FYI
----- 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.".

In your prior question, 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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