Dear Fred I just had a look at the entry of the Swiss Surname Directory (http://swiss.genealogy.net/surnam-m.htm or http://www.eye.ch/swissgen/surnam-m.htm) on Meier. In the part of the Zürcher Familiennamen I found the following definition: < mhd. meier < ahd. meior < lat. major 'der Höhere, Grössere'; seit dem 12. Jh. grundherrlicher Beamter, der als Beauf- tragter des adligen oder geistlichen Grundherrn die Aufsicht über die Bewirtschaftung der Hofgüter führt; das Amt wurde mit der Zeit erblich; später auch der Verwalter oder Pächter kleinerer Höfe, endlich auch der Erbpächter. Lat. auch villicus 'Meier, Gutsverwalter'. --> Grendelmeier, --> Grendelmeyer, --> Hardmeier, Hartmeyer, --> Keller, --> Langmeier, --> Meierhofer, Meyer, Meyerhofer, --> Scheuermeier, --> Widmeier In an article by René Gilleron: 'Die angestammten Familiennamen der Aescher und Pfeffinger Bürger', 1964: Meyer und Meier: Familien dieses Namens sind in allen Kantonen der Schweiz vertreten. 1350 [the year this name is first mentioned in Aesch and Pfeffingen]. Johann Meyger. Das Geschlecht Meyer ist eines der ältesten und verbreitetsten. Meier war früher gleichbedeutend mit Verwalter, Verwalter der adeligen Lehenshöfe (Schlattmeier, Klusmeier). Your ancestor lived in Bretzwil which was until 1673 part of the Amt Ramstein and after that part of the Amt (now Bezirk (district)) Waldenburg in the Landschaft Basel (now Kanton Baselland (Basel-Landschaft)). Depending on when he lived he could have been the head of a court ('Leiter eines Gerichts' in German) see below. In 'Geschichte der Landschaft Basel und des Kantons Basellandschaft', 1932 I found the following entry for the time between 1653 and 1798 (in Band II p. 26): Die Meier fanden sich ausser im Amt Waldenburg, wo sie die Gerichte leiteten, auch in Lausen, Seltisberg, Binningen oder Bottmingen und in Biel-Benken als oberste Dorfbeamten. In the same book on p. 54 is a small chapter on 'Das Gerichtswesen.'. Among other things it mentions that there were 13 judges at the court of Bretzwil. Let me know if you need any further information or translation. Regards, Regula "Fred H.Straumann" wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > From: Fred H.Straumann <fstrauma@idirect.com> > To: Switzerland-L@rootsweb.com <Switzerland-L@rootsweb.com> > Date: Sunday, January 02, 2000 7:59 PM > Subject: Definition of <Meyer> > > >Hi Listers, > >I'm translating my Familytree from German to English. Some > ancestor's > >occupation was : <Meyer> as in Meyerhansjoggi. (Hansjoggi means > Hans > >Jakob.) > >What is the definition of <Meyer> . Was he a Reeve (Vogt) or Mayor > >(Buergermeister) ? Any help would be greatly appreciated. > > > >Thanks in advance Fred > > Wolf.Seelentag replied: > Dear Fred, > > are you sure this is meant to be a profession - and not referring to > the > surname Meyer ? To say for sure, you'd have to quote the full > context. > > In farming villages in Bavaria the largest farm would often be called > "Maier > Farm" - and in many cases the owner would in later times also be the > Mayor; > at the time of surname creation this would have had a slightly > different > meaning, but still implying that the owner had a certain standing in > the > community. I'm not familiar with this convention in Switzerland - > which > doesn't mean it was not the case in cantons I'm not familiar with > ;-). > > Best regards - Wolf > > Pete replied : > > Dear Fred, > Don't bet the farm on this, but my recollection is that a Meyer was a > manager > of a large farm. Usually associated with dairy farms. > > Okay, just checked Thode's German Genealogical Dictionary. You can > bet the > farm. Thode's says: > "Meyer" - farm administrator or tenant; dairy farmer. > Pete > > Dear Wolf and Pete, > > I thank you for your speedy replies. I agree with you both and had a > hunch that my forfathers with identical names, who lived in > Bretzwil,Baselland : Straumann,Hans Jakob were known as > <Meyerhansjoggi> meaning : > Hans Jakob the Meyer, the farm owner or tenant. (Meyer in > Switzerland) and (Maier in Germany,Bavaria and Austria) > > Thanks to both of you Fred in Richmond Hill Ontario > > ==== SWITZERLAND Mailing List ==== > Support RootsWeb! Help provide FREE genealogical resources on the > Internet: http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html -- Regula Nebel Reinach BL, Switzerland