England, Titled and Landed Families (National Institute)

Titled and Landed Families
Many thousands of living people are descended from royal and noble lines but being able to prove descent is far less common than claiming it. Diligent research may establish a link to a gateway ancestor, one of those kings or nobles who had many children, legitimate and illegitimate. It is essential to avoid taking published pedigrees as gospel truth, whether they are the 16th-17th century county visitations, or elegantly printed 18th-19th century volumes containing wish lists of suitable ancestors for the nouveau riches. Many of these pedigrees are based on forged documents, and Peter Cotgreave explains their origins and has references to lists of known forged pedigrees in his article Spence Pedigree Forgeries (Family Tree Magazine Vol 11 #9).

Genealogists often encounter what can only be described as my ancestor came with the conqueror syndrome; it was formerly regarded as an appendage which no gentleman could do without so they were mass-produced! The supposed original list of those who accompanied William, the Battle Abbey Roll was made 300 years later and there are eight different versions.

Perhaps the most detailed studies of royal descendants down to the 19th century can be found in the two works by Marquis of Ruvigny (The Blood Royal of Britain, Being a Roll of the Living Descendants of Edward IV and Henry VII and 'The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal, Being a Complete Table of All the Descendants Now Living of Edward III, King of England). These are massive but known to be incomplete and many updates have been produced for individual lines; most are noted in Genealogists’ Magazine. Ruvigny did not include the many illegitimate descents; a couple of useful reference works for these are Philip Hall’s article, Charles II’s Noble Descendants: An assessment of the illegitimate children attributed to King Charles II and a roll of the first 200 British and Irish hereditary honours by which they are currently represented, and The Royal Bastards of Mediaeval England by Chris Given-Wilson and Alice Curteis.

There are five classes of peerage (note that England includes Wales):


 * England - created before 1707 union
 * Scotland - created before 1707 union
 * Great Britain (England and Scotland) - created 1707-1801
 * Ireland - created before 1801
 * United Kingdom (England, Scotland and Ireland) -created since 1801 union.

Chart: The Social Hierarch

Chart: Definitions Concerning Titled and Landed Families Terminology has changed over time so this brief account is only a rough guide.

Additional Information
See: England Heraldry

See: Herald's Visitations

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