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An analysis of Stafford Wills 1500 – 1760
Dr. Lynda Holland (tiphill68@gmail.com)
Wills provide a unique source for historians highlighting the property of all types that people considered
important in their lives. Because of this unique insight they have been used extensively by historians to look at
a variety of historical and social issues. This research is unique because of the long time period it covers, two
hundred and sixty years, during which momentous events such as the Reformation and English Civil War took
place and affected the lives of everyone.
During the period being researched Stafford was a County Town and the administrative centre for the County
of Staffordshire. In 1086 it was recorded as being a walled town with 640 inhabitants. Its population grew
quite slowly, in part due to the plague, in 1622 the population was 1,550 and in 1801 3,898 (Kemp, p6). Over
the period of time covered by this research cloth manufacturing; cap making and shoemaking were the main
industrial activities undertaken in the town and markets and fairs helped to stimulate trade
1
.
This research looks at the wills of testators 1500 – 1760 who gave their place of residence as Stafford town.
Wills included in the research were found in the Bishops Consistory Court of Lichfield (BCCL); the Peculiar
Courts in the Diocese of Lichfield (PCDL) and the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC). PCC wills held by The
National Archives (NA) belonged to testators whose personal estate was worth five pounds or more, in an
ecclesiastical jurisdiction different from where they lived or who held property in more than one ecclesiastical
jurisdiction.
Dates were chosen to fit in with research already carried out for the period 1761-1860 (Holland 2009, pp.101-
22). Consideration was given to covering two hundred years from 1561-1760, however this would have
omitted approximately thirty wills from the period 1500-1560 so the decision was taken to include all surviving
wills. An Access database was used in order to analyse and extract data.
Will Making in Stafford
In England making a will has always been considered a right, although throughout the period covered by this
research that right extended only to men over fourteen and unmarried women over twelve years of age
(Swinburne, 1635). McGranaham, claims that these limitations meant that approximately 50% of the dying
population were unable to make a will even if they wanted to (1998, p.8). Females and young adults therefore
are seriously underrepresented and adult males over represented in research that utilises will data (Keibek and
Shaw-Taylor 2013). Even so it has been estimated that only one third of the male population of the province of
Canterbury made wills during the period covered by this research (Takahashi, 1990, p.212-3). On marriage a
woman’s property became her husbands and married women needed their husband’s permission to make a
will therefore the majority of female testators are usually widows or spinsters, identified by status not
1
For a more detailed history of the development of Stafford see: Stuart, D; Greenslade, M. A History Of
Staffordshire,

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occupation (Goose & Evans, 2000, p.47). Single and married women have been found to make up less than
10% of female testators with 90% being widows (Hodges, 2000, p.308) and wives only 1% (Goose & Evans,
2000, p47). For Stafford the figures are different, 70% of female testators identified themselves as widows.
One testator, Elizabeth Roades (BCCL, 13/08/1717) identified herself as a ‘Widow & Spinster’, but for the sake
of this research she has been counted as a widow; 20% of the testators were Spinsters; 10% did not give their
occupation or status and only one woman, Mary Southall identified herself as a wife (BCCL, 3/2/1730).
The purpose of a will was to dispose of a person’s ‘non inherited estate’ after their death (Cox, 2000, p.23)
2
.
This means that wills effectively deal with only part of a person’s estate, their movable assets and therefore
tends to emphasise some areas of a testator’s life while excluding others. Many people also disposed of assets
during their lifetime or had property and possessions that they did not for whatever reason include in their will
(Erikson, 1993, p221, Burgess, 1990, p.24). Although it is impossible to know how many wills were actually
made for any time period, improved record keeping from the mid sixteenth century onwards increased the
number that survived to the present day. For Stafford 562 wills were located for the period from 1500-1760.
These include wills found at Lichfield Record Office (LRO); Stafford Record Office (SRO) and those proved at the
Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) and now stored in the National Archive (NA). While the wills at LRO and
SRO were originals, those held by PCC were copies written into volumes by the court clerks. The indexes
contained details of another 22 wills which are now missing.
Analysis of the wills shows some interesting highs and lows. As might be expected the lowest number of wills
survive for the sixteenth century although interestingly there were more for the first sixty years than for the
last forty. Possibly the changes shown are a result of the uncertain political and religious landscape in England
during that time period. From a religious viewpoint the 14C had seen Henry VIII change the counties religion
from Catholic to Protestant, the death of Edward VI saw Mary restore Catholicism only for Elizabeth 1 to return
the country to Protestantism with the final break from Rome taking place in 1559. The country at this time also
faced rebellions and attempted invasions. It is not until 1601-1620 that any sustained growth in will making
appears to take place which coincides with James VI coming to the throne and a period of political unrest that
culminated in the English Civil War so one wonders if more men made a will at this time in case they were
killed in the conflict. Several historians (Duffy, 2005; Litzenberger, 1997; Cole, 2013) have attempted to analyse
the effect of the English Reformation on will making, although their focus has been on religious change, not
the number of wills made but It would appear that will making in Stafford was certainly lower during this
period. However for Stafford there appears to have been no steady and continual rise over the years in will
numbers and although this research covers two hundred and sixty years in reality most wills are for the period
1641-1760. As Graph 1 shows the number of wills rise and fall in an erratic manner, peaking in 1681-1700 then
falling back quite dramatically with a similar pattern for males and females from 1741-60. Interestingly there is
no drop in the number of male wills during the interregnum period 1649-1660 and only a small drop in the
2
The term ‘will’ was originally thought to apply only to real property while ‘testament’ applied only to personal property, but at some
point the two terms became linked together as one document, and became what we now call a ‘last will and testament’. In this research
word ‘will’ is used to describe such a document. Wills, Trusts, and Estates (Aspen, 7th Ed., 2005)

