Gentry is a term meaning one thing in the UK: landed gentry. In Europe and the United States, gentry has a wide meaning, ranging from those of noble background to those of good family (i.e. "gentle" birth). Before the Industrial Revolution, the gentry were located between the yeomanry and the Peerage, and were traditionally considered lesser aristocracy if they did not bear arms, or as the lesser nobility if the family was armigerous. Unlike yeomen, the gentry did not work the land themselves; instead, they hired tenant farmers.

In English history, landed gentry were the smaller landowners, and generally had no titles apart from Knighthoods and Baronetcies. Baronets are something of an exception, since they had hereditary titles but, not being members of the Peerage, were also considered of the gentry or lesser nobility. The landed gentry played an important role in the English Civil War of the seventeenth century. The term is still occasionally employed, for example, by the publishers of Burke's Landed Gentry, though they explain that their continued use of that term is elastic and stems, in part, from the adoption of that short title for a series first entitled Burke's Commoners (as opposed to Burke's Peerage and Baronetage). The term county family is commonly deemed to be co-terminous with the terms gentry and landed gentry. See Walford's County Families and gentleman.

In some European countries such as Poland, a tenth of the population corresponded to the gentry; in Portugal the local gentry, the fidalgos, were also numerous.

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@solsticesinger The Princess mary Gentry one. Sorry, not enough caffeine yet.
CarolinaWolfie (Nancy Simpson) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:26:48 -0000
@solsticesinger The Princess mary Gentry one. Sorry, not enough caffeine yet.
From http://spotcrime.com - Robbery - 30XX GENTRY RD, Virginia Beach, VA: ROBBERY (120A) http://bit.ly/6LWWG8
vabeach_crime (vabeach_crime) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:24:49 -0000
From http://spotcrime.com - Robbery - 30XX GENTRY RD, Virginia Beach, VA: ROBBERY (120A) http://bit.ly/6LWWG8
"Hurry, Tuesday Child" by Bobbie Gentry (US)1967 ♫ http://blip.fm/~iqger
troyholder (Troy) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:51:36 -0000
"Hurry, Tuesday Child" by Bobbie Gentry (US)1967 ♫ http://blip.fm/~iqger
"Ode To Billy Joe" by Bobbie Gentry (US)1967 ♫ http://blip.fm/~iqgba
troyholder (Troy) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:46:29 -0000
"Ode To Billy Joe" by Bobbie Gentry (US)1967 ♫ http://blip.fm/~iqgba
RT @gentry: Eames: Design is a Method of Action http://post.ly/HCsm
sferik (Erik Michaels-Ober) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:09:23 -0000
RT @gentry: Eames: Design is a Method of Action http://post.ly/HCsm
Montgomery Gentry - Speed - 03:42 AM visit www.RadioTAGr.com/WTSH to TAG this song
south107 (south107) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:43:18 -0000
Montgomery Gentry - Speed - 03:42 AM visit www.RadioTAGr.com/WTSH to TAG this song

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