Description:
Inventory of Gamaliell Rathbane, turner, of Essex,who died in 1663.
Inventories give us an unparalleled view of life in Tudor and Stuart times - they lay bare everyday life in a way that is hard to achieve any other way. Gamaliell lived above the shop, was quite well off without being wealthy, and his goods tell us much about life in the 1660s. Compare his Inventory with that of Clement Swallow, who died in 1571, and you get the chance to observe change over 100 years.
The Inventory, in its original spelling provides a small challenge to Year 8, and there are also some questions to provoke argument and discussion. It would be easy to transcribe this into modern English, to make the contents more accessible.
|
