Esquire

This article is about the title. For alternative meanings, see: Esquire (disambiguation)

An esquire (abbreviated Esq.) is a person of a certain social status; always rather vague in its extent, the term carries little social distinction today. Nonetheless, its use as a postnominal honorific remains fairly common, particularly in the United States, where it is frequently used by licensed attorneys.

The term is British in origin. Ultimately deriving from the mediaeval squires who assisted knights, the term came to be used automatically by men of gentle birth. Thus use of the word postnominally represented nothing more than the claim to be a gentleman. More specifically, though, a distinction was made between men of the upper and lower gentry, who were "esquires" and "gentlemen" respectively (between, for example, "Thomas Smith, Esq." and "William Jones, Gent."). A late example of this distinction is in the list of subscribers to The History of Elton, by the Rev. Rose Fuller Whistler, published in 1882, which clearly distinguishes between subscribers designated "Mr" (another way of indicating gentlemen) and those allowed "Esquire."

Today by general consent anybody may consider himself a gentleman; that status is no longer limited to an elite few. So likewise the boundary between esquire and gentleman has disappeared. Thus, practically speaking, the term "esquire" may be appended to the name of any man not possessing a higher title (such as that of knighthood or peerage) or a clerical one. In practice, however, "esquire" in the US is most commonly used by lawyers in a professional capacity; it has come to be associated by many Americans solely with the legal profession.

To whomever it is applied, the term "Esq." should not be used when talking about one's self, or in directly addressing somebody else. Rather, it is used in third-person contexts, such as envelope addresses.

Origins and later British usage

In eras when great importance was attached to social status, tables of precedence were drawn to determine its precise hierarchy. Beginning with royalty and continuing down through officers of state, church dignitaries, the nobility, and knights, they invariably concluded with common or garden Esquires and Gentlemen, in that order. (It was presumed that everybody at a social event where precedence was relevant would be at least a gentleman.) Until the 19th century, tables of precedences further distinguished between "esquires by birth" and "esquires by office" (and likewise for "gentlemen").

But the precise limits of these vague terms were never easy to determine. Some authors attempted to draw up guidelines distinguishing "esquires" from "gentlemen".

According to one typical definition, esquires 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 a specific precedence higher in the table)
• Those who bear special office in the Royal Household
• Sheriffs while in office.
• Justices of the Peace while in commission
• Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy
• Masters of the Supreme Court
• Deputy Lieutenants and Commissioners of Lieutenancy
• Queen's Counsel
• Barristers-at-law (but not Solicitors)
• Holders of a degree at one of the Two Universities (Oxford and Cambridge)
• Serjeants-at-law (of whom none have been appointed since the 19th century)
• Royal Academicians
• Officers of the Royal Navy with rank of Lieutenant or higher, of the Army with rank of Captain or higher, or of the Royal Air Force with rank of Flight Lieutenant or higher
• Bachelors of Divinity, Law, or Physic, and others (note that these were all traditionally post-graduate degrees, not first degrees).
• Men to whom the title is granted by the Monarch
• Men who have been addressed as "trusty and well-beloved" by the Monarch. This includes all male officers of the armed services and most male recipients of decorations.
• Foreign noblemen whose titles have not otherwise been recognised in the United Kingdom.

However, formal definitions such as 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.)

The breadth of Esquire (as Esq.) had become universal in the United Kingdom by the late 20th century, for example being applied by some banks to all men who did not have a grander title. Although the College of Arms continues to restrict use of the word Esquire in official grants of arms to a limited set (smaller even than that outlined by the list above), it uses the term Esquire without restriction in addressing correspondence. Many people in the United Kingdom no longer perceive any distinction between "Mr" and "Esquire" at all and so, for practical purposes and in everyday usage, there is no such distinction.

Although 'Esquire' is the English translation of the French 'Ecuyer', 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.

United States

In the United States the suffix "Esq." is most commonly encountered in use among individuals licensed to practice law. They sometimes apply it to anybody with a law degree, even if not practicing. Although the origins and traditional usage of "esquire" limited its application to men, this more recent usage is frequently applied to both male and female lawyers.

As a matter of custom, the suffix "Esq." is not used when referring to sitting judges, who are "members of the bench" rather than "members of the bar", and are prohibited from practicing law in most United States jurisdictions. (The fictional Perry Mason, in his television movies, was a notable exception.) Judges will generally assume the prefix "Honorable" (abbreviated Hon.) as a title of respect.

The prevalence of "esquire" among lawyers in America is perhaps an echo of its use distinguishing the two kinds of lawyer in English law — barristers were "esquires" while solicitors were simple "gentlemen".

These legal associations, although strong, have not completely blotted out the unmarked use of "esquire" in the modern British fashion, as an honorific simply more formal than "Mr". In some states, however, using the term deceptively — in a manner that might lead others to assume you are licensed to practice law in that state — can be used as one piece of evidence of unauthorized practice of law.

The term is also sometimes used when addressing naval officers in formal correspondence.

As a form of address, "Esq." is never used with any prenominal form of address, such as Dr. or Mr., nor used in the first person to refer to oneself. It is used only when the reference is in the third person, such as addressing an envelope or making a formal introduction. When addressing a person who has an academic degree or other post-nominal professional designation, such as a Certified Public Accountant, a writer may use the post-nominal designation after the "Esq." For example, an attorney who is also an accountant could be addressed as "James A. Smith, Esq., CPA." Likewise, an attorney who is a Doctor of Medicine could be styled as "Dr. Samuel B. Jones," or "Samuel B. Jones, Esq., M.D.," or if a holder of both degrees (some states do not require attorneys to hold a J.D. degree in order to practice law), Samuel B. Jones, M.D., J.D., when referred to in the third person, but never "Dr. Samuel B. Jones, Esq."

Some fraternal groups use the title of "Esquire." The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks uses the title of "Esquire" for an appointed office position. One appendant body in Freemasonry also uses "Esquire" as a degree title.