PEERESS

PEERESS, a woman who is noble by descent, creation, or marriage. For, as we have noblemen of several ranks, so we may have noblewomen; thus King Henry VIII. made Anne Bullen marchioness of Pembroke; King James I. created the lady Compton, wife to Sir Thomas Compton, countess of Buckingham, in the lifetime of her husband, without any addition of honour to him; and also the same king made the lady Finch, viscountess of Maidstone, and afterwards countess of Winchester, to her and the heirs of her body; and King George I. made the lady Schulenberg, duchess of Kendal.

If a peeress, by descent or creation, marry a person under the degree of nobility, she still continues noble: but if she obtain that dignity only by marriage, she loses it, on her afterwards marrying a commoner; yet by the courtesy of England, she generally retains the title of her nobility.

Decrease, 801 *