510
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. ix. JUNE 27,
" MASTER " AND " GENTLEMAN " DURING
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY IN ENGLAND.
Information will be very much appreciated
to show the exact meaning and shades of
meaning of the above titles as used in Eng-
land during the seventeenth century, especi-
ally during the Commonwealth.
The following abstracts show the meaning of these terms in the Colonies at a corre- sponding period.
From Hollister's ' History of Connecticut,' i. 422 et seq. :
" The next title was Gentleman, but seems to tave been soon discarded in Connecticut. The prefix Master (Mr.) belonged to all gentlemen, including those designated by the higher marks of rank. Master corresponds very nearly to the English word Gentleman. In Connecticut, it embraced clergymen and planters of good family and estate, who were members of the General Court also, those bred at a university, and those of sufficient education to manage the general affairs of the colony, civil or ecclesiastical, and who had been sufficiently well born. Compara- tively few of the representatives of the towns, even though they might be returned year after year, were honored with the title."
"It may be observed by reference to oui Colonial records that there were scores of men ol good family and in honorable stations who stil did not possess all the requisite qualities oi Masters. It was seldom that young men of what- ever rank were called Masters. Sir was sometimes applied to young gentlemen undergraduates at a college. Goodman was used in speaking of the better sort of yeomen, laborers, tenants, anc others above the grade of servants, who owned small estate, and b re a good moral character There are several instances of deputies to the General Court being called Goodman. Goodwif or Goody was the corresponding feminine title Mrs. was applied to the wives of Masters and also to unmarried females of the higher class. Mili tary titles were considered of a very high order.'
Felt in his ' History of Ipswich, Mass., at p. 23, states that in 1631 a man wa degraded from the title of Mr. because o his having committed a misdemeanour.
Palfrey in his * History of New England ii. 67, says :
" There was great punctiliousness in the appl cation of both official and conventional titles Only a small number of persons of the best cond tions (always including ministers and their wives had Mr. or Mrs. prefixed to their names. Good man and Goodwife were addressed to person above the condition of servitude and below tha of gentility."
In the reports of cases before the Superio Court of Massachusetts, by Josiah Quincy jun., appears the case of Bronfield v. Lovejoy In the writ the defendant was designatec yeoman. Objection was made, and th Court ruled that the designation was im proper, as he was in fact a gentleman, an
he writ was dismissed. This occurred in
767.
A case has been brought to my attention n England where a man held the position f overseer of fortifications under the Com- monwealth. As such he is constantly men- ioned in the official documents with the itle Master. However, after the Bestora- ion he became a parish clerk, and his two Ider brothers are both designated yeomen, -hough two of their sons are called gentlemen in different records.
Is it true that in England, during the eventeenth century, there was a title Master (Mr.) which had an intermediate jlace between yeoman and gentleman ?
JOHN Ross DELAFIELD. 27, Cedar Street, New York City.
STUBBS'S TRADE PROTECTION AGENCY. When did this or any other like agency first begin operations in this country ?
BRADSTOW.
THE MARQUIS DE SPINETO, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY. Can any reader tell me the name of the Marquis's first wife, who died at Cambridge in 1812 (Gent. Mag. for Sep- tember, 1812) ? He married secondly, at Edinburgh, 9 April, 1814, the eldest daughter of B chard Campbell of Craigie, having as his brothers-in-law Col. Munro, H.E.I.C., and Sir John Bury Gordon, Bart., who founded the 30th (Indian Lancers), Gordon's Horse.
The Marquis was an interesting man, but little or nothing has been recorded of him : th<3 British Museum Catalogue does not even know his Christian name. It was Nicolo Marie (Doria). He fled from Italy about 1800, his estate being forfeited for his share in Napoleonic intrigues. He acted as interpreter at the trial of Queen Caroline, was teacher of Italian and Deputy Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, and pub- lished his ' Lectures on the Elements of Hieroglyphics and Egyptian An iquities ' in 1829. He died at Cambridge, 26 Aug., 1849, aged 75. His eldest son was Samuel Marie Boco Doria, clerk in Holy Orders, who was head master of Wigan Grammar School.
MANSION AND ST. ESCHAUZIER'S GORDON HIGHLANDER. This charming print, re- produced in Mr. Nevill's ' British Military Prints,' appeared, I think, in Spooner's " Upright Series." What was its number ? The similar plate of the 75th was No. 17.
J. M. BULLOCH. 123, Pall Mall, S.W.
