Use of “Esq.” In the U.K.?

[Northern_Piper]

It’s a mystery to me - just one of the vagaries of the Straight Dope, I guess! :dubious:

[owlstretchingtime]

I was always told that you were Master Smith whilst at school (ie until 18), John Smith Esq until you reached 21, or graduated and Mr John Smith thereafter.

[Ponster]

@owlstretchingtime

I was always told that you were Master Smith whilst at school (ie until 18), John Smith Esq until you reached 21, or graduated and Mr John Smith thereafter.

Wow, for someone born in 1756 you sure know how to stay in shape

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@Jodi

Maybe it’s a regional thing. I practice in the Northwest U.S. and around here it’s considered pretentious. I rarely see it used and never use it myself. As a female, I think it’s doubly silly since I’m neither a squire nor a man. I figure anyone who needs to know will figure out that I’m a lawyer, and I don’t need to preemptively announce it to anyone.

Of course, your business card and stationery probably say “Attorney-at-Law”, which should make it clear. Therefore on second thought, I suppose there really is no reason to put Esq. after one’s name.

When I was about 20 I used to sign myself Esquire as a joke. Through the route of being interested in 19th century balloon ascents and experiments, I became fascinated by Victorian English culture, where evidently, Esquire meant you had some claim to the status of gentleman. Usually it was by birth to an family of untitled landed gentry, but it seemed that you could also qualify by professional attainment.

[Eva_Luna]

@Bippy the Beardless

It would be pretentious to sign yourself as Bippy esq. as the esq is a title usable by anyone and not gained through ‘merrit’. I don’t know of a female equivalent to esquire. It is equivalent to (and an alternative word for) the lowest nobel ranking of squire which is just bellow knight.

Well, if a squire was one level below a knight, and the counterpart to a knight was his lady, then “girl”? “Young Lady”? My heraldry knowledge is a tad rusty.

On the other hand, when I defended my master’s thesis, the e-mail invitation I sent around for my graduation party announced that I was now a Mistress of the Arts. (Although somehow that sounds more like something one might find in the “Adult Services” section of one’s local alternative news paper.) But why the heck not?

[beltbuckle]

From Wikipedia :

In the United Kingdom, the title of esquire belongs to:
[ul]
[li]the eldest sons of knights and their eldest sons in perpetual succession[/li][li]the eldest sons of younger sons of peers and their eldest sons in perpetual succession[/li][li]those who bear special office in the royal household[/li][li]Sheriffs while in office[/li][li]Justices of the Peace while in commission[/li][li]Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy[/li][li]Masters of the Supreme Court[/li][li]Deputy Lieutenants and Commissioners of Lieutenancy[/li][li]Queen’s Counsel[/li][li]sergeants at law[/li][li]Royal Academecians[/li][li]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[/li][li]bachelors of divinity, law, or physics, and others[/li][li]persons to whom the title is granted by the monarch[/li][/ul]

[owlstretchingtime]

@Ponster

Wow, for someone born in 1756 you sure know how to stay in shape

The school where I learned this was founded in 1187, so it may be a little bit out of date.