The work addresses the ancient aristocracy of England, focusing strictly on families established as knightly or gentle houses before the commencement of the sixteenth century. It excludes families that adopted names and arms through the female line or through illegitimate descent, and emphasizes that ancient dignity was deeply territorial, rooted in the land rather than purely personal.
The author carefully selects and reconstructs genealogical records, relying on the best county histories and manuscript collections of authority while discarding modern accounts marked by absurd pretensions. The book details numerous houses across various English counties, documenting their origins, changes in residence, heraldic bearings, and principal representatives up to the mid-nineteenth century.
Special attention is given to families holding their original estates versus those that migrated or lost their lands. The text records historical shifts, extinctions of male lines, peerage creations, and intermarriages that shaped the fortunes of these venerable houses, providing an invaluable reference for county genealogies.
Throughout the text, the emphasis remains on verifiable documentary evidence, heraldic rolls, and historical visitations. The compilation stands as a monument to the landed gentry and nobility who shaped the history and local governance of England.
The final portions of the volume offer a comprehensive survey of remaining lineages, charting the quiet persistence of ancient bloodlines through centuries of social and economic change.
