Editing Lord of the manor (section)

==Use of style==
The holder of a lordship of the manor can be referred to as Lord or Lady of the manor of [''Placename''], or Lord or Lady of [''Placename''], for example Lord or Lady of Little Bromwich; this shortening is permitted as long as "of" is not omitted and the name of the holder is included before as not to imply a peerage.<ref>[https://uk-history.co.uk/titles "Titles of nobility"] ''Peerage and nobility of the United Kingdom''. Retrieved 15 October 2024</ref> It has been argued that lords of the manor can have the prefix "The Much Honoured" as using Mr, Miss or Mrs would be incorrect.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.manorialsociety.co.uk/about.html |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=The Manorial Society of Great Britain |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Land Registry Practice Guide 22"/><ref>{{Cite news |date=22 August 2023 |title=Lord or Lady of West Bromwich nobility title to be auctioned for £20,000 |work=ITV News |url=https://www.itv.com/news/central/2023-08-21/fancy-being-lord-or-lady-of-west-brom-noblity-title-up-for-grabs-for-20k |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref> The style 'Lord of the Manor of X' or 'Lord of X' is, in a sense, more of a description than a title, somewhat similar to the term [[laird]] in Scotland.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lyon-court.com/lordlyon/776.html |title=The Court of the Lord Lyon, Lairds |access-date=13 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728090955/http://www.lyon-court.com/lordlyon/776.html |archive-date=28 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[King's College, Cambridge]] has given the view that the term "indicated wealth and privilege, and it carried rights and responsibilities".<ref>[http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/archive-centre/archive-month/july-2013.html "Estates: Lord of the manors"]. King's College Cambridge. July 2013.</ref>

It is debated whether manorial lordships can be classed as a noble title, historically holders of manorial titles were seen as people of rank. They are a semi-extinct form of hereditary landed title that grants the holder the rank of [[Esquire]] by prescription and are considered high [[gentry]] or lower, non-[[peerage]] [[nobility]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Reuter |first=T.|year=1997|title=The Companion to Historiography|place=London|publisher=M. Bentley|page=167}}</ref> by contemporary heralds and students of nobiliary. Lordship in this sense is a synonym for ownership, although this ownership involved a historic legal jurisdiction in the form of the [[court baron]].<ref name="Can I buy a British title">[http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/faqs/knighthood-honours/buy-british-title "Can I buy a British title?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727055906/http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/faqs/knighthood-honours/buy-british-title |date=27 July 2011 }}. Washington DC: British Embassy.</ref> The journal ''Justice of the Peace & Local Government Law'' advises that the position is unclear as to whether a lordship of a manor is a title of honour or a dignity, as this is yet to be tested by the courts.<ref name="books.google.co.uk">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B4IwAQAAIAAJ&q=dignities,+lord+of+the+manor |journal=Justice of the Peace & Local Government Law |date=1997 |volume=161 |issue=1–26}}</ref>  Technically, lords of manors are [[baron]]s, or [[Freedom of the City|freemen]]; however, they do not use the term as a title. Unlike titled barons, they did not have a right to sit in the [[House of Lords]], which was the case for all noble peers until the [[House of Lords Act 1999]]. [[John Selden]] in his esteemed work ''Titles of Honour'' (1672) writes, "The word ''Baro'' (Latin for [[Baron]]) hath been also so much communicated, that not only all Lords of Manors have been from ancient time, and are at this day called sometimes Barons (as in the stile of their Court Barons, which is ''Curia Baronis, &c''. And I have read ''hors de son Barony'' in a barr to an Avowry for ''hors de son fee'') But also the Judges of the Exchequer have it from antient time fixed on them."<ref name="Selden">{{cite book |author=Selden, J. |year=1672 |title=Titles of Honor: By the Late and Famous Antiquary John Selden of Inner Temple, Esquire |edition=Third |place=London |publisher=Thomas Dring |page=570}}</ref>