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John Botwright Royalist Composition Papers
Our John Botwright is referenced twice in the Royalist Composition Papers of 1650; the first he gives his deposition that John Glasscock died in Nov 1646 (midway through the second page). And more importantly, the second reference includes John's signature - note the similar flourishes at the end of the signature as compared to John's signature from the The Great St. Mary's Churchwardens Accounts - 1639. Although tough to read, it says "John Botewright gent deposeth that John Glascocke gent sonne of Mris Mary Glascock widow dyed in the parish of St Andrewes Holborne about November 1646. Jo: Botwright". Note: Holborn is located in Middlesex County, outside of London.
John is referred to as "gent" which is short for "gentleman". In its original meaning, the term "Gentleman" denoted a man of the lowest rank of the English gentry, standing below an esquire and above a yeoman. By definition, this category included the younger sons of the younger sons of peers and the younger sons of baronets (after this honour's institution in 1611), knights, and esquires in perpetual succession, and thus the term captures the common denominator of gentility (and often armigerousness) shared by both constituents of the English aristocracy: the peerage and the gentry. In this sense, the word equates with the French gentilhomme ("nobleman"), which latter term has been, in Great Britain, long confined to the peerage; Maurice Keen points to the category of "gentlemen" in this context as thus constituting "the nearest contemporary English equivalent of the noblesse of France" (Origins of the English Gentleman, 2002, p. 9).
The second John Botwright reference from the Royalist Compositon Papers - 1650:
last modified: October 16, 2013
URL: http://www.boatwrightgenealogy.com
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