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Yeoman
Aug 17, 2007 6:43:43 GMT -5
Post by georgec on Aug 17, 2007 6:43:43 GMT -5
Any idea what a Yeoman was and what things did he do for the parish? As one of my family was a Yeoman in the parish of Lelant George
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Yeoman
Aug 17, 2007 7:36:35 GMT -5
Post by Marpleg A-boynt on Aug 17, 2007 7:36:35 GMT -5
Hi George I am almost definitely the least qualified person on this board to answer, but I am going to give it a go anyway. I expect that one of the many more knowledgeable members will fill in the gaps (or totally correct me) when they read the following : One interpretation : 1) Person qualified by possessing free land of 40/- annual value to serve on juries, vote for knight of shire, etc. 2) Small landowner, farmer, person of middle class engaged in agriculture. The following is taken from Wikipedia : The word yeoman is rooted in the Old English, 'iunge man' or, 'young man' or 'yonge man', and this meaning possibly combined with 'geaman', 'geman', or 'gauman', meaning district, villager, or countryman rustic. In the 15th century, a 'yeoman' was also a farmer of middling social status who owned his own land and often farmed it himself into prosperity. Let's see what others think...
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Yeoman
Aug 17, 2007 16:07:44 GMT -5
Post by Zenobia on Aug 17, 2007 16:07:44 GMT -5
Thank you Luke!
Yes, the standard definition of 'yeoman' when seen in records simply means farmer.
Another common term seen in records is husbandman. A husbandman differs from a yeoman in that he is someone who raises animals for profit, as opposed to crops (altho' an average husbandman probably had some crops also, but derived his main source of income from raising, breeding and selling animals and animal products).
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Yeoman
Aug 23, 2007 8:37:50 GMT -5
Post by Cornish Terrier on Aug 23, 2007 8:37:50 GMT -5
From "Collins English Dictionary":-
yeoman - n. a man owning and farming his own land; a freeholder; a middle-class farmer; an officer of a royal household; a member of a volunteer force of cavalry, orig. recruited from farmers and countrymen etc. (then goes into Naval and other military uses of the term.)
I would suspect that many, if not most, of the yeomen of Cornwall did not actually 'own' their own land but rather held it on long-term lease which could be handed down via the 'lives' named on the lease and could be renewed.
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