Editing Primogeniture (section)

====British titles of nobility====

Many English nobility descend by Salic, male primogeniture have a greater average rate of extinction. For many other titles, if the male line ceases to exist, the title automatically passes to the closest elder sister and her descendants. It could sometimes also pass through a line of descendants to the last holder, as abeyant holders, until they become parents or ancestors to a male descendant who is first born to 'settle the abeyance'. Some senior agnatic [[cadet (genealogy)|cadets]] are granted from the outset [[courtesy titles|courtesy]] or [[subsidiary title|subsidiary]] titles. Notable English exceptions are the [[Duchy of Lancaster]], which is merged with the [[British Crown]] which has included women in inheritance since the 16th century, and the [[Duke of Marlborough (title)|Dukedom of Marlborough]], which has done so since its establishment in 1702. 

However, in Scotland, Salic law has never been practised, and all the [[hereditary title]]s are inherited through male-preference primogeniture, where in the extinction of a male line, the eldest sister automatically receives the titles, and rules in her own right, not in the right of her son. A famous example of this is [[Marjorie, Countess of Carrick]], mother of [[Robert the Bruce]], who was the Countess of Carrick in her own right.