Wills of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, 1636-1638

The First volume of wills from this Archdeaconry, covering the years 1630 to 1635, and the companion volume from the Archdeaconry of Suffolk (see back of jacket) have proved their worth, not only to historians but also to a wider interested public. Nesta Evans continues her edited transcriptions of this deeply interesting material with another 576 wills from the western half of the country of Suffolk.

The wills, for reasons fully explained by the editor, are largely those of yeomen, widows and husbandmen, with a range of craftsmen and tradesmen also represented; a very small percentage are the wills of gentlemen. Much is revealed about contemporary attitudes towards wives by the terms in which they are referred to in the wills (and it is notable how often wives are named as executrices).

These documents are of intense interest to a wide range of historians, but especially to economic and social historians, and to genealogists. The earlier volume includes a guide to their use, and both volumes are very fully indexed, the subject index being of particular value to researchers.

Notable among the items revealed by these wills are a bricklayer's bequest of money for bells to be rung to commemorate the 'deliverance' of 5th November, the Bury testator who bequeathed land to provide an income for the poor (in the form of apprenticeships), and the evidence of former medieval chapels secularised at the Reformation in use as dwellings. The will of Robert Ryece, author of the Breviary of Suffolk, is included in this volume.