3. 3
number of female wills. According to Wallis, Colson & Chilosi however most areas experienced a fall in will
numbers during this time due to probate being centralised in London which resulted in many people being
unable or unwilling to travel to probate a will (2016, p.3).
In order to work out the percentage of Stafford residents with wills that have survived the parish registers for
Stafford’s main churches St Mary, Castlechurch and St Chad’s were used to estimate Stafford’s dying
population. The parish registers are incomplete from 1644 up to 1671 so it proved impossible to cover the
entire time period being researched and
therefore an average was obtained from the
complete years 1560-1643. Burials for non-
Stafford residents which sometimes
appeared in the registers were not included.
During this 84 year period 2051 males were
buried which gives an average yearly dying
population of 25 males. Female burials were
slightly higher 2245 over the entire period,
an average yearly dying population of 27. If
these figures are then adjusted to remove
minors, who were unable to make a will and made up 45% of the dying population at this time, then adult
male deaths each year are 14 and adult female deaths 15 (French 2001). This means that approximately 7% of
males and 2% of Stafford females left wills. Interestingly earlier research for Stafford covering 1761-1850
found the number of adult males leaving wills ranged from 3.8% to 5.2% 1760 - 1801, peaked at 12.7% before
falling back to 7.2% by 1850. This highlights the fact that will making appeared to be no more common in the
industrial period than it was in earlier times, and indeed the figures up to 1801 were much lower than those
for 1560-1643. Female will making peaked at 4.3% 1781-1800, falling back to 2.2% by 1850 (Holland, 2009).
If the number of wills, including those listed in record office indexes but now missing, for the same 84 year
period used for the burials (1560-1643) is included, there are 89 male wills and 26 female, which averages out
at 1.0 per year for men and 0.3 per year for women. These figures highlight that will making was not common
in Stafford during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
For those who died intestate, if their estate was of enough value it was possible to apply to the Church Courts
for Letters of Administration. For the same time period 1560-1643 administration documents for the estates of
47 males and 11 females have survived. According to Arkell administrators were normally the widow or a
relative, but creditors could also act to administer the estate of someone who owed them money (2000, p9).
In Stafford for the entire period covered by this research 321 letters of administration survive, 79% are for the
estates of males. Out of these 33% of administrations were granted to the spouse; 3% to daughters; 8% to
sons; 15% to other relatives and 5% to creditors. However 36% give no information about the administrator
except their name. Inventories survive for 171 of the administrations.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Graph 1: Number of Female & Male Wills for
Stafford 1500-1760
M
F

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When were wills made
According to Coppell wills during the period of this research were ‘usually dictated from the deathbed … their
construction itself part of the ritual of dying ‘(1988, p.17). Marsh however states that although most testators
were sick when they made their will that death was not always imminent and that as will making could be a
complicated process with testators often changing their minds or forgetting things they wanted to include in
their wills that it would have been very difficult for scribes to make the final copy at the bedside. He claims it
was therefore common for scribes to make a first draft which was taken away and used to produce the final
version, which effectively meant that making a will could take a number of days (2000, p.161).
In order investigate if Stafford testators undertook estate planning or left making their will until they were on
their deathbed the burial dates were used for a random sample of approximately 20% of male (84 wills) and
female (33 wills) will makers (Table 1). When the date of the will and the date of burial were examined 16% of
Stafford females were buried within seven days of
making their will compared to 23% of men. These
people, especially the ones who were buried the day
after signing their will could definitely be said to
conform to Coppel’s theory and made their wills on
their death bed as part of the process of dying. A
further 37% of females and 47% of males died within
one month of making their will. Figures up to a month are higher for men than for women and seem to
indicate that more men left making their will until they were fairly confident they were dying than females did.
Surprisingly the percentage of male and females who died three months to a year after making their will shows
only a small difference between genders and within one year 72% of females and 77% of males had died.
People who made their will the same year they died probably did so as Marsh says in anticipation of death,
because they were in ill health and felt they had limited time left. However 23% of male and 28% female
testators made their will between one to thirty years before they died. Two females made their wills twelve
years before their deaths, one male ten years and one thirty years, which means that around a quarter of the
sample wills appear to have been made as part of estate planning, not as part of the dying process. The results
for Stafford seem to vary somewhat from those found by Davies for the Staffordshire Moorlands where out of
a sample of 187 wills half were written within a week of burial and the longest time span between a will and
burial was five years (2016, p.8). Appleton found that 41% of Stratford wills were written within a week of
burial and 81% within one year (2016, p.81). The figures for people who made a will the week they died in
Stratford and Staffordshire Moorlands are almost double those found in Stafford, but the percentage of
people who died within a year of making a will is similar. This would seem to indicate that many Stafford
residents did not considering will making part of the dying process itself but something to be planned.
Table 1: Time from Date of Will to Date of Burial
TIME FEMALE T0T MALE TOT
1 WEEK 16% 23%
3 MNTH +21 37% +24% 47%
6 MNTH +29% 66% +18% 65%
1 YR +6% 72% +12% 77%
OVER 1 YR +28% 100% +23% 100%

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Health
Preambles were examined to see what indication, if any, people gave of their health at the time they made
their will. Five different categories emerged from this analysis based on the descriptions used; Sick, Weak, Sick
and Weak, Healthy, Nothing. Only 11% of testators described themselves as healthy with comments such as
‘whole of bodye’, ‘in good and perfect health’, ‘well in bodye’, ‘not sick’, ‘healthy of body and of sound
memory’ commonly used. The number of people who described themselves as Sick was higher, 22% and
statements such as ‘sicke and diseased in my bodie’, ‘visited with sickness’, ‘inside sicke’, ‘sick and indisposed’
or ‘sick in body’. The term most commonly used by 35% of testators was Weak. People described themselves
as ‘aged and weake’, ‘weak in body’, ‘feeling and precivinge in my selfe a weakness of my corruptible bodye’, ‘
weak and infirme’ and 10% described themselves as sick and weake. Aged was a term included in only four
wills, two people described themselves as aged and weak and two aged and infirm. This term was not used at
all after 1722. However, 22% of people made no mention whatsoever about their health, possibly because
they did not consider it to be important. McGranaham’s (1999, p.9) research found that 53% of testators
included health statements in their wills but in Stafford the figure was higher, 78% of wills contained such
information in the preamble.
Interestingly sick was the only health descriptor used from 1523 to 1613. There are 79 wills from this period
and 81% of testators described themselves as Sick, 8% as Healthy and 11% made no health statement None of
the testators from this period describe themselves as Weak or Sick and Weak, both these terms seem to have
been used only from 1613 onwards. In order to gauge if sick actually meant that people were on their death
bed when they made their will, the days between making a will and probate being proved for the 1523-1613
wills was examined. The shortest period was 15 days; however 63% of wills were probated over 100 days after
they were signed, with one 30 years later. It would therefore appear that even if a testator described
themselves as sick when they made their will that they were not always on their deathbed or possibly even
suffering from a fatal illness. The use of weak, a synonym of sick after 1613 is interesting. It clearly did not
replace the term sick, but it did allow some people to combine the two words and it seems reasonable to
assume that sick was used to describe when someone had a physical illness and weak, symptoms associated
with old age. This analysis does not therefore support the idea that wills were made on the deathbed, but
points to estate planning taking place.
Signing wills
The number of wills signed by testators, as expected grew over time due to an increase in literacy. Graph 2
shows that for males only 5.2% signed their will up to 1599 but this rose to 49% for the period 1600-1699 and
to 78% 1700-1760. Signed female wills show a slower growth rate from 8.3% up to 1599, it rose to 51% 1600-
1699 but only went up to 55% for the period 1700-1760.

