Spinster tags "spinster" (meaning "...unmarried woman, typically an older woman beyond the usual age for marriage") as "derogatory" and "a good example of the way in which a word acquires strong connotations to the extent that it can no longer be used in a neutral sense." The 1828 and 1913 editions of "Merriam Webster's Dictionary" defined spinster in two ways: "1. A woman who spins, or whose occupation is to spin. 2. Law: An unmarried or single woman." By the 1800s, the term had evolved to include women who chose not to marry. During that century middle-class spinsters, as well as
Certificates of Claim Certificates of Claim Certificates of Claim were a form of legal instrument by which the colonial administration of the British Central Africa Protectorate granted title to individuals, companies and others who claimed to have acquired land within the protectorate by grant or purchase. The proclamation of the British Central Africa Protectorate was endorsed by the Foreign Office in May 1891, and Harry Johnston as Commissioner and Consul-General examined and adjudicated on all claims that land had been acquired before or immediately after that date. Between late 1892 and Match 1894, Johnston issued 59 Certificates of Claim for land, each of