BARONET

British hereditary dignity, first created by King James I in May 1611. The baronetage is not part of the peerage, nor is it an order of knighthood. A baronet ranks below barons but above all knights except a knight of the garter. The baronetcy is inherited by the male heirs of a baronet. James I, desperate for funds like all the Stuarts, decided to institute by letter patent a new dignitie between Barons and Knights. Because the money was ostensibly for support of the troops in Ulster, candidates for the baronetage were required to pay the king 1,095 (the sum required to maintain 30 soldiers for three years), but such requirements were soon abandoned. In 1619 a baronetage of Ireland was also established, and in 1624 James planned another creation in connection with the plantation of Nova Scotia. This was carried out after his death by Charles I in 1625. The baronets of Scotland (or of Nova Scotia) were required to pay a total of 2,000 (the amount required to support six colonists) and to pay a fee of 1,000 to Sir William Alexander (afterward earl of Stirling), to whom the province had been granted in 1621. In return they received, as well as their title, 16,000 acres of land in Nova Scotia. The creation of baronets of Scotland and of England ceased with the union of those countries in 1707; thereafter, until 1800, the new baronetcies were those of Great Britain. No more Irish baronets were created after the Irish Act of Union in 1801. From 1801 all creations were of baronets of the United Kingdom. Baronetcies are conferred only on men, though women may succeed to certain Scottish baronetcies. A baronet is styled Sir A.B., Bart. (or Bt.), to distinguish him from a knight; his wife is Lady B. A Scottish baronetess is styled Dame A.B., Btss., or Lady A.B., Btss.