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Some Stafford wills were unsigned with no signature or mark although as expected the number of such wills
fell over time. Unsigned wills for males accounted for 95% of those made in the sixteenth century; 17%
seventeenth and 1 % in the eighteenth. For females the numbers dropped slightly faster with 92% of wills
unsigned in the sixteenth century; 9% seventeenth and
1% the eighteenth. Interestingly Arkell states that a
will required ‘three elements; the date, the testator’s
signature or mark duly witnessed, and a nominated
executor’ in order to be valid, but if missing any of
these elements that it could be accepted for probate
as a nuncupative will and administration granted if it
had been spoken before witnesses (2000, p.23). It is
hard to believe that large numbers of Stafford wills
were spoken before witnesses and if they were letters
of administration have not survived to show this. However Jenks states that there is no evidence to support
defective wills being handled this way and that they were still considered valid and put through probate as
such (1895, p.27). Houlbrooke claims wills written in the testators hand were also treated as valid even if they
had not been witnessed (1998, p.136). The majority of surviving wills for Staffordshire Moorelands 1532-1580
were found to have no signature, mark or seal (Davies, 2016, p.9), so signing a will may have become more
common in Staffordshire during the seventeenth century. For Stafford 3.5% of the total number of wills were
nuncupative, probably made on the deathbed and the numbers for each gender were very similar. This is
considerably lower than 11.2% for nuncupative wills proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Sudbury (Goose &
Evans, 2000, p.48). No wills survive from the sixteenth century where people made their mark but in the
seventeenth century 33% of female and 29% of male testators completed their will this way. For the sixty
years of the eighteenth century 41% of female but only 20% of male wills were completed this way perhaps
indicating a slower growth in female literacy.
The sharp increase in the number of male testators over the time covered by this research reflects the increase
in Stafford’s population which grew from 1550 people in 1662 to 4000 in 1801. Cressey claims that 70% of
males and 90% of females in the mid seventeenth century could not write their own names but that by the
mid eighteenth century this had changed to 40% of males and 60% of females (1994, p.79). This shows a 30%
increase in literacy for both genders which would seem to be in line with the increase found for Stafford males
signatures for the same period, females signatures rose only 17%. However Cressey’s literacy rates are
considerably different from those of Mitch who claims that in 1700 literacy rates in England were 40% for
males but only 25% for females which is considerably lower than the figures for Stafford (2004, p.344). It is
currently impossible to speculate on how literacy levels in Stafford fitted with the general literacy levels in
England but possible to say that they appear to have risen for both genders but at a slower rate for females.
The drop in the number of nuncupative wills may reflect the rise in literacy levels or possibly the change of
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
F-MARK
M-MARK
F-NO
SIG
M-NO
SIG
F-NUNC
M-NUNC
F-SIGN
M-SIGN
Graph 2: Number of wills signed 1550-1760
1500-1599
1600-1699
1700-1760

7. 7
emphasis in society on making a will to ensure one’s family was provided for which resulted in less wills made
as part of the process of dying and more made as part of estate planning (Houlbrooke, 1998, p.135).
Executors
Executors
3
were the people named by the testator in their will to execute the disposal of their estate. In order
to do this they were required to obtain a Grant of Probate within four months of death from the local church
court (Arkell, 2000, p9). Widows were often either joint or sole executor for their husbands will and it has been
claimed that besides disposing of temporal estate that they were also tasked to dispose of estate not dealt
with in the will for the benefit of their husbands soul, although very little evidence has been found to support
widows actually carrying out this task (Hicks, 1990, p.20) Hodges found that ‘nearly three in five of the
executors in a sample of 484 wills were female’ (2000, p.309), while Holbrooke claims that 49-80% of married
men in most areas researched named their wife executor (p.137) and Appleton 61% (2016, p.50) so there
appears to be a wide variance. Erkison’s research found that female testators tended to appoint female
executors and so did married men, although her figures clearly show differences in practice between the
communities she studied but appears to imply that the majority of executors were female (1993, p.220). In
Stafford a total of 66% of executors named by female testators were male and 34% female. This does not show
a preference by Stafford females to have an executor of the same gender. It is also interesting that in total
Stafford’s male testators appointed 59% male executor’s and only 41% female which does not seem to point
to a high proportion of wives being made executors for their husband’s estate.
When the number of executors for each will was examined (Table 2) there were no female wills with three
executors until 1621, naming three executors appeared to have been more common practice for men.
Table 2: Number of Executors
Number of Executors for Stafford
Female wills
Number of Executors for Stafford
Male wills
MALE
EXEC
FEMALE
EXEC
NO
EXEC
1
EXEC
2
EXEC
3
EXEC
MALE
EXEC
FEMALE
EXEC
NO
EXEC
1
EXEC
2
EXEC
3
EXEC
1541-1560 8 3 1 1 5 0 17 18 0 7 9 4
1561-1580 4 2 0 2 2 0 5 2 0 3 3 0
1581-1600 5 0 0 1 2 0 6 10 0 6 4 1
1601-1620 5 0 1 2 2 0 18 24 0 23 7 2
1621-1640 9 5 0 7 2 1 19 17 0 17 10 0
1641-1660 8 4 1 2 5 0 18 16 0 19 7 1
1661-1680 9 8 0 5 5 1 41 29 0 39 10 5
1681-1700 16 15 0 14 5 1 58 46 0 46 27 3
1701-1720 28 14 1 29 4 2 73 30 4 32 22 10
1721-1740 34 14 1 18 13 1 59 35 1 41 18 6
1741-1760 9 4 0 7 3 0 26 13 0 19 9 1
3
The term for a female executor was executrix, but the term executor is used here for both genders.

