FORMS OF ADDRESS. Every country has its own con ventions in regard to modes of address; in few countries are these conventions so numerous as in England. The Anglo-Saxon has evolved a very strict code of style and title, which has grown through the centuries according to a tradition often illogical, but never to be broken with social impunity.
To begin with the peerage in Great Britain : dukes and duchesses are always dukes and duchesses when addressed either in speech or in writing; but it is a grave solecism to use the full formal title in addressing any member of the four lesser orders of peers either in conversation or in the intimacy of a private letter. On envelopes, on invitations, and in, as well as on, legal documents or tradesmen's communications and bills, they are marquises and marchionesses, earls and countesses, viscounts and viscountesses; but in conversation, or in letters beginning "Dear . . ." they must be addressed as "Lord So-and-So" or "Lady So-and-So." In the case of the lowest order, i.e., the peer who is merely a baron, the use of the title is even more restricted ; it is used on or in legal documents only. On envelopes in non-legal intercourse, however formal, on invitations or in letters even written in the third per son, he is never styled anything but "Lord." Oddly enough, though, this does not apply to the lady who is a baroness in her own right, but these are very few in number : except in speech, and in letters beginning "Dear . . .," she is always called "Baro ness," e.g., Baroness Ravensdale, Baroness Burton, Baroness Petre, etc.
In invitations, the full title, except in the case of Barons, is always used. In letters written in the third person, the full title is used in the first place, but afterwards reference is made by means of the colloquial designation. For example : "The editor presents his compliments to the Marquis of Piccadilly and will be much pleased if Lord Piccadilly . . .," etc., etc.
The prefixes "his (or her) grace," "the most noble," "the Rt. Hon." before the names of peers are never used except by trades people, lawyers, Court officials and servants.
The sons and daughters of peers have titles of their own, which can only be merged in other peerages. In the case of the three higher orders the eldest son bears a courtesy title, i.e., he is known by one of his father's peerages, but that of course does not provide him with a seat in the House of Lords ; the younger sons of dukes and marquises have the prefix "Lord" placed before their christian names and surnames; the younger sons of earls and all the sons of viscounts and barons have that of Honourable, generally shortened to Honble. or Hon. Thus a younger son of a duke of Richmond is Lord Esme Gordon Lennox; Lord James Douglas was the younger son of a marquis of Queensberry; but the younger son of the earl of Erroll is The Honble. Gilbert Hay, the sons of Viscount Clifden are The Honble. Arthur Agar Robartes and The Honble. Cecil Agar-Robartes, and the son of Lord Ebbisham is The Honble. Rowland Blades. Some of the older Scots families use their own traditional courtesy titles.
The daughters of dukes, marquises and earls likewise bear the title of Lady prefixed to the Christian name and surname. Thus Lady Mary will remain Lady Mary all her life, unless she marries a peer or a younger son whose father has a higher rank than her own father. If she marries a commoner, a knight or baronet, or an Honble., she still remains Lady Mary, and should always be addressed as such whether in conversation or in writing. The average Englishman seems to find it extremely difficult to re member that to talk to or of Lady Mary Debrett as "Lady De brett" is to commit one of the deadly sins in social etiquette.
The prefix "Honble.," which applies to the daughters of vis counts and barons, follows the same rule as that which applies to the sons, so long as the daughters are unmarried, i.e., the girl is The Honble. Mary Deburke, just as her brother is The Honble. Thomas Deburke, but when she marries, the christian name is dropped and she becomes The Honble. Mrs. Blank, unless she marries a peer or a man with a courtesy titlo in the peerage higher than her own. If, for example, she marries Lord Edward Jones (who must be a son of a marquis or a duke) she becomes Lady Edward Jones—she can never become Lady Mary Jones unless her father should become a marquess or a duke. But there is one great difference between these courtesy titles of Lord and Honble. —the latter title is absolutely ignored in conversation, and is never printed on visiting cards.
