Intimate Worlds

Womens’ Wills and Inventories

This article contributes to the broader historical picture of women’s friendships, associations, and charitable actions through the close examination of the private lives of the female inhabitants of town of Nantwich. It explores kinship and offers close details of relationships that challenge heteronormative definitions of intimate relationships to enhance our understanding of the intensities of intimacy in early modern families. While there is a lot written about female aristocracies, less is written about the lives of less significant personages. In the intimate world of kin and community, the following essay forms an analysis of wills and inventories to explore the details concerning the everyday existence and private lives of the less celebrated women of the town of Nantwich from the period of 1603 to 1684. The wills record the personal belongings that women bequeathed to others and reveal the particulars about their everyday lives that other sources do not. Nantwich wills and inventories contain evidence about the emotions and minutiae of women’s lives. What is offered here is a careful reading of these resources to allow the details of the relationships feelings and desires of Nantwich women to become known. ¹

The most obvious function of a will is to set out a testator’s wish concerning the distribution of assets and transfer of property at death. Wills and inventories present a rare and intimate perception of women’s relationships with the broader world in which they lived. They provide a helpful means to obtain a picture of the valuables and goods that women owned at the end of their lives. Through the legal process of recording the conditions of the transfer of property, they allow an insight into the private lives of the women concerned.

As well as the more commonplace and fundamental facts about her distribution of property and possessions, the will acts as a statement of female emotional investment and declares a woman’s most cherished desires, offering an insight into an important awareness of the way they thought about their personal relationships as well as into the facts and statistics about their life cycles. Wills are initially private documents, their contents only become public knowledge following the death of the testator. Once the contents have been announced wills “transform their makers, inheritors, and the relationship they share from familial and interpersonal to communal and public contexts.” ² Some women refer in the wills to their intimate associations with their friends, while one or two hint at a secret love affair, or as one testator did, signifies particular care for a “special friend.” ³ Through the medium of the will, they express their concerns for kinship relations and their children, and their wills express the details of the many ways in which that they provided well-being and financial support for loved ones. One of the defining features of the wills being examined in this article is the emotional investment in friends and family that they display. The wills convey a sense of friendship that is difficult to access for women who did not of necessity write letters or leave other traces of their emotional lives in extant written records. A number of Nantwich women’s wills show that some women regularly endowed poor families with the means to support themselves and often they convey the love they felt for their friends, expressing their affection for the church they attended as well as the love they experienced in caring for their animals, such as “tage” the cow and her calf, “dearinge.” ⁴

The use of wills as an historical source has increased dramatically during the last forty years. Two million wills are extant from the 1550s to the 1750s, and of these, women’s wills constitute 20 percent. ⁵ In spite of the large numbers of existing wills, in 1974 Margaret Spufford was able to state that “wills are largely unused by local historians.” ⁶ Rich studies have been conducted using wills to demonstrate the spread of Protestantism across England, inheritance practices, and literacy. ⁷ However, there are a number of shortcomings when using wills as an historical source that must be acknowledged. The content is circumscribed by their legal format, and particularly, the survival of wills has been inconsistent across dioceses and counties, which is particularly biased by age, social class, and gender. Despite these shortcomings, the wills made by Nantwich women between 1603 and 1684 do provide a significant insight into women’s family and community links, business ventures, and final wishes and most importantly, demonstrate strong bonds among the Nantwich female community. ⁸

