The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

BARONET

Baronet is the first in rank among the gentry, and the only knighthood that is hereditary. They were instituted by James I in 1611 as a result of the rebellion in Ulster, it being required of a baronet on his creation, to pay into the exchequer as much as would maintain 'thirty soldiers three years at eight pence a day in the province of Ulster in Ireland.' It was also required that a baronet should be a gentleman born, and have a clear estate of 1000 pounds per annum.
Research Baronet