Peerage of Westarctica

Revision as of 13:53, 4 September 2023 by Westarctica (talk | contribs) (→‎Dukes and Duchesses: added new duke)

The Peerage of Westarctica is an institution almost as old as Westarctica itself, although it has had several different names since nobles were first appointed in 2001.

Collage showing some of Westarctica's Hereditary Nobles

History of the Peerage

During the era when Westarctica was known as the Achaean Territory of Antarctica, the collected nobles were simply known as "the Nobility." In 2002, when the Achaean Royal Charter was decreed, the name was formalized as "the Baronage." This name was retained in the Grand Ducal Mandate of 2004. The Mandate also retired the title of "Earl," and those holding the rank were renamed "Counts."

In September 2012, when the first Charter of Westarctica was decreed, the nobles were labeled simply "nobility," however, in the second revision of the Charter, only a month later, Grand Duke Travis first added the word "hereditary" to the article on nobility. From this time forward, the group of nobles became known as the "Hereditary Nobility."

In July 2018, on the advice of the Royal Council, Grand Duke Travis renamed the body of nobles the "Peerage of Westarctica." This was done to accommodate the many newly created Life Peers.

From 2 February 2021 - 4 July 2023, Grand Duke Travis suspended the sale of peerages, but continued to grant them to deserving supporters.

Peerage Members

A Westarctican Peer is any member of the Peerage. Peers are recognized as having a voice in the nation's public debates, and their opinions, advice, and counsel, when offered, are to be taken into consideration by the Sovereign (who may or may not follow this counsel, but is expected to at least hear and weigh it).

The peers include all nobles, from the Sovereign (Grand Duke or Grand Duchess) through baronet/baronetess. The Sovereign may place greater value on the opinions of higher ranking peers before lower, as the former usually have more invested in the country's overall well being and future, but the thoughts of every peer are of considerable value and many of the country's barons have exercised greater influence over national policy than some of its dukes and princes.

Life and Hereditary Peerage

A peer may be created for life or may be hereditary. A life peer is entitled to and holds their assigned rank from the moment it is received until death, unless the title is revoked for some reason by the Sovereign. A hereditary peer, on the other hand, is allowed to pass the title to their heirs, as they wish. In other respects, a life peer and a hereditary peer are indistinguishable in terms of rights or privileges, including the Order of Precedence.

Authority

Font of Honor

The reigning Sovereign alone has the authority to grant peerages, and may do so for any reason. Peerages are bestowed by the Sovereign at their discretion. They may decide to confer with advisors on the suitability of a person, or on the specific rank to be bestowed. For example, Grand Duke Travis has asked for input from the Prime Minister before making appointments on more than one occasion.

Changes to the Peerage

At the discretion of the Sovereign, the rank of a peer may be changed (either promoted or demoted) or an entire rank may be eliminated and its members assigned to a new rank. This happened, for example, with the rank of Westarctican earl, a currently-defunct form of peer.

Ranks of Royalty and Nobility

Rank Title Style of Address
Royal Family
1 Grand Duke His Royal Highness
2 The Crown Prince His Royal Highness
3 Second Son of the Grand Duke His Royal Highness
4 Mother of the Grand Duke Her Illustrious Highness
5 Aunts and Cousins of the Grand Duke Her Ladyship / His Lordship
6 Nieces and Nephews of the Grand Duke The Honorable
Hereditary and Life Peers
1 Lineal Prince
Lineal Princess
His Highness
Her Highness
2 Noble Prince
Noble Princess
His Serene Highness
Her Serene Highness
3 Duke
Duchess
His Grace
Her Grace
4 Marquis
Marquise
His Lordship
Her Ladyship
5 Count
Countess
His Lordship
Her Ladyship
6 Viscount
Viscountess
His Lordship
Her Ladyship
7 Baron
Baroness
His Lordship
Her Ladyship
8 Baronet
Baronetess
Sir
Dame

The "Old Guard"

Starting in 2012, nobles who had received their titles prior to Grand Duke Travis' 2006 abdication from the throne became informally known as the "Old Guard" out of respect to their long service to Westarctica.

