7 h 28 minAudiobook12 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 28 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What holds an old English family together: its name, its land, or the records that trace its past?
In The Noble and Gentle Men of England, Evelyn Philip Shirley traces the old landed families of England. His world is one of pedigrees, coats of arms and ancient estates. Rank, land and names pass through generations, while the distinction between nobles and gentry shapes their place in society.
Shirley approaches this history as a landowner and antiquary. Wills, deeds, charters and parish registers provide the paths into family descent. Marriage can bring an estate into new hands; the failure of a male line can end a long-standing name. Behind each lineage lies a question about inheritance, evidence and belonging.
What you’ll discover
- Nobles and gentle families Explore the distinction between titled peers and the gentry within England's landed society.
- The records behind a name Follow the documentary trails that genealogists use to place families within counties and generations.
- Estates rooted in place See how inheritance, marriage and purchase connect family names with particular houses and lands.
- Marriage reshapes the pedigree Discover how an heiress can bring new land and arms into a family.
- Evidence beside family legend Consider the limits of Victorian pedigrees, where confidence sometimes reaches beyond the surviving evidence.
Who will love it
This book suits lovers of family history, heraldry, country houses and local lore, and anyone who enjoys finding the people behind an English place name.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Four rules decide who enters the book
- Land, not title, is what makes a family ancient
- Every entry follows the same short pattern
- Heiresses carry estates from one family to another
- Norman founders and Domesday names anchor the oldest lines
- Loyalty to the Crown shapes many family stories
- Monastery lands and trade made many newer fortunes
- Shirley tests every claim against the evidence
- Coats of arms hold small stories of service and loyalty
- Anecdotes and sayings keep the lists alive today
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Gli uomini nobili e gentiluomini d’Inghilterra
by Evelyn Philip Shirley · 1859
Shirley maps the county families of England, each established as a knightly or gentle house before 1500.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
Which English families still live on land their ancestors held before 1500? Evelyn Philip Shirley sets out to answer that question, county by county, in a book of short family portraits.
Gli uomini nobili e gentiluomini d’Inghilterra in breve
- Tempo di lettura
- Circa 4 h 20 min3 h 30 min fast, 5 h 10 min slow
- Durata
- 62.400 parole
- Livello nella biblioteca
- Medio longer sentences, everyday words
- Prima pubblicazione
- 1859by Evelyn Philip Shirley
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Quanto tempo ci vuole per leggere i classici · Aggiornato
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Four rules decide who enters the book
Shirley opens with a preface that works like a gatekeeper. Only families that still exist can appear, and each must have stood as a knightly or gentle house before the sixteenth century.
The second rule follows the male line. He rejects families that took a name and arms through a woman. The third rule leaves out illegitimate descent. The fourth is about place. A family that has sold its old estates is listed where it now lives, and a family with no land left is left out.
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Quale edizione fa per me
- 15-minute summary
- Le idee principali dell’intero libro in circa 12 minuti. Per un primo sguardo o per rinfrescare la memoria.
Dettagli
- First published
- 1859
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Medium level
Cita questa edizione
Shirley, Evelyn Philip. The Noble and Gentle Men of England. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-noble-and-gentle-men-of-england.
Shirley, E. P. (2026). The noble and gentle men of England. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-noble-and-gentle-men-of-england (Original work published 1859)
Shirley, Evelyn Philip. The Noble and Gentle Men of England. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-noble-and-gentle-men-of-england.
@book{shirley2026noble,
author = {Shirley, Evelyn Philip},
title = {The Noble and Gentle Men of England},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-noble-and-gentle-men-of-england},
note = {First published 1859}
}
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What is The Noble and Gentle Men of England about?
It is a county-by-county register of English landed families whose male lines survived, each established at knightly or gentle rank before 1500. Entries give seats, ancestors, branches and arms.
Which families does the book include?
It includes families that still exist and held knightly or gentle rank before the sixteenth century. Descent must run through the male line, and a family with no remaining estate is left out.
What do the coats of arms in each entry mean?
They are written in the language of heralds and show a family's identity. Many carry small stories of service, marriage or place, and variations from reign to reign mark branches.
The author
Evelyn Philip Shirley
1812–1882 · English antiquarian and genealogist
Evelyn Philip Shirley (1812–1882) was a British politician and antiquary. He lived at Ettington in Warwickshire and served in the House of Commons. He wrote about family history and heraldry. His works included The Noble and Gentle Men of England, published in 1859, and Some Account of English Deer Parks, published in 1867.
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