Baronets and knights bestow the prefix of "Lady" on their wives, but there is nothing in the wife's title to show to which order her husband belongs. The baronet's name is differentiated in writing because the abbreviation "Bart." follows it on envel opes; the ten different orders of knighthood have their initial letters placed after the names of their knights (K.G. Knight of the Garter, and so on down to the last), but their "ladies" have no right to use these letters. Now that the number of knights and baronets has so enormously increased, there are many ladies in their ranks who bear the same surname, and of late years a habit has grown up in the press of specifying which Lady Debrett or Lady Deburke is meant by mentioning the husband's christian name between brackets, thus "Lady (James) Debrett." This is absolutely wrong both in heraldry and in tradition, but it will probably come to be accepted in the long run on account of the difficulty of indicating, in any other way, to which "Lady" ref erence is made.
The order of mere knighthood, belonging to none of the ten specified ones, also exists, and the recipient of it has no right to place after his name any letters denoting an order. But of course there are many letters to which he may lay claim if he possesses the necessary qualifications, such as M.D., or R.N., or M.P.; the last being always added to the name of any member of the House of Commons, no matter what his titles may be.
The title of Right Honourable (Rt. Hon.; Rt. Honble.), which belongs of right to all peers—though in their case it is never used, as has been stated bef ore, except on bills or legal or official documents—is the prerogative of members of H.M.'s privy council, and as such, is borne by those of them who are not peers, and by cabinet ministers. It is used in the same way as "Honble.," i.e., directly in front. of the christian name, e.g., "Rt. Hon. Stanley Baldwin," "Rt. Hon. Sir William Joynson-Hicks." What may be termed professional designations, such as "Dr." or "Rev.," or naval or military, precede the prefix of "Honourable," whereas titles of baronetcy and knighthood follow the prefix, e.g., The Right Rev. The Honble. Benjamin Plunket, Captain The Honble. Otway Cuffe, General The Honble. Sir Cecil Bingham, Captain The Honble. Sir Seymour Fortescue, K.C.V.O., C.M.G., R.N.
Soldiers and sailors are addressed on all occasions by their professional titles—admiral, general, captain, colonel, commander and so on, except lieutenants in the army, who in private life remain "Thomas Debrett, Esq." Captains in the royal navy add R.N. of ter their names to show that they belong to the senior service.
There are various equally correct formulas for addressing Judges and Doctors, and the one chosen is a mere matter of preference of the judge or doctor in question. This can generally be dis covered by noticing how they style themselves on their visiting cards; e.g., "Sir Horace Avory" or "Mr. Justice Avory"; "C. Drennan, Esqre., M.D." or "Dr. Drennan," or "Sir Sydney Russell-Wells, M.D." Clergymen are spoken to and of as "Mr.," and on invitations and envelopes are addressed as "The Revd. (or Rev.) George Debrett" and not as "The Revd. Debrett." In conversation a Canon is addressed as "Canon X.," but on envelopes it must be as "The Revd. Canon X." Archdeacons when written to are The Venerable, deans are The Very Reverend, but in both cases are addressed orally as "Mr. Dean." Bishops and archbishops on envelopes are respectively "The Rt. Revd." and "The Most Revd." (in the Church of Rome "Most Revd." and "His Grace," while a cardinal is "His eminence") ; in formal speech and in formal writing the form of address is "My lord." Ambassadors, ministers (in diplomacy) and governors-general have the words "his excellency"—of ten abbreviated to H.E.—pre fixed to their official titles, and, of course, like the titles of soldiers and sailors, judges and doctors and clergymen these words apply, if we would be strictly legal, only to the actual individual bearing them. But it has become a matter of courtesy to give the wives of ambassadors, ministers accredited to foreign Courts, and governors-general the same titles and precedence accorded to their husbands. But neither the precedence nor the title applies outside the limits of the country in which the official holds office.