As shown in Table 1, in Nantwich, between 1603 and 1684, there was a total number of 224 wills proved. Almost a third of these wills belonged to women. Of the eighty-seven wills belonging to women, seventy-one of these were registered as “widows” and sixteen as “spinsters.” An investigation of all proved Nantwich wills, found that between the decade of 1660 and 1670, there was a total number of ninety-eight wills; and, in this decade, it was women, with a total number of fifty-nine, who left the higher proportion of wills. The number of men who left wills was considerably less, with only thirty-nine wills. Most of the wills analyzed were “Supra,” that is they consisted of estates of £40 or over. Of the eighteen wills which were “Infra,” that is, leaving a sum of less than £40, only seven belonged to women, while eleven “Infra wills” belonged to men. The numbers of Nantwich women who left wills above £40 is remarkable, especially since women are usually considered to have been the dependent partners of men though it could also mean that wives were outliving their husbands. In the light of this finding, the high proportion of wills of Nantwich women has been investigated further here to find out more about the contribution of women in general to the economy of Nantwich. This investigation of the wills of the earlier period establishes that it was not unusual for women to own substantial amounts of property, nor was it out of the ordinary for them to provide livelihoods for others. The findings of this study accord with those of Alexandra Shepard who argues that women “did indeed contribute an army of wage labour to the early modern economy,” and it was not just single women contributing but also married and widowed women. ⁹

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Table 1.

Total Number of Wills Left by Nantwich Men and Women between the Years 1603 and 1684.

Wills left by men	137
Wills left by women	87
Number of wills left by widows	71
Number of wills left by spinsters	16
Total combined number of wills	224

Besides containing the details of relationships, the wills and inventories of Nantwich women provide an intimate account of the lives of women from inside the home. In addition to recording important personal concerns, such as religious belief, attitudes about family life and the running of households, wills and inventories principally display a woman’s worldly possessions and the accumulation of wealth, and in some cases, the lack of it, that a woman accrued throughout the span of her life. In this respect, they represent a useful register of a woman’s financial circumstances. Evidence presented by the wills demonstrate that Nantwich women took advantage of the legal right to pass on their possessions to future generations. Women in the early modern economy were often in charge of “asset management.” ¹⁰ Wealth was generally associated with the possession of goods rather than a work-related income. The ways in which they decided to dispose of their possessions is an indicator of financial choice. Nantwich women’s wills indicate that they enjoyed financial freedom and exerted preference for the distribution of their wealth both in their own daily lives and after their death through their financial provision for others. Wills not only contain what a woman was “worth” in wealth but also sketch out how she was ranked in the local social hierarchy, the private details of her place within her family, her position in the community, and, often, they possess details of her occupation. Through a record of their belongings and their desires, they not only represent the specific minutiae of their lives but also leave behind a record of their attitudes and mentalities. In addition to recording the personal matters of the women who registered them, the wills and inventories of single independent women known as spinsters lay out in material terms the circumstances of women who were to some extent financially independent in early modern Nantwich society. However, not all women recorded their desires in a will, so the wills and inventories are able only to reflect a limited perspective in relating the details of the daily lives of the women, and so these findings do not apply broadly to all women but are specific to Nantwich women in particular, where female-centered families display resilience and significant emotional investment. Further research is important to discover knowledge of the broader circumstances of daily female existence. ¹¹

Before turning to my examination of the wills, I would like to outline some contextual facts about the town of Nantwich itself. Nantwich, in the seventeenth century, was a wealthy market town situated in Cheshire in northwest England. It was economically developed with a strong nonconformist element and had significant trading links with London. Geographically, it was located at a strategic communications point at the center of two main arterial routes between the north and the south. Although Nantwich was a wealthy town, as with many other towns of the same period, it experienced significant social discord. This conflict was further pronounced in Nantwich during the decade of 1660–1670. While the prevailing economic and social conditions of the town were important determinants of the levels of female independence within the domestic sphere, in practice, the wills demonstrate that women played an important role in the financial management of huge estates and in household management more generally. The wills show that they were also active participants in the domestic industry, were skilled in matters pertaining to agriculture while others were proficient in the professions of midwifery and nursing. ¹²

Nantwich’s prosperity was derived from the salt industry, dairying, and shoemaking. The manufacture of salt, which had taken place since the middle ages in Nantwich, began to decline in the mid-seventeenth century and shifted to Northwich and Middlewich which were closer to the Lancashire coalfields. ¹³ The decline in the salt industry in Nantwich was one of a number of economic features that disrupted the lives of many people in early modern Nantwich. ¹⁴ Women were particularly involved in salt making, alehouse keeping, shoemaking, and dairying, many houses contained “butteries.” Women appear to have often owned the tools of their trade, passing on occupations through leaving trade utensils to particular family members. ¹⁵

