The book of dignities; containing rolls of the official personages of the British Empire ... from the earliest periods to the present time ... together with the sovereigns of Europe, from the foundation of their respective states; the peerage of England and of Great Britain ..

Front matter

Digitized by the Internet Arcliive in 2014

BEATSON'S POLITICAL INDEX MODERNISED.

THE

Preface

In 1786, Beatson produced his Political Index to the Histories oj Great Britain and Ireland^ a Work that presented for the first time, in a collective form, rolls of all the high personages in the State from the institution of their respective offices in England. The novelty of his plan, and manifest usefulness of his Work (which was stamped with the commendation of Adam Smith), assured his Index an immediate and almost universal popularity ; and he was encouraged by a consequent rapid sale to publish in succession three large editions ^ each of many thousand copies, of which the last edition appeared in 1806, nearly half a century ago.

It is a curious fact in the history of his Book, that the third edition of Beatson (the only one we now find in our great Public Institutions, and in the library of the private gentleman), is, though certainly the most enlarged, yet the most incorrect of the whole. It would seem to have wanted the superintending eye of Beatson himself^, for we cannot otherwise account for the innumerable errors it contains, and the rather slovenly manner in w^hich it is

* The 1st edition of Beatson's Political Index was published in one volume, octavo ; the 2d edition in two volumes ; and the 3d in three, all of similar size.

2 Dr. Robert Beatson (LL. D. ) F.R.S. lived until 1818: he died Jan. 24, in that year, aged 7(j. Besides the Political Index, Dr. Beatson was the author of A Chronological Register of both Houses of Parliament, Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, and various other works, chiefly of a scientific character.

A 3 vi PREFACE.

compiled. Bat, notwithstanding this great disadvantage, Beatsoin's Political Index is, even to tliis day, a favourite, though wanting the cliaractcr of a standard. Work. No other Work has hitherto been attempted to supply its place, or in continuation of it ; and latterly it has become so scarce, as to have entirely disappeared from tlie shelves of the modern bookseller.

In the Work we now place before the Public, we owe little more tlian the plan to Beatson. The Book of Dignities includes many lists (among them, the Administrations of England, and the J udges of the Ecclesiastical Courts) not to be found in the Political Index^ and we have rejected other lists that had neither antiquarian research nor usefulness to entitle them to a place in the present volume. For the earlier dates we have consulted our most esteemed antiquaries, drawing our information directly from the authors themselves. Instead of relying upon the transcripts made from them by a writer who errs so frequently. Were we to enumerate those authors here, w^e should crowd a page with the most illustrious names in our literature ; but as we quote, with scrupulous fidelity, our authority in every case throughout the Work, we deem such an array unnecessary.

It is right to observe, that w^e have had a pre-eminent advantage over Beatson. We have been honoured by the chief members of the Government with their especial permission to search the records of their respective departments, and where records did not exist, either on account of the comparative newness of the office, or some particular contingency, they have graciously directed that the information essential to the completion of our Work should be supplied to us from the minutes of their Boards, or from some equally authentic

PREFACE, vii

source. To acknowledge, in tins place, the condescension of the highest personages in the State, might seem ostentatious and impertinent, yet we may be allowed to mention, that the roll of the Privy Councillors has been compiled from the registers of the Council, and is now published, for the first time, by permission of the Marquess of Lansdowne, the Lord President. Several of our lists are the contributions of the most distinguished individuals. Our lists of the Judges of England are (from the Restoration to the present year) the compilations of the late Lord Langdale.

Of the numerous winters that have sprung up within the past half-century, we have, of course, availed ourselves. We have not gone, for instance, to Dugdale for our list of the Lord Chancellors. The indefatigable antiquary, Mr. Hardy, of the Tower, has recently produced, after much laborious research, a roll of the Lord Chancellors, the most accurate that has ever appeared, and of this roll, ours is nearly a transcription.

We conclude with the expression of our humble hope, that the Book of Dignities will be found of some usefulness to the Official Gentleman, the Historian, and the Scholar. If we shall have achieved this chief object of our labours, we shall be satisfied to mingle undistinguished in the crowd of useful writers, desiring no higher fame, or greater reward.

London, October 1851.

PART I. Page

Soverb:ign Princes of Europe, viz. :

— Of Austria - - - - 20

— Of Baden - . - - 52

— Of Bavaria - - - - 45

— Of Belgium - - - - 36

— Of Bohemia - - - - - 54 ~ Of Brandenburg - - - 42 — • Of Brunswick - - - - 47

— Of Denmark - - - - 39

— Of France - - - - 22

— Of Germany - - - - 20

— Of Hanover - - - - 47

— Of Hesse-Cassel - - - 49

— Of Hesse-Darmstadt - - - 50

— Of Hesse-Homburg - - - 50

— Of Holland - - - - 36

— Of Hungary - - - - 53

— Of Ireland - - - - 18

— Of Lucca - - - - 34

— Of Mecklenburg-Schwerin - - 51 — ■ Of Mecklenburg-Strelitz - - 51

— Of Modena - - - - 35

— Of Naples - - - - 30

— Of Nassau - - - - 38

— Of the Netherlands - - - 36

— Of Parma - - - - 35

— Of Piacenza - - - - 35

— Of Poland - - - - 55 The Popes of Rome - - - 64

— Of Portugal - - - - 29

— Of Prussia - - - - 42

— Of the Russian Empire - - 56

— Of Sardinia - - - - 32

— Of Savoy - - - - 32

— Of Saxony - - - - 43

— Of Saxe-Altenburg - - - 45

— Of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - - 45

— Of Saxe-Gotha Altenburg - - 44

— Of Saxe-Meiningen - - - 44

— Of Saxe-Weimar - - - 44

— Of Scotland - - - - 15

— Of Sicily - - - --80

— Of Sweden - - - - 40

— Of the Turkish or Ottoman Empire - 61

— Of Tuscany - - - - 33

— Of the Two Sicilies - - -SO

— Of Wales - - - - 14

— OfWurtemberg - - - 47

— Of Brazil - - - - 30

— Of Greece - - - - 63

— Of Persia - - - -> 62 The United States of America - - 63

Merged, or Extinct Kingdoms.

— Of Anjou - - - -

— Of Bretagne, or Brittany - - 68

— Of Burgundy - - - - 71

— Of the Eastern Empire - - 60

— Of Flanders - - - - 72

— Of Franconia - - - - 70

— Of Hainault - - - - 73

— Of Italy - - - - 59

— Of Jerusalem - - - - 68

— Of Lorraine - - - - 71

— Of Luxemburg - - 73

— Of Normandy - - - - 69 Palatinate of the Rhine - - 46 The Roman Empire - - - 57

— Of Suabia - - - - 70 The Western Empire - - - 59

Part II

Ambassadors, Envoys Extraordinary, and Ministers Plenipotentiary from Great Britain to Foreign States.

Ministers To Austria - - - 75

— To the Barbary States - - 86

— To Bavaria -• - - - 76

— To Belgium - - - - 76

— To Brazil - - - - 87

To the Chinese Empire - - 86

To Denmark - - - - 76

To France - - - - 77

To Greece - - - - 79

To Hanover - - - - 79

To the Hanse Towns - - - 79

To the Netherlands - - - 79

To the New States of North America - 86

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