8. 8
Further examination of executors revealed that daughters were the commonest people chosen by females,
28% named a daughter, 14% sons or brothers. Up to 1661 these were the only relatives identified as executors
in female wills. These findings are different to Houlbrooke’s who claims sons were appointed more often than
daughters (1998, p.137). After 1661 however relatives chosen by female testators widened to include brother
in law; sister; cousin; friend; uncle; niece; nephew, kinsman, son in law and at the beginning of the
seventeenth century mother, servant and grandmother’. Toward the end of the seventeenth century the
gender of executors chosen by females began to change significantly with more men being chosen from that
point onwards (Graph 3). Erikson found that in the southern province (Lincolnshire, Sussex, Kings Langley) two
thirds to three quarters of women appointed sons as executors but in that in Selby, Yorkshire sons were only
appointed if there was no daughter (1993, p.220) .
For Stafford men their wives were the most common relative chosen as executor, 34%, son, 14% , daughter or
brother, 4%. Similar to the finding for females these were the only relatives identified up to 1600, after that
period and slightly earlier than the females, the relationship of executors widened to include mother; brother
in law; cousin; sister; friend; uncle; son in law; servant; kinsman; nephew; grandson; godson and father.
However 15% of female and 30% of male wills named no executor at all, another indication that wills were
accepted for probate in Staffordshire despite not conforming to the minimum standard.
Religious change - preamble
The most standardised part of a will is the preamble which normally provides the testators name, occupation
or status, place of residence, state of health, religious statement, burial instructions and sometimes pious
bequests
4
. A considerable amount of research has therefore taken place analysing these preambles in order to
identify such things as religious change, the giving of alms and kinship patterns (Goose & Evans, 2000 p.48).
However research which used preambles to identify religious change during the reformation has received
criticism for a variety of reasons such as ‘forcing lay religions into straight jacket labels’ (Houlbrooke, 1998,
4
Houlbrooke covers preamble content in some depth (p.110-146)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Graph 3: Gender of Executors for Stafford Female wills 1541 - 1760
M
F

9. 9
p.113); reflecting the scribes views (Spufford, 1971, pp.28-43); being unreliable indicators of testators religious
belief (Peters, 2003, p.161), failing to allow for inflation (Jordan, 2006, pp.34-37; Hadwin, 1978, pp.112-113);
oversimplification (Duffy, 1992, pp.504-43). The notion that the preamble reflected the religious views of the
scribe and not the testator was first put forward by Margret Spufford (1971) however other historians have
questioned her idea with Marsh claiming that even if a preamble reflects the scribe’s religious view this does
not exclude it from also reflecting the testator’s (2000, p.219). Litzenburger and Craig (1993) and Carlson
(1994-6, vol 1, pp xvii-lix) found that in areas where there was a choice of scribes available that testators
selected scribes with similar religious views. Litzenberger found in sixteenth century Gloustershire that
testators firstly chose a scribe and then selected a preamble from ones already prepared, which varied
dependant on the religious politics of the day. Under Henry V111 and Mary traditional and ambiguous
preambles were offered but during Edward and Elizabeth’s reign only ambiguous were available (2002, 178).
John Strype (1822, p.557) an eighteenth century clergyman and historian also commented on the change in
preamble formats and ‘how different the working of a will in King Edward’s days was from one drawn up in the
reign of King Henry his father; whereby we may gather how at this time of day, by the knowledge of the gospel
superstition generally wore off the nation’. However Alsop found that testators picked scribes for their
perceived professional skills, not because they held the same religious beliefs and that for most people the
preamble was seen as part of the official will format and nothing else (1989, p.19-27). Many historians
however believe it unlikely that a protestant would accept a traditional preamble and visa-versa (Peters, 2003
p.161). In an attempt to analyse preambles in a meaningful way Litzenberger grouped them into seventeen
preliminary categories, which gives an idea of the number of different preambles in use, before finally
reducing the number to the conventional three traditional, neutral and protestant (1993, pp.420-21).
This research does not set out to examine in any depth the religious beliefs of Stafford testators but a brief
analysis was carried out. The preambles were put into the conventional three categories Traditional;
references to the virgin, holy company of heaven); Neutral (soul bequest to almighty god or trinity, saved
through Christ); Protestant (reference to elect, sin, resurrection of body) and an additional category None was
added for wills either missing a preamble or missing most of the preamble structure. The results for two
centuries, 1560-1659 and 1660-1759 are shown in Table 3 and for both centuries the majority of Stafford
testators choose a neutral preamble. The first male neutral preamble was found in Hugh Bowdens will of 1551
which said simply ‘I commit my soul to Almighty god’ (BCCL, 3/10/1551) and the first female Margret Browne
in 1553 ‘I commend my soul into the merciful hands of Almighty God my creator and redeemer’ (BCCL,
23/01/1553).
Table 3: Type of Preamble
1560-1659 1660-1759
M F M F
TRADITIONAL 11 10% 1 4% 0 0% 2 1%
NEUTRAL 62 56% 9 35% 192 68% 60 52%
PROTESTANT 33 30% 13 50% 45 16% 30 26%
NONE 5 4% 3 11% 45 16% 24 21%

10. 10
Traditional preambles were used in only a small number of wills even for the earliest period and indicate that
Stafford testators did not cling to Catholic wording. The earliest traditional preamble found was that of Robert
Doryngton ‘I bequeath my soul to Almighty God our lady Saint Mary and all the holy company of heaven’
(BCCL, 11/06/1523). The last female, traditional preamble was in 1737 and it was almost identical to the one
used by Robert. In total 60% of Stafford’s traditional preambles use this same wording.
Protestant wills were identified using Fletchers criteria, a confidence in predestination and being one of the
elect; physical resurrection and emphasis on personal sin (1975, p.63). It would appear that men in the first
century covered by this research (1560-1659) embraced protestant preambles quicker than women with 29%
of men compared to 8% of women having this type of preamble. However this changed in the second century
(1660-1759) when female protestant preambles rose to 25% and male’s fell to 16% as more men adopted a
neutral format. This change could be said to indicate a move away from the protestant religion by men, but
one must wonder how many of the male testators actually embraced Protestantism whole heartedly or if they
just adopted a preamble that was politically acceptable at the time.
In total 14% of Stafford’s wills had no structured preamble. Houlbrooke found the same percentage of wills
without preambles proved in the Archdeaconry of Sudbury although he looked at only a few years in the early
seventeenth century and concluded that such wills were either nuncupative or for very small estates (1998,
p.127). This was not the case for Stafford where 18% of female and 12% of male wills started simply with the
testators name and perhaps a statement that they were of sound mind and memory, followed by their
bequests. An example of a will put into this category, ‘Be it remembered that I Elizabeth Abnet of Stafford in
the County of Staffordshire, Spinster, do make this my last will and testament in manner and form
following‘(BCCL, 15/01/1742). Only four of the wills in this category were nuncupative, John Hampton’s begins
‘being sick of his last sickness of which he died but of perfect mind and memory having a mind to make a will
did in his own dwelling house in the precense of ---’ (BCCL, 25/06/1686). While Moses Leigh’s will was
nuncupative because he was ‘dying of consumption’ (BCCL, 23/07/1697). Interestingly the number of male and
female wills with no preamble grew 1660-1759 with 15% of male and 20% of female wills falling into this
category The lack of preamble may be an indication that a growing number of people did not consider their
will to be the place to express their religious beliefs’ but rather viewed it as a secular document.
In summary Stafford’s male testators show an earlier adoption of protestant wording in preambles, but this
adoption does not continue into the eighteenth century which is possibly an indication that the early adoption
of protestant wording had more to do with ‘political correctness’, than an indication of actual religious
affiliation as male wills also show a higher trend toward having no preamble in the second century. These
findings do not reflect Litzenberger’s research which found that by the late sixteenth century women were
opting for more ambiguous, non-religious preambles while men’s choices remained much the same with a
strong tendency toward traditional catholic wording (p.157). She suggests that ambiguous preambles were
used to ‘hide personal theology’. However if this were the case why was it that only females chose to do this?
Surely they were less at risk of persecution than men? However Litzenberger does suggest that perhaps the