The kinds of financial freedoms that are expressed in these documents are evidence of significant female agency and financial independence in the town life of early modern England. The wills and inventories of Nantwich women show that many females were figures of importance in the Nantwich property-owning class. Nantwich women were also in control of earning a living in a number of occupations, and their wills provide a clear picture of the finer details of the society they belonged to as well as information about the economy of Nantwich. They record details about the female contribution to the Nantwich economy in areas such as salt manufacture, husbandry, shoemaking, and other trades such as tanning and dairy-making activities and shopkeeping. A third of all the Infra wills (those below £40) and inventories proved in the Chester Consistory Court between 1603 and 1684 belonged to women. While the wills, in some instances, may also provide a key to the geographical distribution of the female population, more importantly they reflect upon the intimate aspects of female social life, such as the kinds of homes in which women lived, the possessions they owned, their skills and interests and the care of children, their education, as well as additional information about their servants; their debts and creditors; cultural customs surrounding death; and their thoughts about life after death. In uncovering some of the lesser-known facts about women such as these, it is this portrait of family life and social life that the wills make available that is of significance.

This investigation finds that some Nantwich women were substantial landowners who distributed their wealth according to their own wishes after their deaths. ¹⁶ Through their wills, women express most vehemently their concerns for their kinfolk, their servants, friends, children, families, nieces, and nephews. In some cases, provision was made through the will for the education of children and the children of friends—indicating emotional investment beyond the household. The wills confirm that wealthy women often bequeathed land, businesses, houses, jewelry, money, gold, cattle, horses, and riding gear. The wills show that some women were also moneylenders. The details of money lending appeared frequently in the Nantwich wills and as the interpretation below will confirm, some women specified their debtors by name, and with regard to unpaid bills, they wrote that that the outstanding debt should be paid to her closest remaining family member even after her death. ¹⁷

Intense expressions of emotion characterizes Nantwich women’s most intimate desires. They express a range of emotion from the deepest compassion and tenderness to feelings of disdain for family members that might quarrel over financial legacy. Occasionally, as demonstrated above, some women even sought to obtain payment of debts from beyond the grave, while other womenfolk clearly liked to celebrate their lives and they left generous provision for others to conduct a celebration in their name after they had passed on. For example, many women left money to pay for festivities to be held in their absence or set aside an amount of money in advance for the cost of a wake. Deep kindnesses are frequently expressed, as are intense and extensive feelings of charity and love. With regard to hardship, Nantwich women similarly expressed a strong sense of understanding of the real-world demands experienced by their female kinfolk and made reference to the practicalities of survival in an often brutal world, often going beyond expressing feelings to acting on them by setting aside sums of money to enable others who were less fortunate to transcend life’s financial hardships. Often, the wills show that many women bequeathed money to the poor, indicating a sense of strong social responsibility among the community.

Female Occupation, Property Ownership, and Distribution of Wealth

Nantwich women’s wills record information about the ways in which women earned a living. Shoemaking, dairying, salt manufacture, husbandry and alehouse keeping were some of the businesses under their control. The wills are informative about the size and types of houses they lived in, whether or not they had servants, what the functions were of the many rooms in their houses, what kinds of possessions women owned, and the numbers of children and grandchildren they had.

It is clear from the wills that some women owned vast sums of money, huge expanses of land, large tenements, buildings, “messuages” (dwellings with outbuildings and land), and pastureland. Some women were mercers, tanners, and gentlewomen, while others owned only a pig and a few household essentials. The latter were in the minority, however. There were women who bequeathed huge amounts of money to relatives and charities, while others bequeathed small legacies and more modest amounts of money to the poor. Nantwich women particularly favored the poor of Hospital Street and Welsh Row. Many bequeathed sums to provide a living for their female kinfolk, particularly widows, or those who may not have been able to support themselves. Jewelry, household equipment, furniture, and clothes were also bequeathed to remaining relatives and friends. It was the case with most, though not all of the wills, that women usually bequeathed what they owned to female relatives, female friends, or female kinsfolk, while a few, but not many, favored their sons.

