Mapledurwell Probate 1621-40

There are nine surviving wills with ten inventories belonging to them and one inventory of John Smales who died intestate in this period. Nicholas Smith’s will was proved in 1632, a further inventory was valued after the death of his wife in 1638. One testator, Thomas Kent, held the 60 acre freehold in the parish. Four of the testators were yeomen and two were husbandmen. The rest were rural craftsmen: a carpenter, a sieve maker and a tailor. The inventories reflect the mixed arable and pastoral farming and are a rich source for household goods and, in the case of Thomas Been, for a carpenter’s tools.

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.

Links to all the documents appear below.

A glossary is attached of unusual words.

• John Smales, Tailor, 1624 (Inventory)
• John Smales, Tailor, 1624 (Accounts)
• Nicholas Smith, yeoman, 1632 (Will and inventory)
• Thomas Been, carpenter, 1634 (Will and inventory)
• John Hawkins, husbandman, 1635 (Will and inventory)
• William Benham, yeoman, 1635 (Will and inventory)
• Ann Benham, widow, 1635 (Will and Inventory)
• Nicholas Nutt, husbandman, 1636 (Will and inventory)
• Christopher Lester, yeoman and College bailiff, 1637 (Will and inventory)
• Thomas Kent, yeoman, 1638 (WIll and inventory)
• Richard Maudlin, sieve maker, 1639 (Will and inventory)
• Nicholas Smith, yeoman, 1639/1632 (Will and inventory)