List of Peers of Westarctica

Princes and Princesses

Title Date of creation Current holder Notes
Princess of Thurston 4 June 2005 Kerry Mott Lineal Princess
Prince of Siple 25 October 2012 Niels Vermeersch Lineal Prince
Prince Dinny, Marquis of Sarnoff 1 February 2015 Dinny Pulipati Former Prince-Consort
Prince David, Duke of Driscoll 30 August 2017 D. Chase Callahan Noble Prince
Princess Rebecca, Duchess of Rockefeller‏‎ 4 January 2018 Rebecca Lower Noble Princess
Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Ames 16 November 2019 Elisabeth Langer Noble Princess
Prince Christopher, Duke of Hudson 12 December 2019 Christopher Beyette Noble Prince

Dukes and Duchesses

Title Date of creation Current holder Notes
Duke of Ravencroft 1 October 2004 Philip Karns Created as Marquis de Merovingi
Duke of Moulton-Berlin 8 April 2004 Jon-Lawrence Langer Created as Duke of Driscoll
Duke of Sherman 13 January 2005 Jorge Fernandez Vidal Created as Count of Sturge
Duke of Waesche 1 June 2005 Wolf Tulier Created as Count of Waesche
Duke of Le Vaux 7 July 2005 Javier Gold Ferrari
Duke of La Gorce 18 September 2016 Yannick Beuvelet
Duke of Saint James 4 January 2017 Pedro Vázquez González
Duchess of Eights 12 October 2017 Sheri Sanders
Duke of the Bear Peninsula 9 December 2017 C Jordan Farmer
Duke of the Walgreen Coast 17 January 2018 Johannes Strauss
Duke of Goldstream 19 January 2018 In abeyance
Duke of Borradaile 22 January 2018 Chrenan Borradaile Raised from Count of Borradaile
Duke of the Balchen Glacier 23 January 2018 Lars Vorländer
Duke of Gutenko 30 January 2018 Thomas Marek
Duke of Fox Grove 9 March 2018 August Grappin
Duke of Howe 10 August 2018 Hans Kempe Life Peer
Duchess of Howe 10 August 2018 Brigit Kempe Life Peer
Duke of Guest 11 March 2019 Lukas Brunner
Duke of Allegheny 19 May 2019 Ryan Gallifant
Duchess of Hanessian 13 August 2019 Dany-el Baker
Duke of Tapley 8 September 2019 Michael Hammett
Duke Van Valkenburg 4 April 2020 Spencer M Dayton
Duke of Duncan 22 April 2020 Mikel Lynch
Duke of the Gothic Mountains 28 April 2020 Logan Mullins
Duchess of Radford 4 June 2020 Rachelle Unutmaz
Duke of Ferranto 25 June 2020 Giacomo Francesco Maria Salviati
Duke of Boudette 6 August 2020 Jordan Stottern
Duke of Nolan 29 December 2020 Matteo Ricciardi
Duke of Wright 17 January 2021 Kurt Fuchs
Duke of Denfeld 21 March 2022 Sean Austin Life Peer
Duke of Robison 7 July 2023 Tommi Mustonen
Duchess of Hatcher 8 July 2023 Elisa Ghiradi Created as Baroness of Jacobel
Duke Van Reeth 16 August 2023 Ng Kwok Lun, Alanardo
Duke of Steventon 28 August 2023 Brendan Cook Created as Baronet of Woodwin
Duke of McCuddin 31 August 2023 Sir Oak of Pennsylvania
Duke of Coulter 2 September 2023 Chun Yin Benedict Chak

Marquis and Marquises

Title Date of creation Current holder Notes
Marquise of Walgreen 1 October 2004 Cathryn McHenry Former Grand Duchess
Marquise of Lockhart 31 August 2019 Jennifer Klein
Marquis de Strange 10 December 2019 Simon Liew
Marquis of Madden Island 4 March 2021 Massimiliano Matteo Masperi
Marquis de Kramer 2 November 2021 Captain-General Kramer