The contents of several typical wills are examined and set out below, beginning with Elizabeth Walsh who died in 1662 and was a tanner by trade. An inventory of her goods revealed that in her possession were hides, calve skins, horsehides, and swine hides worth £47.10s. She owned money and property to the amount of £328.12s.6d. and also possessed a “pew situate in the new orrell in Nantwich church.” ¹⁸ Within her household, she employed servants; to one servant, she bequeathed 20s. Her son, Richard Jackson, also received legacies from her. Elizabeth’s grandchildren had £10 each placed into trust for them until they reached twenty-one years. Clearly, this well demonstrates that in Nantwich, as with towns elsewhere in England, servants were regarded as family.

Salt making in Beam Street had occupied the time of Mary Lovett who died in 1663. She had enjoyed such a good relationship with her neighbors, that she asked Robert Milton, to whom she referred as “her loving neighbour,” to “oversee the performance of this last will.” ¹⁹ Besides owning ten copper pans, she owned a shop and everything in it. Her home, as with most others in Nantwich, contained a buttery. She was also a practical woman. To her daughter, Margaret Price, she bequeathed “two pans,” from which she hoped she would earn a living and she left a note that requested “a pair of sheets to wind me in.” ²⁰

Mercer, Elizabeth Arcoll, who also died in 1663, owned a shop and had made a living from selling cloth and may also have been a seamstress. Inside her house, there were five rooms; her servant, John Brown, occupied one. She owned books, furniture, and linen assessed to the value of £235.19s.11d., “£25.7s.0d. in ready money” and £120 in bonds and bills. Ralph Cardiff her nephew and his wife, who owed her money, were asked “to pay the debt to their own children.” ²¹ She bequeathed money and her bed to her sister, Katherine Bicketon, and she appointed women as “executrixes” and left £15 for each of them to distribute “in good discretion.” ²² Indicating trust among kinsfolk.

The wills and inventories of such wealthy women as these in Nantwich between 1660 and 1670 show that they usually passed on their wealth to other women. Some women, such as Elizabeth Crewe, Elizabeth Wright, and Katherine Fowler, owned vast tracts of land as well as numerous properties. One particular woman who owned and distributed property was Elizabeth Crewe of Hospital Street. She was an important figure in Nantwich. ²³ She owned a great deal of land and property and had a hand in salt making, cattle, and retailing. She owned “messuages, cottages and shops, burgages, [parcels of land], wallings, [salt] lands, goods cattels [livestock] and personal estate.” ²⁴ Her sons Edward, Thomas, and Joseph and daughters Elizabeth and Martha shared the land. In 1656, she bequeathed money to the poor in Hospital Street. ²⁵ Alice Ackson, unlike Elizabeth Crewe, who shared her wealth among her children according to her own wishes, distributed her land and property according to her “last husband’s will.” ²⁶ She did, however, leave a note to provide a “kinswoman who dwells with me, the sum of 10s.” ²⁷ Elizabeth Podmore gave to Ellen Pemberton “a tenement” and to Elizabeth Reed the sum of £10 and her bed. ²⁸

Ellen Wright of Nantwich lived in a large house which was well furnished with eleven rooms. Upon her death in 1667, her “land and temporal estate at Stapley, Withencroft” she gave to her daughter, Jane Podmore. ²⁹ Pasture in Greenfield, Stapley, which she wrote was “purchased after Lord Cromwell,” and the sum of £682.14s.11d., she gave to Ann Wilson and her children. Bushels of rye and barley and sums of money were also required “to be paid weekly” to female members of the family. She provided money for “her servant and four orphans.” ³⁰ Similarly, Margaret Gleeve in 1668 left a house and £216.8s.8d. to her daughters Marjorie, Anne, and Sarah Gleeve “a house where they dwell betwixt them.” ³¹

