The material worlds of singlewomen revealed through their wills from the diocese of Norwich 1604–1686

Browne, Sandra (2025) The material worlds of singlewomen revealed through their wills from the diocese of Norwich 1604–1686. Cultural and Social History. ISSN 1478-0038

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Abstract

Single women were a significant minority in England in the early modern period, though they were overlooked by historians until relatively recently. Wills found in local archives enable us to hear their voices as they approached death, and provide us with a rich source of information about their lived experiences and material circumstances. Using a sample of some eighty wills proved in the Norwich diocese in the seventeenth century, this article shows that they were a diverse but important part of their communities, living outside the constraints of marriage and exercising agency and control.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	agency and control,early modern england,material possessions,singlewomen,wills,cultural studies,history,sociology and political science ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3316
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	14 Nov 2025 14:30
Last Modified:	14 Nov 2025 14:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100977
DOI:	10.1080/14780038.2025.2572847

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