I was doing some reading and I found out that Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron succeeded his father’s Scottish peerage. I also read about that the peerage of Scotland is a part of the peerages of the United Kingdom. However I’m still not sure was a peerage is. Is it something that is inherited? Is it associated with wealth and land ownership? I am not British but would like to have a better understanding about the peerages of the UK and to learn more about British history.
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Peerage means the hereditary system of titles (Dukes, Lords, Barons, etc.)
The UK used to be a much more structured society where the ruling class inherited their position from their fathers, and in some aspects it’s still like that (they’re still a monarchy.) However, over the centuries, the power of the peerage has dwindled down and the power of the common people has significantly grown.
The UK Parliament, who passes the laws and governs the country, is comprised of two houses – the House of Commons, who are directly elected by the citizens they represent (much like the USA’s House of Representatives,) and the House of Lords. The House of Lords consists of 784 seats, most of them serve for life, and 90 of the 784 are chosen from among the Peerage. It’s a vestige of the old system where the wealthy aristocrats got to rule the country alongside the King. Nowadays the King has no real political power, and the House of Lords has very limited political power. The true political power in the UK is in the House of Commons and its leader, the Prime Minister.
So in 2024, being in the Peerage is mostly a title. It mostly just means your ancestors were rich as hell.
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