WHAT CAN I EXPECT WHEN I BECOME A LORD
THE BRITISH PEERAGE AND LORD OF THE MANOR TITLES
Fact or fiction? There are two absolute truths;
1. You cannot buy a peerage title (genuine British title)
2. You can buy a lapsed historically accurate title (incorporeal hereditament)
TRUTH IN VARYING SHADES
There are a vast number of websites selling titles and very few of them are either factual, or indeed telling you the whole truth! Thus, the image surrounding a portion of this country’s history has become tarnished, to say the least, and at worst casting a shadow on the honour and integrity of those historical title holders.
This has been the motivation coupled with the desire for truth, behind the publication of this article. As such there are a number of claims which need clarification, and are set out below.
You can have your passport changed to read ‘Lord John Smith’.
In a sense you can do this but, the passport office will also add an entry stating that This title has no reference to a formal peerage title. (this is NOT what these sites tell you). So it follows that when anyone reads this they would assume the obvious.
You get upgraded on flights
Again logic dictates that airline officials will read the same entry in the passport and certainly NOT upgrade you. The only instance wherein this will work is if you have the entry and government ID stating that you are a Peer of the British Realm, and the only way you can get that is from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll, proving such with letters patent which are signed in Her Majesty’s own hand.
So it should become clear now that if a title holder does not physically have such a document, then their title must be from some other source with alternative provenance.
Verification. Copyright or trademarks.
Again using basic logic, why would a title sold as authentic, require copyright or patent if, as the website insinuate, it’s ‘authentic’. This being so, the authentication is ‘in-house’, and without any real provenance per se.
Documentation.
Again most of these sites seem to gloss over the legal documentation with colourful and wildly artistic pieces of paper designed to further mislead the purchaser into a false sense of self-image by subliminal suggestion that they are of the old school and could be seen as ALMOST acceptable as the real thing, which of course is a letter patent.
In reality what a prospective client is buying is a historical title with no relevance in today’s society. It is something that was in use early in this country’s history as a demarcation of the social structure then in existence. Today it is simply a title which one would have the right to hold through a legal instrument called Incorporeal Hereditament, and as such should provide the purchaser with the following;
a/ The original Declaration of title.
b/ The Assignment Deed.
c/ The history of the original title from an official government source, proving its past existence.
d/ Finally some form of document showing that the title was formerly researched and proven.
It is the writers wish to bring into focus some of the unpalatable practices surrounding the honourable part of this country’s history, and in the process offer this as a discussion piece for those considering the purchase of a Lord of the Manor title.
Finally small mention should be made of the fact that a large number of hereditary peers, amongst their properties; still hold ‘Lord of the Manor’ titles.
The National Register of Manorial Titles
http://www.buy-titles-of-lord-register.co.uk
