British nobility

British nobility refers to the noble families of the United Kingdom.

General history of British nobility

The nobility of the four constituent home nations of the United Kingdom has played a major role in shaping the history of the country, although in the present day even hereditary peers have no special rights, privileges or responsibilities, except for residual rights to stand for election to the House of Lords, dining rights in the House of Lords, position in the formal order of precedence, and the right to certain titles (see below).

In everyday speech, the British nobility consists of peers and their families, however in a more strict legal sense it includes both the titled and the untitled nobility. Members of the peerage carry the titles of Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron. Peers ranked from Baron up to Marquess are frequently referred to generically as Lords. However, the Scottish Baron, an official title of nobility in the United Kingdom, is addressed as The Baron of X. The untitled nobility consists of all those who bear formally matriculated armorial bearings. Other than their designation, such as Gentleman or Esquire, they enjoy no privilege other than a position in the formal orders of precedence in the United Kingdom. The largest portion of the British aristocracy have historically been the landed gentry, made up of baronets and the non-titled armigerous landowners (whose families hailed from the mediaeval feudal class and are referred to as gentlemen because historically they didn't need to work and derived their income from land ownership).