Basingstoke Probate Material 1621-30

Extract of Basingstoke Will

These wills and inventories reveal the economy of the town of Basingstoke where agriculture, crafts and shops offered goods to the townspeople and to those of the surrounding area. Most of the 3,500 acres of Basingstoke parish were still devoted to agriculture. The woollen industry was thriving. The town had a number of inns in which travellers from west, south, east and north could be accommodated.

Fifty wills and inventories survive for this period: 46 at Hants RO and three at the TNA, of these 19 have been transcribed.

These transcriptions have been made from copies of original probate documents supplied by HRO and TNA. Words have been modernized and punctuation added to make reading easier but names have been transcribed as written. Words in italics indicate omissions in the original document which have been added to make sense of the text. Words in square brackets indicate that they have been transcribed as seen but where the meaning is unclear. Basingstoke is described as being in the county of Southampton, the old name for Hampshire.

A glossary is attached of unusual words.