Burke's Peerage

"Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage" is an authoritative, in-depth historical guide to the titled families of the United Kingdom. Founded in 1826 by British genealogist John Burke Esquire, and continued by his son, Sir John Bernard Burke, Burke's Peerage is one of the most recognised names in genealogy. Revised editions were initially published by H. Colburn and R. Bentley annually between 1832 (fourth edition in two volumes) [frontispiece, Burke] and 1917, and again between 1923 and 1940, with sporadic editions thereafter. The 105th edition, published in 1970 under the editorship of Mr. Peter Townend, was the last authoritative edition for almost 30 years. Under new ownership, a 106th edition came out in 1999, and a 107th in 2004, edited by Charles Mosley.

plit ownership

Burke's Peerage, and Landed Gentry

The ownership of Burke's Peerage Ltd, the original publisher of "Burke's Peerage & Baronetage", was bought in 1974 by Jeremy Norman and a group of investors. The board included Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd (Editorial Director); Jeremy Norman (Managing Director and Chairman); Patrick Lichfield; John Brooke-Little (Richmond Herald); Dr Remington Norman and Peter Cook. The group published a large range of successful new publications from their premises in Walton Street, London, including Burke's Irish Family Records; Burke's Guide to the Royal Family; Burke's Royal Families of the World; Burke's Guide to Country houses; Burke's Family Index and Burke's Presidential Families of USA. Some of these were multi volume works. In 1984, after ten years of rising costs in the 1970's, the Board decided to sell the imprint. The Peerage was sold to Baron Frederick van Pallandt (ex-husband of Baroness Nina van Pallandt) and the remaining titles were sold separately elsewhere. They soon ended up in the ownership of Harold Brookes Baker and his associates.(See below). For details of the history from 1974-84 see "No Make-Up" by Jeremy Norman (London 2006).

The 1970 edition of the "Peerage, Baronetage, & Knightage" was reprinted in 1980 but without further revision by the Norman consortium. The hot metal type for the Peerage had to be destroyed - Waterlow's the printers wanted a vast rental to continue to store it.

The company publishing the Peerage fell into receivership in the 1980s. Ownership of the publication rights to "Burke's Peerage" passed through several hands in the succeeding years. In 1989 the rights were acquired by Morris Genealogical Books, who brought out a thoroughly revised 2 volume 106th edition in 1999. [cite web | url=http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/peerage/SitePages/page62-3a.asp | title=Burke's Peerage: Introduction] In 2002 the rights to "Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage" were purchased by the company that owned the rights to "Burke's Landed Gentry". The company was renamed Burke's Peerage and Gentry and a fully updated 107th edition was published in 2004 under the editorship of Charles Mosley, Genealogist. [http://www.baronage.co.uk/2006a/Burkereview.pdf]

Burke's World Orders of Knighthood and Merit

In 2006 "Burke's Peerage & Gentry: World Orders of Knighthood and Merit" was published under the editorship of Guy Stair Sainty and Rafal Heydel-Mankoo. This monumental two volume work updated Sir Bernard Burke's original work of 1858 but far surpassed it both in scope and detail.

Burke's printing blocks

During the 1970s, Burke's Peerage Ltd sold all the printing blocks, depicting coats of arms, to Heirloom & Howard Ltd, who in turn sold them on to the general public. After David Sanctuary Howard, who together with his wife owned Heirloom & Howard, died in 2005 the printing blocks were sold to [http://www.baronage.co.uk/2006c/Burkeblocks.html The Baronage Press] .

Burke's Peerage Partnership

Burke's Peerage Partnership was formed in 1984 by a group of investors who were interested in the commercial potential of the "Burke's" name. The partnership owns the "Burke's" name and their lesser titles but never owned the publishing rights to "Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, & Knightage". From 1984 until his death in 2005, the publishing director of Burke's Peerage Partnership was the late Harold Brooks-Baker. The partnership has published a number of genealogical titles and conducts other genealogy-related business under the "Burke's" name. In the 1990s Burke's Peerage Partnership licensed the name to Halbert's Family Heritage, an American publisher that sold "genealogical" books under the name "Burke's Peerage World Book of {surname}". The books claimed to be a comprehensive history of a given surname but consisted largely of computer-generated lists of names and addresses drawn from telephone records, and were marketed through direct mail. [cite news|title=A peerage for berks? When a famous ancestral directory offers you a handsome tome for the coffee table, you don't expect your name to be taken in vain.|first=Emma|last=Cook|page=11|date=October 17, 1995|publisher=The Independent (London)] [cite news|title=Distant echoes of long-lost and unsung forefathers pop through the letter box|first=Jim|last=Gilchrist|page=17|date=May 14, 1998|publisher=The Scotsman] Burke's Peerage Partnership currently offers services including genealogical research, custom designed heraldry, and assisting clients to acquire Scottish and French noble titles for fees ranging from £30,000 to £100,000. [cite news|title=Title buyers warned in row over sale of peerages |first=Lara|last=Bradley|date=July 25, 2004|publisher=The Sunday Independent (Ireland)]

Print edition

It has been announced that the most recent 3 volume 107th edition (2004) will be the last ever printed by Burke's. All updated versions will now only be available online.

See also

* Debrett's Peerage
* Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels
* Scam genealogical books

Notes

References

* Burke, John, "A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, Vol. II", 5th ed., Published by H. Colburn and R. Bentley, London, 1832 [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=seAKAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0]

External links

* [http://www.burkes-peerage.com]
* [http://www.burkes-peerage.net Burke's Peerage and Gentry, publishers of "Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage"]
* [http://www.wokm.co.uk Burke's Peerage and Gentry: World Orders of Knighthood & Merit]