The Peerage

When completed Cracroft's Peerage will have narrative pedigrees on all the 2,272 peerages created in the British Isles during the last 950 years or so, of which 1,421 are still in existence and the remainder either extinct, dormant or abeyant. A dormant peerage is one where the senior line has died out but there are possibly junior lines still in existence which may be able to make a valid claim to the title. An abeyant peerage, a term which can only apply to an English barony created by writ, is one where the male line has died out and the title is shared by co-heiresses or their descendants - the title remains in abeyancy until the Crown calls it out of abeyancy in favour of one of the heirs, who may or may not be the senior heir to the barony.

This table shows how many peerages are current and how many fall into the category of being either extinct, dormant or abeyant. The column headed "LPA" is for life peers created under the Life Peerage Act 1958, and the column headed "AJA" is for life peers created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 (these latter life peers are commonly referred to as the "Law Lords").

The Baronetage

The number of baronetcies created between 1611 and 1991 are of a slightly higher magnitude. In 381 years 3,563 baronetcies have been created, of which 1,266 are still in existence and 2,297 have become either extinct or are dormant. 248 of the baronetcies still in existence are held by hereditary peers.