Esquire - History

History

Chief Justice Coke (1552–1634) defined "gentlemen" as those who bear coat armour, and are therefore superior to esquires. He followed Sir William Camden (1551–1623, Clarenceux King of Arms), who defined esquires as:

• the eldest sons of knights and their eldest sons in perpetuity,
• the eldest sons of younger sons of peers and their eldest sons in perpetuity,
• esquires so created by the king,
• esquires by office, such as justices of the peace and those holding an office of trust under the crown.

By the end of the 16th Century, the pretentious use of the title, especially in its Latin form, "Armigero" was being mocked by Shakespeare in his character, "Robert Shallow, esquire,"

...a gentleman born, master parson; who writes himself 'Armigero,' in any bill, warrant, quittance, or obligation, 'Armigero.'

to which Shallow directly replies,

Ay, that I do; and have done any time these three hundred years. —William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act I, Scene I

Nineteenth century tables of precedences further distinguished between esquires by birth and esquires by office (and likewise for gentlemen). But today the term gentleman is rarely found in official tables of precedence and when it is it invariably means simply a man. One extinct English usage of the term was to distinguish between men of the upper and lower gentry, who were "esquires" and "gentlemen" respectively (between, for example, "Thomas Smith, Esq." and "William Jones, Gent."). Examples of this may be found in the Parish Tithe Map Schedules made under the Tithe Commutation Act 1836. Later examples appear in the list of subscribers to The History of Elton, by the Rev. Rose Fuller Whistler, published in 1892, which distinguishes between subscribers designated Mr (another way of indicating gentlemen) and those allowed Esquire.

According to one typical definition, esquires in English law included:

• The eldest sons of knights, and their eldest sons in perpetual succession
• The eldest sons of younger sons of peers, and their eldest sons in perpetual succession (children of peers already had higher precedence)
• Esquires created by letters patent or other investiture, and their eldest sons
• Esquires by virtue of their offices, as Justices of the Peace and others who bear any office of trust under the Crown
• Esquires of knights constituted at their investiture
• Foreign noblemen
• Persons who are so styled under the Royal sign manual (officers of the Armed Forces of or above the rank of Captain in the Army or its equivalent)
• Barristers (but not Solicitors)

A slightly later source defines the term as

Esquire — A rank next below that of Knight. Besides those Esquires who are personal attendants of Knights of Orders of Knighthood, this title is held by all attendants on the person of the Sovereign, and all persons holding the Sovereign's commission being of military rank not below Captain; also, by general concession, by Barristers at Law, Masters of Arts and Bachelors of Law and Physic.

But formal definitions like these were proposed because there was, in reality, no fixed criterion distinguishing those designated Esquire: it was essentially a matter of impression as to whether a person qualified for this status. William Segar, Garter King of Arms (the senior officer of arms at the College of Arms), wrote in 1602: "And who so can make proofe, that his Ancestors or himselfe, have had Armes, or can procure them by purchase, may be called Armiger or Esquier." Honor military, and civill (1602; lib. 4, cap. 15, p. 228). (By Armes he referred to a coat of arms; it is not clear from this quotation whether Segar made a distinction between esquires and gentlemen.)

Although Esquire is the English translation of the French écuyer, the latter indicated legal membership in the nobilities of ancien régime France and contemporaneous Belgium, whereas an esquire belongs to the British gentry rather than to its nobility, albeit that the term "gentry" in England came to be used to describe what is elsewhere labelled the untitled nobility. Écuyer in French (11th to 14th century) means "Shield-bearer", a knight in training, age 14 to 21. In the later stages of the Middle Ages, the cost of the adoubement or accolade became too high for many noblemen to bear. They stayed écuyers all their lifelong, making these title synonymous with nobleman or gentleman.

The most common occurrence of term Esquire today is the conferral as the suffix "Esq." in order to pay an informal compliment to a male recipient by way of implying gentle birth. Today, there remain respected protocols, especially in the US, for identifying those to whom it is thought most proper that the suffix should be given, especially in very formal or in official circumstances. The social rank of Esquire is that above gentleman.