Marquess

A Marquess is a nobleman of hereditary rank in Europe and Japan. In British peerage it ranks below a Duke and above an Earl. A woman with the rank of marquess, or the wife of a marquess, is a marchioness.

The word derives from the Middle French[?] marquis (feminine, marquise), ultimately from a Germanic word for 'border'. This spelling marquis is still also used, though marquess is now preferred.

Peerage of England

Titles in the peerage of England, listed with the bestowing monarch and ordered by date of creation.

• Marquess of Winchester[?], Edward VI, October 12, 1551
• Marquess of Worcester[?], Charles I, November 2, 1642
• Marquess of Carmarthen[?], William III, April 9, 1689 (extinct 1964)
• Marquess of Normanby, William III, 1694 (extinct 1735)
• Marquess of Tavistock[?], William III, May 11, 1694
• Marquess of Hartington, William III, May 12, 1694
• Marquess of Blandford[?], Anne, December 14, 1702
• Marquess of Granby, Anne, March 29, 1703

(others exist in the peerages of Great Britain, Scotland, United Kingdom etc.)

Reference

• The Chronological Peerage of England, hereditarytitles.com as of March 2, 2003; [1] (http://www.hereditarytitles.com/Page70.htm); omits Normanby, mispells Hartington as Martington, places Marquess of Lorn and Kintyre in peerage of England (Scotland is more probable).
• BUCKINGHAM AND NORMANBY, JOHN SHEFFIELD, 1ST DUKE OF (1648—1721), 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica; [2] (http://49.1911encyclopedia.org/B/BU/BUCKINGHAM_AND_NORMANBY_JOHN_SHEFFIELD_1ST_DUKE_OF.htm); mentions Marquess of Normanby in peerage of England.