Notes & Queries Archive
QUERY1850

Commoner marrying a Peeress

By L. R. N.

Formerly, when a commoner married a peeress in her own right, he assumed her title and dignity. The right was, I believe, disputed during the reign of Henry VIII., in the case of the claimant of the barony of Talbois, when it was decided that no man could take his wife's titles unless he had issue male by her, but, if there were such issue, he became, as in cases of landed property, "tenant by curtesy" of her dignities. Can any of your correspondents inform me whether any subsequent decision has deprived of this right a commoner marrying a peeress and having issue male by her?

Topics: Marriage Customs, Peerage Law, Historical Legal Decisions