A number of women expressed concern about women who were unable to support themselves. Katherine Fowler was one such person. Upon her death in 1668, the majority of her estate was given to females. She was less generous to her son who was required to repay debts. Land and properties, jewelry, and large sums of money she gave to her four children Richard, Abigail, Sarah, and Hanna and £100 which she gave to her daughter-in-law, Hester Wright. The land, messuages, tenements, and holdings in Hankelow that she owned were transferred to her daughter, Rachael Bryant. Her son Fowler, however, was requested to pay the sum of £50 that he owed her to her grandchildren. She left carpets, rings, and a silver spoon to her grandson. Her clothes and “£3 a peece” went to her maidservants, Sarah Steel and Ellen Woodnott. ³²

While most of the wills recorded great sums of money, the wills of some women demonstrate that they owned very little. Some owned only the bed they lay in and a few pieces of furniture. Margaret Dean left her own bed and belongings worth £15.14s.0d. to her son. Her daughter Ann Blagg received 12d., while another daughter Margaret Tompkin received 40s. ³³ Elizabeth Wilde, however, bequeathed only her debt of 9s.4d. to her nephew, to be paid from the sum of £15.7.2d. which she had accrued during her lifetime. ³⁴ Bridget Pickering gave “her bed where she now lies” and £5 to her grandson Samuel Pickering. ³⁵ She left a provision to pay for the education of the children of Nicholas and Margaret Davenport. Her grandchildren Elizabeth, Ambrose, and Hannah each received £5. She mentions her neighbor, a shoemaker, Thomas Proudman, as her special friend ³⁶ Elizabeth Sutton, spinster, left only her clothes which were valued at £4.10s.0d. and goods worth £19.14.0d. ³⁷ Margaret Sparrow, also a spinster, left goods worth £15.15s.0d. ³⁸

The above evidence demonstrates that in the period 1660–1670, it was not unusual for Nantwich women to possess land, property, goods, and money. Since a high proportion of them passed it on to female members of Nantwich, this ensured that women maintained a high profile in the society and economy of Nantwich. Even those who were very poor, indicating emotional investment, often managed to pass on some personal property and belongings, so that they might provide for the welfare of others less fortunate than themselves.

Prosperous Women

Early seventeenth-century women’s wills, as with those of the later period of 1660–1670, demonstrate that several Nantwich women were not only rich but also influential and financially independent. Women were responsible for saving and keeping track of household resources. ³⁹ This was essential women’s work as household possessions were considered the wealth of a particular household. Some women, such as Majorie Clutton, were very wealthy indeed. Marjorie was related to the Wilbrahams, a well-known Nantwich family, and while possessing great wealth, she was a practical woman to the last detail. Upon her death in 1611, her property, two houses, gardens, and appurtenances which she described as having been “lately purchased from William Davenport,” jewelry, money, and gold she bequeathed to the Wilbraham and Clutton families. ⁴⁰ She also owned an estate in Coppenhall. From the sum of £1,468.1s.4d., she provided her “old servant” William Reeve with £5 and “her man Goodyer” with £5, and the same amount to her maid “Eleanor,” while to another maid she gave 2s.6d. She also provided £5 for the poor. Linen, jewelry, and clothes she gave to her daughter Elizabeth Malbon. She asked to be allowed to keep her cattle “on the ground at Wistaston” for one month after her death, so that they might sell the cattle “to the worth thereof.” ⁴¹ The “saddle, bridle, and furniture belonging” that she bequeathed to her cousin, Elizabeth Bostock, confirms that she rode a horse. ⁴²

