FA+
Shop
328
Views
Views
4
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Story / All
Species Vulpine (Other)
Size 50 x 50
File Size 145.2 kB
Report this content
More from EOCostello
![[FANFIC] "The Case of Sir Conrad Dugal"](http://d.furaffinity.net/art/eocostello/stories/1488278723/1368439943.thumbnail.eocostello_the_case_of_sir_conrad_dugal.docx.gif "Click to change the View")
tegerio invited some fanfic related to his character Dame Constance Dugal (from the "Zandar's Saga" strip), so I jumped in, and offered this little explanation of what was happening in the interval while Zandar Skonk was on the faculty at Hoardblemish.
Category Story / All
Species Vulpine (Other)
Size 50 x 50px
File Size 145.2 kB
I admit I'm not entirely clear on the concept, but "Sir" Conrad Dugal wasn't supposed to be landed gentry. In my version, he was given a knighthood in recognition of his writing (like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for literary service to the Empire). Can knighthood be transferred to next-of-kin? Yes, (s)he is now calling herself "Dame Constance" but the title is conferred by a monarch solely based on merit; it brings with it no lands or rents, and is not hereditary. Either Constance has earned her own knighthood (on the basis of what, I haven't figured out) or she has simply appropriated it for herself. This is not without precedent.
Colonel Sanders was never a military officer.
Sir Mix-a-Lot was never officially knighted.
Doctor Phlogiston never progressed beyond a bachelor's degree.
Colonel Sanders was never a military officer.
Sir Mix-a-Lot was never officially knighted.
Doctor Phlogiston never progressed beyond a bachelor's degree.
As a general matter of precedence, you have in English, post-Act of Union Scottish, and pre-1922 Irish usage five orders of the peerage (Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts and Barons), followed in precedence by Baronets, and then knights. Baronets are *not* members of the peerage; thus, prior to the 1990s, a baronet was not automatically entitled to a seat in the House of Lords. However, unlike a knighthood, a baronetcy *could* be transferable to a next of kin. With very few exceptions, in the real world, this was a male heir. The story notes that, as in the real world, a baronetess was exceptionally rare, though they did exist.
For example, Sir Winston Churchill (who twice refused a peerage, largely because he wanted to stay in the House of Commons), when he died in 1964, was a Knight of the Garter (the highest ranking order of knighthood in the UK). His second child and first son, Randolph Churchill, did not become Sir Randolph Churchill upon his death, nor did his eldest child and daughter, Diana, become Dame Diana.
By contrast, when a baronet dies, his heir *does* become Sir xxxxxxxx, Bt. Most notably, until the early 1960s, one could not disclaim a peerage, that is, resign your peerage. (The law was changed to allow the Earl of Home to disclaim his peerage, become Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and become Prime Minister, sitting in the House of Commons.) However, in theory, one could have disclaimed a baronetcy, because it was not a peerage. I don't know of any case in the real world where a baronetcy was disclaimed, as Sir Conrad does in the story.
The story alludes to a very famous, indeed notorious, legal case, the Tichbourne Claimant. In 1854, their heir to the Tichbourne baronetcy vanished while on a sea voyage to Brazil. Some years later, a claimant emerged and sought to be recognized as the heir. This resulted in a massive, decades-long legal struggle between the Claimant and the other heir as to who was the real baronet. (Ultimately, a court found that the Claimaint was a fraud. The baronetcy became extinct in 1968 on the death of the last descendant.)
The "point" of the fanfic, to the extent there is one other than humour, is to give a possible and perfectly (well, plausible if you allow for a bit of wiggle-room) legal explanation how Constance could legitimately call herself Dame Constance relatively quickly. She could have received a knighthood for services to country, though often that took decades (and some, like Charlie Chaplain or P.G. Wodehouse, for political reasons, got theirs almost literally on their death-beds). Derek Jacobi, Elton John and Sean Connery are three recent examples; your example of Arthur Conan Doyle is on point (he was knighted in 1902, 16 years after "A Study in Scarlet" -- Doyle always believed it was not for Sherlock Holmes, but for a book defending the UK's involvement in the Boer War that got him his knighthood). Granted, since Constance is living in the era of an Edward VII analogue, it's not at all implausible her services to the Crown came in a different format! (See Tom Sharpe's "Blott on the Landscape" for a joke in that vein, which is actually important to the plot.)
