Author"s Note: Despite the recent laws of equality, there are some titles which were created in the past that could pass down through both female and male lines or through marriage. It all depended on the wording of the letters patent, and the blessing of who bestowed the title. For example Barbara Villiers, Mistress of Charles II was created Baroness of Nonsuch in 1670, then Duchess of Cleveland in her own right, with a special remainder that allowed the title to be passed to their illegitimate son, Charles Fitzroy. Another of Charles mistress"s Lousie Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille was created Duchess of Portsmouth in her own right.
The Earldom of Dumfries and the Earldom of Sutherland also pass to females. The present heirs to both are women and women gave held them in the past, one during the Sutherland removals, when tenants were evicted from the land and forced to emigrate, a piece of history that still resonates around the Dunrobin Castle estate.
Isabella Bennet (1668-1723) inherited by special remainder, the Earldom of Arlington from her father.
For further information, Google.
Please read this note instead of commenting in a mistaken belief that I have not done my research. I have, these are the examples.
