RE: VA-Southside
by Cliff and Sheryl Townsend
Maynard,
Do you happen to know about the title Esquire?
sheryl
-----Original Message-----
There is a genealogy author who holds class from time to time on the VA
Southside wire and delivers some pretty interesting stuff.
Here is a sample. Thought others might be interested.
Maynard
----- Original Message -----
From: qvarizona
To: Paul Drake
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 8:23 AM
Subject: Re: "Gentlemen"
Paul.
When did this practice fade away and the term "gentleman" begin to mean
only a polite man of good manners?
Joanne
*****
An answer to that specific and often asked question is, in the late 19th
and early 20th Century as Victorian manners of speaking gradually faded
away. Your ancestors would gag to hear the TV news folks call low-life
criminals "that gentleman" or "Mr.".
Your use of the word "noble" in conjunction with gentleman is
noteworthy, since those words usually had very different meanings. The
former were born to nobility, and it could be gained no other way. That
said, the records/writings of the 17th and early 18th Century reveal
that those who had been knighted were SOMETIMES viewed as nobility, but
surely not always. As an example, occasionally, Sir Francis Drake (a
commoner knighted by Elizabeth I) was referred to as a nobleman, but not
consistently.
One could become a gentleman or gentlelady by achieving affluence or
standing in the community, however they could not thereby become
"noble". Similarly, members of the nobility might be called gentlemen
(or gentlewomen), however those of nobility would be expected to have
viewed being so addressed as beneath their station, and such usage would
not have been appreciated.
Finally, the term "Mr." was an indication of a person of the highest
standing, and just below the nobility. The term was almost NEVER applied
to other than men of very high position. The VA Burgesses usually were
addressed as "Mister", however when they were no longer in office, they
quite usually were not any longer so labeled.
The term "Mrs." likewise revealed a lady of VERY high standing, however
it was exceedingly rare for a lady to be a "Mrs." unless her husband had
earned the title of "Mr.". In that regard, it is interesting that in
the Surry Tithables lists for a couple years in the 1670s Judith
(Burton?) Hunt Parker was listed as "Mrs. Parker", yet her husband,
sometimes "Dr.", usually pewterer Richard Parker was not referred to as
"Mr.". Why, I have not been able to learn.
For your interest, Philip Bruce has a most interesting discussion of the
these matters of titles in his "Economic History of VA in the 17th
Century"
Genealogy without documentation is nothing.
Paul Drake JD
Genealogist & Author
<www.DrakesBooks.com>
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