Master (Peerage of Scotland)

The heir apparent or heir presumptive to a Scottish peerage is known as a Master, or a Mistress if the heir is female. The heir's style is "The Master of [Peerage]" or "The Mistress of [Peerage]".

If the master is an heir apparent, and the peerage has a subsidiary title that could be used as a courtesy title, then the styling of Master is usually forgone. However, if the person is an heir presumptive, or if the peerage has no subsidiary title, then Master/Mistress is a common styling. However, because the word Mistress is quite archaic, many women choose not to use the style Mistress and instead use the regular styling, e.g. Lady Mary Smith or The Honourable Mary Smith.

Although regarded today as a form of courtesy title, the Mastership is a noble dignity in its own right, and originally conferred rights of attendance in the Parliament of Scotland. As a result, Masters were ineligible for election to the British House of Commons for Scottish constituencies after the Acts of Union 1707. Masters whose elections were declared void on this basis included four elected in the 1708 British general election, who each briefly attended parliament. Members of Parliament would be disqualified upon becoming the eldest (living) son of a Scottish peer, and a by-election would be held for the vacant seat. Therefore, they were denied the right to sit in both houses of the British Parliament. This practice was ended by the Scottish Reform Act 1832, and the Masters could be elected MPs like their English counterparts thereafter.

Members of British Parliament disqualified for being a Master

MP disqualified Constituency Father Year of election Year of disqualification Notes
William, Lord Haddo Aberdeenshire George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen 1708 1708
James, Lord Johnstone Dumfriesshire & Linlithgowshire William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of Annandale 1708 1708 Returned by two constituencies; disqualified for both
John, Master of Sinclair Dysart Burghs Henry St Clair, 10th Lord Sinclair 1708 1708
William, Lord Strathnaver Tain Burghs John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland 1708 1708
Charles, Earl of Drumlanrig Dumfriesshire Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberry 1747 1754 Disqualified upon becoming the eldest living son of his father
John, Marquess of Lorne Glasgow Burghs John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll 1744 (by election) 1761 Disqualified when his father succeeded to the peerage; later returned as MP for Dover
Francis, Lord Elcho Haddington Burghs Francis Wemyss Charteris, soi disant 7th Earl of Wemyss 1780 1787 Disqualified when his father assumed the peerage; later it was found out that the title was under forfeiture and his father not a Scottish peer at all

People who currently hold the dignity of Master or Mistress

References

  1. ^ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003), Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, vol. 3 (107th ed.), Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, p. 3965, ISBN 978-0-9711966-2-9 (Cited at thePeerage.com, which accessed 29 July 2020) {{citation}}: External link in |postscript= (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  2. ^ ibid.: volume 2, page 2602
  3. ^ ibid.: volume 1, page 605
  4. ^ ibid.: volume 1, page 1232
  5. ^ ibid.: volume 1, page 1385
  6. ^ Mosley, Charles, ed. (1999), Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, vol. 1 (106th ed.), Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, p. 99, ISBN 978-1-57958-083-4 (Cited at thePeerage.com, which accessed 29 July 2020) {{citation}}: External link in |postscript= (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  7. ^ Burke's Peerage, 107th edition, volume 1, page 1450
  8. ^ ibid.: volume 3, page 3510
  9. ^ ibid.: volume 2, page 2415
  10. ^ ibid.: volume 3, page 3567
  11. ^ Notices, The Telegraph, London, UK, 26 August 2011 (Cited at thePeerage.com, which accessed 29 July 2020)
  12. ^ Peerage News, no page specified (Cited at thePeerage.com, which accessed 29 July 2020)
  13. ^ Burke's Peerage, 107th edition, volume 2, page 2426
  14. ^ ibid.: volume 2, page 2859
  15. ^ Notices, The Telegraph, London, UK, date not cited (Cited at thePeerage.com, which accessed 29 July 2020)
  16. ^ Burke's Peerage, 107th edition, volume 1, page 326
  17. ^ ibid.: volume 3, page 3383
  18. ^ NEWS > Year 2003 > April (Retrieved 24 June 2005; archived 26 May 2005 and accessed 29 July 2020)
  19. ^ Burke's Peerage, 107th edition, volume 3, page 3167