Page:Dod's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage etc. of Great Britain and Ireland.djvu/37

INTRODUCTION " Dod's Peerage," familiar to the public since 1839, has this year been, enlarged in order to include information as to all the immediate living relatives of Peers and Baronets, and the children of Archbishops, Bishops, Privy Covmsellors, and Knights, with their addresses and clubs and exact dates of birth and marriage. Experience and the numberless letters which the editor has received during past years show that a " Peerage " is principally referred to (1) as an address book, (2) to ascertain exact dates of birth and marriage, or (3) to find how certain people are related to one another, and these are the considerations which have been borne in mind in re -modelling the book. Long, and often dry genealogies and biographies of deceased holders of titles will not be foimd in " Dod." Owing to the numerous new creations, births, marriages and deaths which occur during the space of a year, a "Peerage" is in three months somewhat behind the times, in six inonths otit-of-date, and in nine n:ionths almost useless. The proprietors of Dod have therefore decided to issue supplements to the Peerage'" in April and August of each year. The work will thus be kept uniformly up-to-date, and can be relied upon to chronicle all the changes which take place within the period since last publication. In the preliminary pages of this volume will be found, — 1st. Fifty-eight Illustbations. — Amongst these are the insignia peculiar to Princes, Peers, Bishops, Baronets, Knights of the Garter, the Tliistle, St. Patrick, the Bath, the Star of India, St. Michael and St. George, the Indian Empire and the Royal Victorian Order, members of the Order of Merit, Distinguished Service and Imperial Service Orders, Victoria and Albert, the Crown of India, Victoria Cross, etc. 2nd. Pbecedence. — An essay in which the grounds for each claim to precedence are examined and explained at length, under the head of every office or dignitj-. To this are added tables of knightly, of judicial and legal, of clerical, of university, of naval, of military, of diplomatic, of Scottish, Irish, Indian, and Canadian precedence ; as well as an article on precedence amongst ladies. 3rd. A List of His Majesty's Officers of Arms. In the first part of this volume, the following ten classes will be found collected into one general dictionary, in which details are given of their titles, parentage^ ages, marriages, education, professions, residences, public services, offices, the occa- sions on which their titles were conferred, with nimierous historical, personal, and professional details. 1st. The Peers. — Accounts are contained in the following pages of the heads of all the noble families in the empire, whether belonging to the English, the Scottish or the Irish peerage, together with all their immediate living relatives. These notices are characterized by fre- cjuent reference to the circumstances under which titles originated, to the revival of ancient dignities, or to any peculiarity in the course by which honours have descended, or are intended to descend. 2nd. The Peeresses.— In the particulars given of the head of every noble family, the married ladies and the dowagers connected with each are mentioned ; while, as regards Peeresses in their own right, separate statements will be found in their proper alphabetical positions. 3rd. The Bishops. — Copious notices are given, not merely of the Lords spiritual, but of all English, Irish, or Colonial Bishops having territorial titles in British Dominions, as well as the Bishops of the Episcopal Church in Scotland, including particulars of the local extent of their jurisdiction, the colleges at which they were educated, their births, marriages, and issue. 4th. The Baronets. — Respecting this large division of the titled orders, the usual details will be found, compiled with great care, and presenting in every respect all the requisites of a complete Baronetage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 13