I feel sure that someone in my circle will know this

[luzula]

I mean, what with the historians and the Age of Sail fans, etc.

Question for fic purposes: how do British titles work if someone has both a military rank (captain, major, colonel, etc), and they are either 1) in some knightly order, and thus should be addressed as Sir, or 2) they have titles (such as "Lord X") because of their birth or because they have been ennobled.

Are these titles ever combined, does one supersede the other, or are they somehow kept separate?

I note that Broster has military officers talk about the Duke of Cumberland as His Royal Highness even though he of course has a military rank. Likewise the Earl of Loudoun is always Lord Loudoun and never General Campbell. This would seem to suggest that titles of type 2) always supersede military rank, even within the military? Primary documents always talk about Lord George Murray and don't use his military rank, which supports this. What about 1), though?

(Yes, I will in fact be having Keith knighted in one of my stories...)

Comments

[luzula]

Thanks for the input! I think I got a definitive answer below (that titles should be in reverse order of precedence, if both are used).

I think someone of lower rank just says "yes sir", and not "yes captain", or whatever the rank is. : )