Barony Law 
 

William the Conqueror divided such parts of England as did not belong to the Church, and was not reserved for himself, into 700 baronies or Great Fiefs, which he bestowed on his particular friends, and those who had signalized themselves in his service; these baronies were subdivided into 60,815 Knights' Fees.

 

No Englishman had any of the first, and few only were fortunate enough to obtain any of the latter. Sir Matthew Hale states that several generations elapsed after the Conquest before one family of Saxon pedigree teas raised to any considerable honours, or could so much as obtain the rank of a Baron of the realm.

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In English and Irish Law, a Lordship or Barony is treated as being distinct from the actual lands of the Manor or Barony. The title of Lord of the manor, or Lord of the Barony is regarded as an incorporeal hereditament an inheritable property that has no explicit tie to the physical manor or Barony i.e. it can be held "in gross", and it can be bought and sold, just as fishing rights might.

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Landowners may, therefore, sell their feudal title while retaining their land. The title separate from the land remains a feudal title of dignity.

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How English and Welsh barons were summoned to Parliament eventually changed the nature of England’s baronies; it has become the theme of a large body of literature and began a controversy which divides English historians, lawyers, and politicians to this day.

 

The position and influence of lesser barons lacks confirmation and remains unsettled.

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The posted commentary on this subject is, in general, fairly presented. That said, the origin, meaning, and status of the feudal title of honour or dignity called Barony is rooted in ancienty, widely misunderstood, and requires particular care to interpret accurately.

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Lord and baron are widely recognized names given to the least understood British titles of honour or dignity. Normans introduced them to Britain in the eleventh century, but their original, intended, and specific meaning, is frequently confused and obfuscated by their many dissociated uses.

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To know what is meant or intended to mean by Lord and Barony in the feudal system, one must understand that titles of rank came from lands held Lords held lordships and Barons held baronies. Lordships of manors held in chief of the Crown were also Land Baronies and Feudal Territorial Dignities.

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Over time, Land Baronies or Lordships held in chief of the Crown also became, "Baronies by Writ." In 1387 the first Barony by Patent was created, and after 1440, Letters Patent from the Crown became the usual method of creating new Baronies.

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There are now three Constitutional sources of Barony: land tenures held in chief of the Crown Barony by Tenure, Barony by Writ of Summons and Barony by Letters Patent from the Crown.

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Some historians believe that Barony by Tenure did not exist after 1669 when Charles II’s Privy Council found it to have been discontinued for many ages, and not in being, and so not fit to be revived or to admit any pretence of right to succession thereupon.

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But the Privy Council’s finding was constitutionally flawed for two reasons: firstly, tenures are, at law, property rights of subjects, and a subject’s property rights cannot be taken away by a King’s proclamation or by an Order in Council: There is not a single instance from the dawn of English Constitutional History, where the Sovereign's Proclamation or Order of Council, has dictated any change, however trifling, in the code of private rights.

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Secondly, discontinuance, disuse, or desuetude has never been accepted in relation to English legislation however long the statute or Common Law is disused in practice. Although creations of Barony by Tenure, Writ of Summons, or Letters Patent are acknowledged to be the Sovereign’s prerogative, the Common Law, Magna Carta, and other statutes limit the Sovereign’s prerogative.

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It may not, in any way, infringe a subject’s rights or liberties. Notwithstanding, actual exercise of the Royal Prerogative to create Baronies has devolved, incrementally, to control by England’s ruling political party of the moment.

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The Abolition of Tenures Act did not extinguish feudal Titles of Honour or Dignity Any Title of Honour, Feodal or other, by which any person hath or may have Right to sit in the Lords house of Parliament, as to his or their Title of Honour, or sitting in Parliament, and the privilege belonging to them as Peers, this Act, or any Thing therein contained to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.

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Nonetheless and despite such clear definitions, there exist titles of baronial rank and dignity the classification of which are obscure or contentious. For example, before an Act of Parliament in 1469 settled the Barony of Renfrew on the first-born Princes of the Kings of Scotland forever now, the first-born Princes of the United Kingdom at birth, it was a feudal territorial dignity, not a peerage.

 

Some scholars believe the Act elevated the Barony of Renfrew to peerage rank others believe it became a peerage title with the Union of the Crowns Act, 1603.

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Other scholars believe that owing to the uncertainty about the meaning of the Act’s text, the title remains a feudal territorial dignity. Thus, the exact status of the Barony of Renfrew illustrates the great difficulty in determining the exact meaning feudal titles.

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The power of the feudal barons to control their landholding was considerably weakened in 1290 by the Quia Emptores statute. This prohibited land from being the subject of a feudal grant, and allowed its transfer without the feudal lord's permission.

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Feudal baronies became perhaps obsolete but not extinct on the abolition of feudal tenure during the Civil War, as confirmed by the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 passed under the Restoration which took away Knights service and other legal rights.

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Under the Tenures Abolition Act 1660, many baronies by tenure were converted into baronies by writ. The rest ceased to exist as feudal baronies by tenure, becoming baronies in free socage, that is to say under a free hereditable contract requiring payment of monetary rents.

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Thus baronies could no longer be held by military service. Parliamentary titles of honour had been limited since the fifteenth century by the Modus Tenenda Parliamenta act, and could thenceforth only be created by writ of summons or letters patent.

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There has been at least one legal opinion which asserts the continuing legal existence of the feudal barony in England and Wales, namely that from 1996 of A W & C Barsby, Barristers of Grays's Inn. Their legal opinion is the most recent legal authority by Barristers of Law.

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Manorial Law, A W & C Barsby 1996.

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