Wills, Inventories and Economic Activity in the Parish of Halifax at the end of the 17th Century: Alan Petford

Sunday, 30 November 2014

Faced with a pile of seventeenth century legal documents written in an impenetrable script and full of unrecognisable words like swingle trees and hookseams, we might be tempted to think that rewards of deciphering them wouldn't justify the effort involved.  But as Alan Petford showed in his talk to the Hebden Bridge Local History Society, a study of wills and inventories can illuminate brilliantly the daily lives of men and women in this area over three hundred years ago.

Death bed

A group of volunteers have been transcribing probate documents from the ancient parish of Halifax covering the years from 1688 to 1700 opening up a study of these times to other historians. Inventories were particularly important, as an accurate account of all the deceased's property was needed in order to assess the total value of the estate.

There is a long established understanding that in the Parish of Halifax there was a dual economy of farming and textiles, and the inventories make it clear that almost every profession had some involvement in agriculture. Alongside the cattle that are listed, the agricultural equipment adds detail to our picture of the farming methods of the time. The listing of 'three oxen' and 'ox harrow and plow' shows that oxen were still being used to work the land. Sleds were as frequently listed as carts, being more suitable for work on the hillsides.

The importance of textile production is also confirmed through the equipment listed in the inventories, with everything from the raw wool, through the spinning wheels, looms, tenters, shears  presses and pieces of cloth valued by the appraisers. It is clear that the most profitable part of textile production was the finishing process, which added value to the cloth after the initial weaving.

After weaving, cloth would be fulled and felted, and dried on tenters which stretched the cloth back to size. To get a smoother finish, the nap on the cloth would be raised with teasels and then carefully cropped with shears. All the equipment needed for this is found in the inventories: 'tenters in the croft'; 'shears, shear board, handle brake and raising peark'.

The 'screw press, piece paper and planks' were required for a finishing process where the cloth was put into hot and cold presses; a final touch was to use the contents of a 'tub oyle and butter in it mixt' to add the extra smoothness which would bring a premium in the market. The high value given to this equipment in the inventories points to the profit that such processes could command.

In the course of Alan's talk it became obvious that information about agriculture and textiles was only the beginning of the insights available from these inventories. The way the houses were used becomes clearer, with no designated bedrooms but beds found in every room except the kitchen. We can learn much about the cooking methods from the pots pans trivets and fire irons, as well as the ubiquity of the oatcake with its required bakstones (for cooking) and bread fleaks (where the finished oatcakes hung to store).

The variety of furniture and valuables listed points to a comfortable life for the occupants of the larger houses; a life which a study of these fascinating inventories opens to our modern gaze.

There are two books of probate document transcriptions (for Midgley and Sowerby) with explanations and glossaries already available from the Society (click here for details), and more should be following.

On Wednesday, 10th December Nick Wilding will be celebrating the anniversary of Stoodley Pike. All are welcome to the fortnightly talks held at Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall at 7.30. Details are available on the website www.hebdenbridgehistory.org.uk

Many thanks to Sheila Graham for this report