Anne Mainwaring, who also passed away in 1613, in addition to gold and jewelry, possessed the sum of £437.6s.8d. Her sons, Thomas and Roger, were her main benefactors. She did, however, ensure that the debts that were outstanding to her were paid; her will records the details of a “bill of debt where Richard Venables of Austersen are indebted to her.” This was to be paid to her “servant Anne Moss.” ⁴³ This provision was not so generous as it might have been since the obligation would surely have been placed on Anne Moss to attempt to recover the debt. Margaret Wright, whose will was proved in 1617, was even more prosperous than Anne Mainwaring. She owned two houses and money to the amount of £792.17s.4d. Her entire estate was passed on to a relative Majorie Wright. In addition, she left £20 to the poor of Nantwich. ⁴⁴ Gentlewoman Elizabeth Clutton, who died three years later, had money to the value of £359.18.6d. The money, land, and estates she gave to a relative, Margaret. ⁴⁵ Upon Anne Wilkes’ death in 1621, her will showed that she owned numerous properties. Among her holdings were “messuages, appurtenences, moyeties in the garden called Bartons garden, moyeties [sic] in the orchard called Barton’s orchard, one meadow, a little meadow, one whychhouse, place of 12 leads, and all walling and appurtenences.” ⁴⁶ She left this, with “goods, chattels, and cattle” and the sum of £181.5s.11d. to her daughter. ⁴⁷ Katherine Cheetwood upon her death in 1627 gave all her worldly possessions of £117.14s.0d. to her sister. ⁴⁸ In the same year, Ann Wilbraham bequeathed a legacy to Andrew Gannel and his children of £600. ⁴⁹ In 1627 also, Elizabeth Myles’ will showed that she owned a nine-roomed house, possessed a bible and other books, and also owned £276.7s.2d. in ready money. ⁵⁰

Regarding financial independence, the evidence below suggests that some women were independent and in control of large households as well as skilled in matters of husbandry. For example, in 1628, Cecilia Venables, who practiced husbandry, passed on the tools of her trade to her son, Richard Venables, “in lieu of £4 left to him by her husband, John Venables.” A “whole team of horses” with “furniture” and “all [my] implements of husbandry whatsoever.” ⁵¹ Inside her house were beds and household goods. She owned “one cow called Tage, with her calf,” and another which she called dearinge. ⁵² These were given to her daughter with three mares, four kine, twenty heffers, three strikes, one calf and a half calf, ten sheep, corn growing in the ground, ploughs, carts, yokes, chains, horse chains, gears, and all equipment of husbandry. She recorded a debt outstanding to her of £2.25s.8d. ⁵³ Of the 113 wills of women proved between 1625 and 1650, only five were Infra wills. This means that almost all of those who left wills during this period owned goods or money above the value of £40.

Women and Credit

Not all Nantwich women were rich. Some of them lived on credit, and even beyond death, Nantwich people tried to ensure that those who owed them money paid sums back to remaining relatives. For instance, Ann Salmon’s inventory of 1630 contained a list of debtors in “bills and bonds and specialities.” ⁵⁴ One of her debtors was Widow Lovett who owed her £15.8s.0d. She named a further fourteen others who also owed her money. One of the women named was Marjorie Elcocke, mother of Anne Knutsford, a notorious midwife who was to be the cause of much disharmony in Nantwich in the year of 1663. ⁵⁵ Ann Salmon herself was not without debt, because she owed money to five people. Each was named, with the amount carefully recorded, so that her creditors could pay out her debts.

The credits and debts of Ann Salmon demonstrate the common state of business transactions for this period. Craig Muldrew argues that “almost all market transactions were done on credit, from the highest level of mercantile payments to purchases of gloves, or beer.” ⁵⁶ Credit was used as a substitute for money which meant there was a personal element to the extension of credit throughout this period. Households were bound together through economic and social dependency as the web of transactions conducted by Ann Salmon throughout her lifetime show.

