In Parliament (at least before the House of Lords Act 1999), precedence was determined by the Roll of Parliament, drawn each year until 1966 by Garter King of Arms, and since then by the Clerk of Parliament with Garter's advice. The Roll is printed at the head of the Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) for each session. The Roll lists all members of the House of Lords (members of the House of Commons have no precedence, although their Speaker does since 1919). The House of Lords Precedence Act 1539 is the basis for that roll, and some provisions of the act make clear that the order in Parliament is not the same as the order outside. Thus, order on the Roll is not necessarily conclusive evidence about order outside Parliament.
For instance, the duke of Edinburgh was always ranked as a duke of the United Kingdom created in 1948, and thus ranked 32 on the roll of 1998, while in the general order of precedence he immediately follows the Queen and precedes his son. That is because his precedence assigned by warrant of 1952 is "unless provided otherwise by Act of Parliament". Interestingly, the duke of Windsor ranked 3d after Gloucester and Kent from 1937 to 1941, but became 2d before Kent after the death of the first duke of Kent in 1942. He was thus ranked after his brothers among sovereign's brothers, but came before a sovereign's nephew.
The Great Officers of State do not have the same rank in and out of Parliament. In Parliament, their office confers upon them precedence before the other peers of their own rank, but not before peers of higher rank. Outside Parliament, their place does not depend on their peerage.
Royal dukes who are not grandsons of sovereigns are ranked among ordinary dukes in Parliament (see "HRH the duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale" ranked 25th between the duke of Northumberland and the duke of Wellington in the Roll of Parliament of 1918, or the 2nd duke of Connaught who ranked 28th in 1942 when his grandfather had ranked 4th in 1941). But their place in the general order of precedence is clearly defined in the 16th century orders that form the basis for modern precedence.
I am not sure what is the effect of the House of Lords Act. The
Roll of Parliament is now called a "list of Members of the House," and
is purely alphabetical, all non-sitting peers having been removed.
But the House of Lords Precedence Act has not been repealed, as far as I know.
Personal precedence
Sovereign
The sovereign heads the order of precedence as successors to the pre-Reformation kings for the temporal part, and as successors to the papacy (Act of Supremacy 1558). A queen regnant has the same prerogatives as a king (Queen Regent's Prerogative Act 1554). Regent The duke of Somerset, as Protector of the Realm under Edward VI, was given precedence next to the king by letters patent. Consort
The king's ability to alter the precedence within a rank of the peerage was effectively curtailed by the House of Lords Precedence Act 1539, which states that peers should sit after their "ancienty" (i.e.e, the date of creation of the peerage). Attempts by James I and Charles I to assign higher precedence than normal to newly created peers met with opposition in the House of Lords, and no sovereign has attempted to do so since.
The relative precedence of peers of England, Scotland, Ireland and the United Kingdom is determined by the Act of Union 1706 (art. 23) and the Act of Union 1800 (art. 4).
Children and Grandchildren of PeersChildren of lords of appeal or life peers have no statutory precedence, since their parent's rank is not hereditary. Their ranks are set by a royal warrant of 21 Jul 1958.
BaronetsWhile the Acts of Union of 1706 and 1800 set the precedence between the peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland and the United Kingdom, they are silent on the matter of baronets. It is therefore assumed that the precedence is set by the date of creation only (rule followed by the Registrars of the Baronetage appointed under a royal warrant of 8 Feb 1910 to keep a roll of the baronetage).
KnightsThe enlargement of the Order of the Bath in 1815 introduced classes of members who were not knights. They were given precedence before all esquires of the United Kingdom, which has been taken to mean those esquires who do not have precedence higher than knights (such as sons of peers). The other orders with such classes of members (Star of India, St. Michael and St. George, Indian Empire, Distinguished Service Order, Royal Victorian Order, British Empire)
EsquiresI bet the first ones acted kind of Royal even if they weren't officially Royal dukes. That was an interesting time in history.
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Here is an abridged version of what I have for the BERWICK entry:
James FitzJames was one of the illegitimate sons of James II, by his mistress, Arabella (b 23 Feb 1648; d 30 May 1730), sister of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. James was created Baron Bosworth, Earl of Tinmouth and Duke of Berwick-upon-Tweed on 19 March 1686/87 (C 231/8, p 172; 3 Jas II, pt 3 (C 66/3293) no 29). Note that this was only one of ten English peerages created by James II during his reign.
