In the peerages of the British Isles, most titles have traditionally been created for men and with remainder to male heirs. However, some titles are created with special remainders to allow women to inherit them. Some of the oldest English baronies were created by writ and pass to female heirs when a peer dies with daughters and no sons, while some titles are created with a man's family in mind, if he is without sons and unlikely to produce any. The following is a list of women who have inherited titles with the British peerages.
14th century
[edit]15th century
[edit]16th century
[edit]Date inherited | Date of death or other loss of title |
Title | Name | Other titles | Preceded in title by | Succeeded in title by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1513 | 1539 attainted died 27 May 1541 |
8th or 2nd Countess of Salisbury | Margaret Pole | Edward Plantagenet, brother | Forfeit | |
1526 | 19 September 1580 | 12 Baroness Willoughby de Eresby | Catherine Willoughby (Brandon) (Bertie) | Duchess of Suffolk | William Willoughby, father | Peregrine Bertie, son |
13 March 1540 | 17 April 1543 dispossessed died 28 January 1571 |
7th Baroness Bourchier | Anne Bourchier (Parr) | Henry Bourchier, father | Walter Devereux, cousin | |
14 April 1587 | 1 May 1591 | 16th Baroness de Ros | Elizabeth (Manners) Cecil | Edward Manners, father | William Cecil, son |
17th century
[edit]18th century
[edit]19th century
[edit]20th century
[edit]Date inherited | Date of death or other loss of title |
Title | Name | Other titles by marriage |
Preceded in title by | Succeeded in title by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1903 | 29 April 1929 | 16th Baroness Darcy de Knayth | Violet Herbert | Countess of Powis | Sackville Lane-Fox, father abeyant 1490-1903 |
Mervyn Herbert, son |
28 August 1906 | 18 June 1917 | 14th Baroness Wentworth | Ada King-Milbanke | Ralph King-Milbanke, father | Anne Blunt, aunt | |
29 April 1907 | 4 May 1939 | 25th Baroness de Ros | Mary (FitzGerald-de Ros) Dawson | Countess of Dartrey | Dudley FitzGerald-de Ros, father | Una Ross, daughter abeyant 1939–1943 |
1908 | 28 August 1945 | 12th Lady Herries of Terregles | Gwendolen Fitzalan-Howard | Duchess of Norfolk | Marmaduke Constable-Maxwell, father | Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, son |
12 January 1912 | 26 February 1959 | 2nd Duchess of Fife | HH Princess Alexandra of Fife | HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught | Alexander Duff, father | James Carnegie, nephew |
25 March 1913 | 24 December 1936 | 2nd Viscountess Wolseley | Frances Garnet Wolseley | Garnet Joseph Wolseley, father | Extinct | |
21 January 1914 | 18 August 1926 | 2nd Baroness Strathcona and Mount Royal | Margaret Howard | Donald Alexander Smith, father | Donald Sterling Palmer Howard, son | |
14 November 1914 | 9 October 1944 | 2nd Countess Roberts | Aileen Roberts | Frederick Roberts, father | Ada Lewin, sister | |
12 November 1915 | 30 September 1969 | 12th Countess of Seafield | Nina Studley-Herbert | James Ogilvie-Grant, father | Ian Ogilvie-Grant, son | |
18 June 1917 | 15 December 1917 | 15th Baroness Wentworth | Anne Blunt | Ada King-Milbanke, niece | Judith Blunt-Lytton, daughter | |
15 December 1917 | 8 August 1957 | 16th Baroness Wentworth | Judith Blunt-Lytton | Anne Blunt, mother | Noel Lytton, son | |
3 July 1918 | 20 July 1958 | 2nd Viscountess Rhondda | Margaret Mackworth | David Alfred Thomas, father | Extinct | |
17 May 1920 | 24 February 1960 | 12th Countess of Loudoun | Edith Abney-Hastings | Charles Clifton, uncle | Barbara Abney-Hastings, daughter | |
7 March 1921 | 23rd Baroness Botreaux 20th Baroness Hastings |
Charles Rawdon-Hastings, uncle abeyant 1920-1921 |
Abeyant | |||
7th Baroness Stanley | Ferdinando Stanley abeyant 1594-1921 | |||||
23 February 1921 | 12 December 1974 | 14th Baroness Strange | Elizabeth Philipps | Viscountess St Davids | Jestyn Philipps, son | |
22nd Baroness Hungerford 21st Baroness de Moleyns |
Charles Clifton, uncle abeyant 1920-1921 | |||||
20 March 1925 | 9 February 1966 | 2nd Baroness Ravensdale | Irene Curzon, 2nd Baroness Ravensdale | Baroness Ravensdale of Kedleston created for life |
George Curzon, father | Nicholas Mosley, nephew |
1935 | 2 June 1975 | 10th Countess of Dysart | Wenefryde Scott | William Tollemache, uncle | Rosamund Greaves, daughter | |
24 January 1941 | 16 May 1978 | 23rd Countess of Erroll | Diana Hay (Moncreiffe) | Josslyn Hay, father | Merlin Hay, son | |
March 1943 | 24 February 2008 | 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth | Davina Ingrams | Mervyn Herbert, father | Caspar Ingrams, son | |
1943 | 9 October 1956 | 26th Baroness de Ros | Una Dawson Ross | Mary Dawson, mother | Georgiana Maxwell, granddaughter abeyant 1956–1958 | |
