Social structure of Britain

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The social structure of Britain has clearly changed with the centuries and it is difficult to adequately discuss the topic in a single article. However, there are specific class names, castes, and categories that are helpful to define.

Contents

[edit] General Social Castes

Some basic categories covering most of the population of Britain around the 17th century and arguably well before and after are as follows:

British Caste Characteristics
Cottagers and labourers were a step below husbandmen in that they had to work for others for wages. May also include villein. Lowest order of the working castes; perhaps vagabonds, drifters, criminals or other outcasts would be lower.
Husbandman (or other trade) tradesman or farmer who either rented a home or held very little land. Some sources suggest the landholdings of a husbandman were about 30 acres.
Yeoman The yeoman class generally included small farmers who held a reasonable amount of land and were able to protect themselves from neighboring lords et cetera. They played a military role as longbowmen, et cetera.
Gentry/Gentleman The gentry class generally held enough assets to live on rents without working. If they worked it was in law, as priests, in politics, or in various other pursuits. The term Esquire was used for gentry who were not knighted. Sometimes Merchant citizens are placed between Yeoman and Gentry in early modern social hierarchy.
Knight/Priest/Lawyer The definition of a knight depends upon the century in which the term was applied. In very early medieval times a knight was a common soldier. By the seventeenth century a knight was a member of the gentry, and the military role would be one of sheriff of a county, or organizing a larger body of military forces.
Baronet/Knight (hereditary knight, non peer) A baronet was not a peer, but the title of knight was hereditary for a baronet.
Peer (Noble/Archbishop) The peers were generally large land holders, surviving solely off assets, sat in the House of Lords and either held court or played a role in court depending upon the time frame referenced.
Royal A member of the royal family, a prince, a close relative of the queen or king.

A non land-holding farmer was a husbandman. In feudal times, this person likely would have been a serf, and paid a large portion of his work or produce to the land holding lord. In the early medieval era the knight was more or less a common soldier. Later as cavalry became more important the knight's role became more associated with wealth. By the 17th century, the knight was a large land owner, and likely a lawyer, priest, or official of some sort.

[edit] Heraldry & Social Class

Main article: Heraldry

An English subject with arms registered in the College of Arms, or a Scotsman in the Lyon Court, can be referred to as armigerous. Any British subject can apply for arms from their respective authority. Arms in and of themselves have little to do with social structure; this is a misconception of the heraldry tradition. A crown and various other symbols, however, may be reserved for members of the Royal Family in the British tradition. The heraldry tradition was regulated in Scotland by the Lord Lyon from 1437 onwards, but not in England until the reign of Henry VIII when royal heralds were sent out in 'visitations' to record the arms in use and register them appropriately. As arms were used in sealing documents, maintaining the uniqueness and registration of a mark was important at that time.

[edit] 20th Century

[edit] Social Grade Classification

The social grade classification created by the National Readership Survey over 50 years ago has achieved widespread usage during the 20th Century including in government reports and statistics.

Grade Status Occupation
A Upper middle class Higher managerial, administrative or professional
B Middle class Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1 Lower middle class Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2 Skilled working class Skilled manual workers
D Working class Semi and unskilled manual workers
E those at lowest level of subsistence Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the state for their income

[edit] 21st Century

[edit] National Statistics Socio Economic Classification (2001)

The UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) produced a new socio-economic classification in 2001 - Reference. The reason was to provide a more comprehensive and detailed classification to take newer employment patterns into account.

Group Description Old equivalent
1 Higher Professional and Managerial A
2 Lower Managerial and Professional B
3 Intermediate occupations C1 and C2
4 Small Employers and non professional self-employed C1 and C2
5 Lower Supervisory and technical C1 and C2
6 Semi Routine Occupations D
7 Routine Occupations D
8 Long term unemployed E

[edit] Commentary

Unlike some other countries such as the USA, class in Britain is more a matter of values and behaviors such as accent, vocabulary, manners, style of dress and taste than purely money (Fox). Below is a description of the various social classes.

