Substantive title Lord is occasionally used as part of a substantive British noble title in its own right: In the
Peerage of Scotland, the members of the lowest level of the peerage have the substantive title "
Lord of Parliament" rather than Baron. The heir to the throne in Scotland holds the title
Lord of the Isles. In England, the title
Lord of the Isle of Wight used to exist but fell out of use before the creation of the modern peerage system. The British sovereign is also accorded the title
Lord of Mann as head of state of the Isle of Mann. The feudal title of "Lord of the Manor" is still recognised by the British Government for any such title registered at
His Majesty's Land Registry before 13 October 2003 (the commencement date of the Land Registration Act 2002) but after that date titles can no longer be registered, and any such titles voluntarily de-registered by the holder cannot later be re-registered. However any transfer of ownership of registered manors will continue to be recorded in the register, on the appropriate notification. Thus in effect the register is closed for new registrations. Such titles are legally classified as "incorporeal hereditaments" as they have no physical existence, and usually have no intrinsic value. However a lucrative market arose in the 20th century for such titles, often for purposes of vanity, which was assisted by the existence of an official register, giving the purchaser the impression of a physical existence. Whether a title of "Lord of the Manor" is registered or unregistered has no effect on its legal validity or existence, which is a matter of law to be determined by the courts. Modern legal cases have been won by persons claiming rights as lords of the manor over
village greens. The heads of many ancient English land-owning families have continued to be lords of the manor of lands they have inherited. The UK Identity and Passport Service will include such titles on a British passport as an "observation" (e.g., 'The Holder is the Lord of the Manor of X'), provided the holder can provide documentary evidence of ownership. The United States forbids the use of all titles on passports. Australia forbids the use of titles on passports if those titles have not been awarded by the Crown (in reference to the Australian Monarchy) or the Commonwealth (in reference to the Australian Government).
Peers and children of peers Lord is used as a generic term to denote members of the
peerage. Five ranks of
peer exist in the United Kingdom: in descending order these are
duke,
marquess,
earl,
viscount, and
baron. The appellation "Lord" is used most often by barons, who are rarely addressed by their formal and legal title of "Baron". The most formal style is "The Lord (X)": for example,
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, can be referred to as "The Lord Tennyson", although the most common appellation is "Lord Tennyson". Marquesses, earls and viscounts are commonly also addressed as Lord. Dukes use the style "The Duke of (X)", and are not correctly referred to as "Lord (X)". Dukes are formally addressed as "Your Grace", rather than "My Lord". "Lord" is also used as a
courtesy title for younger sons of a
British prince, duke, or marquesses, in the style "Lord (first name) (surname)". The eldest son of a peer would be entitled to use one of his father's subsidiary titles (if any). For example,
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent holds the subsidiary title of Earl of St Andrews, which is used by his elder son
George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews, while his younger son is styled
Lord Nicholas Windsor. However, if the father has no subsidiary title, the older son will assume a courtesy title of "Lord (last name)", such as in the case of the
Earl of Devon. As these forms of address are merely courtesy titles, the holder is not actually a member of the peerage and is not entitled to use the definite article "The" as part of the title.
House of Lords The upper house of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom is the
House of Lords, which is an abbreviation of the full title, "The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled". The
Lords Temporal are the people who are entitled to receive
writs of summons to attend the House of Lords in right of a peerage. The
Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops of
Canterbury and
York, the Bishops of
London,
Winchester and
Durham, and the twenty-one longest-serving bishops of the
Church of England from among the other bishops (plus some female bishops of shorter service in consequence of the
Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015), who are all entitled to receive writs of summons in right of their bishoprics or archbishoprics. The Lords Temporal greatly outnumber the Lords Spiritual, there being nearly 800 of the former and only 26 of the latter. As of December 2016, 92 Lords Temporal sit in the House in right of hereditary peerages (that being the maximum number allowed under the
House of Lords Act 1999) and 19 sit in right of judicial life peerages under the
Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876. The rest are life peers under the
Life Peerages Act 1958.
