Mary This is from an article about precendence amongst the aristocracy and gentry, and it sort of relates: 'Married ladies receive their precedence from their husbands and not from their father ... The only exception to this is when the daughter of a peer marries a knight or lower. She will then retain her rank as the daughter of a peer'. So if the other wifes of knights or baronets (whichever yours were) were daughters of peers, then their titles might have come from then. But Dame is not a title as such, more a mark of respect and maturity in many ways (or at least I think it is, someone may know otherwise), so it could just be that your Sir Wm is being more familiar about his wife rather than using her full title. Lyn B

>entry, and it sort of relates: > >'Married ladies receive their precedence from their husbands and not >from their father ... The only exception to this is when the daughter of >a peer marries a knight or lower. She will then retain her rank as the >daughter of a peer'. > >So if the other wifes of knights or baronets (whichever yours were) were >daughters of peers, then their titles might have come from then. I obviously have not seen the original query .. > since this makes no sense to me at the moment >But Dame is not a title as such The modern 'Dame' is a personal title, granted to a woman as recognition of her personal achievements in politics, social work, industry, the arts. It conveys no rank on her husband. >It is more or less the equivalent of a knighthood, though obtained with greater difficulty, since they tend to be, for men, two a penny. In the more distant past, the elderly wife or widow of a knight or even baronet, tended to be called 'my Dame', or Dame Mary' unofficially , but correctly was Lady jones. Be wary that around Eton, 'my dame' means the woman in charge of a boarding house for pupils. >could just be that your Sir Wm is being more familiar about his wife >rather than using her full title. Here agin. maybe I shall get the query later (after the answer) -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society