Editing Life peer (section)

==Before 1887==
{{see also|Pre-1876 life peerages |Cromwell's Other House}}

[[The Crown]], as ''[[fount of honour]]'', creates peerages of two types, being hereditary or for life. In the early days of the peerage, the sovereign had the right to summon individuals to one Parliament without being bound to summon them again. Over time,{{when|date=April 2021}} it was established that once summoned, a peer would have to be summoned for the remainder of their life, and later, that the peer's heirs and successors would also be summoned, thereby firmly entrenching the hereditary principle.

Nevertheless, life peerages lingered. From the reign of [[James I of England|James I]] to that of [[George II of Great Britain|George II]] (between 1603 and 1760), 18 life peerages were created for women. Women, however, were excluded from sitting in the House of Lords, so it was unclear whether or not a life peerage would entitle a man to do the same. For over four centuries—if one excludes those who sat in [[Cromwell's House of Lords]] (or Other House) during the [[Interregnum (England)|Interregnum]]—no man had claimed a seat in the Lords by virtue of a life peerage. In 1856, it was thought necessary to add a peer learned in law to the House of Lords (which was the [[Judicial functions of the House of Lords|final court of appeal]]), without allowing the peer's heirs to sit in the House and swell its numbers. [[James Parke, 1st Baron Wensleydale|Sir James Parke]], a [[Exchequer of Pleas#Barons|Baron]] (judge) of the [[Exchequer of pleas|Exchequer]], was created Baron Wensleydale for life, but the House of Lords concluded that the peerage did not entitle him to sit in the House of Lords. Lord Wensleydale was therefore appointed a hereditary peer (in the event, he had no sons, so his peerage did not pass to an heir) ''(See also [[Peerage law#Wensleydale Peerage Case (1856)|Wensleydale Peerage Case (1856)]])''.

The Government introduced a bill to authorise the creation of two life peerages carrying seats in the House of Lords for judges who had held office for at least five years. The House of Lords passed it, but the bill was lost in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]].

In 1869, a more comprehensive life peerages bill was brought forward by [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|the Earl Russell]]. At any one time, 28 life peerages could be in existence; no more than four were to be created in any one year. Life peers were to be chosen from senior judges, civil servants, senior officers of the [[British Army]] or [[Royal Navy]], members of the House of Commons who had served for at least ten years, scientists, writers, artists, [[peerage of Scotland|peers of Scotland]], and [[peerage of Ireland|peers of Ireland]]. (Peers of Scotland and Ireland did not all have seats in the House of Lords, instead electing a number of [[representative peer]]s.) The bill was rejected by the House of Lords at its [[third reading]].

The [[Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876]] permitted the creation of life peerages with the rank of baron for [[judicial functions of the House of Lords|senior judges in the House of Lords]]. Initially it was intended that the [[Lord of Appeal in Ordinary|Lords of Appeal in Ordinary]] created in this way (for their titles, see the [[list of law life peerages]]) would only sit in the [[House of Lords]] while serving their term as judges, but in 1887 (on the retirement of [[Colin Blackburn, Baron Blackburn|Lord Blackburn]], the first person appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876) the [[Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1887]] provided that former judges would retain their seats for life.<ref>[[William Sharp McKechnie|McKechnie, William Sharp]], 1909: [https://archive.org/details/reformofhouseofl00mckeuoft ''The reform of the House of Lords; with a criticism of the Report of the Select Committee of 2nd December, 1908''], p.13</ref> The practice of appointing life peers under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 ended with the creation of the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]] in 2009. Sitting judges of the Supreme Court are not automatically given life peerages but are entitled to use the [[judicial courtesy title]] of "Lord" or "Lady" for life.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.uk/docs/pr_1013.pdf|title=Courtesy titles for Justices of the Supreme Court|date=13 December 2010|publisher=Supreme Court of the United Kingdom|access-date=14 December 2010}}</ref>