Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The British Peers database is a demographic dataset detailing births, deaths and marriages of English, Irish and Scottish peers (ie elite individuals who were members of the aristocracy) born between 1527 and 1945, and their children, covering the entire British peerage between 1603 and 1959. The rules for inclusion follow the line of succession, so that all legitimate children and grandchildren are included, and known numbers of illegitimate and stillborn children noted where possible. The dataset was originally compiled by T H Hollingsworth in the 1960s and later redigitised and restructured at the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure. It has been used to investigate changes in elite mortality and life expectancy over time, as well as to analyse aspects of fertility and nuptiality.
Main Topics:

Population history, elite mortality, elite life expectancy, natural fertility, elite nuptiality.