Historical context

People and status words

Registers and wills describe people by their rank and their kin. Many of the words are still in use, but they meant something different.

Rank

Written after a name, often cut short

esq.: Esquire: a rank above a plain gentlemanSmith; Wrightson
gent.: Gentleman: a man who lived without working with his hands See moreSmith; Wrightson
yeoman: A well-off farmer, usually below the gentrySmith; Wrightson
husbandman: A smaller farmer, below a yeomanWrightson
labourer: A man who worked for wagesWrightson

Mr: Master: a man of standing, not 'mister' See moreD&K-S p. 20
Mrs: Mistress: any woman of standing, married or not. It did not mean a wife until much later. See moreD&K-S p. 20; Erickson

Cousin: Could mean almost any relative: a nephew, a niece, an in-lawCressy
Brother and sister: Could mean in-laws too, so a will's 'brother' may be a sister's husbandCressy
Natural son: A son by blood. It can mean born outside marriage, but not always: read the rest of the entry.Cressy

Latin forenames: Latin entries give names in Latin: Johannes or Iohannes for John, Willelmus for William, Ricardus for RichardD&K-S p. 19; Wright
alias: Latin for 'otherwise': John Smith alias Taylor went by both names. Often written als. See moreWright

D&K-S: G. E. Dawson and L. Kennedy-Skipton, Elizabethan Handwriting 1500–1650 (1966)
Wright: A. Wright, Court-Hand Restored (10th edn, 1879)
Smith: Sir Thomas Smith, De Republica Anglorum (1583), book 1
Wrightson: K. Wrightson, English Society 1580–1680 (1982)
Erickson: A. L. Erickson, 'Mistresses and marriage: or, a short history of the Mrs', History Workshop Journal 78 (2014)
Cressy: D. Cressy, 'Kinship and kin interaction in early modern England', Past & Present 113 (1986)

Facts from these sources, in our own words. Page numbers are the printed pages.