Will and Inventory of Margaret Swathing/Swathen, widow, 1585

Swathing/Swathen was the widow of John Swathing/Swathen (d.1572), and before that, the widow of William Cowdrey (d.1557), one of the local gentry families. The children mentioned in her will were all those from her first marriage, with her two sons named as executors. She left the lease of Whites Farm in Basingstoke to a grandson and sheep to five others. The rest of the property was divided between her two sons and daughters, one unmarried and two married. The total value of her estate was £105 12s.2d, only a quarter of the value of the estate of her first husband.