17th Century Inventories

Reading 17th Century Inventories can provide fascinating insights into the lives of people in Sutton Benger 400 years ago; but it sometimes needs a bit of patience. They are all in English (well, mainly), but: the handwriting is somewhat different; the spelling can be very frustrating; and some of the words are different from the ones we use today. The money is in pounds, shillings and pence, and the numbers - especially in the early 1600s - are often in Roman script. And sometimes in a mixture of Roman and modern (Arabic) numerals).

See if you can read any of the following

Charles Gale; 1667

A true and perfect Inventory of the goodes and chattells of Charles Gale of Sutton Benger in the County of Wilts, deceased, had, taken & valued by Walter Haywarden & Francis Hatherill the sixth day of November in the nineteenth yeare of the reigne of King Charles the Second over England etc, Anno Domini 1667.

Imprimis [= first] In the little house.

One brasse candlestick; one spice morter & pestle; two brasse kittles; one bell mettell pot; two skillets; two pailes; one skimmer; two pothooks; two troughs; two bowles; one table board frame & foorme; two joined stooles; one tradle [ = treadle ? ]; one iron steele; one paire of bellows; foure Alcomy [ = alchemy ? ] spoones; two bedsteeds, matts & cords; two bedds; one paire of Blanketts; one sheete; one coffer; one joined stoole; one little booke; one chamber pot; two Turke [= turkey] feather boulsters; one pillow; two old coverleds; valued at £4 16s

If you managed to read that OK, then you are ready to try this list from Ralph Gale's Inventory in 1620. As a clue or two:

• 4 kyne & one heyfer: £14 13s 4d
• 2 loads of hay: 40s
• 2 quarters of barley: 26s 8d
• 4 bushels of wheat: 12s
• 3 peeces of timber: 20s
• ...
• one ladder: 5s

Ralph Gale; 1620

There, that was fun, wasn't it? Any questions?

Footnote; Literacy and Church Piece

In answer to your question about the total: no, £47 14s 4d is not an accurate total of all the numbers on the right. Whoever did the final adding-up (possibly John Atkyns) was not very good at maths. By the way, he was the farmer at Manor Farm. He was minor gentry, and could sign his own name; John Palmer, a husbandman or yeoman, could also sign, whereas his colleagues John Geale, Thomas Coller, Edward Barnard and Richard Messiter, could only make their 'marks'. Most of these men were also among those who signed the 'Church Piece' document in 1618. https://www.bengertrails.co.uk/history/archives/the-history-of-church-piece

Is there any particular story from Sutton Benger’s past that you want to know more about? Please get in touch:

by phone: 01249 721731
by email: hello@bengertrails.co.uk