The publication of this the third volume completes the eighteenth edition of Burke's Landed Gentry twenty years after the previous edition came out. Of course the seventeenth edition was published in one enormous volume whereas we have had to split the new one into three. Those who object to such a step would benefit from a greater understanding of the modern economics of publishing and printing because the smaller style of Burke book-a size more generally acceptable to the reader and considerably easier to produce-is to be the cornerstone of our future publishing policy. It is now hoped to develop a new list of books covering genealogical and allied fields. However, the present edition of the Landed Gentry is emphatically not the last and a regional series of volumes, each complete in itself, is envisaged.

The method of splitting the eighteenth edition and the reasons for adopting it have already been explained in the Preface to the first volume. Each of the three volumes is alphabetically complete and each contains different families. Thus in effect they are three separate books but it is only when taken together that they form a whole. Now it is possible to view them as a set and it can be seen that they make a comprehensive edition. Throughout the work a cumulative index has been included at the end of a volume and therefore the index to the entire edition can be found in this volume. This facilitates cross-reference between the three volumes and the reader is strongly advised to refer to it.

The new edition has been published over a period of seven years with the three volumes being sandwiched between successive editions of Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. This volume is somewhat larger than the previous two as it was felt better to round off the work in three volumes rather than extend it to a fourth. Altogether the narrative pedigrees of nearly two thousand families have been included in the eighteenth edition.

The choice of families to be included is purely an editorial one and such an arbitrary selection is fraught with difficulties. Obviously the great majority of the families that have entries in the new edition appeared in the last one in 1952. We have tried to cover as many as we could of the families that had entries then but naturally title was impossible where a family had become extinct or had been removed to BURKE'S Peerage (we do not duplicate entries) or - most frequently - where we were unable to obtain full up-to-date details. We do not repeat old articles without carefully reviewing each case on its merits. Among the other families included are some whose entries have lapsed for several editions and representatives of families formerly in the Peerage whose titles, usually held by a cadet member, have become extinct.

Before and during the preparation of the new edition we had numerous applications from families whose pedigrees had not previously appeared in Burke. We are pleased to have been able to find the space for a good number of these. When considering such a family for inclusion the basic criterion was an authentic, full and reasonably antique genealogy that would be of genuine interest to those outside the family itself. The ownership of land in the past - or, of course, the present - is of considerable importance and a coat of arms registered at the College of Arms or at Lyon Court is an advantage. It should be mentioned that there is only a very small percentage of families in the eighteenth edition who cannot properly be described as "landed" - either in the past or the present - but these have been included on the strength of their distinguished and interesting histories. The feeling was that they came within the original full title of the work which specified that the families should enjoy "territorial possessions or high official rank".

Up until 1914, however, a strict requirement of landed property was enforced, and if a family sold its estates the pedigree - irrespective of its interest - was ejected from the book. For example, of the families included in 1861 at least fifty per cent had disappeared by the 1914 edition. After the First World War, as more and more families became alienated from their land as a result of the ensuing economic depressions, to continue such a doctrinaire policy would have been absurd. The chief interest in the book has always been from a genealogical viewpoint and it was properly decided to concentrate on presenting a complete pedigree for a family. Articles began to appear with "formerly of" and "late of" in the heading but the title of the book remained the same.

Fifty years later it is still - quite unashamedly - entitled the Landed Gentry. This is not only because the title has been so well known for nearly one hundred and fifty years but also because it is wide enough to cover families who have been landed gentry in the past as well as in the present. The families who appear in the Landed Gentry should be of landed stock and will have owned landed property at some period in their history. The inclusion of a family whose estate has long since been sold in no way renders the title of the book meaningless.

Whilst making provision for such families it should certainly not be forgotten that in fact the landed gentry still exists and is indeed thriving in a remarkable way that confounds its aspiring obituarists. The families that have managed to retain their estates are - at least for the moment - in a stronger position economically than ever before. Unfortunately the increasing difficulty of providing for the future threatens to shatter the continuity which has given our rural communities their peaceful stability in the past. The landed gentry families have served this country splendidly - and in so many ways - and are keen to go on doing so if they are allowed to. Burke is still proud to publish their histories.

Our staff is a very small one and we rely on the families themselves to volunteer the necessary information to keep their articles up-to-date in between editions. Therefore when we began work on the new edition priority was given to those who had done this because the articles were simpler to compile. The only significance of the actual volume in which a family appears concerns the availability - or lack of it - of full details at the time when we were working on the book. To infer that because a family appears in one volume it must be "superior" or "inferior" in some way to one that appears in another would be absolutely wrong. This cannot be emphasised too strongly.

The task of bringing up-to-date a family history after a twenty year gap - more than a generation in genealogical terms - is an extremely formidable one. Our aim is to make a pedigree as comprehensive a possible in all its branches and, whereas we can do some of the groundwork, unless we are met more than half-way by the co-operation of the family concerned this cannot be achieved. Although some people fail to co-operate at all - at the same time deriving a certain satisfaction at "being in burke" - or return their proofs months late, we are sorry to say that they are often the ones who are the first to complain when they see their entries are incomplete. We can only re-iterate that the onus is on them. However, we are very grateful to all those who have co-operated and especially to those family historians who have gone out of their way to make our job easier.

