BARONET, a gentleman having the title of Sir, in virtue of his patent, and taking place of all knights; with two exceptions,—knights bannerets, created by the sovereign in person, in the field, and under the royal banner,—and the knights of St George, or of the Garter. This title is the lowest honour which is hereditary, and is usually descendible to the issue .male.
The order of knights baronets was instituted by James I. of England, in the year 1611, at the sug. gestion of Cecil Earl of Salisbury, ( flume, viii. 283.) who recommended its establishment to the king as an expedient by which money might be raised. The money was to be employed in reducing and civilizing the province of Ulster, the inhabitants of which were at that time in arms against the English government. The form of creation is given by Selden, Titles of Honour, part ii. ch. v. § 46. 'In the preamble, the king states, that he was desirous " nova merita novis dignitatum insignibus, rependere ;" and therefore, he adds, " ex certa scicntia, et mero mote nostris; ordi navinzns, ereximus, constituimus, et creavimus, quen dam statunz, gradunz, dignitatem, nomen et titultinz BARONETTI, antra hoc regnum nostrum Anglify, per petuis temporibus, duraturum." The patent was originally granted to none but such as were of good birth, at least descended of a grandfather, by the fa ther's side, that bare arms, and in possession of a income amounting to £1000 ; and the num ber of those who dould receive it was•limited to two hundred. By the terms of the patent, every indivi dual admitted to the honour, was either to raise SO -foot-soldiers, and maintain them in Ulster, at his own expense, during a period of three years, or, what was rather wished, to pay into the•exchequer the sum of 3E1000, which was supposed to be nearly an equiva lent. Accordingly, commissioners were appointed to sit at Whitehall, with a view to receive those who might apply; and one hundred gentlemen, advancing each a thousand pounds, had the title of baronet conferred upon them. Of these, Sir Nicholas Bacon of Redgrave, in Suffolk, was the first : a circum stance, on account of which, his successor is still de signated Primus Batonettorum Anglify. The num ber of baronets have since been augmented greatly beyond the limit at first intended.
All the baronets of England have, superadded to their family insignia, the arms of the ancient kings of Ulster ; viz. A hand, Rules or a bloody hand, in a field argent. These they may bear, either in a can ton or in an escutcheon of pretence. Both they, and their eldest sons on coming of age, have the privilege of demanding knighthood. The word Baronet is placed at the end of their surnames, and their wives are styled Lady or Dame. The rank or place of bare nets, with regard particularly to the younger sons of barons and viscounts, was for sonic time matter of keen dispute, but was at length settled in a laborious document published by authority of the king, (James I.) which those who have a taste for such papers and composition, will find in Selden, Tit. of lion. ch. xi. § 3d. In this document it is announced, that his ma jesty, who best knew his own royal meaning when he founded the order, " bath finally sentenced, adjudged, and established, that the younger sons of his counts and barons, shalltake place and precedence before all baronets." Among themselves, the baronet's rank.
according to the date of their patents.
The baronets of Scotland are otherwise called ba ronets of Nova Scotia. This institution was like wise designed by James I. and was regarded by him as a method at once honourable and easy of cultiva ting the province of Nova Scotia in North America ; a part of the western continent, which had already been discovered and occupied by the English. James, however, was prevented by circumstances which we cannot mention in this place, from executing his pur pose ; and the order was not established till the year 1625, in the reign of his son Charles I. Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstone, a cadet of the Sutherland fa mily, was the first baronet of Nova Scotia. A certain portion of land in Acadia, or New Scotland, was grant. ed to each of those on whom the dignity was conferred, andto their heirs in perpetual succession : this land they were to hold of Sir William Alexander, afterwards created Earl of Stirling, and at that time his ma jesty's lieutenant in Nova Scotia. But, from the ig norance which •then prevailed with respect to the geography of North America, it may easily be con ceived that the land was not portioned out with great accuracy ; and that these titled adventurers would not only be frequently altogether unactpainted with the exact bounds prescribed for that their charters would sometimes interfere with each other. In the letters patent it was declared, that the baro hats of Nova Scotia, and their heirs and successors, should have precedency of all knights called Aurati, of all the lairds or inferior barons of Scotland, and of every other' gentleman not belonging to the higher orders of nobility, excepting the king's lieutenant above mentioned, and his heirs male, together with their wives and children. They were to be addressed and to have the word Baronet, in all writings and documents adjoined to their names. Their wives, like those of the English baronets, are styled Lady or Dame. The knights of this order have likewise the privilege, granted to them under the sign manual, A.D. 1G29, of wearing round their necks " an orange. tawney coloured silk ribbon," from which hangs a medal with an imperial crown above the escutcheon of the Scottish arms, inscribed with this motto, Pax menus gloria. In addition to their family arms, they bear, either in a canton or in an es cutcheon, the insignia of Nova Scotia ; i. c. argent a cross of St Andrew, azure charged with an es cutcheon of the royal arms of Scotland ; having, for supporters on the right, the royal unicorn, and on the left, a savage or wild man, proper. The crest is a branch of laurel, and a thistle issuing from two hands conjoined : the motto, Munit hcee, et altera This order has experienced a considerable variety of fortunes. It was confirmed and established by a convention of estates, A. D. 1630, and by an act of the Scottishpparliament, A. D. 1633. During the usurpation of Cromwell, the title and dignity were al most annihilated. They were little known during the reign of Charles II. After that period, some at tempts were made to restore them, particularly in the years 1721 to 1731 ; but without effect. At length, however, in the reign of our present king, and in the year 1775, such measures were taken as have raised the knights baronets of Nova Scotia to their original dignity. (h)