Wikipedia:WikiProject Peerage
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Proposals for this project are under discussion see: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Peerage. This is not a finalised proposition.
This WikiProject primarily aims to standardise pages about Peerages in the United Kingdom and Ireland (including the former states of England, Scotland, and Great Britain), and their holders.
See also Wikipedia:WikiProject Peerage/Humour.
Titles
A page about a particular title (such as "Duke of Norfolk" or "Earl of Derby") may include the following information:
- The history of the title and associated titles
- The remainder (i.e., the rule for inheritance of the title)
- A list of the holders of the titles and of the associated titles.
If an individual holds two or more titles of the same rank, then include all in the article title: the Duke of Richmond is also Duke of Lennox and Duke of Gordon. Therefore, the article on the Dukes would be Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Gordon. An exception would be made when the holders of the titles are not closely linked yet held by the same person, as is the case with the Dukes of Buccleuch and Queensberry, where separate articles could be made for each dukedom. (When a Duke is given another dukedom, then both should be in the same article. When a Duke inherits another dukedom, separate articles could be made, for the second dukedom has a distinct history.)
However, subsidiary titles should not be included in the main title. Thus, one would have Duke of Norfolk, and not Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Arundel. It is, however, possible to have a separate page for the main title and for the subsidiary title, especially if the subsidiary title is of much importance. For instance, see separate articles on Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Arundel, both being held by the same person, but the latter being of some significance since it is the oldest English title in existence.
The history should note the creation or creations of the titles in question, and should also indicate if the circumstances under which any peerage of a previous creation ended – forfeiture, extinction, etc. The article should note the subsidiary titles used as courtesy titles.
The list could be formatted as follows, with Earl of Anyplace a title associated with Duke of Somewhere, the article being on "Duke of Somewhere":
Earls of Anyplace, first Creation (1700)
- A B C D, 1st Earl of Anyplace (d. 1725)
- A B C D, 2nd Earl of Anyplace (1675-1750)
Earls of Anyplace, second Creation (1800)
- A B C D, 1st Earl of Anyplace (1750-1825)
- A B C D, 2nd Earl of Anyplace (1775-1850)
- A B C D, 3rd Earl of Anyplace (became Duke of Somewhere in 1860) (1800-1875)
Dukes of Somewhere (1860)
- A B C D, 1st Duke of Somewhere (1800-1875)
- A B C D, 2nd Duke of Somewhere (1825-1900)
- A B C D, 3rd Duke of Somewhere (b. 1900)
The years listed next to the titles are the years of creation, while the remaining are birth and death dates. (The lists could be made as separate sections, instead of merely being in bold.)
Use: c. for circa; b. for born; d. for died; and second Creation, etc, to indicate more than one creation of the same title.
Individual Holders
Individuals should be listed in the format "A B, 2nd Duke (or Marquess, etc.) of X," where A B is the name of the Duke (or Marquess, etc.) However, an exception is made for individuals who are life peers, (and of course for those who have disclaimed their peerage), when the page should be titled based on the name of the peer, rather than the title of the peer, as is suggested by the Wikipedia naming conventions. Furthermore, individuals who are the first holders of a title and are extremely well known by the name rather than the title could have a page based on the name itself. Redirects, however, should be appropriately placed. Examples of such individuals include:
- many modern Prime Ministers (often created Earls after retirement): Clement Attlee (1st Earl Attlee), etc.
- Alfred Tennyson (1st Baron Tennyson), William Thomson (1st Baron Kelvin of Largs)
Subsidiary or courtesy titles by which the individual was formerly known could be noted in the article. The article should note the death which allowed the individual to inherit the title, or should note the monarch who created the title. Furthermore, if the individual in question died, then the successor should be noted, or one could note that the title became extinct. At the bottom of the page, a table, formatted in a manner similar to what is shown below, could be placed:
| Preceded by: John Smith | King of Wikipedia 2001–2002 | Succeeded by: Sir John Major |
| Preceded by: Agatha Christie | Queen of Wikipedia 2002–2005 | Succeeded by: Dame Judi Dench |
For more specific examples, see Template talk:Succession box.