11. 11
women did not choose their own preamble, that the scribe chose an ambiguous format to protect them.
Clearly this was not the case in Stafford and it seems quite a leap of speculation to assume that it happened
anywhere.
Burial Instructions
Burial instructions were normally included as part of the preamble and this was certainly the case for the
majority of Stafford wills although they were also occasionally found in the body of the will. In total 69% of
Stafford testators left no funeral instructions, with 41% of testators simply stating that they left the decision to
their executor; using phrases such as ‘I commit my body to the earth decently to be buried according to the
discretion of my executors’ or buried according to the discretion of my executor in an ‘honest and comely
manner’.. However this does not necessarily mean that people had not already discussed their funeral wishes
with family or friends, for instance William Tagg (BCCL, 12/04/1661) stated that his body was ‘to be disposed
of in a Christian burial as I have given orders to my
executrix’. Houlbrooke claims that ‘the reputation
of survivors depended on them burying the dead
properly’ and this was why so few people felt the
need to leave precise instruction (1998, p.293).
The remaining 31% of testators instructions varied
but as a minimum stated the church where they
wanted to be buried and if necessary the parish.
Only nine people asked to be buried in a different
place to Stafford and 26% wanted to be buried in
either St Mary’s church or churchyard, hardly
surprising as St Mary’s was Stafford’s main church.
The basic burial request simply stated that I am ‘to be buried as my executor thinks fit in St Mary’s Church or
churchyard’. Several people though included some indication of the amount that should be spent such as
James Green whose funeral was to be ‘at the discretion of my executor without any vanity and extraordinary
expense’ (PCC, 10/04/1674); while John Higginson stated that his funeral was not to exceed £20.00 (BCCL,
29/06/1724) and Frances Biddolph left £100 to ‘cover funeral expenses’ (BCCL, 18/08/1676). The amounts
stated for funeral expenses ranged from £6.00 to £100, with £20.00 the most frequent amount left.
Many people did not mention an amount to be spent on their funeral but did ask to be buried close to
relatives or in a specific place in the church, for instance Elizabeth Lewys wanted her ‘bodye to be buried in
the channcel of St Mary's church Stafford between my two husbands’ (PCC, 12/06/1592) and John Backhouse
asked to be ‘buried within the parish church or chancel of St Chadds where I was christened’ (BCCL,
18/07/1631) and Richard Drakeford ‘to be buried in chancle of St Mary's near my three children and
bretheren’ (BCCL, 7/03/1679).
26
1.8
28
1.6
41
1.6
Graph 4: Burial Instructions shown as a
%
St Mary
St Chad
Nothing
Another parish
Discretion
executor
Other

12. 12
There were also more detailed requests such as Robert Millwards’ that ‘My body I bequeath to the Earth to be
decently buryed in a Christian manner but very privately at St Maries Church in Stafford as neare as may be to
the place where the Bodie of my first dear wife was layd, but in case I shall dye at too great a distance from the
said towne of Stafford, Then to be buyred in or neare the Parishe where I dye’ (BCCL, 16/02/1675). While
Robert Foster (BCCL, 5/05/1526) asked
to be buried in the colligate church of our Lady in Stafford before the chapel of Saint Clement the holy
maryter and in wax to be burnt about my body the day of my burial xiii pounds and thirteen torches
the same day the which torches I bequeath two of them to the Blessed rood, two to Jesus mother,
two to Sanit Clements awter, one to the trinity another one to saint thomas awter one to saint
katheryn one to saint margret one to saint bartholemew and one to mary madgellen. These in the
name of my mortuary the things of right to be had. Also I give and bequeath unto the high awlter of
our lady in Stafford church a servace? Of vestments what cope the pure twelve pounds. Also to other
fere houses fortie sung for my soul at trental of masses and dirige.
Although the most detailed funeral and burial arrangements found among the Stafford wills are those of
George Buswell (BCCL, 11/12/1752) who states that
I commit my body to earth to be decently and very privately interred as near as may be according to
the directions herin given. If I dye at Stafford I desire to be buryed in the churchyard on the north side
of the church or in such other part of the church yard where ther is most room or what other places I
shall happen to dye in the most retired place in the churchyard and wherever I shall dye I desire my
grave may be ffenced out by a palisade of good seasoned wood and painted of an Iron Colour and
withinside gravel like a walk and to be kept clean by the Churchwardens for the Time being and the
expense there of to be paid out of my effects by my executors I desire that I may not be buried in a
coffin but laid on a camp or half headed Bed with all the usual Bedding and Cloaths and to be dressed
in one of my best shirts and that the grave may be longer and wider than the bed and handsomely
floored with the Sides and Ends wainscot or hung with a light handsome gentel stuff damask and
estucheon board and moulding on the top as a room is and on the top either wooden slabs well
plained and pitched next the earth and painted like a ceiling or the same of stone slabs and no earth
to be put into the grave as customary and that with a hand and if possible to be taken out again and if
I shall be corrupt before I can be buried in the above Manner I desire my executor to use all possible
means for preventing any stench or nusance that may give offence I would have Six Underbearers
Batchelors and they to have white hatbands and gloves I desire to have a velvet paul and sufficient
Light at the funeral and would be buried in the evening about ten not exceeding eleven. Also it is my
Desire that the persons house I dye at shall be well rewarded for their Trouble by my executors.