Women and Charity

Some women wills demonstrate that they were wealthy at the end of their lives. Margaret Mainwaring, for example, at her death in 1632, had no debts or creditors and had her wealth invested in land. She owned books, a coat of arms, and goods worth £122.19s.1d. In addition, she possessed a “tenement called Winsley in Middlwich parish” which she passed on to her daughter, Margaret. ⁵⁷

Of all the women’s wills of Nantwich studied here, the most substantial will belonged to gentlewoman and spinster Ann Wright who died in 1634. She lived in a very large house. ⁵⁸ She owned a “moyetie” and part of one wood between Minshull Vernon and Milne Hey. She owned diamond rings and money amounting to £1,196.5s.4d. Most of her estate, including leases of financial significance, she left to her cousin, Henry Wright. ⁵⁹ She requested that her cousin Henry “shall take the profits of her land and possessions and pay £5 yearly to her brother and Alice his wife towards buying his wife apparel or whatever he thinks fit, meet and convenient.” ⁶⁰ She gave money to her servants. Her favorite servant Richard Southerne was given £10. The remainder received 40s each. ⁶¹ She bequeathed a large list of items to widows Ellen Farbar, Ellen Hodgkinson, Alice Hutchinson, and Elizabeth Wright. In anticipation of conflict, she took measures to ensure that there would be no squabbling over her possessions with a clause to the will which read “persons that shall not willingly accept of the legacie shall forfeit and lose all legacies to her and bequeath to Henry Wright.” ⁶²

Cecilia Maisterton, whose will was proven in 1635, also lived in a large residence that she described as a “large mill house.” In the house there were ten rooms, one of which was a butchery. ⁶³ She owned a second house, which was described as a “boulting” house. This property she leased to tenants. She gave money to her children but instructed them to “purchase one messuage of land in Hunterston.” ⁶⁴ Most of her possessions were given to her son. She had a connection with Cambridge University and took an interest in ensuring her nephew’s education. She expressed the hope that “by his brother’s good endeavours and uncle William’s helping hand, he [her nephew] may be in due time fitted for the university and maintained there.” ⁶⁵

The following year, Alice Wilbraham’s will announced that she was tired of living and requested to “be taken out of this vale of misery,” to be buried in her son’s chapel at Acton. She, as with Celia Maisterton, was concerned about the education of young people. In her will she bequeathed £10 “towards a school or orrel in the church” and money for the poor of Acton and Hurlstone. ⁶⁶ She gave money to the “poor householders of Nantwich,” on condition that two Nantwich streets, Welsh Row and Hospital Street, were favored. ⁶⁷ The will had a note which read “every servant of Deerefold [shall receive] each 2s 6d.” Anne Wilson, whom she described as “my old servant,” she favored with 10s. ⁶⁸ Unlike Ann Salmon, she “forgave” her debtors. Anne Pratchet was generous to servants and the female members of the household. She gave her money mostly to women, her servant, Jane Tench and the “poor house holders of the town.” ⁶⁹

Women and Business

Early Nantwich women’s wills, similar to those of the later period of 1660–1670, correspondingly demonstrate their involvement in every kind of money-making venture, from the running of small salt-making businesses to husbandry and the maintenance of large estates. One such small enterprise was undertaken by Jane Badcock who owned a shoemaking business which specialized in making children’s shoes. ⁷⁰ She was obviously successful because her will showed that she had goods worth £258.9s.6d. Other women, such as Anne Cleaton, were very wealthy indeed. Among the properties she owned at her death in 1638 were some that she had inherited, such as “tithe Hay at Willaston.” Not only did this property belong to her but also so did “the chief rents.” ⁷¹ In addition, she owned property which was situated at “Church Lane Nantwich, with messuages, burgages in Church lane, yards, garden and backsides belonging and enjoined,” ⁷² as well as the “Whole estate right, title and interest in Edleston ground.” ⁷³ She lived in a large residence, with abundant grounds. As well as property and rents she owned cattle, “15 kine and one bull” and her total estate was valued at $958.11s.4d. ⁷⁴ While some women gave nothing to the poor, others, such as Ann Kay, in 1641, set aside the largest proportion of her wealth in support of those in poverty. Amy Kay, Ann’s daughter was also executrix to her will. She bequeathed all her possessions to females and children. Her sister, Katherine Stocken, received 40s, and her daughter, Ann Mowson and each of her children, were given 20s. To Katherine Simcoe, whom she described as “her kinswoman and now her servant,” she gave 20s. The largest part of her money, which was £10, she gave “for the poor of Nantwich.” ⁷⁵