James was later slain during the Siege of Philippsburg on 12 June 1734.
Most works state that the peerages were attainted in 1695 or forfeited thence upon his death in 1734. Though this has never been conclusively confirmed.
The Genealogist, v, no 5 (March 1981), pp 147-151, state that James was never attainted by an Act of Parliament, but was instead judicially attainted by being found guilty of high treason at the Old Bailey in Oct 1689 for being in arms with the errant James II. He was subsequently outlawed ca February 1690 (N.S.).
The court records 1 Aug 1689 as the date of attainder, this earlier date arising from the fact that forfeiture was retrospective to the time of the treason laid in indictment, though it was the actual attainder which brought the corruption of his blood. It goes on to state whether there had been another attainder between 23 Feb and 24 March 1695/96. A bit of circumstantial evidence is also cited.
For example, there is a newsletter report in Nov 1697 that he and others “who are attainted of high treason” had come over from France, on the day following, that the lords justices had published the proclamation against “the Duke of Berwick who is outlawed for high treason”. Thus, his attainder seems clear beyond doubt, with the amplification that rather than one outlawry, there were in fact two.
This has corroboration from the commission on the Irish forfeitures, which reported to the House of Commons on 15 December 1699. The Book of Outlawries exhibited had three parts: (1) the 57 English outlawries (which include “Jacob, Dux Berwick”); (2) the considerable outlawries made in the Irish King’s Bench; and (3) outlawries for treason “committed in parts beyond the seas” since the accession of William III and Mary II, where “James, Duke of Berwick” appears again”.
The Duke of Berwick himself provides a last word on the matter, writing from Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 28 March 1714 (shortly before Queen Anne’s death), concerning leave to go to England, having stated to his half-brother, the titular James III, that he was “afear’d, if Harley is a knave at the bottom, he will hinder me from reversing my outlawry”.
The peerage then descended thus:
James Francis, 2nd Duke of Berwick, only child by his first wife; d 2 June 1738.
Jacobo Francisco Eduardo, 3rd Duke of Berwick also Duque de Liria y Jérica etc, second but eldest surviving son and heir; d 30 Sept 1785.
Carlos Bernardo, 4th Duke of Berwick also Duque de Liria y Jérica etc, only son and heir; d 7 Sept 1787.
Jacobo Felipe Carlos, 5th Duke of Berwick also Duque de Liria y Jérica etc, only son and heir; d 3 Apr 1794.
Jacobo José María, 6th Duke of Berwick also Duque de Liria y Jérica etc, eldest son and heir; d 5 Jan 1795 (aged 3).
Carlos Miguel, 7th Duke of Berwick also Duque de Alba de Tormes etc, only younger brother and heir; d 7 Oct 1835.
Jacobo Fitz-James, 8th Duke of Berwick also Duque de Alba de Tormes, Duque de Huéscar etc, son and heir; d 16 Sept 1860.
Carlos María, 9th Duke of Berwick also Duque de Alba de Tormes etc, son and heir; d 15 Oct 1901.
Jacobo Santiago, 10th Duke of Berwick also Duque de Alba de Tormes etc, son and heir; dspm 24 Sept 1953.
Note that after the death of Jacobo, the peerages descended to his nephew and heir male, while the rest of his Spanish titles were inherited by his only child and sole heiress, María del Rosario Cayetana Paloma Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Fernanda Teresa Francisca de Paula Lourdes Antonia Josefa Fausta Rita Castor Dorotea Santa Esperanza Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, who held more than 40 titles and a dozen grandees ones! She d 20 Nov 2014.
Fernando Alfonso, 11th Duke of Berwick also Duque de Peñaranda de Duero etc, nephew and heir; d 20 July 1970.
Jacobo Hernando, 12th Duke of Berwick also Duque de Peñaranda de Duero, Duque de la Roca etc, son and heir; b 15 Nov 1947, the present holder of the title.
The heir presumptive is his younger brother, Luis Esteba, Marqués de Valderrábano (which title was ceded to him by his elder brother in 1971); b 11 Dec 1950.