List of trials of peers in the House of Lords

This is a list of trials of peers in the House of Lords. Until 1948, peers

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

and its predecessor states had the right to trial by peers

Privilege of Peerage

The privilege of peerage is the body of special privileges belonging to members of the British peerage. It is distinct from Parliamentary privilege, which applies only to those peers serving in the House of Lords and the members of the House of Commons, while Parliament is in session and forty days...

Year	Peer	Charge	Verdict	Sentence
1499	The Earl of Warwick Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick was the son of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and a potential claimant to the English throne during the reigns of both Richard III and his successor, Henry VII...	treason	pleaded guilty	death
1522	The Duke of Buckingham Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, KG was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and the former Lady Catherine Woodville, daughter of the 1st Earl Rivers and sister-in-law of King Edward IV.-Early life:Stafford was born at Brecknock Castle in Wales...	treason	guilty	death
1535	The Lord Dacre Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre of Gilsland, also Baron Greystock and de jure Baron Boteler was an English Member of Parliament and after his father's death a peer and major landowner in the counties of Cumberland, Yorkshire and Northumberland.-Early life:Born about 1527, Dacre was the eldest of...	treason	not guilty
1536	The Queen Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...	treason	guilty	death
1536	Viscount Rochford George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford was an English courtier and nobleman, and the brother of queen consort Anne Boleyn...	treason	guilty	death
1541	The Lord Dacre Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre was an English aristocrat notable for his conviction and execution for murder.Dacre was the son of Sir Thomas Fiennes and Jane Sutton daughter of Edward Sutton, 2nd Baron Dudley...	murder	guilty	death
1551	The Duke of Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....	treason	guilty of an unspecified felony	death
1553	The Duke of Northumberland John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...	treason	guilty	death
1571	The Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...	treason	guilty	death
1589	The Earl of Arundel and Surrey Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel Saint Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel was an English nobleman. He was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970, as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales...	treason	guilty	death
1600	The Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...	treason	guilty	death
1600	The Earl of Southampton Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton Henry Wriothesley , 3rd Earl of Southampton , was the second son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and his wife Mary Browne, Countess of Southampton, daughter of the 1st Viscount Montagu...	treason	guilty	death (pardoned)
1603	The Lord Grey Thomas Grey, 15th Baron Grey de Wilton Thomas Grey, 15th and last Baron Grey of Wilton was an English aristocrat, soldier and conspirator. He was convicted of involvement in the Bye Plot against James I of England.-Early life:...	treason	guilty	death (commuted to imprisonment)
1603	The Lord Cobham Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham was an English peer who was implicated in the Main Plot against the rule of James I of England.- Life :...	treason	guilty	death (commuted to imprisonment)
1616	The Earl of Somerset Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, , was a politician, and favourite of King James I of England.-Background:Robert Kerr was born in Wrington, Somerset, England the younger son of Sir Thomas Kerr of Ferniehurst, Scotland by his second wife, Janet, sister of Walter Scott of Buccleuch...	murder	guilty	death (pardoned)
1616	The Countess of Somerset Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset was an English noblewoman who was the central figure in a famous scandal and murder during the reign of King James I...	murder	pleaded guilty	death (pardoned)
1631	The Earl of Castlehaven Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven Mervyn Touchet , 2nd Earl of Castlehaven , convicted rapist and sodomite, was the son of George Tuchet, 1st Earl of Castlehaven and his wife, née Lucy Mervyn. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Castlehaven and 12th Baron Audley on 20 February 1616/7...	rape	guilty	death
1641	The Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1639 he instituted a harsh rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland...	treason	prosecution dropped
1666	The Lord Morley	murder	guilty of manslaughter	pleaded privilege*
1678	The Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis PC was a British politician who served as First Lord of the Admiralty. He succeeded his father as Baron Cornwallis in 1673...	murder	not guilty
1678	The Earl of Pembroke Philip Herbert, 7th Earl of Pembroke Philip Herbert, 7th Earl of Pembroke, 4th Earl of Montgomery was an English nobleman who succeeded to the titles and estates of two earldoms on 8 July 1674 on the death of his brother William Herbert, 6th Earl of Pembroke...	murder	guilty of manslaughter	pleaded privilege*
1680	The Viscount Stafford William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford Blessed William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford was the youngest son of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, and his wife, the former Alethea Talbot. He was a supporter of the Royalist cause before being implicated in the Popish Plot and executed for treason...	treason	guilty	death
1686	The Lord Delamere Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington was a Member of Parliament, Privy Councillor, Protestant protagonist in the Revolution of 1688, Mayor of Chester and author.-Life:...	treason	not guilty
