Page:Dod's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage etc. of Great Britain and Ireland.djvu/658

 FORMAL MODES OF ADDRESSING LETTERS TO PERSONS OF TITLE Before the reader can ascertain the correct mode of addressing any person of title, it is first neces- sary that he should learn the precise rank of the individual, as well as the hereditary personal or official distinctions by which that rank is often modified. Information of this kind he vvill find under each person's name in Parts I. and II. of this volume ; and then, by referring to the following series of statements {in which the ranks, &c., are alphabetically arranged), he can apjaly the general rule to the individual instance, and find the correct mode of addressmg letters to every member of the titled classes. Abchbishop. — Letters are addressed " His Grace the Lord Archbishop of ," and com- mence with the words " My Lord Archbishop " ; but more formal documents describe the Arch- bishop of Canterbury as "The Most Reverend Father in God, Randall Thomas Davidson, by Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canter- bury." Other archbishops, like bishops, are styled " by Divine permission." In letters and conversation an archbishop is not addressed as "Your Lordship," but as "Your Grace." The Archbishop of Armagh is usually addressed in Ireland as " His Grace the Lord Primate of Ireland." One Irish bishop, viz., Meath, which was anciently an archieiDiscopal see, continues to enjoy one of the honorary distinctions of an archbishop, and to be styled " Most Reverend." Archbishops' Wives enjoy no title or prece- dence whatever in right of their husbands' offi- cial rank, and are addressed as " Mrs." simply. Baron. — Letters are addressed " The Right Honoiu-able Lord ," and commence with the words " My Lord." When laersonally referred to, he is styled " Your Lordship."' Babon's Daughter. — Letters are addressed "The Honourable Mary ." or if married, "The Honourable Mrs. ," and commence with the word " Madam." Baron's Son. — Letters are addressed " The Honourable James ," or "The Honourable William ," as the case may be, and commence with the word " Sir." Babon's Son's Wife. — Letters are addressed " The Honourable Mrs. ," and commence with the word " Madam." Baron's Wife and Baroxess in her own right. — Letters are, according to strict formality, addressed as " The Right Honourable Lady " ; but in the majority of instances the form adopted is "The Lady ." The commencement of the letter is " Madam," but when personally referred to, she is styled " Your Ladyship." Baeonets. — Letters are addressed " Sir John, Baronet," or " Sir William , Baronet," as the case may be, and commence with the word " Sir." Baronets' Wives. — Letters are addressed " Lady ," without any Christian name (unless she be the daughter of an earl, marciuess, or duke), and commence with the word " Madam " ; but when personally referred to, a baronet's wife is styled "Your Ladyship." Bishops. — Letters are usually addressed " The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of ," and commence with the words " My Lord " : but frequently the prefix of " Right Reverend " is omitted. In more formal documents the style is " The Right Reverend Father in God, William (or George, &c., as the case may be), by Divine permission Lord Bishop of ". Bishops suffragan are by custom entitled to the same style as if they were territorial Bishops. The bishops of the Episcopal Church in Scotland are correctly addressed by their own names, thus, " The Right Rev. Bishop Dowden " ; and the commencement is not " Mj^ Lord," but " Right Reverend Sir." Colonial bishops are addressed like those of England. Colonial Metropolitans are addressed like archbishops as Most Rev. Bishop's which see. Wives. — Like Archbishops' Wives, Countess. — Letters are addressed " The Right Honourable the Cotuitess of ," or less formally " The Countess of, " and commence with the word " Madam " ; but when personally referred to, she is styled " Your LadyshijD." Duchess. — Letters are addressed " Her Grace the Duchess of ," and commence with the word " Madam " ; but when personally referred to, she is styled "Your Grace." Duke. — Letters are addressed " His Grace the Duke of ," and commence with the words " My Lord Duke " ; when personally referred to, he is styled "Your Grace." Duke's Daughter. — Letters are addressed " The Lady Mary ," or " The Lady Margaret " (as the case may be). They commence with the word " Madam," and when personally referred to, she is styled " Your Ladyship." If a duke's daughter marries a commoner, it only changes her surname. Duke's eldest Son. — He uses the second title of his father by eoiuHesy, and his letters are addressed precisely as if he enjoyed a marquessate or earldom, as the case may be (although in law he is, like all jseers' sons, only an escpiire). Vide Marquess, Earl, &c. Duke's younger Son. — Letters are addressed usually as "The Lord William ," or "The Lord John ." They commence with the words " My Lord," and when personally referred to, he is styled " Your Lordship." Duke's younger Son's Wife. — Letters are addressed (imless when the wife is of superior