{"id":4165,"date":"2025-10-28T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/?p=4165"},"modified":"2025-10-23T16:12:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T16:12:49","slug":"will-of-the-month-a-dying-mothers-last-wishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2025\/10\/28\/will-of-the-month-a-dying-mothers-last-wishes\/","title":{"rendered":"Will of the Month: A dying mother’s last wishes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Content note: this post discusses child loss and death in childbirth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a project team we\u2019ve now spent two years carefully reading and analysing hundreds of early modern wills. To a certain extent we\u2019ve become very familiar with them: we have a sense of what we might find, how bequests are usually phrased, and we can generally predict some of their more formulaic aspects. But we still come across individual wills that stop us in our tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This month\u2019s post looks at one such will, that of Margery Gadyng, a \u2018Wife\u2019, who died in 1540.[1]<\/a> The vast majority of women who made wills in early modern England were widows, or had never married, as married women\u2019s property in this period belonged to her husband under the laws of coverture. While married women could make a will with their husband\u2019s consent, in practice, they rarely did so.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
An excerpt from Margery Gadyng\u2019s will which includes the phrase \u2018licensed by her said husband declared her will\u2019, from TNA PROB 11\/28\/153, Will of Margery Gadyng, Wife, 10 July 1540<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u2018licensed by her said husband\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margery Gadyng had been married twice, and since her second husband Richard was still alive when she died, she accordingly made her will as \u2018licensed by her said husband\u2019 (with his permission). It was perhaps because she had had a previous marriage, and children, before marrying Richard Gadyng, that she had sought and been granted permission to set forth her own wishes as separate from her second husband\u2019s. Yet Margery\u2019s unusual will was also brought into existence because of the sudden and tragic nature of her early death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margery Gadyng died in childbirth, having previously given birth to at least five children (at the time of her death, three were living). Her will was nuncupative, meaning she declared her wishes orally to witnesses, rather than it being formally written down by a scrivener. Nuncupative wills were generally made when an individual was on their deathbed. This means we get more of an insight into the circumstances surrounding death than anticipatory wills, which tended to deploy formulaic phrases, including that the testator was \u2018sick in body\u2019 but \u2018sound of mind\u2019, and that they were mindful that death was inevitable, but the timing \u2018uncertain\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018in the presence of Diverse honest women\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know then that Margery Gadyng died \u2018in her last labour of child\u2019 and that she \u2018declared her will in the presence of Diverse honest women being there aboute her for the necessitie of a woman in her case\u2019. In other words, she dictated her last will and testament to the women who had come to assist her in childbirth, who included among others a midwife, her household servants, and her mother. The birthing chamber was a traditionally female space, it appears that her will was, in part, a means of conveying her wishes, and a final message, to her husband, who ostensibly was not present when she died. Margery accordingly left \u2018her hert and love to her said husband Richard Gadyng\u2019\u2014a striking and unusual phrase, a last farewell to the spouse she would not see again\u2014and asked that he ensure she was buried next to her two deceased daughters, Mary and Jane.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Gold posy ring, English, about 1500-1530 https:\/\/collections.vam.ac.uk\/item\/O117008\/ring-unknown\/<\/a> <\/em>
\u00a9 Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2025<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u2018be good to them her children\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margery also had two living daughters: Florence, who she left a bequest of her \u2018fyrst weddyng Ryng\u2019 and Margerye, who she left a bequest of her \u2018second weddyng Ryng\u2019. These two rings, alongside their emotional significance, may have fallen into the category of Margery\u2019s own personal property and \u2018paraphernalia\u2019, which would allow her to dispose of them as she saw fit.[3]<\/a> Other personal property included \u2018her Gowne ffurryd with Calaber [squirrel fur] and her best kirtill of worsted [a wool gown]\u2019, items of clothing which were left to her mother, who was also present when she died. Margery asked that her husband \u2018be good to them her children\u2019 (implying that Florence and Margerye were daughters from her first marriage) \u2018and not to lett them come in other Strange kepyng\u2019. In declaring her final will, Margery not only communicated her burial wishes and dispersed her property, she also acted to ensure the future care of her eldest children, who after her death would have no living biological parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To her infant son \u2018Erasmus Gadding\u2019, ostensibly the son of Richard, and young enough to be living with a wet nurse, she left \u2018her Cheyne of gold that she was wont to weyre for a girdyll with all her joie and comfort beseching god to send hym and his ij Systers grace and good fortune\u2019. She allocated all three of her living children items of gold jewellery that she wore regularly, and used her final message to convey her love for her children, and her hopes that God would bless them.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Rosary of 30 unglazed earthenware beads of red and black clay, British Museum 2009,8038.1.a-b https:\/\/www.britishmuseum.org\/collection\/object\/H_2009-8038-1-a-b?selectedImageId=1310905001<\/a> <\/em>
\u00a9 The Trustees of the British Museum<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u2018honest wemen\u2026 also witnesses therof\u2019<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as the heartfelt references to her children, the final bequests of Margery\u2019s will are among the most poignant. She left small bequests to six named women. Five of these women, including \u2018mother Bates the mydwif\u2019, received \u2018a vale and Rybyn\u2019, while \u2018Mestres Toxton\u2019 received \u2018a paire of beides\u2019 (probably a rosary).[4]<\/a> \u2018Mestres Toxton\u2019 was perhaps a closer friend or relative: the rosary was another gift of one of Margery\u2019s personal items, one which was of spiritual significance, designed to be held and used on a daily basis, and kept close about one\u2019s person. Like the rings and girdle this bequest created a very personal and haptic connection between testator and beneficiary. The five gifts of \u2018a vale and Rybyn\u2019 to the five other women, including the midwife, are more intriguing. Both the veil and the ribbon were probably small pieces of fabric, unlikely to be particularly valuable, although the ribbon may have been made of silk or satin, and designed to trim or decorate a garment.[5]<\/a> It is possible that the veil was some form of mourning veil. These bequests could also fall into the category of small \u2018tokens\u2019: a small gift that may have had more sentimental than monetary value, or which was given in the hope that the beneficiary would remember the gift-giver.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Ribbon, embroidered, ca. 1600, English https:\/\/collections.vam.ac.uk\/item\/O10418\/ribbon-unknown\/<\/a> \u00a9Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2025<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The end of the will noted that these six women were the \u2018honest wemen which be legatrices in this present Testament\u2019 and had \u2018been also witnesses therof\u2019. In other words, these six beneficiaries were among the women who had come to assist Margery when she went into labour, who had cared for her when it became apparent that she was dangerously sick, and who had witnessed her spoken will, delivered in desperate circumstances. It is possible that one of the women had later written down Margery\u2019s will, or that the presence of several corroborating witnesses could confirm the content of what Margery had said. While her husband Richard would execute the will, Margery invested significant responsibility in the women around her to commence this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margery Gadyng\u2019s will is remarkable in many ways: it was unusual for a married woman to make a will, and for a will to provide such a detailed sense of how an individual died, and who was in the room when it happened. It is also striking to have so many poignant expressions of emotion. Margery experienced some desperately sad circumstances, yet in what would be her final message, there are also expressions of love, and hope: \u2018her hert\u2019 left to her husband, the \u2018joie\u2019, \u2018comfort\u2019 and blessings of good fortune bestowed upon her cherished children, and the tokens of gratitude to the women who were with her in her final moments, who cared for her, and who were wholly trusted to make her final wishes known.<\/p>\n\n\n