If you want to give a Christmas gift with a difference, the official title of Lordship of the Manor of Woodbury Salterton is up for sale.
Owning the title will set you back around £7,250. Manorial Auctioneers, based in London, who arranged a previous sale of the title in 1996, is now accepting offers.
Whoever buys the title can legitimately use it on any official paperwork.
If the Lordship title is sold to a male, his wife will automatically become the Lady of the Manor. But, in keeping with tradition, the title will not routinely transfer to a husband, if bought by a woman.
The new owner will be getting a bargain – when the title sold in the late 1990s, it went for £14,250.
The auctioneers say the 2015 reduced price could persuade a local buyer to snap up the title.
Robert Smith, spokesperson for the auctioneers, said: “The new Lord or Lady of the Manor will be able to use the title on their passports, chequebooks and credit cards.”
The auctioneers said the current Lord and Lady of Woodbury Salterton, now believed to be in their 80s, were owners of the now demolished Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas – famed for hosting the wedding of Elvis Presley to Priscilla.
It is thought the hoteliers wanted to name one of the rooms Woodbury Salterton, so bought the title.
The new Lord or Lady Woodbury Salterton will be eligible for membership of the Manorial Society of Great Britain, an association founded in 1906.
Its governing council includes the Earl of Shannon, Lord Sudeley and Sir Desmond de Silva QC, a member of the Privy Council. The society holds functions, including an annual reception at the House of Lords.
Woodbury Salterton formed part of the great manor of Woodbury at the time of the Domesday Book. When William the Conqueror commissioned the inventory of principal landowners in the Norman kingdom of England, it was found Woodbury Salterton had 290 people.
The King was the Lord of the Manor. King Henry I gave the manor to Roger de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, towards the end of the 12th century.
Woodbury Salterton passed into the hands of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, whose daughter was Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day queen who took to the throne on the death of King Edward VI.
Lady Jane, her father, and her husband, the Duke of Guildford, were all beheaded and their land, including Woodbury Salterton, was seized by the crown.
The manor was still part of the Crown Estates when Queen Elizabeth I succeeded the throne in 1558. She granted Woodbury Salterton to John Prideaux, whose family held it for two centuries.
For more information about the title auction, contact Robert Smith, at Manorial Auctioneers, on 020 7582 1588.
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