A Woman's Will

The Changing Lives of British Women, Told Through the Things They Have Left Behind

Viki Holton

• Publisher: Amberley Publishing
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9781445692449
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Women in History
• Index: Social Sciences

Heroines and harlots, political hostesses and mistresses, the women who lived in the great houses, and the thousands more who led more ordinary lives ? they all have a place in British history. Many lived and died without a lasting record of their existence beyond the register of births, marriages and deaths – perhaps not even there. But fortunately, some women did leave behind far richer evidence of their lives, itemised and expressed in the wills they wrote, providing a precious historical record that can be stitched together again today. Using women's wills across the centuries, this book aims to tell something of women's stories – the pioneers, the celebrities and the achievers, as well as the majority history ignored. Their bequests are fascinating and diverse, from 'my best beaver hatt' mentioned in Tudor times to great houses such as Chequers. They range from the Duchess of Windsor's Cartier jewels at the top of society to the many wills of poorer women who left practical and personal possessions: pots and pans, household implements and tools for preserving, salting and cheesemaking, clothes passed down to friends and family, or a few pennies for their local church. This book will appeal to anyone interested in Britain's story and the role women have played in it.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Introduction: Anne Trigg and the Body Snatchers
• 1 In the Beginning with the Anglo-Saxons and Slaves
• 2 Wives, Widows and a Thief Called Cutpurse Moll
• 3 Witches Historic and Modern
• 4 The Extreme Danger of Dying in Childbirth
• 5 Fewer Wills and Far Less to Leave
• 6 A Green Parrot, Two Grandsons and Sutton Hoo
• 7 A Castle in Norfolk and Feather Beds
• 8 Jane Austen and the Regency Era
• 9 Actors and Miss Burdett-Coutts, the Wealthiest Woman in England
• 10 The Tale of Peter Rabbit and the National Trust; Votes for Women
• 11 Emily Tinne’s Wardrobe and Emily Green, a Servant
• 12 1,000 Years of Women’s Lives and Women’s Wills
• 13 Other Wills: Molly the Bruiser, Chasing Butterflies and Harvard University
• What You May Not Know about Wills
• Glossary of Common Terms Used in Wills
• Appendix 1: The Woman Who Stole Our King! Wallis, Duchess of Windsor and Her Jewels
• Appendix 2: Northampton Wills: Women’s Voices from the Fifteenth Century
• Appendix 3: The Will of Lady Margaret Beaufort
• Notes
• Bibliography