Lady
I suppose we all have a definition of what makes someone a lady, but in Regency era England, where many of my stories are set, there are specific rules for when a woman may be addressed as Lady.
If a woman is a daughter of a lord, then she is referred to as Lady First Name. When she marries she may be referred to as Lady First Name (more familiar and used by friends) or as Lady Last Name. In Lady Katherine's Comeuppance, Lady Katherine was the daughter of an earl, so she was known as Lady Katherine from birth.
If a woman is not a daughter of a lord, but she marries a lord, then she is known as Lady Last Name. In Becoming Lady Amherst, Sarah is an American who marries Lord Jeffrey Amherst, therefore she is known as Lady Amherst, but not as Lady Sarah.
But, when Sarah and Jeffrey have children (and you know they will) then their daughters will be known as Lady First Name and their sons will be Lord First Name because their father is a lord.
This is great Celeste, thank you for sharing. Titles can be confusing lol
ReplyDeleteHugs
Roz
This has always confused me, so thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteEven with several Regencies under my belt and a ton of research, I'm still not sure I get it right all the time.
DeleteThere are all kinds of web sites on peerage that discuss this at length. One thing that comes up is how you address wives of different types of noble. You have dukes, earls,viscounts, counts, and barons. Some are obvious -- countess this or duchess that. How about an earl? I don't think it's earlette. And who outranks who? The Duke of Earl is probably at the top of the heap.
ReplyDeleteThe wife of an earl is a countess, but can still be addressed as lady.
DeleteOr so Google says. :)
I suppose that if we grew up on this sort of society, it would all make sense, but trying to learn it all at once is daunting.