Huh, now that might be one of my kinks... being stained with wine and plum sauce.

If William had been heir to a baronetcy, he would have already been a baronet, since he lived with his widowed mother; and thus he would have been "Sir William."

When will people get it into their heads that William in "Fool for Love" is middle class?

Well, they won't, because he wears a waistcoat and speaks with a British accent.

And we're all posh. You know that, right?

The fanfics I read with him as a baronet or similar were all written prior to S7, when his status was a little more up in the air, since we'd never seen him in his home environment. (Which was actually more wealthy than I'd thought--before then I'd had him pegged as the son of a country curate or doctor or something.)

Unless he was heir because he was the nearest male relative to an aging uncle or something. Still, it seems to me he was middle class, somewhat around Scrooge's level when he was an apprentice, maybe. Though, that wouldn't rule out him being the nearest male relative to an aging uncle. His father could have been a younger son who went into trade.

Unless he was heir because he was the nearest male relative to an aging uncle or something.

Heh, OK, good point. (Also, true enough, Susan, we're not aware that his mother is widowed until S7).

I think Fiona is pretty much on the money, though!

Oh, definitely. All Brits are the nearest heir to someone with a title, and all Aussies ride about in the outback on horses or 4-wheelers (depending on what movies you've watched) and hate 'roos and drink too much and refuse to give up their plum pudding because it's traditional. Australia has no cities except that big one where the Opera house looms over the ocean, and England is all London, except for the pretty bits in the Lake District. New Zealand has no cities at all, and is all wild, green sheep country, except for the parts where the Maori live. I don't believe there are sheep there. Ireland is all misty and sheep-filled and Scotland is all craggy mountain and deep lake.

I think that pretty much sums up what I've learned about my world from popular books and movies. (Don't even try to tell me there are other parts I missed.)

What about the whole "impoverished gentry" dealy-o? Or couldn't he have an older half brother who got the goods and he was left with nothing? (Hey, I've seen Sense & Sensibility).

Hobbits live in NZ, don't forget that.

William had never been shown to have a profession, so there must have been some money somewhere. Not enough for him to have proper clothes for a party, but what can you do?

The fact that, at his age, he didn't work, could mean moderately impoverished gentry, or could mean jumped up middle class with doting mother.

I'd forgotten the hobbits. Sorry.