From what I've read, Queen Victoria's uncle succeeded her father as Elector of Hanover on the grounds that women could not inherit titles of German nobility under Salic Law.
However, if I understand correctly, the personal union between the two titles began under Sofia, Electress of Hanover, in which case she held a title of nobility.
What accounts for this discrepancy? Was she married to the Elector of Hanover, and was a consort, instead of holding the title in her own right?
Was she married to the Elector of Hanover, and was a consort, instead of holding the title in her own right?
Yep. She was married to Ernst-Augustus, the first Prince-Elector of Hannover. Upon the death of her husband in 1698, the title of Prince-Elector succeeded to her eldest son, George Louis.
She was, however, heiress presumptive in her own right to the thrones of England and Ireland from 1701 and of the United Kingdom from 1707. The personal union technically commenced only with the accession of her son George Louis to the throne of Great Britain in 1714 as George I, because Queen Anne outlived Sophia by about two months.