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Subject: [OHGUERNS] Re: Define the title of Squire
Date: 2 Sep 2002 12:55:39 -0600

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Classification: Query

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http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/AWB.2ACE/1711.1

Message Board Post:

>> Squire John Boyd of Guernsey County, murdered in 1900
> I have hear this title (squire) used with one of my ancestors and wondered what it means.

"Squire" has different meanings, depending on the context. Early on, in the middle ages, it was the attendant of a knight; later, in the 17th-18th-19th centuries, it was a title used for some members of the gentry, the landed individuals other than the nobility. Neither of these apply in America, of course.

My dictionary also mentions that it sometimes refers to "a judge or another local dignitary", but I don't know if this was an official or informal usage, and if it was British or American.

The last possibility is that it is actually a given name rather than a title.

S R C A
cott obert ranston nderson

Admin, {C{offield,ollosky,ranston,ummins},OHGuerns,USAGen}-L@RootsWeb.com
USGenWeb Coordinator, http://www.usgennet.org/usa/oh/county/guernsey/

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