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  • Merchant Prince?

    Does anyone know what the Victorian meaning of the phrase "Merchant Prince" is when applied to a person?

  • #2
    Not sure if this will help will keep looking though.

    Merchant
    Jen

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    • #3
      Sound like what O.C. would scathingly refer to as nouveau riche or "trade" lol

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      • #4
        "a merchant of great wealth, power and consequence", according to Chambers dictionary.
        KiteRunner

        Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
        (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

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        • #5
          Had a google and found this definition

          "Rich and powerful merchant.
          An extremely wealthy, powerful and prestigious merchant, especially in Renaissance Italy."


          ~ FOR PHOTO RESTORATIONS PLEASE SCAN AT A RESOLUTION OF 300-600 WITH THE SCALE AT 100% MINIMUM ~ http://restoreandcolour.brainwaving.co.uk

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          • #6
            Oh - just had a google, there is a book called this, biography of some Canadian chap(looks like I guessed right?)

            . McRae was Vancouver's "merchant prince," a businessman, a self-made aristocrat

            I guess our equivalent would be someone like Richard Branson
            Last edited by Heather Positive Thinker; 13-05-08, 11:24.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Heather Positive Thinker View Post
              Sound like what O.C. would scathingly refer to as nouveau riche or "trade" lol
              OC and my mother! lol

              Thank you for your replies everyone.

              First and second generation mega-wealth from the sale of tea would definitely fit then.

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              • #8
                Yes, definitely "trade", lol.

                I think it was one of those snobby Victorian class things - can afford to live like royalty, my dear, but all their money is from Trade, so they will not be Received at Court.

                OC

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                • #9
                  My mother suits the Victorian era better than the times she has lived through!

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                  • #10
                    Oh, I never thought of it being used in that kind of way, looking down on them, I thought of it as being used to show admiration for them?
                    KiteRunner

                    Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                    (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Oooh, noooo, my dear!! You wouldn't wish to be associated with "trade" lol

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                      • #12
                        Kate

                        Well, I suppose it depends on where you are when you're looking at them - underneath them or above them, lol.

                        OC

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                          Kate

                          Well, I suppose it depends on where you are when you're looking at them - underneath them or above them, lol.

                          OC
                          lol OC, not so much that, but where you perceive yourself as looking from!

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                          • #14
                            I just mean whenever I've heard the term used, it's probably been in the narration of documentaries about bold adventurers opening up trade routes and so on, so it sounds impressive to me.
                            KiteRunner

                            Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                            (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              If you are a professional you have the right to look down on trade! (this thread is sounding decidedly dodgy!)

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                              • #16
                                Kate

                                Possibly it stems from the situation when only Royalty (Princes) had the money to go exploring and opening up trade routes?

                                It is definitely open to two interpretations - lots of my humble grocers describe themselves as "merchants" on census and certificates etc, so it was seen as something admirable by the working classes.

                                OC

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                                • #17
                                  I suppose if you saw yourself as better class (not necesserily better off financially, but better educated and from better stock) than some upstart son-of-an-ag-lab-who-should-know-his-place, you might feel threatened by their success.....it would therefore be necessary to look down on them in order to remain felling superior!

                                  My mother is only irritated by the ordinary "trade" on our tree, independent shopkeepers and the like.....she is quite happy with the merchant princes! And she was quite cross when I told her we are not related to THE Sainsbury or Clarks Shoes families!!

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                                  • #18
                                    I suppose my Gamage line would be Merchant Princes too

                                    I suppose Howard Hughes is another one that comes to mind and the Marks and Spencers/Tescos/Woolworths of thisworld.


                                    Kate, I think you are referring to an earlier period rather than Victorian. When Merchant Princes were in places like Italy (the Medicis etc.)
                                    Last edited by Heather Positive Thinker; 13-05-08, 12:23.

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                                    • #19
                                      Originally posted by Heather Positive Thinker View Post
                                      I suppose my Gamage line would be Merchant Princes too

                                      I didn't know you are related to them! I have a copy of a Gamages catalogue here....the descriptions of their produces are priceless!

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