[edit] Upper Class

The Upper Class in Britain is statistically very small and consists of the peerage, gentry, and landowners. These people were traditionally the wealthiest in the land having inherited money and position. Typically they would speak with a Received Pronunciation accent (although this is changing (Fox))and been educated at public schools. Traditionally the upper class had a disdain for trade (Cooper)

[edit] Nouveau Riche

Nouveau riche are people from poorer backgrounds who have made money themselves in Business or Entertainment. They may retain the mannerisms of their original social group or may imitate the behavior of the traditional upper class by for instance sending their children to public school or taking elocution lessons (Satirised as Mr Nouveau Richards by Jilly Cooper). This group is characterised by ostentatious displays of conspicuous consumption (Fox)

[edit] Upper Middle Class

The Upper Middle class in Britain consists of the educated professionals who generally come from educated backgrounds (Fox). These people would traditionally speak with a Received Pronunciation Accent, been educated at Public Schools and Universities. Traditional jobs would include Barristers, Doctors, Army officers, Academics, senior Civil Servants or working as stockbrokers in the City of London (Cooper). A typical Mosaic geodemographic type for this group would be Cultural leadership.

[edit] Spiralist Meritocracy

This group was identified by Jilly Cooper in her book Class as people from working class or lower middle class backgrounds who gained an education at grammar school and university and have subsequently obtained professional or managerial jobs within companies or government. Jilly Cooper stated that these people are more likely to move geographically than the more local bourgeois middle middle class. These people are less socially secure then the traditional upper middle class (Fox) and would speak in a mixture of accents depending on their origin. A typical Mosaic Geodemographic type for this group would be Corporate Chieftains

[edit] The Middle Middle Class

The Middle middle class in Britain consists of bourgeois people from less educated backgrounds (satirised by Jilly Cooper as Howard Weybridge). These people would be less educated then the upper middle class and form pillars of local communities. They would speak in accents which are more provincial then RP and be traditionally less likely to attend university than the upper middle class (Fox). They would be engaged in owning and running local businesses or working for larger corporations as junior and middle management (Fox). Typical Mosaic geodemographic types would include Provincial Privilege. The comedy character Margo Leadbetter is a satirical stereotype for this group.

[edit] The Lower Middle Class

The Lower Middle class in Britain consists of people in white collar jobs living in less prosperous suburbs. They would typically have not had a university education. These people would speak in local accents, although relatively mild. A shiboleth for people from this group is the use of the word pardon rather than sorry or say again when they have not been able to hear the other speaker (referred to as Pardonia by Kate Fox). Typical Mosaic Geodemographic types for this group would include Sprawling Subtopia or for Sucessful British Asians Asian Enterprise. The Comedy character Hyacinth Bucket is a satirical stereotype for this social group.

[edit] Mondeo Man

Mondeo Man was described by Kate Fox as a person employed in the private sector in a salesman or entry level management position who drives a company car such as a Ford Mondeo. These people would have had limited education and cultural aspirations (Fox), but are keen to "move up in the world" and are seen by politicians and marketers as representing Middle England. An example of a person from this social group in UK popular culture is Gareth Cheeseman

[edit] The Skilled working Class

These people would be in skilled blue collar jobs, traditionally in industry but in recent decades showing entrepeneurial development as the stereotypical white van man, or self employed contractors. (Fox). These people would speak in local accents and have limited educational attainment. Typical Mosaic types for this group include White Van Culture or Affluent Blue Collar

[edit] Traditional Working Class

These people would work in blue collar jobs with low incomes. They would typically have had low educational attainment and not value education (Cooper). Examples of Mosaic geodemographic groups for these people would be Coronation Street or Rustbelt Resilience An example of this social group from popular culture would be Jim Royle from The Royle Family.

[edit] The Poor

These people would typically be on low incomes and dependent on state benefits. Many would be in public housing or council estates. These people feel excluded from society (Fox) and typical Mosaic Geodemographic types for these people are Tower Block Living or Sharing a stair case An example of this social class from popular culture would be Derek Trotter from Only Fools And Horses, another example from British popular culture would be Frank Gallagher from Shameless.

[edit] See Also

[edit] Linguistics as class indicators

  • U and non-U English - Social Vocabulary from the 1950's compiled by Nancy Mitford. U represented Upper & Upper middle class vocabulary of the time and Non-U represented lower middle class vocabulary.
  • Received Pronunciation the so-called Queens English, Britain's Prestige dialect used by Upper Class and Upper Middle class people
  • Estuary English - Traditionally a lower middle class accent from Southern England now more widely used and influencing RP
  • Cockney - Traditionally the working class accent of London
  • Mockney - A deliberate affectation of the working-class London (Cockney) accent by Middle class people to gain "street credibility"

[edit] UK Social Stereotypes

[edit] Sources