Bart.

Bart. is a clerk's shortening of the given name Bartholomew. Busy writers cut common first names down to a few letters, often raising the last letters above the line, and the habit runs through deeds, wills, tax lists and census pages.

In English records Bart. after a surname can also mean baronet, a hereditary title. Its position tells you which: before the surname it is the first name Bartholomew; after a full name, as in Sir Jno. Hale, Bart., it is the title.