Reading the Regency

Barons

Despite being the lowest of the five ranks, the title of Baron is one of the oldest in the peerage. Under the feudal system, the barons held land from the crown. The word baron comes from the Medieval Latin baro, meaning freeman, and the baronis were the king's tenants-in-chief. Barons supported the king with money, and supplied men for the king's army. They also collected taxes on his behalf.

Feudal baronies were baronies by tenure, originally tied to the land they owned, but the link between title and land was broken hundreds of years before the Regency period. Many baronies were created by writ of summons, but this was later replaced by letters patent.

A woman holding a barony in her own right, or the wife of a baron, is called a baroness.

Lords of Parliament were the Scottish equivalent of barons, prior to the union of 1707. Barons in Scotland were not considered part of the peerage and were similar to the English Baronet.

The oldest barony in Ireland was the Barony of Kingsale, created around 1223 by writ of summons, but later confirmed by letters patent at the end of the 14th century.

Although there were more baronies created than any other type of peerage, many of them became subsidiary titles of higher-ranking families. Also, because more baronies could be inherited through the female line, they were more likely to be passed through different family surnames, or fall into abeyance.

On the positive side, the ability to pass through the female line allowed some baronies to continue, when other higher titles died out through lack of a male heir.

One example of the fluctuating fortunes of a barony was the Barons Grey de Ruthyn, which was created by writ in 1324. The 1st Earl of Kent inherited the barony from his grandfather in 1440, and the barony continued as a subsidiary title of the Earls of Kent until the death of the 8th Earl. At that point, the earldom passed to a cousin and the barony went to the son of his sister, Charles Longueville. After two generations it was again passed to the Yelverton family through marriage, and the 15th Baron was made 1st Viscount Longueville. The 16th Baron (and 2nd Viscount Longueville) was then also made 1st Earl of Essex. When the 3rd Earl of Essex died in 1799 with no sons, the barony passed to his daughter's son Henry Yelverton, while the viscountcy and the earldom became extinct.

Upon Henry Yelverton's death in 1810 the barony passed to his only daughter, even though she was only seven months old at the time. She married the 2nd Marquess of Hastings, and the barony passed to their son on her death, as a subsidiary title of the 4th Marquess. When the 4th Marquess died in 1868, aged 26 years and with no children, the marquessate became extinct and the barony fell into abeyance between four sisters. After almost eighteen years the abeyance of the Barony of Grey of Ruthin was terminated in favour Lady Bertha Lelgarde Rawdon-Hastings, the second of his sisters. She married into the Clifton family, and the barony continued through the Clifton male line until it fell abeyant again in 1934.

Creating a baron

Originally, barons were part of the king's council. When a baron died, if the king wanted his son or heir to take his place at the council, he would send them a Writ of Summons, which invited the heir to take up his father's position. As the king's council evolved into parliament, there was no automatic right for sons to inherit their father's title, but by the time of Edward III it had become common for sons to automatically receive a writ of summons. Over time, the baronies created by writ of summons developed into hereditary titles.

Baronies created by writ are usually inherited by the "heirs general of the body", with decent following the rules of primogeniture, where males take precedent over females, but females can inherit when there are no male heirs. Because of this many baronies have, over time, fallen into abeyance, as more than one daughter has been entitled to inherit the title. This is also why more women peeresses hold baronies than any other kind of title.