Counts and Countesses

Title Date of creation Current holder Notes
Count of Kohler 15 November 2001 Joseph Day Created as Duke of Walgreen
Countess Radlinski 28 January 2002 Jeanne Yearsley
Count of Ellsworth 5 September 2003 Jeffery Truett Created as Earl of Truett
Count of Ward 3 March 2004 Miles Ward Created as Viscount of Thurston
Count of Mintz 3 February 2005 Michael Whyte
Countess of Chapman 11 December 2013 Amy Morales
Count of Canisteo 14 July 2014 Griffith Frank
Count of Farwell 11 March 2015 Michael Metelits
Count of Westwinter 16 April 2015 Jeremy Moore
Count of Martin 16 June 2015 Martino Bertoni
Countess of Martin 16 June 2015 Francesca Bertoni
Countess of Burke 1 July 2015 Chelsea Strabala
Count of Moore 25 September 2015 Vicente Bicudo de Castro
Count of Campbell 14 October 2015 Neal Jagat Thapar
Countess of Campbell 14 October 2015 Aarti Thapar
Countess of Westwinter 16 June 2016 Beth Moore
Countess of Frakes 19 August 2016 Kelly Schenkman
Count of Steere 19 August 2016 Benjamin Schenkman
Count of Johansen 22 September 2016 Matthew Whisman
Countess of Benton July 2017 Deborah McHenry Mother of Grand Duke Travis
Count of Kessens 13 November 2017 Tyler Koenig
Count of Paine 1 February 2018 Andre Ignjatovic
Count of Hermann 10 March 2018 Thomas Straub
Countess of Cloud Ridge 12 August 2018 Erin Kazmark Life Peer
Count of Strawn 21 August 2018 Brian Erdelyi
Count of Groux 28 September 2018 Peter J Normandin
Count of Raymond 31 March 2019 Scott Isley
Count of Lind 16 November 2019 Liam Langer
Count of Acarospora 19 February 2020 Joshua Lauterbach
Count of Norfolk 31 March 2020 Samuel Cummings Life Peer
Count of Dendtler 5 April 2020 Kirby Schroeder Life Peer; also Viscount of the Kirby Cone and, in Calsahara, Baron of Bastanchury
Count of Klimov 7 April 2020 Ian Edmonston Life Peer
Countess of Carter 20 April 2020 Danni Michele
Count of Navarrette 19 May 2020 David Mandrake
Countess of Navarrette 19 May 2020 Lana Lubimoff
Countess of Downs 8 June 2020 Janae Havard-Hammett Daughter of the Duke of Tapley
Count of Gurnon 22 June 2020 Leonel Limonte
Count of Cranton 25 June 2020 Daniel Paul Means Created as Baron of Brownson
Count of Knox 9 July 2020 Jerrime Oliver Life Peer
Countess of Orr 23 July 2020 Kimberly Blansett Life Peer
Count of Dorchuck 5 August 2020 Joseph Foley
Countess of Schopf 6 August 2020 Larissa Königs Created as Baroness of Cadenazzi
Count of Ledda 6 August 2020 Kevin Bougé Life Peer
Count of Shepard 25 August 2020 James Hayashi Life Peer
Count of Shepherd Dome 25 August 2020 Antonio Carlos Machado Life Peer
Count of Birdwell 1 September 2020 Brad Bobbitt Life Peer
Count of Pankratz 4 October 2020 Joffrey Heyraud Life Peer
Count of Faulkender 15 November 2020 James Stoshak Life Peer
Count of May 15 November 2020 Aaron Vincent Nußer Life Peer
Count of Faulkner 7 December 2020 Michael Desrosiers Created as Baron of Widich
Count of Shuman 11 December 2020 Leslie Rushton Life Peer
Count of Langford 3 February 2021 William Lozano-Rivas
Count of Discovery Ridge 22 July 2021 Michael Stolarczyk Created as Baronet of Alenroux
Countess of Caldwell 2 November 2021 Nancy Hess
Countess of Lepley 2 November 2021 Christine McPhee
Countess of Gould Coast 2 November 2021 Jodie Anders
Countess of Hawthorne 2 November 2022 Barbara Minutelli
Countess of Mooney 8 July 2023 Sophie Meis
Count of Ronne 10 July 2023 Sing-Hong (Oscar), Ou Created as Baronet of Wexford
Count of Neptune 26 July 2023 Peter Schulze Created as Baron of Steuri
Count of Manke 20 August 2023 Abraham Swingle
Count of Sif 23 August 2023 Florian Lohwasser Created as Baron of Pine Island

Viscounts and Viscountesses

Title Date of creation Current holder Notes
Viscount of Whitmore 15 November 2001 Neil Whitmoyer Created as Duke of Whitmore
Viscount of Siple 1 October 2004 Emilio Garcia
Viscount of Boyd 2005 Name unknown
Viscount of Gardiner 1 June 2005 Shaun Herron
Viscount of Reynolds 21 February 2015 Terry Perkins 2nd holder of the title
Viscountess of Canterbury 31 July 2018 Jenny Jordan Life Peer
Viscountess of Clausen 9 August 2018 Amy Schultz Life Peer
Viscountess of Karaali 16 August 2018 Krysia Heathcote Life Peer
Viscountess of LeMasurier 21 August 2018 Jennifer Schaller Life Peer
Viscountess of Möll 6 December 2018 Christy Beal Life Peer
Viscountess of Otago 23 December 2018 Elisabeth Höger Life Peer
Viscount Smythe 17 January 2019 Ralf Biester Life Peer
Viscount of Andes 17 January 2019 Dirk Hennebach Life Peer
Viscount of Annexstad 17 January 2019 Michael Weingartner Life Peer
Viscount of Frontz 17 January 2019 Joost Schultke Life Peer
Viscount of Frostman 17 January 2019 Christian Kinigadner Life Peer
Viscount Frost 17 January 2019 Björn Schönbeck Life Peer
Viscount of Klinger 17 January 2019 Stefan Maue Life Peer
Viscountess of Creehan 17 January 2019 Cornelia Schüler Life Peer
Viscount of Coyer 17 January 2019 Michael Zabel Life Peer
Viscount of Aldaz 18 January 2019 Herbert Graf Life Peer
Viscount of Bursey 12 February 2019 Christian Klempsmann Life Peer
Viscount of Haver 28 February 2019 Christian Hohberg Life Peer
Viscount Prahl 19 July 2019 Daniel Galgano Life Peer
Viscount of Tucker 11 October 2019 Dirk Heldmann Life Peer
Viscount of Langway 2 November 2019 Daniel Lotric
Viscount Boschert 8 December 2019 In abeyance
Viscount of Adams 2 November 2021 Lyle H. Sorrell Created as Baronet of Harpmore
Viscount Atwood 2 November 2022 Willamina Moray

