Common Title Errors

This post is the third in my series on English titles.  The three posts are Regency Titles, Courtesy Titles and Common Title Errors.
 
In my previous two posts, Regency Titles and Courtesy Titles, I talked about English titles. Naming conventions are somewhat complex and errors abound in Regency romances. But once you get the hang of the titles, remembering the correct usage is not too difficult.

The most glaring error is using Lord (Lady) /last name/ in the wrong place when referring to the daughters and younger sons of peers. Most are Lord (Lady) /first name/ /last name/.

I'll continue with Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey from my previous post. Peter, as the second son of the Duke of Denver, holds the courtesy title of "Lord"--Lord Peter Wimsey. He is never Lord Wimsey. By the same token, Peter's wife, Harriet, is Lady Peter Wimsey, or Lady Peter for short, but never Lady Wimsey or Lady Harriet Wimsey. Peter's sister, Mary, was Lady Mary Wimsey, not Lady Wimsey, before she wed. After her marriage to Mr. Charles Parker, her name became Lady Mary Parker, not Lady Parker. She is addressed as Lady Mary.

Another error is referring to the younger son of an earl as "Lord". While an earl's heir held one of his father's lesser titles and hence was a lord, his younger brothers were not. Each younger son's title is "The Honorable", and he is addressed as "Mister". And the earl's daughters are all Lady /first name/ /last name/, like Lady Mary Wimsey.

The next error is bestowing the courtesy title of "Lord" or "Lady" on the children of viscounts and barons. Their children are "(The) Honorable", and addressed as "Mister" or "Miss". One very popular romance gave the daughter of a viscount the title of "Lady". In my A Similar Taste in Books, the heroine, Miss Clara Haley, is the daughter of Viscount Haley.

While the generic "my lord" or "my lady" serves to address most title holders, this form is incorrect for dukes and duchesses. A duke is "His Grace" to the lower orders, "Duke" to his peers, and his title to his friends. The friends of Lord Peter's brother, Gerald, the Duke of Denver, call him "Denver". Only his closest friends and family call him "Gerald".

And lastly, while dukes, marquesses and earls are usually "of somewhere", viscounts and barons never (or rarely) are. Viscounts and barons are /title/ /lastname/. Baronets are Sir /first name/ /last name/. Their wives are Lady /last name/. Knights are addressed the same way as baronets. Earls may be "earl lastname", for example, Earl Spencer.

Some examples from my books. John, the Earl of Siddington, in my Regency Halloween comedy, Pumpkinnapper, is Lord Siddington or Siddington. Henry, Baron Grey, the hero of Pumpkinnapper, is Lord Grey or Grey. The baronet Sir Charles Gordon of Mistletoe Everywhere, is Sir Charles.

As for addressing all titleholders, the title is used the first time only. After that, it's "sir" or "ma'am".

Confused? I certainly am. Going through all this becomes easier the more you look at it. And there are always exceptions.

Some good links on titles:
http://laura.chinet.com/html/titles01.html

http://www.debretts.com/forms-of-address/titles.aspx (Thank you, Joanna Waugh)

And a book
Terms of Address, published by Adam Black in London (Thank you, Jean Hart Stewart)

Have fun.

Thank you all,
Linda

Courtesy Titles

This post is the second in my series on English titles.  The three posts are Regency Titles, Courtesy Titles and Common Title Errors.

I first came across English courtesy titles, not that I knew what they were, when I read Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. Lord Peter's older brother, Gerald, is the Duke of Denver. All through the books, everyone calls Gerald "Denver" and Peter "Wimsey". Their sister, Mary, is Lady Mary. Gerald's son and heir is The Viscount St. George. Why did they all have different names?

Many years later, I discovered what was going on. A courtesy title is a title granted to some of the children of peers. Gerald was born Gerald Wimsey. As the heir to the Duke of Denver, he held the courtesy title of Viscount St. George, one of his father's lesser honors. At that time, Gerald was also a commoner. When he became Duke of Denver, he ascended to the peerage and became known as Gerald Denver. "Lord" for Peter and "Lady" for Mary are also courtesy titles given to the younger sons and the daughters of a duke. All title holders except the peer and his wife are commoners. In the rare cases where a woman holds a title (is a peer) in her own right, her husband is not a peer, unless he holds a title of his own.

There are further wrinkles. The heir of a duke, marquess or earl holds as a courtesy title the highest of his father's lesser titles. (Note, here I use the Victorian "marquess" for the nobleman next lower than a duke. "Marquis" was the title in Regency times. (See Regency Titles.) If the heir also has a son during his father's lifetime, this boy would bear his grandfather's second highest title.

The courtesy title for the younger sons of marquesses is "Lord", the same as for a duke's younger sons. The younger sons of an earl are "(The) Honorable", and addressed as "Mister".

"(The) Lady" is a courtesy title granted to the daughters of dukes, marquesses and earls, such as Lady Mary Wimsey. They retain the "Lady" even after they marry. When Lady Mary Wimsey married police inspector Mr. Charles Parker, her married name became Lady Mary Parker.

For the lower ranks, viscounts and barons, all the children are "(The) Honorable", and addressed as "Mister" or "Miss".

The wives of the holders of courtesy titles bear the corresponding female title. For example, if Viscount St. George had a wife (he was unmarried in the Lord Peter books) his wife would be the viscountess.

And to confuse you even further, when Peter married Harriet Vane, Harriet's married name was Lady Peter Wimsey.

These two links explain courtesy titles in more detail:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtesy_titles_in_the_United_Kingdom
http://laura.chinet.com/html/titles05.html

Correct title usage is confusing and errors abound in Regency romances. Next time, Common Title Errors.

Thank you all,
Linda