Peerage of England
In the following table, each peer is listed only by his or her highest English title (with the exception of the Duke of Norfolk/Earl of Arundel) showing higher or equal titles in the other peerages. Those peers who are known by a higher title in one of the other peerages are listed in "italics".
Peerage law
For the early part of English history, peers sometimes surrendered their peerages to the Crown. Most surrenders occurred during the early years of the nation, but surrender occurred as late as 1640, when Roger Stafford, 6th Baron Stafford was ordered to surrender his dignity to the Crown in return for eight hundred pounds sterling. Later that year, however, the House of Lords, in order to guard the position of its members, which had been threatened by the power to order surrenders of peerages, resolved, "(i) That no person that hath any Honour of him and a Peer of this Realm, may alien or transfer the Honour to any other Person, (ii) That no Peer of this Realm can drown or extinguish his Honour, but that it descends to his descendants, neither by Surrender, Grant, Fine, nor any other conveyance to the King."