Talk:Baron Arlington

Inheritance

Why did the dukedom not fall into abeyance at the death of the ninth Duke? Is it impossible for any female to become Duchess of Grafton in her own right? What is the difference between the succession rules for the holders of the title of Duke of Grafton and Earl of Arlington, Viscount of Thetford respectively? And why is that so? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.230.2.103 (talk) 05:27, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

The most common inheritance rules for British peerages is that only males may inherit, as is the case with the Dukedom of Grafton; this also makes it impossible for these titles to fall into abeyance. Some titles, more commonly in Scotland, can be inherited by females with preference going to the eldest daughter over her younger sisters, so again abeyance is not a concern. However, as the article on abeyance explains, some titles are created so that if the title passes to female heirs (or their descendants), the sisters (or their heirs) have equal inheritance rights, regardless of the order of their birth. Thus, when the 9th Duke of Grafton died, his two sisters had an equal claim to the title, and since a peerage cannot be held simultaneously by more than one person, it fell into abeyance. This continues until either all but one of the heirs has died or, more commonly, one of the co-heirs successfully petitions the crown for the title, as Jennifer Forwood did with the Barony of Arlington. And yes, it is impossible for a woman to become Duchess of Grafton in her own right according to the rules of the current creation of that title. Andrei Iosifovich (talk) 03:37, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Juliet, Lady Cholmeley

thepeerage.com says that the 11th Baroness's sister died in 1998, even before Jennifer was granted the title. It does not cite a specific date but gives a month. Is this a reputable enough source to cite here? It in turn cites Burke's Peerage, but it's not an online source so I can't investigate any further. Andrei Iosifovich (talk) 03:37, 22 January 2010 (UTC)