Marquesses in the United Kingdom

Marquess is a rank of nobility in the peerages of the United Kingdom.

Unlike the position on the continent of Europe, in the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Ireland, and later in Great Britain and the United Kingdom, the monarch is the only one capable of awarding titles of nobility. There are currently thirty-four such marquessates (see List).

The first marquess in England was Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford, who was appointed the Marquess of Dublin by King Richard II of England on 1 December 1385. On 13 October 1386, the patent of this marquessate was recalled, and Robert de Vere was raised to the rank of the Duke of Ireland. John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, the second illegitimate son of John of Gaunt, was raised to the second marquessate as the Marquess of Dorset in September 1397. In 1399, he was disgraced, and the king revoked his marquessate. The House of Commons of England later petitioned King Henry IV for his restoration, but the King objected stating "the name of marquess is a strange name in this realm". From that period the title appears to have been dormant till it was revived by Henry VI in 1442. The only woman to be appointed as a marquess in her own right was Anne Boleyn, who was created Marchioness of Pembroke in preparation for her marriage to Henry VIII. The investiture ceremony was held at Windsor Castle on 1 September 1532.

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