Prestige Titles · Lordships of England

The Lord of Birmingham

The market town built by a single family's charter.

In short: Birmingham was built by one family. The de Birminghams won a market charter in 1166 that turned their small manor into a thriving town.

Birmingham's history

Birmingham first appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a small farming manor. Everything changed in 1166, when Peter de Birmingham secured a royal charter to hold a weekly market, drawing traders and craftsmen to what had been quiet farmland.

The Lords of Birmingham

The de Birmingham family held the lordship of the manor for almost five centuries, running the market that made the town prosper. They finally lost the manor in the 1530s, but the town they had founded kept growing into the industrial city we know today.

Notable figures:Peter de Birmingham · the de Birmingham family

Why the title mattered

A royal market charter was a licence to grow rich, and for generations the de Birmingham family held it. That single grant set a farming manor on the road to becoming a great city. To see how such titles compared with the ranks of the peerage, read the full order of precedence.

Prestige Titles has no connection to the historic lordship of Birmingham and sells neither land nor peerages. Our title pack lets you legally change your title to Lord.

Become a Lord

The family who built Birmingham earned their title over centuries. You can become a Lord far more easily, with a genuine title pack of your own.

Lord Title Pack

£44.99£59.99

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Real parchment certificate · sealed Master Title Deed · a donation to the Woodland Trust