Peer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
in general, an equal, one of the same rank and station. In this sense it is used by the common law of England, which declares that every person is to be tried by his peers. Peer also signifies in Great Britain a member of one of the five degrees of nobility that constitute the "peerage" (duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron), or more strictly a member of the House of Lords. The dignity and privileges of peers originated with the growth of the feudal system, the peers being originally the chief vassals holding fiefs directly from the crown, and having, in virtue of their position, the hereditary right of acting as royal counsellors. Subsequently not all the crown vassals appeared at court as advisers of the king, but only those who were summoned to appear by writ. This custom grew at length into a rule, and these summonses were considered proofs of hereditary peerage. Latterly the honor of the peerage has been exclusively conferred by patent. As regards their privileges all peers are on a perfect equality. The chief privileges are those of a seat in the House of Lords, of a trial by persons of noble birth in case of indictments for treason and felony, and misprision thereof, and of exemption from arrest in civil cases. The British peerage collectively consist of peers of England, of Scotland, of Great Britain, of Ireland, and of the United Kingdom, but only a portion of the Scotch and Irish peers are peers of Parliament.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921, a peer's chief privileges were a seat in the House of Lords, exemption from arrest in civil cases, and trial by fellow nobles for treason or felony. Trial by peers was abolished by the Criminal Justice Act 1948, and after the Life Peerages Act 1958 most new peers were created for life only; the Peerage Act 1963 admitted all Scottish peers and hereditary peeresses to the House, while election of Irish representative peers lapsed after the Irish Free State was formed in 1922. The decisive break came with the House of Lords Act 1999, which stripped the right to sit from all but 92 hereditary peers, so that today's Lords is overwhelmingly a chamber of appointed life peers. The five ranks Collier's lists survive, but as titles of honour rather than a guarantee of a parliamentary seat.
Written for this edition, 2026.