Squire

The duties of a squire was to take care of the knight’s armor, ensuring it was well-maintained, cleaned, and ready for battle.

All three classes were official recognized by the tax law of 1379[9][10] If the squire owned the advowson or living (i.e. "was patron") of the parish church — and he often did — he would choose the incumbent, designated as either a rector, or if the parish had a lay rector or impropriator, who was often the squire himself, a vicar.

The squire would also have performed a number of important local duties, in particular that of Justice of the Peace or Member of Parliament.

William Makepeace Thackeray depicted a squire in Vanity Fair as a lecherous, ill-educated, badly mannered relic of an earlier age.

Mary Ann Evans, alias George Eliot, includes Squire Cass as a character in her novel Silas Marner.

One of the main characters of Anthony Trollope's Doctor Thorne, published in 1858, is Squire Francis Newbold Gresham.

Sherlock Holmes' ancestors are mentioned to be country squires in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.

Although historically used to a man perceived as being of higher social class (similar to guvnor), its modern usage is often ironic with friendly humorous intent due to it being something of an anachronism.

[16] The original usage in conversations between people of different social classes crops up frequently in comedy sketches by Monty Python, such as: "What can I do for you, squire?".