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November 6, 2019

Help Needed 1577 Inventory of my 12th Great Grandpa

I have many English ancestors. My mother was a first generation Canadian with both her parents born in Kent so you can imagine my huge British ancestry. 
  I only recently discovered that I could order wills and inventories for my British ancestors from the Kent History & Library Centre in England. After a few hours searching I found and ordered 17 (yes 17!!) for my direct ancestors. 

This is page 2 of the 1577 Inventory of my 12th great-grandfather Sylvester Spencer.

This is one of the earliest that I received and I am slowly struggling through it.  

 Take a look at the enlarged portion below with the bits that I've managed to figure out (I haven't done the cash amounts for each item):

  
Item: His wearing apparrel

Item: three featherbeds that belong to (Thomas smyth?)

Item: ????

Item: One tablecloth and two rowels [rolls] and fower [four] pillowcotes [ancient word for pillowcases] and fower [four] table napkins
 
Feel free to drop your suggestions here! This is tough. It's a 2 1/2 page inventory and his will which I have not yet looked at is one page.

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9 comments:

  1. Haz3:52 PM

    are you starting with the oldest? As wills tend to be written to a formulae I think I would have started with a more modern one ,but good luck

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  2. sooty289:22 AM

    three fetherbeds & that belonge to them 4 pounds
    ix (4) payer (pair) of shete

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  3. Unknown11:21 AM

    Ah, yes. Enough to make your eyes ache. I've struggled through a similar will and finally just left the parts I couldn't figure out.

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  4. AC8:20 PM

    Thanks for this, Lorine. I noticed that some of the Kent links are to FindMyPast, so I have just found a number of baptisms, marriages and burials there, many with images :-)

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  5. Anonymous10:42 AM

    Looks like a corrupt spelling of "pannier of shot", a bag of ammunition?

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  6. Olive Tree Genealogy10:50 AM

    Someone else suggested a pair of sheets

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  7. Olive Tree Genealogy5:23 PM

    Haz, I started with the one that appealed to me the most. I've read lots of wills from 1800 on so I wasn't worried about not understanding any formula.

    It's fun but requires a lot of patience and having others to compare to verify letter formations

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  8. Olive Tree Genealogy5:24 PM

    Thanks Sooty28! I now have the entire inventory and accompanying will transcribe thanks to Lifelines Research (Dave Annal)

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  9. Olive Tree Genealogy5:25 PM

    Haz I forgot to say no that will 1577 is not the oldest. I have one from 1543 but it's in Latin!

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