In Northamptonshire Archives is a bound volume containing more than 600 wills from the period 1462 to 1509. A group of enthusiasts - listed above as the editorial team - has transcribed and translated the 145 wills of people who lived in the town of Northampton. Most of the original texts were in Latin but these have all been fully translated into English.
The wills are mainly of trades-people with a sprinkling of priests and minor gentry. 27 of the wills were made by women, mainly well-to-do widows. Analysis of the collection reveals much about the lives of the people in late medieval Northampton as well as other aspects of the town itself. The initial chapters of the book discuss what the wills tell us or suggest about society, customs, the layout and development of the town and the role of religion.
Appendices provide an alphabetical roll call of all 600 testators (whether or not their homes were in Northampton) and also a list of the 54 occupations that are mentioned in the Northampton sample. A seven-page glossary explains the many words that appear in the wills but are unfamiliar to most present-day readers.
There are separate indexes of persons, places and subjects. The index of persons highlights each reference to any individual that can be found in the Northampton wills and also people who are mentioned in the introductory chapter of the book - a true boon for family historians and surname enthusiasts. A detailed map identifies the locations of places in the town that are mentioned by a will.
The book has much to offer readers interested in the deep history of Northampton and further afield, as well as help for readers who focus on wider aspects of economic and social history and those who are planning other projects that aim to unlock the contents and lessons of wills.