After the World War, a new order was instituted by the king, and this time it contained a special section and title for women— that of "Dame." It is used in the same way as "The Rt. Honble.," that is to say, it is followed immediately by the christian name, e.g., Dame Edith Lyttelton (or The Honble. Mrs. Alfred Lyttel ton), Dame Margaret Lloyd George, Dame Meriel Talbot, and the title is not used by peeresses.
Men who have no titles are termed "esquire" (commonly shortened to "Esqre." or "Esq.") on their envelopes, and this mode of address, which in pre-Edwardian days used to be severely restricted to a comparatively small class, is now almost universal. Any qualifying letters such as M.P. (Member of Parliament), C.B. (Companion of the Bath), follow after the Esqre., but where there is a title of any kind, the Esqre, must never appear. A doctor may be "C. Medico, Esqre., M.D.," but never "Dr. C. Medico, Esqre." In the city of London, and in big provincial towns, where the cultivation of civic pride is recognized as a duty, aldermen and mayors bear their titles in daily life, in speech and writing; in such cases, they should always be addressed on their envelopes according to their style: Mr. Sheriff Jones; Mr. Alder man Brown; the Worshipful the Mayor of—. In speaking it is usual to say "Mr. Mayor"—except, of course, in the case of Lords Mayor, such as London, where "my Lord" takes the place of "Mr." And again in no case should "Esqre." end an address beginning "Alderman" or "Councillor." There is no definite rule for the use of these civic titles, but when a letter is written to the holder of a municipal office at his official address, the envelope must be addressed to him showing his official capacity. In the case of a letter sent to him, as a private citizen, at his home address, the civic title may be dropped.
Ministers and certain other holders of official positions in some of the dominions and Crown colonies enjoy the prefix of Honble. during their term of office, and often on their retirement it is bestowed on them for life. Care should therefore be taken not to omit the prefix where it has been earned.
A source of perplexity to many people is the use of the word dowager. It is distasteful to some women, who look upon the term as practically a label of old age. The associations of the word tend to hide the real meaning, i.e., a woman who receives a dowry. In mediaeval times, such recipients were almost always the widows of men belonging to the landed gentry, who lived in the "dower house" and remained under the protection of the head of the family. In these days, as in ours, the widow was so designated to differentiate her from the wife of the head. But there is no definite legal ruling in the matter; here again it is entirely a ques tion of personal choice. A widow, like everyone else, is entitled to call herself what she likes, so long as by so doing she neither deceives nor defrauds anyone. She is in honour bound to show through her name that she no longer holds the position as wife of the leading member of her husband's family. For practical rea sons, also, this is advisable, for so long as she adheres to her old title, her successor in the position has the right to open any letters or parcels so addressed. Many feuds have arisen in families over this matter.
4 the term dowager is disliked, the widow can use her christian name instead. In that case the christian name must precede the title—the term dowager can either precede the title or be inter polated between the title and the surname, at the choice of the bearer—it can never follow it ; e.g., the countess dowager of Des art, or Nancy Lady Teignmouth, or the Dowager Viscountess Gormanston. Even in the case of a duchess this rule applies, and certain people who in bygone days would talk of the late "Duchess Adeline of Bedford," instead of "Adeline Duchess of Bedford," were guilty of a serious breach of etiquette.
As regards royalty, the king and princes of the royal blood are addressed in speech as "sir" and the queen and ladies of the royal house as "ma'am." Those wishing to address royalty in writing should approach them through the lady or gentleman in waiting. But the regulations in connection with addressing royalty are so numerous, that to deal with these in detail would lead one far beyond the scope of this article. For further information reference should be made to the books mentioned in the bibliography.
