[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Barons & Baronettes

[Jerry Frank]

There are varying degrees of what constitutes royalty, nobility, 
aristocracy, etc. depending on the country you are dealing with and 
perhaps even the time frame.

One overview of this is provided at 
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/odegard/titlefaq.htm with the specific 
title of Baron being dealt with near the end.  It is not easy to find 
scholarly material with a GOOGLE search as there are so many sites that 
are attempting to sell such titles, probably fraudulently.  Such title 
might arise out of the land ownership status of the person or it could 
be bestowed for meritorious military or other service to royalty.  Just 
because a family ancestor once held noble status, it does not mean that 
you can still claim the same today.  If your family once held a Coat of 
Arms (in German, Wappen), it does not mean you can claim to own it today.

So it seems certain that you are connected to nobility which is nice.  
Whether or not you have connections to royalty will require diligent 
research to see who married who.  The story itself of course has to also 
be verified through research.  Most Thrun I found briefly on the 
Internet seem to originate in Pomerania.  This document 
http://www.buetow-pommern.info/materialien/DOWNLOAD/VEROEFF0.PDF (it is 
very large so expect a long download) lists several of them with 
privileges and land ownership status going back to the 1700s.  The 
amount of land when shown seems minimal so I don't know if they would 
qualify for Baron status or not.


Jerry Frank
Calgary, AB



Lloyd Friedrick wrote:
> Some old letters from my Volhynian relatives refer to our great great grandfather Gottlieb Thrun was known as Baron von Thrun.
>
> A reference in the Odessa site does list him as an landowner near Stettin in old Pomerania.
>
> My view is that the title Baron in the late 1700 - early 1800 simply expressed the fact that the person was a freeholder of land rather than a member of the Aristocracy of the day.
> Many of the younger members of my family of being descendents of the title and their desire to be descended from Royalty.
> I would like to advise them of lesser expectations from this simple reference in our heritage.
>
> Would others on this listserve help me with this issue of explaining a Baron to my young generation. 
>
> lloyd friedrick in Victoria
>
>
>