Barons and Baronesses

Title Date of creation Current holder Notes
Baron of Havola 15 November 2001 George Morin, Jr. Created as Duke of Ellsworth; a formerly disgraced noble
Baron of Maricopa 8 April 2004 Arthur X. Langer Created as Prince of Driscoll
Baron of Andrus 2005 Eduard Versluijs
Baron of Eburhard 26 April 2005 Douglas Swank
Baron of Lee-Tearmunn 1 July 2005 Troy Thompson Created as Baronet of Brandenberger
Baron of Ellis 11 August 2005 Marcellius Smith
Baron of Forrester 31 March 2015 Erik White
Baroness of Petras 5 May 2015 Leila Rozumski
Baroness of Groves 15 October 2015 Rebecca Lorene Wilcomes
Baron Browson Delange 2 February 2016 Thomas Delage
Baron of Lindsey 18 May 2016 Massimo Zanne
Baroness of Libertas 2 August 2016 Michele Wolf
Baroness Blacketter 3 August 2016 Erin Blacketter
Baroness Robin Mae Gage 3 August 2016 Robin Gage
Baroness Tina the Great 4 August 2016 Tina Galati
Baron H.V. Jain 8 November 2016 H.V. Jain Honorary Consul to India
Baron of Noville 15 March 2017 Marco Bellomo
Baroness of Pomeroy 6 June 2017 Sherri Groff
Baroness of Seabo Bluff 24 July 2017 Claire Williams
Baron of Wolkowyszki 22 September 2017 Louis Paiewonsky
Baron of Merrick 20 December 2017 Dr. Brady McNulty
Baron of Garwood 22 December 2017 Eli Simon Sacra Grandson of the Duke of Tapley
Baron of Outer Koloc 17 January 2018 Philipp Strauss
Baron of Milan 17 January 2018 Marc Michels
Baron of Upper Koloc 18 January 2018 Walter Birnböck
Baron of Weikman 19 January 2018 Mario Alexander Fagitsch
Baron of Swan 21 January 2018 Sterling MacLeod Brother of Baron Blake
Baron of Brennan 22 January 2018 Jean-Marie Wenigenrath
Baroness of Griffith 23 January 2018 Lisa Dickamp
Baron of Stanford 28 January 2018 Michael Nagiller
Baron of Reddick 28 January 2018 Frank Lambert
Baron von Frank 31 January 2018 Uwe Frank
Baron of Morgan 21 February 2018 Timo Struwe
Baron of Favela 28 March 2018 John Sanders
Baron Blake 20 April 2018 Stephen MacLeod Brother of the Baron of Swan
Baroness Bucher 5 May 2018 Ellen "Babydoll" Harvey Cousin of Grand Duke Travis
Baron of Abele 12 July 2018 Daniel Philip Yevgenich Morozov
Baron of Armbruster 13 August 2018 James Schultz Life Peer
Baron of Dorrel 2 November 2018 Joachim Adlfinger
Baroness of Feyerharm 29 November 2018 April Carpenter Life Peer
Baron of Baker 17 January 2019 Stefan Apel Life Peer
Baroness of Morrison 17 January 2019 Mandy Helbig Life Peer
Baron of Lavris 17 January 2019 Dennis Schumann Life Peer
Baroness of George 17 January 2019 Nina Patricia Jacobasch Life Peer
Baroness of Mims 17 January 2019 Marijana Maric Life Peer
Baron of Gawne 17 January 2019 Helmut Schoeneseiffen Life Peer
Baron of Binder 17 January 2019 Tino Hutfilz Life Peer
Baron of Slater 17 January 2019 Lucas Noll Life Peer
Baron of Zilch 17 January 2019 Sebastian Buck Life Peer
Baroness of Hagey 17 January 2019 Doris Herbst Life Peer
Baroness of Feeley 17 January 2019 Silke Jauss Life Peer
Baroness Kuberry 17 January 2019 Alina-Maria Leitner Life Peer
Baroness O'Conner 17 January 2019 Margit Leitner Life Peer
Baron of Eblen 18 January 2019 Roger Levy Life Peer
Baron of Nereson 24 January 2019 Matthias Kreiner Life Peer
Baron of Tasch 3 February 2019 Oliver Jandt Life Peer
Baron Leverett 28 February 2019 Klaus Möllmann Life Peer
Baron of Partridge 1 April 2019 Kay Demuth Life Peer
Baron of Vornberger 21 July 2019 Frank-Michael Mueller Life Peer
Baron of Horrall 19 August 2019 Christopher Sabatino Life Peer
Baron of Inman 20 August 2019 Wesley Rogers
Baron of Hadley 20 August 2019 Christian Seitz
Baroness Fallone 20 August 2019 Kim Bryan
Baroness of Lovill 20 September 2019 Amelia Burton Life Peer
Baron of Fowler 26 October 2019 Russell Fowler
Baron of Heaps 26 November 2019 Emiliano Ciotti Life Peer
Baron of Lambert 10 January 2020 Trevor Stratton Life Peer
Baron of Vance 8 March 2020 Manfredo Camperio Ciani Life Peer
Baron Mercer 22 March 2020 David Toalster
Baron of Avers 20 April 2020 Andrew Lauterbach Created as Baronet of Monkmore
Baron of Lauff 7 May 2020 Carmine Andrea Di Salvatore
Baron of Cole 23 June 2020 Guy Marcozzi Life Peer
Baron of McKinzie 15 July 2020 Joseph Benedetto Life Peer
Baroness of Herlacher 30 July 2020 Lisa Marie Howard Life Peer
Baron of Cadenazzi 5 August 2020 Michael P. Cadenazzi
Baroness Savage 15 November 2020 Sandra Nußer Life Peer
Baron of Tuning 20 November 2020 Seth Swingle Life Peer
Baron of D'Angelo 20 November 2020 Francesco Alvaro Ronchi
Baron of Lewisohn 11 December 2020 Steven John Shi
Baron of Midkiff 3 February 2021 Matteo Reggiani
Baron of Gilbert 3 February 2021 Salvatore Leone Life Peer
Baron Mitchell 2 November 2021 Michael Stogner
Baron of Bennett 10 March 2022 Casey Littlejohn
Baron of Benes 10 July 2023 Luca Genovese
Baron of Galla 10 July 2023 Wen-Cheng (Vincent), Ou
Baron of Keyser 21 August 2023 Jan Gottschalk
Baroness of Buennagel 21 August 2023 Lea Paulinic

