] I am not sure which website says that knighthoods were confined to the nobility, until the 18th century. Could you be more specific?

From the royal.uk site:

"Until the beginning of the nineteenth century, appointment to the Orders of chivalry in England was restricted to members of the aristocracy and high-ranking military figures. "

] 5) I cannot say however, if knighthoods were being readily granted outside the aristocracy and the gentry, but consider this - achievement of gentry status was not that difficult for a man with some money.

I guess what I was trying to get a feel for was whether Sir William, being knighted could be compared to similar knights today. ie if one was/is a significant leader in one's line of business, and/or rendered significant public service. Sir William made his money in trade (business in modern terms?), and was Mayor of Meryton. However, you couldn't make it to a knight bachelor these days just by having a small business and being mayor of a small town.

] As for Sir William Lucas, well, we know that he had been mayor of Meryton, and that he was knighted and went to St. James's. We also know that his wealth and income were not really sufficient for his pretensions (not so much from the fact that his daughter Charlotte cooked, but from other sources). We don't know for certain how his knighthood was obtained, and we can only speculate.

If only there was a list of such knights from the time. It might give us a reference point (eg if Sir Isaac Newton were a knight bachelor, Sir WL would be in good company).

] And knights bachelor are very different (and lower-ranked) than knights of orders of chivalry. Today you can be OBE or CBE without being a knight, but I am not sure that those ranks were available in Regency times (I think not). If I recall correctly, the distinctions in civilian life were as follows:

The OBE and CBE were relatively recent.

(Schnipp!)

] 4) being made a knight bachelor

Still, I guess he outranked Caroline Bingley. ;)