As with most other Nantwich women, Marjorie Clowes, in her will of 1642 confirmed her belief in God. ⁷⁶ A clause to her will warned that “people who wrangle will receive no more than 12d. of my estate,” demonstrated that she did not approve of quibblers. ⁷⁷ She was generous and gave to her daughter items of clothing such as “blue waistcoats” and possessions such as “marble pots” and “cushions,” “a trunk with trifles, lace and black pillow sewed with silk, candlesticks and pewter.” ⁷⁸ Richard Brookely, her brother, received “one large bible” and “grid iron.” ⁷⁹ She gave to Edmund Clowes, of “Hospell Street,” “his coat of arms which hangeth on the wall.” ⁸⁰

Women Friendship and Family

Nantwich women sometimes recorded their appreciation of friendship and family. Margaret Brook wanted to be buried at Wistaston, “where her father and friends are now buried.” ⁸¹ She was regarded as a fun-loving, generous woman and owned, and lived in, a house in Barker Street, which she gave to her son, Thomas. She loved her neighbors and gave them money through legacies she left in her will. She also provided money for a celebration after her death. A note to her will read, “My will is to have bestowed at Wistaston, of them who go with me to see me buried in bread, cheese, and drink.” ⁸² She also left money to pay for the “bellringers.” ⁸³

Alehouse keeper Joyce Chapman’s will offered a brief description of a small Nantwich alehouse of the 1640s. Inside her house was what was described as “the drinking room” with one table and some benches. ⁸⁴ The tools of her trade were given to “John Pratchett, for his children.” ⁸⁵ Similarly, Margaret Church gave her household goods to her sister Mary and her grandchildren. ⁸⁶ Margaret Woodnoth, as with Joyce Chapman, also brewed ale and made butter. ⁸⁷

The above analysis of wills illustrates the many ways in which women contributed to the economy of Nantwich. They provided employment for a wide variety of people, such as servants and assistants in shops, salt manufacture, and husbandry and in the maintenance of large estates. Nantwich women also passed on estates, livestock, land and small holdings to other female relatives, and the money they donated provided the means of support of the less fortunate members of society. The wills also reveal the perspectives that Nantwich women had on the world around them. The details of women’s households and their personal possessions provides an unusual and intimate insight into the mechanics of her often private domestic world, which brings to light a social dimension which may be easily overlooked in early modern history.

While wills do not always go into detail about the ways in which women accrued their wealth they do provide an accurate account of the ways in which they chose to dispose of it at the end of their lives. They clearly identify the amount of wealth some women accrued over her lifetime. One thing is certain, and this is that the worldly estate they owned was theirs to dispose of in any way they liked and legally they took advantage of this opportunity to control how it was to be distributed. This portrait of early modern Nantwich provided by women’s wills expresses strong participation, both in the social and in the economic world. The contents of Nantwich women’s wills show that although women may not have dominated the world of work, their performance in the economic sphere was sufficient to ensure that the wealth they acquired during their existence was passed down for the benefit of future generations. The details about the belongings of women, which were contained in the wills and inventories reveal that those who were wealthy achieved social standing and exerted command of their own lives as well as influence over the lives of their employees. Often through their hard work, they provided employment for servants and assistants in shops and those who were able to passed on their possessions—estates, livestock, and personal belongings to family, friends, and neighbors.

The details about the belongings of Nantwich women demonstrate that although those who were wealthy may have achieved their social standing through a marital partner for a certain proportion of their lives they were financially independent. The representation of Nantwich provided by the wills shows that, at the very least, women were often in control of their own lives and, in the majority of cases, they were also intimately involved in the lives of those they employed. In most cases, the extent of their wealth is indicative of their success in a number of avenues of trade and business—a world often dominated by the skilled and the competitive, and clearly, Nantwich women contributed significantly to this world.

Manuscript Sources