The president of the United States would be addressed in speech as "Mr. President," and only as "Sir" in the course of a long and personal conversation. Any social correspondence to the president and his wife addressed to them in Washington should read:— The President and Mrs. Hoover, The White House If from anywhere outside the capital, "Washington, D.C." should be added. Should the president be in any other country (which happens so rarely as to be most improbable), he and his wife would be addressed : His Excellency, The President of the United States, and Mrs. Herbert Hoover Although the president, like every other ruler, may dine with friends, according to social form he would never receive an engraved invitation to dinner from any individual. In Washing ton it is officially understood that he never dines out except with his cabinet officers. When his presence is desired, the personage inviting him would either call at the White House and ask him to select a date, or else write to him to that effect. If the presi dent were to accept such an invitation, his placecard would read "The President." His wife's card would read "Mrs. Hoover." The same form of address should be used for the vice president, in writing : The Vice President in speaking, "Mr. Vice President." An ambassador is addressed in speech as "Your Excellency;" his wife, as "Mrs. Black." When the American ambassador to Great Britain is invited to dinner in England, his invitation should be addressed : His Excellency, The Ambassador of the United States, and Mrs. Black If he were invited to dinner in his own country, his invitation should be addressed:— The American Ambassador to Great Britain and Mrs. Black The most formal invitation would read : Mr. and Mrs. John Brown request the honour of the company of The American Ambassador to Great Britain and Mrs. Black His placecard would read "The American Ambassador to Great Britain"; his wife's, "Mrs. Black." The governors of the States of Massachusetts and Virginia should also be addressed "Your Excellency" since American tra dition, coming from England, gives them the titles prescribed by English law. The less formal "Governor" is used for the chief executives of States founded under the republic. An invitation would be addressed to : The Governor of the State of New York and Mrs. Roosevelt A formal invitation would be worded:— Mr. and Mrs. John Brown request the honour of the company of The Governor of New York and Mrs. Roosevelt His place card would read "The Governor of New York"; hers, "Mrs. Roosevelt." The Mayor of New York would be addressed as "Your Honour" in speech.
His Honour the Mayor of New York and Mrs. Walker would be the form of address in writing. To him an invitation would be worded like that to the governor, substituting "The Mayor of New York." His placecard would read "The Mayor of New York"; and his wife's "Mrs. Walker." In the forms of invitation given, the word "honour" instead of "pleasure" has been suggested. Either may be used, but there is a subtle distinction. "Honour" is usual for an exalted person age—such as an ambassador—especially when a mere Mrs. John Brown is sending the invitation. Between equals, however, "pleas ure" is, perhaps, preferable.
Invitations have been chosen first to illustrate modes of written address, because most of the questions asked come from those who desire social information, but we also present some of the formal official rules determining the style to be followed in diplomatic correspondence.
The monthly Diplomatic List, the State Department Register and the Congressional Directory may be consulted for correct names and addresses of members of the diplomatic corps at Washington and American officials. In the absence of other proper titles of honour or courtesy, correspondence should be addressed "Mr. and Mrs."; "Esquire" for the individual man; "Mrs." and "Miss" for the individual woman.
Beginnings of formal letters should be as follows : to the presi dent—"The President"; to an ambassador—"Your Excellency"; to a minister—"Sir." To the cabinet officers, one uses "Sir" for formal salutations. To a senator, informally, the salutation would be "My dear Senator Smith"; to a member of Congress "My dear Mr. Jones." The use of titles of Judges presents real difficulties. For the U.S. Supreme Court it is "Mr. Chief Jus tice," and "Mr. Justice." For the court of appeals of New York State, it is "Chief Judge" and "Judge"; for the Supreme Court of the State it is again "Mr. Justice." Order of Precedence.—Af ter the president, the vice president, ambassadors or chief justices of the Supreme Court (this has never been properly settled), justices of the Supreme Court, ministers, the speaker, cabinet members, senators, chief of staff of the army, chief of naval operations, representatives, charge d'affaires, major generals and rear admirals, counselors, military and naval attaches, the solicitor general, foreign first secretaries, under secretaries, first assistant secretaries, members of the Fed eral Reserve Board and Interstate Commerce Commission, secre tary of the Smithsonian Institute, director of the Pan-American Union, foreign second and third secretaries, American second and third secretaries.
See Vogue's Book of Etiquette. (E. W. CH.)