Precedence

PRECEDENCE. This word in the sense in which it is here employed means priority of place, or superiority of rank. In Great Britain the crown is the fountain of honour, and has the un doubted prerogative to confer such rank and place as to it may seem convenient. In the old time all questions of precedence came in the ordinary course of things within the jurisdiction of the court of chivalry.

In 1539 an Act "for the placing of the Lords in Parliament" (31 Hen. VIII. c. ro) was passed at the instance of the king, and by it the relative rank of the members of the royal family, of the great officers of State and the household, and of the hierarchy and the peerage was definitely and definitively ascertained. Subse quent modifications were enacted in 1563 (5 Eliz. c. 18), and in 1689 (r Will. and Mary c. 21). The Acts of Union with Scotland (1707) and Ireland (r800) laid down rules of precedence for the Scottish and Irish peers. At different times too, statutes for the reform and extension of the judicial organization have affected the precedence of the judges, more especially the Judicature Act of 1873. But the statute of Henry VIII. "for the placing of the Lords" remains the only measure dealing with any large section of the scale of general precedence; and the law, so far as it relates to the ranking of the sovereign's immediate kindred, the principal ministers of the Crown and court, and both the spiritual and tem poral members of the House of Lords, is to all practical intents what it was made by that statute.

General Precedence of Men.

The sovereign; (r) prince of Wales; (2) younger sons of the sovereign; (3) grandsons of the sovereign; (4) brothers of the sovereign; (5) uncles of the sover eign; (6) nephews of the sovereign; (7) archbishop of Canter bury, primate of all England; (8) lord high chancellor of Great Britain or lord keeper of the great seal; (9) archbishop of York, primate of England; (ro) prime minister; (r r) lord high treasurer of Great Britain; (r2) lord president of the privy council; (r3) speaker of the House of Commons; (r4) lord keeper of the privy seal; (15) lord great chamberlain of England, (r6) lord high con stable of England, (r7) earl marshal, (18) lord high admiral, (r9) lord steward of the household, (20) lord chamberlain of the house hold, (20 master of the horse, above peers of their own degree; (22) dukes; (23) eldest sons of dukes of the blood royal; (24) marquesses; (25) dukes' eldest sons; (26) earls; (27) younger sons of dukes of the blood royal; (28) marquesses' eldest sons; (29) dukes' younger sons; (3o) viscounts; (30 earls' eldest sons; (32) marquesses' younger sons; (33) bishops; (34) secretaries of State of baronial rank; (35) barons; (36) lords commissioners of the great seal; (37) treasurer of the household; (38) comp troller of the household; (39) vice-chamberlain of the house hold; (4o) secretaries of State; (40 high commissioners in Lon don; (42) viscounts' eldest sons; (43) earls' younger sons; (44) barons' eldest sons; (45) knights of the Garter; (46) privy coun cillors; (47) chancellor of the Exchequer; (48) chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster; (49) lord chief justice of England; (5o) master of the rolls; (5r) president of the probate, divorce and admiralty division; (52) lords justices of appeal; (53) judges of the High Court of Justice; (54) viscounts' younger sons; (55) barons' younger sons; (56) sons of lords of appeal; (57) baronets; (58) knights grand cross of the Bath, Grand Commanders of the Star of India, grand cross of St. Michael and St. George, grand

commanders of the Indian Empire, grand cross of the Royal Vic torian Order, and of the Order of the British Empire; (59) knights commanders of the Bath, the Star of India, etc. ; (6o) knights bachelors; (60 judges of the county court direct; (62) serjeants at-law; (63) masters in chancery; (64) masters in lunacy; (65) companions of the Bath, of the Star of India, of St. Michael and St. George, of the Indian Empire, commanders of the Royal Vic torian Order, and of the Order of the British Empire; (66) corn panions of the Distinguished Service Order; (67) members of the Royal Victorian Order (4th class) ; (68) officers of the Order of the British Empire; (69) companions of the Imperial Service Order; (70) gentlemen of the privy chamber; (7r) eldest sons of the younger sons of peers; (72) eldest sons of the baronets; (73) eldest sons of the knights of the Garter; (74) eldest sons of the knights of the Bath, of the Star of India, etc., (eldest sons of the knights grand cross taking precedence of eldest sons of knights of the second degree) ; (75) members of the Royal Victorian Order (5th class) ; (76) members of the Order of the British Empire; (77) younger sons of baronets; (78) younger sons of knights; (79) esquires; (8o) gentlemen.