The historic title White Spur (''alias'' Silver Spur) was a rare variety of English

esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

shire (and possibly the wider

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

). It was defined by

John Weever John Weever (1576–1632) was an English antiquary and poet. He is best known for his ''Epigrammes in the Oldest Cut, and Newest Fashion'' (1599), containing epigrams on Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and other poets of his day, and for his ''Ancient ...

(d.1632) in his ''Antient Funeral Monuments'' and paraphrased from there by John Prince (1643–1723) in his ''Worthies of Devon'', (within his biography of John Copleston "The Great Copleston", Esquire (1475-1550)). Weever classed it as the fourth of five categories of esquires in existence. The title White Spur was an hereditary title of honour, passed via

heirs male In inheritance, a hereditary successor is a person who inherits an indivisible title or office after the death of the previous title holder. The hereditary line of succession may be limited to heirs of the body, or may pass also to collateral l ...

of the family, made by creation of the king. The ceremony was as follows: the king would place a

Collar of Esses A livery collar or chain of office is a collar or heavy chain, usually of gold, worn as insignia of office or a mark of fealty or other association in Europe from the Middle Ages onwards. One of the oldest and best-known livery collars is the C ...

(or SSS) around the recipient's neck and confer upon him a pair of silver spurs. The holders of this title were thus distinguished from knights of the class '' Eques Auratus'' (literally "Golden Knights"), who were entitled to wear gilt spurs.

Usage

The form of usage or style was: "(Surname) the White Spur" (e.g. "Copleston the White Spur").

White Spur families

The title White Spur was very rare and only three families are known to have held it, one in modern times: *Copleston of Copleston in the parish of Colebrooke, Devon. Unusually for such an ancient, prominent and wealthy family, no knighthood was ever conferred on any member, and Prince stated that in place of the honour of knighthood "They rather contented themselves with an hereditary title of honour, given them, 'tis said, only in this county, and now long since worn out of date, being wont to be stiled "Copleston the ''white-spur''". The Devon historian

Tristram Risdon Tristram Risdon (c. 1580 – 1640) was an English antiquarian and topographer, and the author of ''Survey of the County of Devon''. He was able to devote most of his life to writing this work. After he completed it in about 1632 it circulated ar ...

(d.1640) wrote thus of the family of Copleston:

"...who for their fair possessions, their port and the great respect they lived in were intitled "the great Coplestones", besides dignified with the name of ''Whitspurrs'', some time a title of great note and in these western parts of much esteem"

The Devon historian

Pole Pole may refer to: Astronomy *Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets *Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...

(d.1635) stated of the Copleston family:

"...They grewe unto greatness & albeit they had great marriages in lands, yeat hath not any of that famyly bine knighted & therefore they received the name of ''Silver Spurr'' & for their great revenue called "the great Copleston".

*Winslade of Winslade in the parish of

Buckland Brewer Buckland Brewer is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, 4.7 miles south of Bideford. Historically the parish formed part of Shebbear Hundred. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 777, increasin ...

, Devon and of Tregarrick in Cornwall *Wollocombe of Wollocombe ("Over Wollocombe" in the parish of Morthoe) in Devon, identified by Samuel Kent in his 1726 abridgement of ''The Banner Display'd'' by

John Guillim John Guillim (c. 1565 – 7 May 1621) of Minsterworth, Gloucestershire, was an antiquarian and officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He is best remembered for his monumental work on heraldry, ''A Display of Heraldry'', first publi ...

(d.1621)Kent: "Wollocombe...an ancient and gentile family, producing many white spurs of estimation" (quoted in Prince, 1810 edition, additional note 3, p.238

References

History of Devon Honorary titles of the United Kingdom