14 Oct Five Lordship Title Facts

1. A manorial title is a “Custom Right” in law.  The Lordship or Seigniory were the rights that were assigned with manorial land.  The Seigniory did not state, “you have the right to use the title of Lord of the Manor of ……………………”  It refers to the rights as being Lordship rights so there is an inference the right of the title has been created through the use of the title over time
2. There has never been specific direction how to use a Lordship Title.  As stated in number one the owner of the Lordship decided what title they wished to use.  For example the ownership of the lordship of Churchill could therefore ask to be called, Lord Churchill, Lord of Churchill, Lord of the Manor of Churchill.  Another option is to be called Lord (their name).  Today this is a dangerous thing to do as the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 states that it is a criminal offence to pretend to be a Peer of the Realm.  A Peer would state their Peerage in this way, so confusion may occur
3. Most Lordships were granted between 1066 and 1086 and were named then.  Each Lord could change the name of the Lordship (and the title) in the same way as we can change the name of a house today.  One of the more extreme examples of a name change is the Lordship of Pinner.  It was referred to under that name in 1486 and 1500 however in 1573 the Lordship changed to Females or Fearnals.  The Lord might have had issues with the fairer sex?
4. When a Lordship was granted it did not have an “Expiry Date”.  The rights Manorial Counsel create to utilise the old rights also has no expiry rate so will still be owned in a thousand years
5. A Lordship Title is a right in law.  A “right” cannot be seen or touched so a right can only exist when created by a legal process, whether that is a Grant by the Crown or application of statute and common law.  Owning a physical object is much easier in that the golden principle of “Possession is nine tenths of the law”.  As you cannot possess something you cannot touch or see.