What is an English Lord? Noble Titles In Classic Books

What is an English Lord? Find out more about the lords and ladies in classic literature and period dramas.

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Books & Movies mentioned in this video:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey

Emma

Mansfield Park

Downton Abbey

[aishatbay]

I've read that "count" came from Latin & was meaning "companion of the emperor", so in Europe "count/countess" became titles. But in England those were not introduced until the Norman conquest of England where they already had the title of "earl" (Anglo-Saxon origins), but there was no female equivalent for "earl". So now they are known as "countess" 💫

[nellebolton]

Fun fact: Dame is used nowadays as a title for a "female knight". (E.g. Dame Maggie Smith) A Dame is obviously not a "Sir" but she holds equal rank with a man who has been knighted (e.g Sir Ian Mckellen) IN HER OWN RIGHT. Not because of marriage.

[vincecaruso]

The title of Earl is from British Peerage and is the equivalent to a French Comte (Count). There was no feminine title equivalent in Old English/Old Norse, so the wife of an Earl uses the French equivalent Countess (since in many cases the two county interchanged nobility).

[jaimicottrill]

I would want to be a Countess, less pressure than a Duchess but higher ranking than a baroness! Also, I love The Scarlett Pimpernel too!

[apriliahussna]

One thing I noticed in Downton Abbey is that when someone was addressing a peer and a peer's wife as "Your Grace/Lordship/Ladyship", the act seemed to reflect the addresser's social standing. I remember an episode in Downton Abbey where Tom Branson was told by The Dowager Countess to address the Duchess he was entertaining as "Duchess" instead of "Your Grace", implying that Branson, despite being technically correct, was making a social mistake. When the Granthams received a visit from The Duke of Crowborough, Lady Grantham addressed the Duke as "Duke". The Granthams and Tom Branson (as Lady Sybil's widowed husband) were part of the upper society. The only "Your Grace"s and "Your Ladyship/Lordship"s that we heard in the series are largely from the servants, who were socially inferior.

[vineethg]

This was a great video! I wasn't aware that the rules behind these titles were this complex. Especially that the Duke and Duchess is never called a Lord and Lady, and that sons and daughters of a Viscount used 'Honourable'. I had wondered why the daughter of Lady Dalrymple in _Persuasion_ was called 'Honourable' Miss Carteret, while the daughters of Lady Cumnor in _Wives & Daughters_ used the title Lady (like Lady Harriet). That's something new I learned now. 🙂

So as I understand, the wives of Baronets and Knight-Baronets, if they were commoners and not daughters of peers, would be called Lady _surname_ (like Lady Lucas of _P&P_ ), but never Lady _firstname._ By contrast an Earl's daughter who marries a Baronet ( as in the case of Lady Catherine who married Sir Lewis de Bourgh in _P&P_ ) or a gentleman ( Lady Anne who married Old Mr. Darcy) would still be called as Lady _first name, _ but never as Lady _surname._ So Mr. Darcy's aunt is always called either _Lady Catherine_ or _Lady Catherine de Bourgh_ and never as _Lady de Bourgh, _ while his mother is called _Lady Anne_ or _Lady Anne Darcy_ and never as _Lady Darcy, _ as they inherit their titles from their father and not their husbands. A bit tricky this whole Lord-Lady thing, I say.. 🤔

In P&P 1995 adaptation, they made this mistake where Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper, refers to Mr. Darcy's mom simply as Mrs. Darcy! How offensive that might have sounded to them! 😀

[angryhistoryguy]

Earl for me. It's the Germanic term for Count, which originally referred to someone who has jurisdiction over a county, which is the absolute most responsibility I'd be comfortable with. The easiest way to think about your mother's question is that Earl of Grantham is a job held by a man named Robert Crawley. It's just... not a particularly demanding job by the time that Downton Abbey takes place.

[seanbailey]

I'd like to be a baron cos it kinda sounds like a villain title.

[almamattersr]

I am from Australia and have learned more in your video than any school level 🙄

[eckligt]

Nice video. Maybe an honorable (there's that word again) mention for women who held these titles in their own rights and not through marriage would be cool. Currently, a knighthood given to a woman makes her a dame + first name. As for women holding titles from the peerage system in their own right, there are historical examples of this, but not many. (Of course, life peerages make the current situation very different.)

[tessat]

Order of precedence was legally enforceable in England during the Regency era. So in "Persuasion, " Ann Elliot is more relaxed about her status as the daughter of a baronet while her younger sister, Mary, is much more tenacious about maintaining her right of precedence over even her own mother-in-law.

[des]

I have always wondered about the ranking of the different titles. Thank you VERY much for his easy to follow explanation!

[TJAllenwood]

Great job. I knew 90% of everything you said but I did learn a couple things which I am greatly appreciative of.

[SusanLH]

Love hearing you go through all these things. Trial by your peers (think peerage) was an important social distinction. Forget chatty and gossipy, the peerage literally stuck together (by marriage, schooling, etc) so people were more likely not to be convicted. That definitely needed to change. Knights and baronets are the gentry ie they had land and were considered gentlefolk. I'm not sure what title I'd want. Maybe a duchy as I think that suggests I'm probably descended from royalty.

[leonard]

Thanks to this video and some of the comments, i actually managed to learn more about Noble titles than i initially thought i would, thank you ..

[laurenconrad]

Thank you Ellie! As a historical novelist, this helped me SO much.

[ChefEarthenware]

If you are interested, the Duke of Argyle is the only person in the UK (except the monarch) who is allowed to have his own army. He does have one, but it's only part-time and ceremonial in nature.

[verdecillo]

Good video. Note: the correct pronunciation of "marquess" is ['mɑr.kwɪs] (~"máhr-kwiss") and the female equivalent "marchioness" is [mɑr.ʃə.'nɛs] (~"mahr-shuh-néss"). Also, the given example "Baron of Southwick" could not exist because holders of the two lowest-ranking peerages, viscountcies and baronies, are always just "Vicount X" and "Baron X" (never " Viscount of X" or "Baron of X" (except for a few rarely-used exceptions in the Scottish peerage)), so a true example could be "Baron Southwick." Conversely, holders of the two highest-ranking peerages, dukedoms and marquessates, are always "Duke of X" and "Marquess of X" (never just "Duke X" or "Marquess X"). Holders of earldoms can be either- "Earl of X" or just "Earl X" In addition, peers had even longer full titles that were used only in writing on official correspondence and documents and when formally announced: dukes are "the most noble X, Duke of X, " marquesses are "the most honorable X, Marquess of X, " earls, viscounts, and barons are all "the right honorable X, Earl of X/Viscount X/Baron X." For example, the full title of the main character in the show Downton Abbey is "The right honorable Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham." One other thing regarding courtesy titles- they applied to widows also- first, a woman whose deceased husband was a peer can continue to fully use her title she gained through that marriage- until it is acquired by someone else- most often her eldest son's wife. Thereafter, the woman can still use the title as a courtesy, but the word "dowager" is added before it. An example of this is in Downton Abbey as well- Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith's character), was the "Countess of Grantham" as the wife of the 6th earl. She used that title until her son, Robert, the 7th earl, got married. His new wife- the rich American, Cora Levinson, became Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham and Violet became the " Dowager Countess of Grantham."

[SimoneCollinsAus]

This was really helpful, thank you! I’m researching my ancestry and have some knights and baronets among my ancestors so this was really useful for understanding what that actually means.

[mommymarion]

Thanks to this video I have a deeper understanding of the first chapter of Persuasion. Thank you Ellie!