Re: "Goodwife", spouse of "landed proprietor"?

"'goodwife' had a certain level of respectability as a title, slightly
below 'Mrs.'"

I strongly disagree with the "slightly" part of that statement. Part of
my discomfort with the identification of Robert Abell of Rehoboth, MA
with the Robert, son of George Abell, of the gentry family of Derbyshire
and Leicestershire, is that Robert of Rehoboth's wife Joanna was - if
memory serves - referred to as "Goody/Goodwife" Abell. In many years of
working in 17th century American and English sources, I can't remember
another instance of "Goody/Goodwife" being applied to other than those
in humble circumstances.

pj.evans...

The wife of Richard Max[s]on, a blacksmith in RI, was referred to as
'Goody' or 'Goodwife'. *Definitely* below 'landed proprietor'!

Todd A. Farmerie...

This implies a distinction between 'the trades' and 'landed proprietor'
that simply did not exist in New England. It would very much surprise
me if Richard Max[s]on, a blacksmith, was not also a landowner.

P J Evans

Anthony Hoskins
History, Genealogy and Archives Librarian
History and Genealogy Library
Sonoma County Library
3rd and E Streets
Santa Rosa, California 95404

707/545-0831, ext. 562