1692	The Lord Mohun Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun was an English politician best known for his frequent participation in duels and his reputation as a rake....	murder	not guilty
1699	The Earl of Warwick and Holland Edward Rich, 6th Earl of Warwick Edward Rich, 6th Earl of Warwick and 3rd Earl of Holland was an English peer and member of the House of Lords, styled Lord Rich until 1675.Rich succeeded his father Robert as Earl of Warwick and Holland in 1675...	murder	guilty of manslaughter	pleaded privilege*
1699	The Lord Mohun Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun was an English politician best known for his frequent participation in duels and his reputation as a rake....	murder	not guilty
1716	The Earl of Derwentwater James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater was an English Jacobite, executed for treason. His death is remembered in an English traditional ballad, "Lord Allenwater", collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1904 from the singing of Emily Stears.-Life:He was the son of Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of...	treason	pleaded guilty	death
	The Lord Widdrington William Widdrington, 4th Baron Widdrington Baron William Widdrington succeeded to the title 4th Baron Widdrington of Blankney on the death of his father in 1695....			death (pardoned)
	The Earl of Nithsdale William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale was a Catholic nobleman, who took part in the Jacobite Rising of 1715.He was the eldest son of Robert, fourth Earl of Nithsdale , and Lady Lucie Douglas , daughter of William, eleventh earl of Angus and first Marquess of Douglas. He was probably born at...			death (escaped)
	The Earl of Carnwath			death (pardoned)
	The Viscount Kenmure			death
	The Lord Nairne			death (pardoned)
1716	The Earl of Winton George Seton, 5th Earl of Winton George Seton, 5th Earl of Winton was a Scottish nobleman who took part in the 1715 Jacobite Rising supporting "The Old Pretender" James Stuart, was captured by the English, tried and sentenced to death, but who escaped and lived the rest of his in exile.-Early life:Seton was originally brought up...	treason	guilty	death (escaped)
1717	The Earl of Oxford and Mortimer Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer KG was a British politician and statesman of the late Stuart and early Georgian periods. He began his career as a Whig, before defecting to a new Tory Ministry. Between 1711 and 1714 he served as First Lord of the Treasury, effectively Queen...	treason	not guilty
1746	The Earl of Kilmarnock William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock William Boyd , 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, was a Scottish nobleman.William Boyd was educated at Glasgow. Like his father in the rebellion of 1715, William initially supported the Government side, but in the rebellion of 1745, owing either to a personal affront or to the influence of his wife or to his...	treason	pleaded guilty	death
	The Earl of Cromartie George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie succeeded his father John, the 2nd earl, in February 1731. In 1745, he joined Charles Edward Stuart and he served with the Jacobites until April 1746 when he was taken prisoner in Sutherland after the Battle of Littleferry...		pleaded guilty	death (pardoned)
	The Lord Balmerinoch Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerinoch Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerino was a Scottish nobleman and an officer in the Jacobite army.Elphinstone was the son of John Elphinstone, 4th Lord Balmerino and 3rd Lord Coupar, and of his second wife, Anne Ross...		guilty	death
1747	The Lord Lovat Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat , was a Scottish Jacobite and Chief of Clan Fraser, who was famous for his violent feuding and his changes of allegiance. In 1715, he had been a supporter of the House of Hanover, but in 1745 he changed sides and supported the Stuart claim on the crown of Scotland...	treason	guilty	death
1760	The Earl Ferrers Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers was the last member of the House of Lords hanged in England.The 4th Earl Ferrers, descendant of an ancient and noble family, was the eldest son of Hon. Laurence Ferrers, himself a younger son of the Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers-a descendant of Robert...	murder	guilty	death
1765	The Lord Byron William Byron, 5th Baron Byron William Byron, 5th Baron Byron , also known as "the Wicked Lord" and "the Devil Byron", was the poet George Gordon Byron's great uncle. He was the son of William Byron, 4th Baron Byron and his wife Hon...	murder	guilty of manslaughter	pleaded privilege*
1776	The Duchess of Kingston Elizabeth Pierrepont, Duchess of Kingston-upon-Hull Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston , sometimes called Countess of Bristol, was the daughter of Colonel Thomas Chudleigh , and was appointed maid of honour to Augusta, Princess of Wales, in 1743, probably through the good offices of her friend, William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath.-Life:Being a...	bigamy	guilty	pleaded privilege*
1841	The Earl of Cardigan	duelling	not guilty
1901	The Earl Russell	bigamy	guilty	3 months' detention
1935	The Lord de Clifford Edward Southwell Russell, 26th Baron de Clifford Lieutenant Colonel Edward Southwell Russell, 26th Baron de Clifford, OBE, TD was the only son of Jack Southwell Russell, 25th Baron de Clifford, and Eva Carrington....	manslaughter	not guilty
*These were all capital crimes; the usual sentence was death. From 1547 if a peer or peeress was convicted of a crime, except treason or murder, he or she could claim "privilege of peerage" to escape punishment if it was their first offence. In all, the privilege was exercised five times, until it was formally abolished in 1841.
Lovell, C. R. (October 1949) "The Trial of Peers in Great Britain" The American Historical Review 55: 69–81

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