Wills and Inventories of Single Women in Durham, 1611-1700

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.This dataset is derived from a project designed to consider the cultural, economic and social impact of single women’s participation in money-lending in seventeenth century England. Previous investigations of surviving probate documents in Lincolnshire and Cheshire have revealed a high percentage of single women engaged in credit provision, and this project was designed to broaden the picture of single women’s money lending in other areas. The main aims of data collection were to consider the definitions applied to the probate documents of never married women, the extent and nature of their money lending, and how it fitted into their daily lives. The Lincolnshire material also indicated that single men were also active in the provision of credit. Although the extent of their involvement is harder to establish since most were identified by their occupation rather than marital status, the project was concerned to compare their role with that of their female counterparts. Further aspects of the project involved the examination of court records and primary printed material to establish the problems single women experienced as a result of their lending and how they were portrayed in the contemporary literature. Main Topics:The dataset contains probate material collected from the surviving records of single women in the Consistory Court of Durham during the seventeenth century. The definition ‘single’ refers to individuals who, as far as it is possible to tell, had never been married. In addition to names and places, the dataset records: the nature and references of the documents consulted for each individual, evidence on status descriptions appended to different categories of document, evidence of livestock as a means of support, the total value of personal assets held, the nature of the debts listed and the amount of money owed to each testator.