13. 13
It would certainly be interesting to know if George’s instructions were carried out. Earlier research on
Stafford’s wills attempted to trace if memorials requested in wills had actually been put in place in St Mary’s
church. Many could not be traced, either because they were never purchased or possibly because they were
removed at some later date (Holland, 2018, P.20).
Who acted as witnesses?
According to Litzenburger will making in Gloucestershire followed what appeared to be a common process,
firstly the testator met with the scribe who made notes or drew up a draft of the will. When the contents were
agreed the scribe prepared the final version which was read out before the witnesses and signed (2002,
p.167). Most testators were aware that the validity of their will depended on it being witnessed by a least two
people and that their witnesses needed to be credible in case the authority of the will was challenged, so
witnesses were usually chosen based on either friendships or social standing within the local community
(Marsh, 2000, p165). Witnessing a will has been shown to cut through societies social or economic divides and
be ‘’ a significant and important activity frequently demonstrating kinship, friendship, or business or religious
links’ (Spufford & Takahashi, 1996, p.380). Nuncupative wills were also
required to have two witnesses (Houlbrooke, 1998, p.89).
The 562 Stafford wills have been examined which have a total of 1528
witnesses, which gives an average of three witnesses per will, although
several wills had no witnesses and a few as many as five or six. The table
below shows the number of males who acted as will witness more than once
and highlights the fact that the majority of people acted in this capacity quite
infrequently. Most people, 1058 acted as a witness once, with only 132
people appearing as a witness multiple times but as table 4 shows the
majority, 58% acted as a witness only twice and 18% three times. Davies
found that more than five witnesses were listed on most wills from
Staffordshire Moorlands but this was not the case in Stafford (2016, p.9).
A total of six men added clerk after their name when they signed which may
imply that they not only acted as a witness but also prepared the will acting
in their official capacity, although it is impossible to prove if this was the case.
Only two of these men were witnesses more than once, Wm Kenricke whose name appears on two wills and
John Palmer who witnessed 22 wills. These clerks were the only witnesses who gave their occupations.
West stipulated that ‘three or fower, or moe sufficient persons, having power to make Testements’ should act
as witnesses (1615, p.2). This would seem to preclude wives acting in this capacity but there is evidence that
wives often undertook this role (Appleton, 2016, p.49). In total there were 255 female witnesses, 4% of them
witnessed two wills but no female was a witness more than twice. Although a person did not have to be able
Table 4: Number Times Males
Acted as will witnesses
Number
times
Number
Males
%
2 77 58
3 24 18
4 15 11
5 7 5
6 3 2
7 1 1
9 1 1
12 1 1
15 1 1
20 1 1
22 1 1

14. 14
to sign their name in order to be a witness, in Stafford 64% of female witnesses and 81% of males signed their
name.
Most wills in the seventeenth century were thought to have been prepared by clergy or other educated
townspeople, although by the eighteenth century scribes or notaries would also be used (Goose & Evans,
2000, p.49) Marsh cautions against assuming that a clerical witness was also the scribe or the person that
wrote the will (2000, p.161). Spufford claims that the ‘circle of people asked to draw up a will was wide’ (1972,
p.30) and at least eleven different scribes prepared wills in Tewksbury 1541-80 and eight in Reading 1580-1619
(Litzenburger, 1993). In order to examine the role of Stafford’s witnesses more closely and to see if those who
acted as a witness on multiple occasions could also be the scribes of the will, the four names that appeared
most frequently have been chosen as case studies, these were John Palmer (22 wills); William Brooke (20);
William Corne (15) and Richard Drakeford (12). William Corne acted as a witness for only 23 years and he
overlaps with William Brooke whose name appears over a period of 45 years. The two names however are
never on the same will.
John Palmer
John Palmer acts as a witness on 23 Stafford wills from 1571-1752 (181 years). Clearly given the long time
period more than one John Palmer acted in this capacity so signatures were examined in order see if it was
possible to identify specific John Palmers. Sixteen wills were inspected; six being excluded because they were
PCC copies, out of these 11 appear to have exactly the same signature, which has a very distinctive way of
forming the J of John and the P of Palmer. However several other signatures could also belong to the same
person and it is acknowledged that it would be impossible for anyone except a handwriting expert to say for
sure.
The John Palmer who witnessed the majority of the wills was the Rector of St Mary’s church in Stafford for
several years and described by Landor as ‘M.A. doctus et praedicator publicus; a preacher, non-resident,
pluralist’ (Collections for a History of Staffordshire, 1884, p.246). On several of the wills John added Clerk to
his signature (Richard Wood, BCCL, 6/12/1609; Ralph Tonkes, BCCL, 26/08/1592 ), and on one Clerk, Master of
Arts, but Master of Arts was crossed through (Roger Smythe, BCCL, 02/08/1622). His own will written in 1638
gives his occupation as ‘Clarke Parson of the parish church of St Maries in Stafford’ ( PCC, 02/07/1639). After
the death of this John Palmer in 1639, only three other wills were witnessed by a John Palmer, one in 1646 and
two in 1732 by John Palmer jnr. If the three wills written after John Palmers death are discounted and it is
assumed that the National Archive copies and all the ones up to his death were witnessed by the one person
then John Palmer was a witness on 20 wills over a 61 year period. In total 74 Stafford wills survive that were
written between 1571-1632, so he may have acted as a witness on 27%.
Looking at the 20 wills in more detail 19 of the preambles use the same opening formula; ‘In the name of God
Amen (add date in long format such as the third day of march Ano Dmo 1616) I (add name) of Stafford within
the County of Stafford (add occupation) sick (add health statement) in bodie but of perfect memory ordaine

15. 15
and make this my last will and testament in manner and forme following’. Out of the other three wills one was
nuncupative so had no opening section and one used the same opening but omitted the date. Only one will
had a significantly different start which focused more on the reign of the monarch than anything else, ‘In the
Name of God Amen the xxv1 daye of October in the thirteenth year of the Reigne of our Soveraigne ladie
Elizabeth by the grace of God of Englande ffrance and Irelande Queene defender of the faithe and in the year of
our lord God ---’ which was Roger Smythe’s will written in 1571 (BCCL, 02/08/1622).
This opening is followed by exactly the same religious statement for 13 of the wills witnessed by John Palmer,
‘I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God my maker, & my bodie to be buried (details of church etc.)
in hope of salvation & of a joyful resurrection by the merits of Christ Jesus my saviour and onlie redeemer’
(Thomas Clarke, 09/11/1613). Three wills follow the opening statement with burial instructions but then
continue with the same religious statement and one omitted the burial instructions. The nuncupative will
omitted both the religious and burial statements while the others used mainly the same sentence, but
exchanged odd words, for instance putting onlie saviour and redeemer’’ (Humphry Dix, BCCL, 02/12/1634).
The only will with a completely different religious statement was again Roger Smythe’s written in 1571, ‘I
bequeath my sole into the hands of almightie god hoping by the merits of Christ his death and passion to be
saved And my bodie to the earth from whence it came’ (BCCL, 02/08/1622).
Johns own preamble began ‘In the name of God Amen the fourteenth day of March in the year of our Lord
God one thousand six hundred thirtie and Eight I John Palmer Clerke Parson of the Church of St Marie in
Stafford in the Countie of Stafford being in health and perfect memorie haved lived the age of man having that
an oulde man cannot live longe and beinge provident to setteling house and wordlie estate in order’ he goes
on to state burial instructions and concludes with the set sentence ‘hope of salvation & of a joyful resurrection
by the merits of Christ Jesus my saviour and onlie redeemer’ (PCC, 02/07/1639).
There is no doubt that John appeared to use a formula for the preambles he wrote although he did not stick to
it rigidly. He was acting as a scribe and a witness during a period of church reform when preambles have been
examined for the imposed religious influence of clergy and for indications of the change from Catholic to
Protestant religion. John’s preambles did not include many of the Catholic indicators, such as gifts to the
church and charity and the language was neutral.
William Brooke
William Brooke appears as a witness on 20 wills between 1709-1753, (44 years), a much shorter time period
than John Palmer so it was possible that there was only one William Brookes acting in this role. The signatures
on 16 wills were examined, the others being PCC copies. The will of Thomas Holton (BCCL, 21/11/1754 )
written in 1753 actually had two William Brookes as witnesses, Wm jnr and Wm senior. On examination the
signatures of the two Williams are virtually identical; the only noticeable difference, William senior underlines
his name with a flourish, 14 of the 16 wills had the name underlined in this manner. The two earliest wills
written in 1709 ( John Shaw, BCCL, 06/12/1709) and 1713 (Francis Lees, BCCL, 09/11/1714 ) have names that

