{"id":1847,"date":"2024-08-20T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/?p=1847"},"modified":"2024-08-20T06:14:48","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T06:14:48","slug":"will-of-the-month-margaret-nelham-settles-her-accounts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/08\/20\/will-of-the-month-margaret-nelham-settles-her-accounts\/","title":{"rendered":"Will of the Month \u2013 Margaret Nelham settles her account \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Emily Vine<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to all participants at our recent workshops<\/a> at The National Archives and the University of Exeter, where we discussed this will. I have drawn on these discussions when writing this post.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this month\u2019s post we\u2019re thinking not just about the \u2018content\u2019 of a will \u2013 the details of the bequests it contains \u2013 but also some of the features of the will as a physical document \u2013 the handwriting, spelling, and type of paper used, and what this can tell us about the circumstances in which it was produced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the wills that we\u2019re looking at as part of the project are registered copies \u2013 that is, copies of wills entered into a large volume (register) by church court clerks when wills were proved before the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC). It is the copies that most researchers access \u2013 they have been digitised and made available for download on The National Archives\u2019 website.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Screenshot of The National Archives’ website, of the screen where the registered copy of the will of Margaret Nelham can be downloaded.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

This post analyses an original will rather than a registered copy. These have not been digitised \u2013 you have to go to The National Archives in Kew to view them<\/a>.[1]<\/a> Original wills were written by a scribe or scrivener, or occasionally by the testator themselves, or a friend or relative. We are concerned with the original will of Margaret Nelham of St Bartholomew, London, which was made in July 1665 and proved in August of the same year.[2]<\/a> You can download the registered copy of Margaret Nelham\u2019s will here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scraps of paper<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most unusual features of Margaret Nelham\u2019s will is its layout and the type of paper that it was written on to. There are vertical lines running down the margins on the left and right sides of the page, creating columns for pounds, shillings, and pence as would be used when recording accounts. The writer itemises and sets out the money owed to Nelham in the same way, and it appears that it may well have been written on a scrap of paper torn from an account book. Indeed, while other wills begin with arrangements for burial or bequests to others, the first few lines of Nelham\u2019s will are concerned with recovering debts owed to her for rent. The methodical recording hints at Nelham\u2019s numeracy and responsibilities as a landowner, and her desire to accurately settle her affairs before death. The use of a repurposed page from an account book perhaps reinforces this idea that her main bequests would be sums of money rather than objects, but it could also hint at rushed circumstances in which the will was made, where this was possibly the only suitable paper available.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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The first few lines of the original will of Margaret Nelham, TNA PROB 10\/979<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

An \u2018unprofessional\u2019 scribe?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several features of Margaret Nelham\u2019s will suggest that it wasn\u2019t written by a professional scribe or scrivener. It lacks many of the formulaic features of wills, including a standard preamble which would begin with \u2018In the Name of God Amen\u2019, which would identify the testator, their occupation, and where they lived, and which stated that they were \u2018of Sound Mind and Memory\u2019. You can read more about the formulaic features of wills in one of our previous blog posts.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, the date appears at the top of the page \u2018July the July<\/s> Julie <\/s>the<\/sup> 24. 1665\u2019 and as mentioned the will then launches straight into details of money owed to Nelham: \u2018Mrs Sollondine of mortelake oweth me fore an quarters rent 3l 15s 0d which was due the 24. of June being Midsomer day 1665<\/sup>\u2019. Another indication that this will was not written by a professional scribe is the spelling. While spelling was not standardised at this point, the will does not display the level of spelling or consistency usually associated with someone who made their living from drafting formal documents. In the first few lines \u2018four\u2019 is rendered as \u2018fore\u2019, \u2018Michaelmas\u2019 as \u2018mickilmas\u2019, \u2018children\u2019 as \u2018Chilldren\u2019, \u2018James\u2019 as \u2018Jeames\u2019. Words are frequently crossed out and missing letters are added in in superscript: it does not appear to be a \u2018clean\u2019 or final copy. Indeed, this type of spelling and style of handwriting is quite similar to other examples of women\u2019s writing from the mid seventeenth century \u2013 is it possible that Maragaret Nelham wrote the will herself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With mine own hand\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is certainly possible \u2013the will is quite personal in tone and content, but it must be said that it was usual for wills to be drafted as though in the first person. Alternatively it may have been dictated to a friend or family member. We are also missing one of the only pieces of evidence that could confirm who wrote it. Wills often conclude with the signatures of the testator, scribe, and the witnesses present when the will was made. One example of this is the will of Edward Andrewes, which was made the same month as Nelham\u2019s. At the bottom of the will, we can see the signature of the scrivener: \u2018Edw: Wolrich Scr.\u2019, as well as witnesses \u2018John Whitehall\u2019 and \u2018Nehe: Bowen\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The signatures at the bottom of the will of Edward Andrewes, TNA PROB 10\/979<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The inclusion of the abbreviation \u2018scr\u2019 after Wolrich\u2019s name identifies him as the scrivener, but we could also ascertain this by comparing the signature with the handwriting in the rest of the will. However, Nelham\u2019s will, unconventional in many ways, also stops quite abruptly, with no signatures. This means we cannot compare Nelham\u2019s signature with the handwriting of the rest of the will to try and determine authorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Providing for the future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the will pertains to settling leases on the land and \u2018littell houses\u2019 at Mortlake, Surrey, which Nelham appeared to have some ownership over (although she also owed money to the \u2018head landlord\u2019). The other bequests included \u2018a great cobbard and a stone morter\u2019 to one Mr Purchase, ten shillings to the poor, and efforts to provide for Nelham\u2019s children. Eighteen shillings were left to a Mr Pix to ensure schooling for her son James. One of the more moving clauses pertained to Nelham\u2019s youngest daughter, who still lived at home. The will states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no way to provide for her [\u2026] I hope the Lord will move your harts to make som provision for her shee is a very hopfull child and very Tractable unto the lord and you I leave her.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is quite a desperate plea to her executors or friends to step in and provide for her children after her death \u2013 Nelham had ostensibly no one else to turn to. That very few material objects are mentioned perhaps suggests that Nelham wished to prioritise more valuable rents or sums of money, or that she did not have time to list other objects or possessions.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A ‘great’ cupboard, perhaps similar to the one left in Margaret Nelham’s will. Cupboard, 1620-40, https:\/\/collections.vam.ac.uk\/item\/O368787\/cupboard-unknown\/<\/a> \u00a0\u00a9 Victoria and Albert Museum<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Nelham\u2019s desperation, and some of the more unusual or rushed features of her will, can perhaps be illuminated by the urgent circumstances in which it was written, and in which she died. Nelham was living in the City of London at the height of the great plague in the summer of 1665. This could explain why Nelham wanted to make a will, why she was unable to employ the services of a professional scribe, why she or possibly another member of her household had written up her wishes on a page torn from an account book, and why she had perhaps not had much time to secure care arrangements for her younger children. Indeed, Nelham died within three weeks of making this will, hopefully reassured that she had done the best that she could, with limited time and resources, to provide for her family\u2019s future, and set her affairs in order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Research Fellows Harry and Emily discuss some of the material features of wills in greater detail in their forthcoming article.<\/a> This article will be published \u2018Open Access\u2019 and made freely available later in 2024 \u2013 to receive an alert once it\u2019s been published, you can join our mailing list.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n