For English native speakers: why people in some older novels call each other by last name only?

In real life, we don't always put a Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss prefix in.

Using last names only is a more formal way of addressing someone than using first names. Granted, this practice isn't popular now, not without the prefixes. But in the Narnia book, as Eustace and Jill went through adventures together, you'll notice they sometimes call each other by their first names when they feel especially close to one another.

To extend on what others said, it used to be (and possibly still is) quite common for students in English schools to be addressed or referred to by their last name only. The honorifics "Mr." and "Mrs." were for adults. (You can read the same conventions in the "Harry Potter" books.) So Jill and Eustace, since they know each other from school, would call each other Scrubb and Pole. As they become closer, they call each other by their first names, which is more intimate. I'm afraid I haven't read Tai-Pan, but since Dirk Struan is Scottish I imagine that his former schoolmates would continue to call him "Struan" -- as adults, it would be somewhat informal, a recognition that the speaker is of equal status with the person they're addressing, and also (perhaps) a way of saying "we were students together, look how long we've known each other."

In my experience this form of address is a specific tradition of England, and would be considered an affectation if an American or other English-speaker used it.

It used to be that only family or close friends were allowed to use your first name, as macdelanoche put.

I wanted to draw the similarities to the way many of the Japanese use family names. Over in Japan it is also common for people to call peers by their last names instead of their first names & often times they will drop the "mrs, mr, ms, ect" from the name.

I think that many times the intention of dropping the honorific is usually a sign of showing familiarity- i.e. they know each other well enough to where they feel comfortable to use their surname as if it was their first name & are approaching more of a friendship but are not familiar enough to use their first name. It can also be used as a blatant sign of disrespect, since if they are not familiar with the person or friendly with them it is seen as disrespectful. It can also be used as a nickname.

I think that in the end the tone of the person using the given name shows what their intentions are using the name. Sometimes people deliberately drop the prefix in order to relax the situation, but it is just as likely that they are trying to draw the person's attention to the fact that they are trying to insult them.

Not too long ago, people were much more formal with each other. Christian, or first names, were normally only used, within families (Even then, not always.), or between very close friends.

In some countries these formalities are still observed. I found that in small villages, in Germany, it was necessary to observe the two standards of familiarity. i.e. Sie und Du.

Full titles were always used and it took a long time, for this to be bypassed.

In some ways, life is much simpler, when standards and rules of etiquette are observed.

This is a very interesting question Dennis and in practice this is a lot rarer than it used to be but is still current. I can think of four types of people who habitually use surnames 1) well-educated or those attending expensive schools, 2) those who take it on as an affectation or as some sort of joke (in a sense using the surname can be as"intimate" as the forename", 3) people who have been part of the armed services/police force - where it is commonplace. 4) Academics- people who are used to making references to the work of others

people use last names to show the rest of the ppl around them wat family they r from. like lets say i called u smith, the ppl tht overheard would tht ur father built an airplane or ur great grand father built a boat etc. Last names is like a short way on to getting to know somebody's history and if you don't have a history then it would be hard to excel socially and in the work place.

It was just a form of respect back then.