21
votes
Has a hereditary peer ever been promoted or demoted to a higher or lower rank?
Yes to the first.
Examples: the 1st Marquess of Montrose had inherited the title of Earl of Montrose from his father. The 4th Earl of Devonshire was made a Duke for his support of William III in the '...
- 339
19
votes
Has a hereditary peer ever been promoted or demoted to a higher or lower rank?
Someone who illustrates both aspects of the question is Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford who as an adviser to Charles I, progressed from Baronet, through Baron, Viscount and Earl, to being ...
- 31.4k
13
votes
Accepted
How could nonconformist Protestants be buried in graveyards controlled by the established Church before 1880?
The answer seems to be that it was not explicitly prohibited before 1880; the key phrase is "without the conformist rites of that Church", so before 1880 they simply had to choose to accept ...
- 9,112
11
votes
Why were there more Catholics in Lancashire than other parts of England around the time of the Jacobite rebellions?
Even in the early 1700s, the North of England was a long ways away from the centers of power in the South. It was a lot further away in the 1500s when Catholicism was being overthrown by Puritans who ...
- 7,598
9
votes
Prior to 1963 did a British nobleman ever disclaim or renounce his title? What would have happened if someone had tried?
It has not happened for many centuries, but it did happen, principally in order to bring about a change in the title rather than to surrender it forever.
Roger le Bygod, fifth Earl of Norfolk (1245-...
- 144
8
votes
Who of the British military had access to the ULTRA messages of the Enigma in September 1944?
History.net: Ultra Code Breakers -- The Misunderstood Allied Secret Weapon, emphasis mine:
[T]he British and their American allies evolved a carefully segregated intelligence system that limited the ...
- 13.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Why in the 70s and 80s was the United Kingdom called Great Britain in the international naming conventions?
Great Britain was the official name of the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707-05-01 to 1800-12-31) and consisted of the Kingdoms of England (which included Wales) and Scottland. Thus the whole island of ...
- 9,504
7
votes
Has a hereditary peer ever been promoted or demoted to a higher or lower rank?
Peers have often been promoted by being granted another peerage with a higher rank.
In some cases, a peerage can be inherited by someone who already holds another peerage title.
So a number of peers ...
- 19.1k
7
votes
Accepted
What "silly places" (according to Muggeridge) did Nikita Khrushchev go to during his visit in the United Kingdom?
Muggeridge's itinerary was printed in the 6033rd issue of Punch magazine on April 18th, 1956. This issue, and the itinerary, can be viewed on archive.org.
The overlap of the two itineraries appears to ...
- 797
6
votes
Why was the BEF so ill-prepared for WW1?
The BEF was anything but ill-prepared
It was better trained, lead, equipped and prepared than most other armies. They learned that the hard way during the Second Boer War, when it certainly was ill ...
- 20.9k
6
votes
Accepted
Do the Chadwyck-Healey baronets have a coat of arms?
Yes - the coat of arms is recorded in Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, the 1999 edition of which is available to borrow for free on archive.org and includes the description of the Chadwyck-Healey ...
- 797
6
votes
Accepted
Did the IRA attempt to point out the innocence of the Guildford 4 or Birmingham 6?
There was at least one occasion when a member of the IRA publically stated that the Guildford Four had been wrongly convicted.
During the trial of the Balcombe Street gang in 1977, Joe O'Connell made ...
- 769
5
votes
Has a hereditary peer ever been promoted or demoted to a higher or lower rank?
Famous computer programmer Ada Byron was married to William King, the Baron King. He was then promoted to Earl Lovelace in Queen Victoria's Coronation Honours List, making Ada the Countess Lovelace (...
5
votes
When did the United Kingdom become "United" rather than merely united? (I.e., that word became part of its name.)
It really goes back to the 1706 Union with Scotland Act and the corresponding 1707 Union with England Act.
Article I:
That the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland shall upon the First day of May ...
- 5,275
3
votes
Prior to 1963 did a British nobleman ever disclaim or renounce his title? What would have happened if someone had tried?
Just to add one more interesting example to the already very comprehensive answers:-
In 1660 (so after the resolution of the House of Lords referred to in Ecu91's answer), Robert Villiers surrendered ...
- 797
3
votes
What "silly places" (according to Muggeridge) did Nikita Khrushchev go to during his visit in the United Kingdom?
As a follow-up to CDJB's answer, some context on the origin of the so-called "Muggeridge's law". The anecdote of Muggeridge's satirical list being the same as the actual list appears to ...
- 1,437
3
votes
Accepted
Was there a British Royal tradition associated with the name Elizabeth?
Collating some of the comments into an answer:
Over a few days, no answer came forward confirming the existence of such tradition, or of something closely related; while lack of evidence is not ...
- 187
3
votes
Why was the BEF so ill-prepared for WW1?
Question: When I think of Britain, I think of a dominant global empire. Was this not the case? Was Britain completely incompetent
outside their navy? With respect to WWI.
Short Answer:
The 1914 ...
- 127
2
votes
Has a hereditary peer ever been promoted or demoted to a higher or lower rank?
Wikipedia gives a warning of the risks inherent in trying to demote a noble. Machiavelli later warned that it was safer to kill a disloyal noble than to humilate and/or impoverish him.
Henry [...
- 231
2
votes
When did the United Kingdom become "United" rather than merely united? (I.e., that word became part of its name.)
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801. Previously, there had been the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland, both ruled by the same monarch, but legally ...
- 31.4k
1
vote
What events or situations of WW1 led to a Nazi fascination with Anglo-Saxon powers?
The (I assume the publishers) summery found here:
Hitler: Eine globale Biographie - Brendan Simms - Google Books
states:
Die Vereinigten Staaten und das Britische Empire galten Hitler als Vorbilder ...
- 9,504
1
vote
Why was the BEF so ill-prepared for WW1?
Short Answer
The BEF required a lot of time to expand at the outset and then to reconstitute itself after each major offensive. As such the BEF would go through periods of less fighting, which got on ...
- 2,042
1
vote
What was the role/duties of a "Constable of the Castle" in 1600?
Wardens, Sheriffs, and Constables are all offices, usually with specific responsibilities for, or over, a certain property or geographic space. It was certainly possible to possess more than one at a ...
- 72.3k
1
vote
Is it correct to refer the Victorian Era outside of the UK?
It's absolutely appropriate to use "Victorian" in the US to refer to anything within that date range. I grew up in an 1870s house that we unequivocally called a Victorian, even though the ...
- 11
1
vote
Why did England consistently adopt red as their primary colour for insignia and uniform?
Not only was red, going back to the raising of the New Model Army, simply the cheapest dye, and the one which kept the colour for longer, scarlet and dark blue are also the Royal livery colours.
This ...
- 1,256
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible