peerage, would precede all of his own degree. Vide No. 32, end No. 43. 21. Lord High Admiral. — There is at present no Lord High Admiral : the duties of the office are performed by commissioners ; but whenever the Crown appoints a Lord High Admiral, he takes precedence of all dukes, as well as of the two great officers next mentioned in this table. 22. Lord Steward of the Household.— As to this office, the rank which it imparts to its holder is not imiformly that of placing him above ell dvikes, but merely that of placing him above all who belong to the same rank in the peerage which he enjoys. Vide No. 33, No. 44, No. 56, and No. 72. 23. Lord Chamberlain or the Household. — If this great officer be a duke, he takes the precedence here assigned to him ; and, if of lower rank, he precedes all others of the same degree. Vide No. 34, No. 45, No. 57, and No. 73. 23a. Master of the Horse, if of the rank of a duke ; if of lower rank he precedes all others of the same degree. Vide No. 34a, No. 45a, No. 57a, No. 73a, and No. 84. 24. Dukes of England. — All dukes of England "whose titles were created before the year 1707, take rank immediately after No. 23, each accord- ing to the antiquity of his patent of creation ; thus the Duke o Norfolk is the first, and the Duke of Rutland the last in this class. The former, however, as Earl Marshal, enjoys a higher position. 25. Dukes of Scotland. — By the 23rd article in the treaty of union between England and Scotland, which was confirmed by the 5th of Anne, cap. 8, all Dukes of Scotland were granted pre- cedence next after English dukes ; that is to say, that the English dukedoms were to be considered superior to the Scottish dukedoms ; therefore, the Duke of Hamilton, whose title was conferred in 1643, sixty years earlier than the Duke of Rutland's, nevertheless follows that peer. All other Dukes of Scotland, however, follow each other according to the respective antiquity of their patents. Since the period of the LTnioii (1707), no Scottish dukedoms have been created ; there- fore every duke created between 1707 and the present time, is of lower station than any of the six Scottish dukes. 26. Dukes of Great Britain. — This denomi- nation includes those which were created between the periods of the Scottish and Irish unions ; namely, from 1707 till 1801. Of these the Duke of Portland was the earliest creation, and is there- fore the highest of this class, while the Duke of Northumberland is the lowest. The Duke of Portland follows the last Scottish duke (Rox- burghe), and thence the order proceeds according to the date of the patents, till we reach the Duke of Northumberland, whose title was conferred in 1766. 27. Dukes of Ireland. — The only Irish duke- dom in existence at the time of the Union was that of Leinster, which was created antecedently to the Union. By the Act imiting the two coun- tries, it was declared that the peers of Ireland should take precedence next after those of a like degree in Great Britain. In the year 1801, the junior British duke was his Grace of Northumber- land : the Dukes of Leinster therefore take prece- dence next to the Dukes of Northmnberland. During the present century, several dukes of Great Britain have been created, all of whom, of course, follow the Duke of Leinster ; but the only Irish duke who has since that been created, namely, the Duke of Abercorn, does not take precedence immediately after the Duke of Leinster : on the contrary, he follows the junior duke (at that time) of Great Britain, namely, the Duke of Cleveland ; for it is only the Irish peerages actually existing at the time of the LTnion, which enjoy the kind of precedence possessed by the Duke of Leinster. 28. Dukes of the United Kingdom. — This class includes the several dukes created since 1801, of whom the Duke of Wellington was the first ; and, according to the general rule, these take precedence in conformity with the dates of their respective patents. 29. Eldest Sons of Dukes of the Blood Royal. — When these do not happen to be brothers, uncles, grandsons, or nephews of the reigning Sovereign, their places are not regulated by any clause of the Act of Henry VIII ; and for their precedence we must fall back upon earlier authority. The position indicated by this nimiber (29) was that assigned to them in the year 1399, in an ancient table of precedence now preserved in the College of Arms, to which much weight is attached as an evidence of long- continued usage. 30. Lord Great Chamberlain, when of the rank of a marqiuess ; vide No. 18 antea. 31. Lord High Constable, when of the rank of a marquess ; vide No. 19 antea. 32. Earl Marshal, when of the rank of a marquess ; vide No. 20 antea. 33. Lord Steward of the Household, when of the rank of a marquess ; vide No. 22 antea. 34. Lord Chamberlain of the Household, when of the rank of a marquess ; vide No. 23 antea.