Complete Peerage 3rd edition (Ed: Hammond)

[colinp]

It appears that a new 3rd edition of the Complete Peerage in 18 volumes is about to be published by Alan Sutton.  It is available to pre-order from Amazon/Waterstones/Foyles (Nile in Australia) and it looks as if the first three volumes will be available at the end of May with the remaining volumes being published over the next three years. Cost - £150 per volume.

The editor is the historian and genealogist Peter Hammond who edited Volume XIV: Addenda and Corrigenda of the 2nd edition.  He started work on a 3rd edition after the completion of that volume in 1998 and since 2018 he has been aided by 6 full time assistants.

The blurb goes into some detail about the editorial process.  The new edition will contain a new glossary, list of abbreviations and comprehensive bibliography extending to more than 10,000 lines.  It seems that life peers, other than law lords, will still be excluded.

Finally the blurb states that the third edition will also be available on a subscription website which will allow for further updates.

[S. S.]

Sir Nicholas Mander, Bt had informed me of the publication of the work in late February when he approached me for an inquiry related to my own re-write . I am looking forward to this, especially given the fact it will be updated on an online website with all new sources and references. Looks like I have been beaten to a third edition :) 

S.S.

[S. S.]

Life peers have been omitted since they have already been covered till 1990 in great detail by the late William D. Rubinstein in Biographical Dictionary of Life Peers. 

S.S.

[Richard R]

I don't think this detracts from the work you're doing Muhammad, which has been very thorough and informative so far.

It's a shame they're not including Life Peers (you can hardly call something complete if it excludes a large chunk of the peerage). I have Runinstein's work which is excellent (especially the appendices) - but many hundreds more LPs have been created in the last 35 years or so...

As far as I can see they will publish Volume 2 first covering Bacon to Cambridge. Or is volume one already out there?

[S. S.]

There have actually been over a 1,000 new life peerages created since Rubinstein's work... Quite a lot still excluded. 

Rubinstein's work had just over 550 creations. I am not including any of the law life peerages. 

 

S.S.

[S. S.]

According to the prospectus of this edition, the following is the expected release schedule: 

Volume 1 Prelims; Ab-Adam to Ayr May 2025
Volume 2 Bacon to Cambridge May 2025
Volume 3 Camden to Cunningham May 2025
Volume 4 Cupar to Dunnon December 2025
Volume 5 Dunraven to Forbes December 2025
Volume 6 Fordwich to Hastings December 2025
Volume 7 Hatch to Kinghorne June 2026
Volume 8 Kingsale to Lonsdale June 2026
Volume 9 Lorn to Minster June 2026
Volume 10 Minto to Nile December 2026
Volume 11 Nisbet to Paynel December 2026
Volume 12 Pecche to Rookwood December 2026
Volume 13 Ros to Shrewsbury June 2027
Volume 14 Shronehill to Swansea June 2027
Volume 15 Swillington to Warrington June 2027
Volume 16 Warwick to Zouche December 2027
Volume 17 Appendices December 2027
Volume 18 Appendices and Bibliography December 2027

The online subscription version on a website will be released in 2027. 

The prospectus is linked at medievalgenealogy.org (https://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/updates/update.shtml)

S.S.

[Richard R]

Thanks for this post. The medievalgenealogy website has been a great resource for many years and was doubtless a great resource for Peter Hammond and his team. 

The above link hasn't worked for me. I've used this instead: https://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/CPProspectus.pdf

[Richard R]

Alan Sutton have now published the subscription form for the third edition, which I attach in case of interest to other posters

[Richard R]

I gather delivery of the first three volumes has slipped from this month (May 2025) to later in the Summer. Final checking and proofing have understandably taken longer than predicted.

[S. S.]

According to the website Pen and Sword, vol 4 (Cupar to Dunnon) will be published Sept 2026, so quite a delay for the rest of the volumes too. 

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Complete-Peerage-Hardback/p/62480

S.S.

[colinp]

I think the publication date should be treated with a pinch of salt.  The website states Volume 3 was published in Sept 2025 but it has not been sent out yet.  The last I heard was that Volumes 3 and 4 were going to be despatched together once Vol 4 was ready (this was back in January) so the whole project seems to have slipped significantly

[S. S.]

I wonder why though, either they are still actively writing the upcoming volumes or perhaps they take extra time double-checking everything. I had hoped to access the online edition in 2027, but it would appear that may be many years wait now unfortunately. 

S.S.

[Richard R]

I think you're right in saying they are taking extra care with these volumes and we can expect them to appear in the coming months and years. It is frustrating that the timings have slipped, but I'd rather that was the case if they are being careful in producing the most accurate edn possible. This will, after all, be regarded as the definitive reference work on this subject.