Richard Allen: a dead ringer?

In an age when husbands or wives might die at the drop of a hat, it was not unusual for widows or widowers to go on to have further marriages, resulting in many blended families. When Richard Allen, a tailor, married his wife, Jane Mills, she was already a widow with children, and after he …

William Henfrey: tailor and smallholder – keeping it in the family

Like William Lane, William Henfrey also made provision for his children – not through a marriage settlement, in his case, but through his will. This offers a brief snapshot into the lives of his family. William and his wife Joan had two sons and two daughters when he came to make his will, which was …

Mark and Thomas Bonner: a tailor and son

Mark Bonner was a tailor. What his son Thomas did for a living is unclear – he’s quite a shadowy figure. In 1649 Mark had bought a house or cottage from his neighbour, John Warde, along with a little yard and one bay, or section, of John’s barn, with a right of way over the …