16. 16
are not underlined although otherwise the signature is identical so it would appear that either there were
three William Brookes, or that William Senior’s signature evolved to include the underline . If we assume there
were only two William Brookes and that William jnr acted as a witness just once, this would mean that William
senior was a witness nineteen times. In total 179 wills survive written during 1709-1753 which means that
William would have acted as a witness on approximately 11% of the wills from this period.
William Brooke senior was an attorney and appears in the Stafford Burgess list of 1753
(D1798/H.M.CHETWYND/124) and the 1765 Poll Book which listed him as a Gent (B/C/5/1771/56). William
Brooke Jnr also appears in the Poll book and his occupation is Attorney at the Court of Record (Kemp, 1998).
William’s brother Francis was a solicitor so the family appears to have strong legal ties. On all the wills except
the one signed by William Snr and jnr, William Brooke Snr’s signature appears last which may indicate that
when he witnessed a will he was acting in a functionary role, although this is impossible to prove. Despite
being able to write his own will or to have family members write one for him, William jnr died a Bachelor and
intestate in 1766. Administration of his estate was granted to his father William and brother Francis.
Regardless of his legal background Francis does not appear as a witness on any wills, although this does not
mean that he did not prepare any.
Looking at the handwriting of the wills that were witnessed by William Brookes it is clear that eight were
written by the same person and all these have the same opening statement as those witnessed by John Palmer
The others are variations on the same theme, ‘In the Name of God Amen the twenty eight day of November
1709 According to the Computation of the Church of England I John Shaw of the Borough of Stafford in the
County of Stafford etc.’. However, when it comes to the religious statement only three of these wills have
identical statements, the other five are all different which could indicate that whoever wrote them offered
clients a number of different statements to choose from; that people dictated their own statement or even
that the statement was simply selected at random from a ready prepared list when the will was written up.
William Corne
William Corne was the third most frequent witness name appearing on 15 wills from 1721-1744 (23 years). The
relatively short time period, plus an initial inspection of the wills seemed to indicate only one man. However
on closer inspection the signatures have subtle variations such as the use of tails on some letters; the habit of
underlining part of the surname; abbreviation of the first name to Will; which may indicate two William
Cornes. However only one person with this name could be traced through various parish archives, William
Corne Curate and Reader at St Mary’s and Castlechurch Churches in Stafford and admitted as a Freeman of the
Borough of Stafford on 25 July 1727 (Kemp, 1998, p.85:B737). He was also employed as a Schoolmaster/Usher
by Stafford Corporation to teach at the Free Grammar School in Stafford from 1721 up to his death in 1753.
The school had two teachers, the Master who taught classics and the Usher who taught English grammar,
reading and writing. No qualifications were required to attend the school. Records show that William paid rent
to the corporation and that when he died he owed them five shillings but that he was owed wages
(D1798/H.N.Chetwynd/124).

17. 17
William Corne and William Brookes acted as witnesses during the same time period but their names do not
appear on the same wills. One hundred and eight wills were written during the 23 years that William acted as a
witness so if there was only one William Corne this would mean that he was witness on 7% of the wills.
Looking at the preambles on the 15 wills William witnessed 12 begin with In the Name of God Amen, which is
written larger than the rest of the text and provides another useful handwriting comparison of the same set of
five words and their distinctive capital letters. Two wills with the same beginning were from the PCC so had
been rewritten and were not included for this comparison. Out of the 10 wills, four different styles were
detected implying that four different people wrote the wills William witnessed. The beginnings of the
preamble for these wills are similar and follow the same opening formula previously discussed. Two of the
testators did add extra little bits, Peter Dudley (31/01/1723) added after mind and memory ‘do upon mature
consideration’; while Elizabeth Till’s (06/11/1729) health statement includes ‘being far advanced in years and
considering the uncertainty of life’. The religious statement in eight of the fifteen wills is identical and reads ‘I
commend my soul into the hands of God who gave it hoping for a free pardon of all my sins through the merits
of my dear Redeemer Jesus Christ’. Once again there are minor variations in some of the wills such as William
Heath (22/11/1728) who added after Jesus Christ ‘and to inherit eternal life’. Three wills leave out ‘In the
Name of God Amen’ and two do not contain any religious statement.
It is interesting that William’s own will did not follow the format of any of the ones he witnessed but begins
‘This is the last will and testament of me William Corne of the Borough of Stafford Clerk declaring hereby I dye
in the faith of the Church of England and expect a joyful resurrection with God the father through and by the
merits death and passion of my redeemer Christ Jesus’ (BCCL, 05/04/1754).
The hand writing analysis shows that although William acted as a witness on many wills, and despite his
obvious ties to the church and school which would in many respects make him a candidate to be considered a
writer of wills, that it is unlikely that he actually wrote many of the wills himself.
Richard Drakeford
The final case study, Richard Drakeford, appears as a witness on 15 wills between 1613-1695. Signatures on
the wills show quite a variation of style, on some the signature is RI:Drakeford; five of the wills drop the R and
the K in Drakeford; some signatures are abbreviated to Rich Drakeford and two of the wills signed this way
have the E in Drakeford missing. Confirmation of more than one person with this name was provided on the
will of Edward Morton (PCC, 26/04/1630) when Richard Drakeford Jnr and Snr are both witnesses.
Unfortunately this will is a NA copy so it cannot be used for signature analysis, although it can be noted that
Richard senior’s signature is shown as Rich. Drakeford and his son’s as Richard.
Richard Drakeford senior was a Clement’s Inn lawyer who served as an Alderman in 1614, Mayor in 1620 and
Under Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1630. He died in 1639 however which means that he can only have been a
witness on three wills. His son Richard, also an attorney and Sheriff probably witnessed six wills before his
death in 1679 and the final six wills were witnessed by his son, another Richard. At the bottom of John

