By John Jenkinson

An examination of the wills and inventories of our predecessors in the area¹ gives us an insight into their lives and sometimes shows how they lived and worked.

Unfortunately, the occupations of the testators are not often recorded, however an assumption can be made from the goods they left, which are set out in the inventories made by the appraisers (vi.) and from the legacies left in the wills.

In the 38 wills and inventories examined from Silverdale from the seventeenth century everyone, without exception, shows the testator to have had some connection with agriculture to a greater or lesser extent. This even includes those of the four widows. An inventory of the deceased’s goods was within a short period of the death by “appraisers”, usually four local people chosen to “prize”, or value, the goods of a testator as was required by law before probate could be obtained. The names of the same appraisers appear a number of times in different inventories. They would have been respected neighbours, and some of them could possibly write. It is very difficult to get a clear picture of the value of the property of the deceased as so often items are lumped together and then one value given for a group of things. Also, it would seem that low values were given when compared with a value shown when, for example, an item had been sold and payment was outstanding at death, such as in the case of Robert Hadwen who died in 1637. He was owed £4 for a cow he had sold. No cow is valued as highly as this for probate purposes. The nearest was a cow owned by JohnWalling which was valued at £3 in 1647.

It is quite common to find that a will was made only a few days before death, and it appears there was a general reluctance to make one until the last moment. Was this because goods might be disposed of before death and to alter the will might involve cost or difficulty, or because there was a superstition that to make a will might hasten death? In one case a very wealthy man, Hewgh Cornthwaite made a nuncupative² will on the 29th March, 1624 which means he had left things a bit too late to make a written will. He was buried on the 30th March.

Hewgh Cornthwaite left an estate valued at £310-4s-7d, of which £288-5s-3d was in respect of money out on loan, the majority “upon … Bonds and Bills”. That is to say he must have had some formal evidence of the loan. Many people, including Hewgh himself, also lent money without any bond, presumably as part of the neighbourly transaction of business. Hewgh was obviously acting as the local banker, as possibly was Richard Cornthwet, who died in 1609. His estate was worth £34-9s-1d, of which £10-7s-8d was owed to him “upon mortgage”. At his death he also owed debts of £10-0s-6d. I have not traced any relationship between Richard and Hewgh.

Many of the wills and inventories detail money owed to and by the estate of the deceased. From the number of times these occur it is apparent that either there was a credit type of system in operation, or there was a shortage of coin to exchange for goods. Some of the amounts owing are for very small sums, ld or 2d not being uncommon. It is quite surprising to find that the dying person could remember the number of people and the amounts they owed and were owed, bearing in mind that many of the population could not read or write in the 17th century. If memory only was being relied on, how did a person who had only a few days or hours to live, manage to recall who owed him money and to whom he owed money?

As well as from agriculture many of the Silverdale residents obtained a part of their livelihood from the sea. This is evident from the number of times nets that are included in the inventories. No mention is made of boats. The fishing must have been carried out, as at Flookborough now, without the use of boats.

One will, from a little before the 17th century, shows that George Corless was a webster in1589. Amongst other things he had

“two pair of stoodles³ with all other his workeloons appertaynine his occupation as a websterre”.

These were valued at 13s 4d. He also owned, among other things, “half a fryen panne, and 4 lyttle ayle pottes” valued at 8d. One wonders who owned the other half! In another inventory, that of Robert Burton in 1608, it is recorded that he had “13 lambes and a halfe” valued at £1.

As might be expected, in the few cases where the documents give the occupation of the testator, it is usually in farming. John Wilson (1632), John Bancke (1632), Robert Jackson (1641) and Thomas Clarke (1680) were all husbandmen. The yeomen were; William Burrow the elder (1639) and Thomas Burton (1697). The only other occupations recorded in the wills or inventories are :- William Clarke, a fisherman (1666), whose “nettes” were valued at 2s, Christopher Walker who was a shearman in 1690 and George Corless, the webster mentioned above. There may have been a musician in the community. The value of the goods of Thomas Jackson, who died in 1628, was £2-12s-0d and out of this he owed £1-14s- 9d. His inventory reveals “his pipes” valued at 2s. It appears from his will that these pipes may have been musical pipes as he left Thomas Burrow his “great pypes” and Richard Birkett his “smallpypes”.

