Baronet
The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th century; however, in its current usage it was created by James I of England in 1611 as a means of raising funds for the crown.
[5] Comparisons with continental titles and ranks are tenuous due to the British system of primogeniture and because claims to baronetcies must be proven; currently the Official Roll of the Baronetage is overseen by the Ministry of Justice.
Sir Thomas de La More (1322), describing the Battle of Boroughbridge, mentioned that baronets took part, along with barons and knights.
The title of baronet was initially conferred upon noblemen who lost the right of individual summons to Parliament, and was used in this sense in a statute of Richard II.
Present-day baronets date from 1611 when James I granted letters patent to 200 gentlemen of good birth with an income of at least £1,000 a year (equivalent to £254,000 in 2023[7]).
Baronetesses in their own right use "Dame", also before their first name, while wives of baronets use "Lady" followed by the husband's (marital) surname only, this by longstanding courtesy.
A full list of extant baronets appears in Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, which also published a record of extinct baronetcies.
However, at the beginning of George IV's reign, these rights were eroded by orders-in-council on the ground that sovereigns should not necessarily be bound by acts of their predecessors.
Although never having been automatically entitled to heraldic supporters, baronets who were also a Knight Grand Cross of a Crown order were allowed them in heredity in the first half of the 19th century.
In history, there have been only four baronetesses: In 1976, Lord Lyon King of Arms stated that, without examining the patent of every Scottish baronetcy, he was not in a position to confirm that only these four title creations could pass through female lines.
Baronetcies usually descend through heirs male of the body of the grantee, and can rarely be inherited by females or collateral kin, unless created with special remainder, for example: Marking the baronetage's origins in the Plantation of Ulster,[8] baronets of England, Ireland, Great Britain or the United Kingdom (i.e., all except baronets of Nova Scotia) can display the Red Hand of Ulster (sinister (left) hand version) as a heraldic badge, being the arms of the ancient kings of Ulster.
[14] This badge (or augmentation of honour) is blazoned as follows: Argent a Hand sinister couped at the wrist extended in pale Gules.
[15] King James I of England established the hereditary Order of Baronets in England on 22 May 1611, in the words of Collins' Peerage (1741): "for the plantation and protection of the whole Kingdom of Ireland, but more especially for the defence and security of the Province of Ulster, and therefore for their distinction those of this order and their descendants may bear the badge (Red Hand of Ulster) in their coats of arms either in canton or an escutcheon at their election".
From before 1929 to the present, it has been customary practice for such baronets to display this badge on its own suspended by the order's ribbon below the shield of arms.
This listed them in alphabetical order, other than the last five creations (Dodds of West Chiltington, Redmayne of Rushcliffe, Pearson of Gressingham, Finlay of Epping and Thatcher of Scotney).
These "Jacobite baronetcies" were never accepted by the English Crown, have all disappeared and should properly be excluded from the 3,482, making the effective number of creations 3,457.
Over 200 baronetcies are now held by peers; and others, such as the Knox line, have been made tenuous by internal family disputes.
The Premier Baronet (of England) is the unofficial title afforded to the current holder of the oldest extant baronetcy in the realm.
