King James I instituted the order of Baronet in 1611, and in the 230 years between that date and the year 1841, when the second edition of this work was originally published, nearly 1,000 Baronetcies succumbed to extinction or dormancy, the result of common exclusions in the laws governing descent. The purpose of this book is to set forth, in alphabetical sequence, the lineage of each of the nearly 1,000 holders of the order of Baronet up to the time of the extinction of the royal patent. The genealogy, throughout, is exact and meticulous, the materials in all cases deriving from public archives, private record collections, and competent authorities.