It is a fallacy to suppose that we merely have to bring the entries up-to-date - if that were not enough. Burke is primarily a work of historical scholarship and it is on the historical side that much time is expended in ensuring the accuracy of the lineages. It may not be generally realised that the lineages are all carefully revised from edition to edition and, in some cases, completely re-written. Many lineages in the eighteenth edition have been extended or expanded in the light of recent research, which has quite often been undertaken by a member of the family concerned. We would not pretend that all the pedigrees are as comprehensive as they could be for a genealogist's work is never done and we have to work to a tight publishing schedule. With each edition there is a definite advancement towards the goal of historical unimpeachibility.

The last edition was prepared shortly after the Second World War and - quite understandably - service details tended to play a very large part in the biographies of the modern members of families. The after-effects of this policy have perhaps resulted in the mistaken idea that we only record such information. It has even been suggested to us that Burke is not the place for any specification of careers. We would like to dispel these ridiculous notions. In fact we believe in publishing an entirely objective account of someone's curriculum vitae and giving the reader a true and undistorted picture. We do not, of course, decry military and official particulars nor do we deal in trivialities but if a member of a family is a company director or an actor or a jockey, we believe in recording the fact. Some families take considerable pleasure in seeing the lively exploits of a distant forebear in print but they prefer to draw a pompous veil over more recent events - presumably because the years have not yet given them a romantic lustre. Our policy is to be more consistent and by taking the "eyewash and whitewash" out of family history to make the narrative pedigrees more interesting. This is in line with what we are trying to do in the Peerage.

For those with eyes to see the eighteenth edition of Burkes Landed Gentry makes a fascinating compendium of social history. This in no way meant as self-congratulation on our part: we have merely arranged the facts, the interesting things are the facts themselves. A close scrutiny of them will give food for deep thought to anyone with a mind and a sense of history. The pedigrees published in Burke are in a way a history of Great Britain in miniature as they reflect what has happened in this country from the time they begin right up to the present day. One of the delights for the student of Burke is to browse through the pages and constantly alight on some curious fact or a reference which leads him into an intricate network of family connections. It is to these, the true friends of our books, that our work is dedicated. Ostensibly Burke is a book of reference but we believe that it can be read for pleasure of history. It is only people who have never read one of our books that think of them as "snob's bibles".

Although the third volume of the eighteenth edition of the Landed Gentry is somewhat larger than its two predecessors it follows the pattern of the previous volumes and - apart from a few minor innovations mentioned later - it is uniform with the rest of the work. The narrative pedigrees of about seven hundred and fifty families have been included.

The index - to which I have already referred - contains all the headings to the family articles in the new edition and the volumes in which they appear and it also has the names of families whose lineages have been incorporated into other articles and any changes of name. Moreover, at the end of the book is the Index of Seats in the Eighteenth Edition. This comprises the principal seats, estates and residences owned - in the past and present - by heads of families as well as the significant properties of junior members. It will be found invaluable for reference and it is also worth studying for its own sake as it indicates how many properties are still in the ownership of the landed gentry.

An Innovation in the main section of this book which should be drawn to the reader's attention is the incorporation of architectural details into the narrative pedigrees. Brief information about the building and style of the property, together with notes on its devolution, have been added to many entries, The response to this experiment pioneered by Mr. W. A. A. Wells, the Deputy Editor, who has now assumed responsibility for architectural matters - has been so encouraging that we are now considering the possibility of publishing a major work on Country Houses.

The armorial illustrations in Burke's Landed Gentry are always an attractive feature and though it is sometimes possible to use old blocks from previous editions we have specially commissioned many new drawings for this volume from the College of Arms and Lyon Court. In this connection and for advice on various points of heraldry and genealogy we express our gratitude to Mr. John Brooks-Little, Richmond Herald at the College and to Sir James Monteith Grant, Lord Lyon King of Arms. We greatly value our close and continued connection with the armorial authorities - especially in view of the fact that our founder and several of his successors have been officers-of-arms.

Three new special articles are included at the beginning of the book. Mr. Anthony Lejeune discusses the concept of gentility and makes a characteristically sound plea for more noblesse oblige Mr. Mark Bence-Jones has contributed a survey of the origins of some families in the English landed gentry which complements his recent article for the Peerage. Mr. W. A. A. Wells has compiled an impressive breakdown of statistics in investigating who constitute the landed gentry - he wrote this article before his appointment as Deputy Editor of Burke's Genealogical Series and the views he expresses do not necessarily reflect editorial policy'. These three articles make for an excellent introduction to the narrative pedigrees that follow them.

The third volume has taken nearly two years to produce and we would like to thank everyone who has played a part in its preparation. Some of Mr. Wells's contribution has already' been touched on above but he has worked on this volume throughout - first out and later inside the office - and we are most grateful for all that he has done. We also acknowledge a deep debt of gratitude to our associate editors Mr. David Williamson and Mr. Hugo Vickers, both of whose work has been done mainly outside the office. Inside the office it is perhaps permissible to single out our former editorial assistant Miss Christine Martinoni for mention.

June 1972

HUGH MONTGOMERY-MASSINGBERD

Editorial Director, Burke's Genealogical Series.