[f. ESTATE sb. + MAN; = estate’s man; cf. beadsman, craftsman, etc.] An etymologizing perversion of STATESMAN, a Cumberland or Westmoreland yeoman.
1820. Wordsw., Scen. Lakes (1823), 85. The family of each man, whether estatesman or farmer, formerly had a two-fold support. Ibid., 86. The lands of the estatesmen being mortgaged … they fall into the hands of wealthy purchasers.
