Just a random thought coming out of a roleplaying game:
How would one address a person entitled Lord (or Sir) who was also a doctor?
Lord Doctor ___ ? Doctor Sir ____ ?
Just “Lord Spratt” or “Sir Lancelot” – the honour takes precedence over a professional title.
In the case of military men who were also knighted or peers, the title of rank precedes the title of nobility or knighthood: General Sir Bernard Montgomery, or in the case of John Vereker, Viscount Gort, General Lord Gort.
I suspect that if it were necessary to tack both a doctorate and a title prenominally, it would be Dr. Sir John Smith, but a preferable form would be to use the appropriate degree initials postnominally: “Montague Frederick, Earl Grey, Ph.D., Litt.D., King George V Professor of Medieval Literature (Oxford).” (Same thing with a medical degree, but I’m not going to construct one.)
Ministers who have a PhD use Rev. Dr. Joe Blow.
The old rule was that titles granted by the monarch were not combined with titles from other sources (except FRS, which was always used). But no one follows that anymore. It is now normal to put academic titles, usually ‘Professor’ but occasionally ‘Dr’, before ‘Sir’ or a peerage title. So it is ‘Dr Sir John Taylor’, ‘Professor Lord Winston’, and (was) ‘Professor the Earl Russell’. And it is also acceptable for academics to use only their academic titles in academic contexts.
Dr Sir John Taylor is interesting - I’ve not heard that usage before whereas but Professor Sir … I hear fairly often - lots of eminent scientists.
Can’t the ‘Lord’ generally be appended, signifying the lordship (as in territory)? Like Dr. John Bignose, Lord Cumberhaven?
Sometimes. Creation of most baronies and viscountships involves turning the surname into a title, distinguished with an “of___” if there’s already a title of that surname. (Barons always and viscounts usually are addressed and referenced as “Lord”, their actual peerage title being left to things like the Court Register, Burke’s, and Debrett’s.) Marquess-ships and dukedoms are nearly always territorial, with an attempt made to tie them to the person, but this is not always done. Earldoms seem to be about 50:50 surname and territorial in origin.
Now if Dr. Bignose were created Baron Bignose, he would be “Dr. John Eustace Maurice, Lord Bignose.” In the case you cite, it would be his full name, followed by his (place-based, not surname-based) title, as you said. The same would hold true if Dr. Bignose had inherited the Cumberhaven peerage from his mother’s father, whose name before being ennobled was Matthew Patrick Cumberhaven – it’s not Bignose’s surname.
The special case requiring the “Lord” up front would be if Dr. Bignose is not himself a peer but the son of a Viscount, Earl, Marquess, or Duke – in that case the “Lord” is honorary and personal. He would be Lord John Bignose, Ph.D. (as the son of Viscount Bignose, a peer) or, if circumstances called for direct address, “Dr. Lord John Bignose.”