Re: Thoughts on the wording of a will

Sacha wrote:

Respectable married status was very
important so much so that, AIUI, unmarried women who were e.g. housekeepers
or cooks were referred to as Mrs, whether married or not. It conferred
status.

Back then, whether one was Miss or Mrs. (that is, Mistress) depended on age, not marital status. Adults were Mrs., and juveniles were Miss, just as adult males were Mister and juvenile males were Master. Assuming, of course, that any of these titles were applied at all. The status, if any, conferred by the use of Mrs. for a housekeeper was the status of the title itself, not any status from a pretended marriage.

--
Thomas M. Sommers -- tms@xxxxxx -- AB2SB

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Thoughts on the wording of a will
    ... important so much so that, AIUI, unmarried women who were e.g. housekeepers ... or cooks were referred to as Mrs, ... juveniles were Miss, just as adult males were Mister and juvenile ...
    (soc.genealogy.britain)
  • Re: Thoughts on the wording of a will
    ... important so much so that, AIUI, unmarried women who were e.g. housekeepers ... or cooks were referred to as Mrs, ... juveniles were Miss, just as adult males were Mister and juvenile ...
    (soc.genealogy.britain)