Judiciary , a
Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom Until the creation of the
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (2009), certain
judges sat in the House of Lords by virtue of holding life peerages. Most of them (those who were members of the
Appellate Committee) were known collectively as the
Law Lords. All judges, including former Law Lords, lost the right to sit and vote in the House of Lords, despite retaining their life peerages, upon creation of the Supreme Court. The appellation "Lord", though not the style, is also used to refer to some judges in certain
Commonwealth legal systems, who are not peers. Some such judges, for instance judges of the
Court of Appeal of England and Wales, are called "Lord Justice". Other Commonwealth judges, for example judges of Canadian provincial supreme courts, are known only as Justices but are addressed with deference in court as 'My Lord', 'My Lady', 'Your Lordship' or 'Your Ladyship'. Examples of judges who use the appellation "lord" include: • Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom not holding peerages, who are addressed as if they were life peers by
Royal Warrant. Wives of male justices who are not peers are addressed as if they were wives of peers. These forms of address are applicable both in court and in social contexts. • Judges of the
Court of Appeal of England and Wales, known as 'Lords Justices of Appeal'. • Judges of the Scottish
Court of Session, known as 'Lords of Council and Session'. • Justices of the Canadian provincial Supreme Courts, addressed in Court as "My Lord" or "My Lady" and referred to in legal literature as "Lordships" or "Ladyships". • Judges of the
Supreme Court of India and the
High Courts of India, who are addressed as "My Lord" and "Your Lordship" in court. The
Bar Council of India called upon lawyers to give up this practice of addressing judges as 'lords' in 2006 but in practice, this was ignored.
Naval The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of
Lord High Admiral into commission. The title Naval Lord to the Board of Admiralty was first used around the 1600s. These were a body of Senior Admirals, first called Naval Lord Commissioners, then Naval Lords then Professional Naval Lords then Sea Lords. The President of the Board was known as the First Lord of the Admiralty (with the other five Naval appointments being the Second Sea Lord, Third Sea Lord, etc. sequentially), or sometimes First Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty. With the abolition of the Board of Admiralty and its merger into the Ministry of Defence in 1964, formal control of the Navy was taken over by the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, with the day-to-day running of the Navy taken over by the Navy Board. The office of Lord High Admiral was vested in the Crown (i.e. in the person of the current British monarch) and that of First Lord of the Admiralty ceased to exist, but the First, Second and Third Sea Lords retained their titles, despite ceasing to be Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. To this day (2023) the first two senior officers of the Royal Navy are still known as
First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, and
Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff. The Lords Commissioners were entitled collectively to be known as "The Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty", and were commonly referred to collectively as "Their Lordships" or "My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty", though individual members were not entitled to these styles. More informally, they were known in short as "The Lords of the Admiralty". The
Lords of the Admiralty are not peers.
Ecclesiastical In
Great Britain and
Ireland, and in most countries that are members or former members of the
Commonwealth, bishops may be addressed as "My Lord" or "My Lord Bishop" or "Your Lordship", particularly on formal occasions. This usage is not restricted to those bishops who sit in the
House of Lords. Indeed, by custom, it is not restricted to bishops of the
Church of England but applies to bishops of the
Church in Wales, the
Scottish Episcopal Church, and the
Roman Catholic Church, and may be applied (though less commonly) to bishops of other Christian denominations. It has become more common to use simply the one word "
Bishop". In the United States, bishops are addressed as "Excellency".
Other high offices of state Various other high offices of state in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and Republic of Ireland are prefixed with the deferential appellation of "lord". These include: •
Great Officers of State (United Kingdom) such as
Lord Chancellor,
Lord Privy Seal, and
Lord President of the Council •
Council officials such as
Lord Mayor in England or
Lord provost in Scotland. • Royal representatives, such as the
Lord-lieutenant and
Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland •
Heraldic officials such as the
Lord Lyon King of Arms Holders of these offices are not
ex officio peers, although the holders of some of the offices were in the past always peers. ==Non-English equivalents==