[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Dame Maggie Smith in Wheelchair - why?

[Shaun Hately]

On 14 Sep 2006 at 7:09, Jordan Abel wrote:

> Shaun:
> > They may be less formally, but correctly addressed as Sir or Dame Firstname.
> >
> > They are never properly addressed as Sir or Dame Lastname.
> 
> Which gets back to the question that you didn't answer (though, to be
> fair, it may not have technically been asked) - why is this? Who
> decided this, when, and for what reason?

It evolved in the medieval period and was basically, because of the numbers of people at 
different ranks and the need to be sure who you were talking about. The higher your rank, the 
simpler your name could be.

Kings (and Princes) are rare, so they could simply be known by their first name. There's a lot 
of Edwards around for example - but the only person in the British Peerage who is known 
officially as Edward and *just* Edward is HRH The Prince Earl, Earl of Wessex.

He can sign his name as 'Edward' and nothing else, and it is his legal signature - because if 
you just see 'Edward', everybody knows who he is. (He can also sign his name as Wessex, 
or Edward Wessex, or Edward Windsor, if he wants to - I'm talking about his highest 
prerogative here).

Peers are much more common, but still fairly rare. So they can be distnguished just by their 
surname (or title). And a peer may sign their name simply as their surname

Once you get down to Knights, you're dealing with quite a lot of people. And you actually start 
to get duplication of surnames. If they just used their surnames, you wouldn't be able to keep 
track of them all.

Dame Maggie Smith - I don't know of any other Dames of the surname Smith, but I have just 
done a quick google search for Knights with that surname and I find Sir Alex Smith, Sir 
Robert Smith, Sir James Smith, Sir Matthew Smith - lots of them. Basically to distinguish 
them, there's a need to use both names.

In conversation and informally, the firstname is enough, because in those situations, there's 
no real doubt as to who you are in communication with.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
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