Ranks and Titles

Ranks and Titles

JAFF Bonanza went well. Thank you, and welcome to all my new readers. I do not have a regular schedule for posts, but I will likely write something for you every week or two. Today I have a topic that came up in editing.

Ranks and titles of nobility can be a nightmare to sort out, and although I still have questions, the sources I have reviewed give enough clarity that I am confident in choices I made in Mr. Darcy’s Diamonds. I hope you will be satisfied, as well.

In this book, I have a duke whose only son is an earl. “Hey! You can’t do that!” you might be saying. You may be aware the hierarchy is:

Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, Baron

Yes, but…

The eldest son of a duke takes his father’s highest subsidiary title. Usually a duke has a marquessate, but he might not. He may hold an earldom or nothing at all.

I really wanted this character in my book to be an earl (mostly so he could use his own surname rather than a place in his title but for other reasons, as well). But an astute beta reader called me out, so I considered 1) explaining it in some way in the text, 2) writing an Author’s Note and hoping people would read it, 3) changing him to a marquess, or 4) changing his father, the duke, to a marquess instead. I had decided on the fourth option, but before the extensive revision that would have required and the loss of a part of the character of the duke I had grown to love, I consulted other authors. I appreciated the vote of confidence and the suggestion that I go with the first option: briefly mention early in the story that the duke doesn’t hold a marquessate. Simple.

Some of the resources I found useful in sorting this out follow. I will definitely need to review these every time I mention the peerage in a new book. The system is rather complex and not without exceptions.

• Andrew and Rachel Knowles, A Regency History guide to dukes, marquesses and other titles, https://www.regencyhistory.net/blog/regency-etiquette-address-duke-marquess-other-titles
• Andrew and Rachel Knowles, A Regency History guide to titles for married daughters of dukes, marquesses and other peers, https://www.regencyhistory.net/blog/regency-etiquette-address-married-daughter-duke
• Laura Wallace, Correct Forms of Address, https://www.chinet.com/~laura/html/titles12.html
• Debrett’s Guide to the Ranks and Privileges of the Peerage, https://debretts.com/peerage/the-peerage/ranks-and-privileges-of-the-peerage/
• And here is a helpful summary of much of what I had found: Regina Jeffers, Courtesy Titles (or) Not, a Confusing Aspect of Reading and Writing Historical Novels, https://reginajeffers.blog/2023/12/11/courtesy-titles/