List of marquesses in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
This is a list of the 34 present and extant marquesses in the peerages of the Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Ireland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1922. It does not mention any Marquessates held as a subsidiary title of a Duke. For a more complete listing, which adds these "hidden" Marquessates as well as extant, extinct, dormant, abeyant, and forfeit ones, see List of marquessates in the peerages of Britain and Ireland.
They were a relatively late introduction to the British peerage, and on the evening of the Coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838, the Prime Minister Lord Melbourne explained to her why :
"I spoke to Ld M. about the numbers of Peers present at the Coronation, & he said it was quite unprecedented. I observed that there were very few Viscounts, to which he replied "There are very few Viscounts," that they were an odd sort of title & not really English; that they came from Vice-Comites; that Dukes & Barons were the only real English titles; — that Marquises were likewise not English, & that people were mere made Marquises, when it was not wished that they should be made Dukes".
Order of precedence
The general order of precedence among Marquesses is:- Marquesses in the Peerage of England
- Marquesses in the Peerage of Scotland
- Marquesses in the Peerage of Great Britain
- Marquesses in the Peerage of Ireland created before 1801
- Marquesses in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and Marquesses in the Peerage of Ireland created after 1801