The Chief wrote: > Two possibilities to explain your mysterious "Lady" that don't seem to have been mentioned before: > > 1) A simple misunderstanding Both then and even today, the wife or daughter of any gentleman can rightfully > claim to be, or be said to be, a "lady". Indeed, it is common to see the wife of gentlemen so described on > census returns, etc. It is easy to confuse such a lady with a "Lady", as in titled lady. So, I can easily > imagine a miscommunication where the generous donor for the RAF building was described as a "lady", and > this was misunderstood as being a claim to hold a title. > And, of course, formal birth notices - "the lady of John Doe, Esq, of a son (or daughter)" -- Anne Chambers South Australia anne dot chambers at bigpond dot com