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Gentleman?

ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Nickydownsouth

Nickydownsouth Report 9 Nov 2007 12:37

Heather,

When you say a main library, do you mean ANY main library, or does it have to be one in the area of death, if it is the former does that mean I can check for other family members who may have left wills if I have their date of death? because obviously I`d rather do the leg work myself if I could do it locally ,than pay York probate £5.00 per preson and maybe come up with nothing.

Sorry if these seem really silly questions but I do not have any family wills, and for the "Gentleman" concerned anything that could shed some light on his parents /siblings would be great, as at present I have nothing on him at all, apart from the family he married in to and his 3 subsequent children.

thanks again for all your input

We all wondered how we`d manage when OC left, but you seem to be filling her shoes very well!!

Nicky

Heather

Heather Report 9 Nov 2007 09:47

If you have a death date/place and think he is likely to have left a will you could venture a fiver with York Probate - address is on the home page here. They do a search 5 years after death? Or you could go to a main library to look at the probate index.

My lighterman/pilot Gentleman died in 1823 and left the equivalent of getting on for a million quid - sharing out £3k a time to each child and even grand child except my direct ancestor who he then whipped it away from in a codicil he made 2 months before his death :( No reason why and she was a young widow with kids so a bit mean.

Nickydownsouth

Nickydownsouth Report 8 Nov 2007 23:08

Heather.

No I hav`nt a will for him, I have done some searching on the A2A but hav`nt come up with anything, have you any ideas how I could trace one?

Nicky

Heather

Heather Report 8 Nov 2007 14:12

Have you got a will for him?

Nickydownsouth

Nickydownsouth Report 8 Nov 2007 11:36

Heather,
I can see then that "Gentleman" was used quite liberally!! I think in my case my "Gentleman" was a man of money ,as his widowed wife left with 3 young children never had to work {According to the census} yet she still managed to privately educate at least one of her sons, Thanks for your input anyway.

Nicky

Heather

Heather Report 7 Nov 2007 23:17

Oh dear, sorry to be a party pooper but Ive seen my licensed victuallers as "gentlemen" in their wills and death certs also my lightermen and I understand someone else had a porter as a "gentleman" in their death cert. So it can be a pretty fluid term.

My "gentlemen" were retired and apparently able to live on their savings but another member on here "Gentleman" was just unemployed.

Moira

Moira Report 7 Nov 2007 20:32

This what the old occupations site says for Gentleman
Gentleman Gentry; Aristocrat, whose income came from his land
Moira

Nickydownsouth

Nickydownsouth Report 7 Nov 2007 20:15


Ivy, Thanks for your input.

Lynn, Thanks for confirming Christines information, I thought it was something like that as they seem to be quite a "well to do" family


Nicky

Tiger Lil

Tiger Lil Report 7 Nov 2007 16:40

Hi there,

Just to confirm that Christine is right. A gentleman was someone from a good family who did not need to work and was classed as 'lower gentry'. Where someone is from the 'upper gentry' they are called 'Esquire'.

Ivy

Ivy Report 7 Nov 2007 14:01

He may have had a bailiff to organise the day to day running of the farm

Nickydownsouth

Nickydownsouth Report 7 Nov 2007 13:22



Thanks for that Christine, I remember my mother a while ago telling me there were "Gentleman Farmers", long ago, but seeing as this death occured in the heart of Westminster I thought that to be unlikely in this case. LOL!!

Nicky

Nickydownsouth

Nickydownsouth Report 7 Nov 2007 13:11



Hi all,

Have received today another certificate, where yet again occupation is listed as "Gentleman"

What exactly does that mean? this was in 1843 though I have others later with the same occupation .

Thanks in advance

Nicky