She could have appropriated the title, to be sure, without a baronetcy, but that would have caused, in the era, a major scandal (at least if this world is like our world). It simply Wasn't Done in that era. (Harlan Sanders, while not a military officer, I believe got his Kentucky Colonelcy by act of the Kentucky legislature and/or the Kentucky governor -- it's a well-known honorary title in those parts.) Constance manipulating the legal process to get her "brother's" baronetcy would have gotten her the title fairly quickly and completely legally, and likely her personality and circle of friends (I've assumed she had friends at Court) would have ensured that few furs would have dared challenge it.
A baronetcy, in and of itself, would not have lands or rents tied to it. Historically, most baronets got their titles in the first place because they were wealthy landowners. It was a case of the landed status driving the title, not the other way around. Of course, if you've ever read "The Decline of the British Aristocracy" by David Cannadine, you'd find that it was extremely common in the 19th and 20th centuries to have very hard up baronets whose land values had declined sharply. This was particularly true of baronets whose lands were principally in Ireland (where Sir Conrad was), because of the long socio-political struggles that went on there. The Dugal family might well have had lands, but they probably would have been heavily mortgaged and not very remunative.
For example, Sir Winston Churchill (who twice refused a peerage, largely because he wanted to stay in the House of Commons), when he died in 1964, was a Knight of the Garter (the highest ranking order of knighthood in the UK). His second child and first son, Randolph Churchill, did not become Sir Randolph Churchill upon his death, nor did his eldest child and daughter, Diana, become Dame Diana.
By contrast, when a baronet dies, his heir *does* become Sir xxxxxxxx, Bt. Most notably, until the early 1960s, one could not disclaim a peerage, that is, resign your peerage. (The law was changed to allow the Earl of Home to disclaim his peerage, become Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and become Prime Minister, sitting in the House of Commons.) However, in theory, one could have disclaimed a baronetcy, because it was not a peerage. I don't know of any case in the real world where a baronetcy was disclaimed, as Sir Conrad does in the story.
The story alludes to a very famous, indeed notorious, legal case, the Tichbourne Claimant. In 1854, their heir to the Tichbourne baronetcy vanished while on a sea voyage to Brazil. Some years later, a claimant emerged and sought to be recognized as the heir. This resulted in a massive, decades-long legal struggle between the Claimant and the other heir as to who was the real baronet. (Ultimately, a court found that the Claimaint was a fraud. The baronetcy became extinct in 1968 on the death of the last descendant.)
The "point" of the fanfic, to the extent there is one other than humour, is to give a possible and perfectly (well, plausible if you allow for a bit of wiggle-room) legal explanation how Constance could legitimately call herself Dame Constance relatively quickly. She could have received a knighthood for services to country, though often that took decades (and some, like Charlie Chaplain or P.G. Wodehouse, for political reasons, got theirs almost literally on their death-beds). Derek Jacobi, Elton John and Sean Connery are three recent examples; your example of Arthur Conan Doyle is on point (he was knighted in 1902, 16 years after "A Study in Scarlet" -- Doyle always believed it was not for Sherlock Holmes, but for a book defending the UK's involvement in the Boer War that got him his knighthood). Granted, since Constance is living in the era of an Edward VII analogue, it's not at all implausible her services to the Crown came in a different format! (See Tom Sharpe's "Blott on the Landscape" for a joke in that vein, which is actually important to the plot.)
She could have appropriated the title, to be sure, without a baronetcy, but that would have caused, in the era, a major scandal (at least if this world is like our world). It simply Wasn't Done in that era. (Harlan Sanders, while not a military officer, I believe got his Kentucky Colonelcy by act of the Kentucky legislature and/or the Kentucky governor -- it's a well-known honorary title in those parts.) Constance manipulating the legal process to get her "brother's" baronetcy would have gotten her the title fairly quickly and completely legally, and likely her personality and circle of friends (I've assumed she had friends at Court) would have ensured that few furs would have dared challenge it.
A baronetcy, in and of itself, would not have lands or rents tied to it. Historically, most baronets got their titles in the first place because they were wealthy landowners. It was a case of the landed status driving the title, not the other way around. Of course, if you've ever read "The Decline of the British Aristocracy" by David Cannadine, you'd find that it was extremely common in the 19th and 20th centuries to have very hard up baronets whose land values had declined sharply. This was particularly true of baronets whose lands were principally in Ireland (where Sir Conrad was), because of the long socio-political struggles that went on there. The Dugal family might well have had lands, but they probably would have been heavily mortgaged and not very remunative.
Comments