Esquire

Esquire (, US also ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, Esquire historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman and below the rank of knight. In 1826, William Blackstone reiterated that, "the title should be limited to those only who bear an office of trust under the Crown and who are styled esquires by the king in their commissions and appointments; and all, I conceive, who are once honoured by the king with the title of esquire have a right to that distinction for life." By the early 20th century, it came to be used as a general courtesy title for any man in a formal setting, usually as a suffix to his name, as in "Todd Smith, Esq.", with no precise significance. In the United Kingdom today, it is still occasionally used as a written style of address in formal or professional correspondence. In certain formal contexts, it remains an indication of a social status that is recognised in the formal Order of Precedence. In the United States, Esquire is mostly used to denote a lawyer, in a departure from traditional use, and is irrespective of gender. In letters, a lawyer is customarily addressed by adding the suffix Esquire (abbreviated Esq.), preceded by a comma, after the lawyer's full name. 2History Chief Justice Coke (1552–1634) defined "gentlemen" as those who bear coat armour. From the 16th century such families were defined by the inclusion of their pedigrees within their county's Heraldic Visitations, which necessitated their submitting a return of their pedigree to the visiting herald at the specified location, generally one of the chief towns of the county. The 1623 Heraldic Visitation for Gloucestershire, for example, includes a section at the back headed: "A note of such as were disclaymed to be no gentilmen within the county and city of Gloucester", the list being headed by "Edward Hill, Customer, of Gloucester, neither gentilman of bloud, ancestry nor armes