The peerage had been created for his grandfather, who was chief justice of Ireland in the days when it was still part of Britain.
There is scarcely a family that is long established in the peerage or baronetage which has not married into the non-titled but sometimes more solidly upper-class gentry.
It is notable, too, that representation from the hereditary peerage on that plutocrats' list is falling too.
His struggle nearly 40 years ago to renounce his peerage so that he could sit as a commoner in the elected house seems a small thing now that hereditary peerage itself is on the point of being evicted from Westminster.
The victim's family said the former police chief's peerage was a "final slap in the face".
Unelected he may be, but Mr Macdonald is far from being the first minister who has been brought into government by the gift of a life peerage: Margaret Thatcher followed just this route when she ennobled Lord Young and then employed the successful businessman in a variety of ministerial jobs.
Composer and broadcaster Michael Berkeley will also get a peerage, the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission announced.
The SNP's Angus MacNeil called on Mr Clegg to lead by example and rule out the prospect of a peerage.
Even worse, creator Julian Fellowes is the holder of a Tory Peerage.
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Sir Leon was offered a life peerage when he left the Commons in 1989 but he chose to become a European commissioner.
Meanwhile the Daily Mirror predicts TV property expert Kirstie Allsopp could be awarded a peerage - a "relocation, relocation, relocation" to the House of Lords.
The addition of a hyphen to her surname for the purposes of her title was required under peerage rules, she confirmed.
The man who invented the zip fastener was today honoured with a lifetime peerage.
He seems to think (he would not be the first, nor wrong) that you can buy a peerage.
Davenport claims to be a lord but he is not listed in Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, which is a reference of the British aristocracy.
In April, the Telegraph reported that Miss Widdecombe said she thought Mr Cameron denied her a peerage because she was "too traditional".
He also recognised that some people gave money in the hope of becoming peers and suggested it should be more difficult for donors to get a peerage.
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"I accepted the kind invitation to enter the House of Lords as a working peer for practical political reasons, " he said when his peerage was first announced.
Many of the Tory life peers created during 18 years of Conservative rule were ex-Cabinet ministers who saw a peerage as a retirement perk.
Health reasons may be the official reason, but it would not be surprising to learn Mr Harrison was offered a job or peerage to fall on his sword.
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