Knight Bachelor is the oldest and lowest-ranking form of knighthood in the British honours system. It is the rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry. Women are not knighted. The closest equivalent award for a woman is appointment as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (founded in 1917).
In 1904, 68 people were appointed Knights Bachelor.
Source: William A. Shaw, ', vol. 2 (London: Sherratt and Hughes, 1906), pp. 417âÂÂ420.