Can an 18th century Lady (daughter of a Duke) marry a commoner?

Question

I am really struggling with 18th century royalty. Can the daughter of a Duke marry whomever she pleases? And if not, what kind of a daughter could? A lord's? A barons?

Thanks!

Answer 1

These are the rankings in Britain:

2.1 Dukes

2.2 Marquesses

2.3 Earls

2.4 Viscounts

2.5 Barons

2.6 Baronets

2.7 Knights

2.8 Lesser Titles

2.9 Untitled Classes

A Lady is the wife of a Knight;

the daughter of a Duke would be a Marquesa.

and she would probably not be allowed to marry a commoner.  If she did, she would have had to elope, and be disowned by her family.  More than likely.

By and large, women were expected to marry up, or join a convent.  The would rarely have been  "allowed" to marry down.  And marriages were NOT about love, so, if you are writing a novel about a love match, well, the whole thing is so far from reality, that it really wouldn´t matter, anyway.

Answer 2

In English law, a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Therefore, any member of the Royal Family who is not a peer, such as HRH Prince William of Wales or HRH The Princess Royal, is a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title.

Royalty refers to the monarch and peerage members with a substantive title (or substantive peerage). A substantive title is a title of nobility or royalty held by someone (normally by one person alone), which they gained through either grant or inheritance, as opposed to one given or loaned to them either as a courtesy title, or gained through marriage.

So yes, a daughter of a Duke was allowed to marry a commoner. However, if you meant "an average person", like your house servant, or a bookshop keeper, or a farmer etc, the chances of that was very slim. Arranged marriages were still practiced among noble families. However, there some leverage enjoyed by these noble ladies. They could choose their own partners as long as they were of the same social class, and of course this may also include commoners such as rich merchants, noble families etc.

For example, the daughter of a duke attends a social event, and it was love at sight when she was introduced to a fine young gentleman from another noble family. These kinds of "arranged matches" were highly encouraged, and what makes it perfect is that it is like a win-win situation.

Note: While most newer English peerages descend only in male line, many of the older ones (particularly older baronies) can descend through females. Under English inheritance law all daughters are co-heirs, so many older English peerage titles have fallen into abeyance between various female co-heirs. There daughters of a peer could actually become a "royal" if she inherited her father's title.

Answer 3

its a free country, she can mary a street bum named joe if she wants. It may not be formal  but she can.

Answer 4

There are two questions here.

1. Could the daughter of an 18th-century Duke marry a commoner?

Answer: yes, certainly, and many did. Everybody in a British peer's family is technically a commoner except the peer himself, and they have no titles. So the son of a younger son of a duke, although he would be utterly aristocratic and might be rich and important, would be plain Mr So-and-So.

2. Could the daughter of a duke marry whoever she pleased?

Answer: no. No upper-class girl could, unless she were to run away with someone without her family's consent, and risk being cut off from her family for ever. Marriage was something to be arranged between families, with due regard to their social standing, the inheritance of property, etc. etc. Only at the very bottom rung of society, among people who hadn't any property or social standing to worry about, was marriage left to the free choice of the young people themselves.

Answer 5

A Lady is not royalty. The daughter of a duke could marry a commoner but this was generally frowned upon. Remember, in that time, people generally married amongst their own. Royalty with royalty, nobility with nobility. Occasionally people would marry up or down, but in the UK a duke was usually wealthy and so his daughter would be expected to marry the same, although there were no formal restrictions to prevent her from marrying a commoner.

BTW, legally everyone in the UK is a commoner except for the sovereign and peers. The daughter of a duke is not a peeress unless she marries a peer or is made one. "Lady" is a courtesy title, not a substantive one.

Rachelle, NO ONE in the UK becomes royal unless they are HRH or HM.

Answer 6

She'd be a bit long in the tooth to be marrying anyone at this point!