Baronets and Baronetesses

Title Date of creation Current holder Notes
Baronet of the South Pole 8 June 2015 Thomas Keister
Baronet of Westarctica 30 August 2015 Thibaut Naniot
Baronet of Derworth 18 August 2018 Camilo Echeverri
Baronetess of Hilwell 19 September 2018 Emily Kazmark Daughter of the Countess of Cloud Ridge
Baronetess of Calwich 19 September 2018 Margaret Kazmark Daughter of the Countess of Cloud Ridge
Baronet of Bonnemont 28 December 2018 Joseph Chenard
Baronetess Gilledge 21 April 2019 Hannah Stanger
Baronetess of Kinderheller 31 December 2019 Terrie Bixler
Baronet of Windercouche 28 February 2020 John William Lauterbach III Brother of the Baron of Avers
Baronet of Beldon 21 March 2020 Tim Lauterbach Brother of the Baron of Avers
Baronetess of Chalrett 30 April 2020 Rebecca Riggin Sister of the Count of Acarospora
Baronet of Engeram 27 June 2020 Leonardo Pessoa Life Peer
Baronet of Siezendorf 11 December 2020 Herman López Torres
Baronet of Musselbay 29 December 2020 Christian Merker
Baronet of Claville 20 January 2021 Malcome Maes
Baronet of Dublone 20 January 2021 Michael Payne
Baronetess of Dublone 20 January 2021 Kaylee Payne
Baronet of Damhaven 6 July 2023 Callum Tomlin
Baronetess of Marroux 10 July 2023 Ching-Tai (Amanda), Hsu
Baronetess of Hallenhan 10 July 2023 Lee-Fong (Olivia), Chong

See also