17 October 1944 | 30 September 2012 | 12th Lady Kinloss | Mary Freeman-Grenville | Mary Morgan-Grenville, grandmother | Teresa Freeman-Grenville, daughter | |
9 October 1944 | 1955 | 3rd Countess Roberts | Ada Lewin | Aileen Roberts, sister | Extinct | |
16 April 1956 | 17 April 1982 | 11th Lady Ruthven of Freeland | Bridget (Hore-Ruthven) (Howard) Monckton | Countess of Carlisle by first marriage Viscountess Monckton of Brenchley by second marriage |
Walter Hore-Ruthven, father | Charles Howard, son |
1958 | 21 April 1983 | 27th Baroness de Ros | Georgiana Maxwell | Una Ross, grandmother abeyant 1956-1958 |
Peter Maxwell, son | |
24 February 1960 | 1 November 2002 | 13th Countess of Loudoun | Barbara (Huddleston) Abney-Hastings | Edith Abney-Hastings, mother | Michael Abney-Hastings, son | |
1 February 1963 | 9 December 2019 | 24th Countess of Sutherland | Elizabeth Sutherland | George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, uncle | Alistair Charles St. Clair Sutherland, eldest son | |
30 December 1965 | 6 July 1995 | 20th Lady Sempill | Ann Forbes-Sempill | William Forbes-Sempill, father | James Chant-Sempill, son | |
26 May 1966 | 21 September 1974 | 11th Countess of Kintore | Ethel Sydney Keith-Falconer | Viscountess Stonehaven | Arthur George Keith-Falconer, brother | James Ian Baird, son |
22 July 1969 | 4 May 1974 | 10th Baroness Wharton | Elisabeth Kemeys-Tynte | John Kemeys-Tynte, brother | Myrtle Robertson, daughter abeyant 1974–1990 | |
1970 | 25 December 2012 | 27th Baroness Dacre | Rachel Douglas-Home | Thomas Brand, father abeyant 1965-1970 |
James Douglas-Home, son | |
22 April 1971 | 1990 | 2nd Baroness Portal of Hungerford | Rosemary Portal | Charles Portal, father | Extinct | |
19 April 1972 | 27 May 2002 | 14th Baroness Dudley | Barbara Hamilton | Ferdinando Dudley Henry Lea Smith, brother | Jim Anthony Hill Wallace, son | |
31 January 1975 | 25 November 2014 | 14th Lady Herries of Terregles | Anne Cowdrey | Baroness Cowdrey of Tonbridge | Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, father | Mary Mumford, sister |
21 April 1975 | 31st Countess of Mar | Margaret (Lane) of Mar | James of Mar, father | |||
1982 | 11 March 2005 | 16th Baroness Strange | Cherry Drummond of Megginch | John Drummond, father | Adam Drummond, son | |
29 March 1983 | 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby | Nancy Jane Marie Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby | James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, father | |||
1975 | 2003 | 11th Countess of Dysart | Rosamund Greaves | Wenefryde Scott, mother | Katherine Grant, sister | |
27 August 1979 | 13 June 2017 | 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma | Patricia Knatchbull | Baroness Brabourne | Louis Mountbatten, father | Norton Knatchbull, son |
31 August 1979 | 21st Lady Saltoun | Flora Fraser | Alexander Fraser, father | |||
19 December 1985 | 8th Baroness Braye | Mary Penelope Verney-Cave | ||||
1990 | 15 May 2000 | 11th Baroness Wharton | Myrtle Robertson | Elisabeth Kemeys-Tynte, mother abeyant 1974–1990 |
Myles Robertson, son | |
30 June 1995 | 23 January 2023 | 16th Baroness Berners | Pamela Vivien Kirkham | Vera Ruby Williams, mother abeyant 1992-1995 |
Rupert Kirkham, son | |
May 1999 | 11th Baroness Arlington | Jennifer Nelson Forwood | John FitzRoy, uncle abeyant 1936-1999 |
21st century
[edit]Date inherited | Date of death or other loss of title |
Title | Name | Other titles | Preceded in title by | Succeeded in title by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
14 October 2002 | 3rd Baroness Simon of Wythenshawe | Matilda Simon | formerly Baron Simon of Wythenshawe, but title changed after her gender transition. | Roger Simon, father | ||
17 December 2003 | 8 November 2011 | 12th Countess of Dysart | Katherine Grant | Rosamund Greaves, sister | John Grant, son | |
25 June 2004 | 10th Baroness Howard de Walden | Mary Hazel Caridwen Czernin | John Osmael Scott-Ellis, father abeyant 1999–2004 |
|||
17 May 2012 | 2 March 2013 | 9th Baroness Fauconberg 15th Baroness Conyers |
Diana Miller | Countess of Mértola | Sackville George Pelham, father abeyant 1948–2012 |
titles abeyant |
30 September 2012 | 13th Lady Kinloss | Teresa Freeman-Grenville | Mary Freeman-Grenville, mother | |||
8 May 2014 | 29th Baroness Dacre | Emily Douglas-Home | James Douglas-Home, father | |||
25 November 2014 | 7 April 2017 | 15th Lady Herries of Terregles | Mary Mumford | Anne Cowdrey, sister | Jane Kerr, sister | |
7 April 2017 | 16th Lady Herries of Terregles | Jane Kerr | Marchioness of Lothian | Mary Mumford, sister | ||
2019 | 9th Lady Balfour of Burleigh | Victoria Bruce-Winkler | Robert Bruce, father |