Many families engaged in spinning as a part time occupation. Three spinning wheels are recorded in the first half of the century and six in the second half.

Horses, cows, sheep and swine are often shown in the inventories as is to be expected. Only four inventories mention oxen. They were those of Robert Burton in 1608 (mentioned above), who had two oxen valued at £4, Richard Cornthwet in 1609, William Burrow the elder in1640 and Guilian Cornthwait in 1668.

As far as crops are concerned the most common were oats and barley, peas and beans and hemp. Corn is quite often quoted, but there is no clue as to whether “corn” was used locally only for certain cereals or for all. It is unlikely to have meant Indian corn, or maize. This was known about in the seventeenth century, but even in the eighteenth century it does not seem to have been a Lancashire crop⁴.

Funeral expenses are stated a few times, but only for small amounts such as 5s, £l and £1-6s-8d. Only in one case, in December 1605, when John Bancke was buried, are the costs quantified in the inventory of his goods :-

Funerall expenses In primis to Edward Cornthwet borrowed money .. 10s more to him for bread drinke and chese⁵ .. 2s 4d Item to Robert Hadwen 22d Item to Thomas Banke for a sheet .. … 3s

John Bancke was not a rich man. His gross estate was “£12-5s-4d and he owed £6-1s-1ld of this.Sugar, tea and coffee, things we take for granted now, do not appear in any of the inventories. Malt and ale pots get mentions, and bees and hives appear quite often. The honey was obviously used for sweetening, and ale or beer was drunk.

Salt tubs and flesh tubs were owned by a number of people and were used for preserving meat. Beef and bacon were preserved, but no mention is made of mutton. In one case, where the owner died in December there is an item for “Flesh, fish, tallow, meal and malt” valued at £1. A day to day catch of fish would hardly likely to be mentioned, so it is reasonable to assume that it was salted fish in this case.

As was to be expected in an agrarian community which owned many cows, butter and cheese appear in a number of inventories; and in one case there was a cheese press.

Guilian Cornthwait, who owned 2 oxen and had an estate valued at £119-6s-1d, was one of the few who owned vegetables of any value. He had “pasnebs, carats, onyans, meelens⁶ and racks⁷” valued at 5s. The only other list to mention what could have been vegetables was that of John Bisbrowne. He was another wealthy man who left £108-10s-0d. He had”uninens and other od things” valued at 2s.

To give some idea of the value of money, a 41b loaf cost 5p in the 1540’s, 1-1.5p in 1600 and 2.5p in 1700. The Reverend Richard Baxter, writing in 1691 commented on the fact that poor tenants were lucky if they managed to buy a piece of hanged bacon once a week “enough totrie the stomach of an ostrige“. He added “he is a rich man that can affordf to eate a jointe of fresh meate once in a month or a fortnight⁸“.

Notes

1. The wills and inventories for Silverdale are held at the Lancashire Record Office. ↩︎
2. Nuncupative; of wills; oral not written Oxford English Dictionary. ↩︎
3. Stoodles or studdles; The upright posts of a loom. Oxford English Dictionary. ↩︎
4. John Holt, General View of the Agriculture of the County of Lancaster 1795, (reprint1969). ↩︎
5. For the custom of giving cheese away at funerals see J.D. Marshall, “A Funereal Custom” ↩︎
6. Meelens. Possibly, at this early date, meaning a pumpkin. (see Oxford English Dictionary”melon”). ↩︎
7. Rack. Perhaps the (vegetable)-rack for storing the produce of the vegetable garden. ↩︎
8. Quoted in Leith McCrandle, Cost of Living in Britain, p.52, 1973 ↩︎