Kingsman is a rank in the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 equivalent to Private

Private (rank)

A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...

. Historically, it could be applied to any man serving in the British Army from the late 17th century. Today it is only used by the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, which inherited it from the King's Regiment.

Kingsman is also a family name, believed to have derived from certain farmers in Loddington and Broughton, Northamptonshire, England who in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

held their land directly from the king, without any feudal lord in between. Descendant families include Kingman, Kinsman and Kinman.

The word "kingsman" is also a slang term for the large kerchief worn by costermongers.