18. 18
Beckett’s will (PCC, 12/10/1650) witnessed by Rich Drakeford there is a list of debts which includes ‘eight
shillings owed to Mr Drakefford’, this may be for the preparation of the will but it is impossible to know for
sure as no reason is given. A number of the wills that Richard Drakeford witnessed have more than one
Drakeford acting in this capacity. The will of Roger Sutton (BCCL, 11/05/1669) for instance is witnessed by Ri
Drakeford, Anne Drakeford and Edward Drakeford, possibly more evidence of the family’s professional role in
will preparation. Two thousand and sixteen wills were written 1613-1695 so the maximum percentage
witnessed by the Drakeford family was 7% with a possible 2% for each Richard.
None of the wills with Richard Drakeford as a witness have similar handwriting and all appear to have been
written by different people, possibly clerks. The wills all use the same opening formula already discussed. The
religious statements of six use exactly the same wording , with the testator bequeathing their ‘soule into hands
Almighty God my creator and maker trusting through the death and bitter passion of my Lord and Saviour JC to
have remission of all my sins my bodie to be buried etc.’. The other nine wills all have different religious
statements.
The dates between burial and death were examined in order to see if the two case study witnesses with
religious occupations (John Palmer and William Corne) were witnesses on the wills of people who were closer
to death than those witnessed by people in a legal occupation (William Brooke & Richard Drakeford). However
it proved very difficult to locate all death dates so a comparison is problematic. Tracing burial dates for the
wills John Palmer witnessed proved the easiest with 12 out of 23 people being buried within seven days of
making their will. The date of burial for 10 of the 15 people whose wills William Corne witnessed showed that
two people were buried within seven days. Only seven burial dates could be traced due to damage to the
parish registers for people whose will Richard Drakeford witnessed and of these only one person was buried
within seven days. No burial dates could be traced for people whose will William Brookes witnessed. From the
information that was found it would appear that John Palmer was very likely involved in will writing due to his
role in the church which placed him at the bedside of people who were dying and wanted to make a will.
Although William Corne had a similar church role he was less likely to be present during the dying process due
to different beliefs and religious practices after the reformation. It would also appear that Richard Drakeford,
as might be expected was not involved with writing or witnessing deathbed wills.
These case studies have shown that it is clearly a mistake to assume that because a particular name appears as
a witness to numerous wills that the name represents only one individual. In three of the four case studies
there was definitely more than one individual with the same name acting as a witness during the same time
period.
Clerical influence on will preparation has been a long standing debate, with people claiming that clergy unduly
influenced the content of wills by writing them and acting as witnesses (Spufford, 1971, pp.28-43; Richardson,
1972, pp.33-42). A list of the clergy and other obviously literate people living in Stafford was compiled from
various sources so that this theory could be put to the test. The list includes the clergy for St Mary’s;
Castlechurch; St Chads and Nonconformist Ministers, people who identified themselves as Clerk in their will,

19. 19
church officials and any known professionals such as attorneys. This resulted in a list of 85 people out of which
only 21 acted as a witness on any Stafford wills. Twelve people were a witness only once; five twice; one three
times; one four times; one 15 times and one 23 times. These figures do not support an argument of clerical
influence playing a substantial part in will making in Stafford.
What has also been highlighted is the fact that the four people researched as case studies, who acted most
frequently as will witnesses in Stafford were all professionals being either clerics/clerks or solicitors/attorneys.
Given that each case study represents more than one person with the same name acting as a witness it is
impossible to imply clerical influence in the writing or content of the wills just because one person with a
particular name also happened to be a cleric, far more conclusive evidence would be needed. It also shows
that clerks / solicitors were used in this role right through the period being researched and that even if the
people investigated in these case studies did not prepare the wills themselves that they probably acted in a
professional capacity as a witness.
Conclusion
It would seem regardless of the changing social and political landscapes throughout the relatively long time
period covered by this research that will making did not become common practice among Stafford residents.
However for those who did make a will in the majority of cases it was a planned document, not written in
haste on a deathbed, although there is no doubt that a bout of illness may have prompted estate planning. The
change in the commonest health descriptor from Sick to Weak or Sick and Weak from 1613 onwards supports
the notion that old age drove the making of a will, not terminal illness.
The choice of executors by Stafford testators showed daughters were the preferred executor for women, but
less than 41% of males chose a female executor. Both these results vary from research carried out in other
areas where wives have been identified as the default executor for most men, but in Stafford only 34% men
chose their wife as executor. It would be interesting to know investigate why so few men made their wife
executor. For both genders the range of executors appointed after 1600 increased from a small number of
very close relatives to include distant relatives and friends.
A clear rise in the number of wills being completed with a signature instead of a mark across the time period
covered by this research indicates rising literacy levels. However levels of literacy appear to have improved
considerably quicker for men than women.
The role of the scribe in the preparation of a will and their ability to unduly influence the choice of preamble or
bequests was also investigated. In small towns such as Stafford clerics have been credited as being the only
people who wrote wills based on their level of education; acting as a witness and access to deathbeds where
most wills were thought to have been prepared. The case studies of Stafford’s four most prolific witnesses
highlighted the need for researchers to consider the possibility of their being more than one person with the
same name acting as a witness at the same time period, in order to avoid assuming a single person witnessed
the majority of wills in an area when they did not. Checking the names of clergy working in Stafford over the

20. 20
time period covered by this research showed the majority never acted as a will witness. This may also indicate
that they also never have acted as a will scribe, if indeed for a clergyman being a witness indicates that they
also prepared the will. The case studies also showed that that although some legal practitioners in Stafford
prepared wills, not all solicitors witnessed a will, or even made a will themselves. Analysis also showed that the
majority of Stafford wills were not prepared by the people who most frequently acted as will witnesses. In
towns like Stafford it therefore seems that will writing was not limited to clergy and that only a minority of
clergymen acted in this capacity. There is evidence of a number of professionals preparing wills but further
research in this area is needed.
No evidence was found of scribes using their position to influence the choice of preamble or bequests. Male
testators were found to adopt protestant wording in their preamble earlier than females but this may be an
indication of political correctness sooner than an indication of religious persuasion. There is evidence that in
most cases the preambles were taken from readily available publications.
There are more questions that could be answered by the data collected from the wills and because Stafford
does not conform to the patterns of will making that have been found in other areas it would be interesting to
see if it was possible to trace the reason for this.

21. 21
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