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Transcription Services Ltd
Transcription Services Limited UK
Unfamiliar or Obsolete words and terms from Wills, Probate Inventories, etc |
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A small selection of unfamiliar or obsolete words seen in Wills or Probate Inventories recently transcribed by TSL....
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MARK
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In England the currency units were the pound, shilling & penny, usually expressed in latin as libra (li, l or £), solidus (s) & denarius (d), where £1 = 20s and 1s = 12d.
The mark in England was not a unit of currency but a unit of money of account, equal to 13s 4d (i.e. 2/3 of £1).
In account books and inventories an amount in money could appear written as e.g. "5 marks" but more often that 5 marks would be written as the currency equivalent, £3 6s 8d. This is why so many inventory valuations end in either 6s 8d (1/2 mark) or 13s 4d (1 mark). Only accountants could have devised such a system, but one reason it survived so long is that 6s 8d (1/2 mark) or multiple thereof was used as a standard professional fee for services rendered.
Although the mark did not exist as a coin in England, the gold noble when first issued under Edward III in 1344-46 was valued at 6s 8d (= 1/2 mark), later increased to 8s 4d. The gold angel when introduced under Edward IV in 1464-70 was also worth 6s 8d, but also changed as the value of all gold coins tended to change over time.
The term noble continued to be used as a word meaning "1/2 mark" long after the noble itself had ceased to be in circulation as a coin. For example, we have seen a cash bequest of one noble in an English Will of 1581 when no such coin existed.
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RYAL
ROSE-NOBLE
SPUR-RYAL |
The Ryal was an English Gold coin of 15 shillings, issued under both Mary (1553-1554) and Elizabeth I (1558-1603), a development from an earlier 10 shilling Ryal or Rose-Noble first minted under Edward IV in 1465.
The gold coin presently known to numismatists as a Spur-Ryal was minted during James I's second coinage (1604-19) and third coinage (1619-25). Initially it had a value of 15s but, as with all gold coins, in 1612 its value was raised by 10% to 16s 6d
It appears the term Spur-Ryal was already in use as a nickname for the Ryal under Elizabeth, at an earlier date than most books on numismatics would have us believe, as at TSL we have seen it mentioned in an English Will of 1581. The name derives from the "rose on a sun" design that appears on the reverseof these coins, this having the appearance of the "wheel" of a horse-rider's spur, such as is shown in this detail from a 15th century monumental brass at Barsham in Suffolk:
The obverse of the earlier coin displays Queen Elizabeth in a ship, with the rose of England below her.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Our thanks to Dr Barrie J. Cook, Curator of Medieval and Early Modern Coinage at the British Museum Department of Coins and Medals, for assistance with this.
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GUINEA |
The guinea was a gold coin minted in England and the UK between 1663 and 1797. Originally 1 guinea = 1 pound, but rises in the price of gold caused the value of the guinea to increase, at times to £1 10s. From 1717 the value of a guinea coin was fixed at £1 1s.
In 1816 the guinea was superseded by a new coin, the sovereign (= £1), but the word guinea continued in use as a term for money of account (= £1 1s), for pricing of luxury goods, or for gambling, until the arrival of decimalised currency in 1971.
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| HARDEN |
Coarse cloth made from hemp.
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XP or the Chi Ro monogram are an ancient abbreviation for the name of Christ, the first two letters of “Christ” written in Greek. This is seen on its own or as part of words e.g. Christian (xpan, xpian) or Christopher (xpopher). |
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BEDE-ROLL |
A bede-roll was a manuscript roll listing deceased people whose souls were to be prayed for, using rosary beads to count off each name. The early English guilds each kept a bede-roll listing their deceased members.
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| to be continued... |
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a glossery by E.W. Timmins © 1997
(as published in "Selected Wills of West Northamptonshire 1500-1700 AD" by Grenville W. Hatton)
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from a presentation by B.S. Sharples © 2009
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by Michael Russell © 2009
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A Glossary of Archaic Medical Terms, Diseases and Causes of Death
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A dictionary of nearly 4,000 terms found used in documents relating to trade and retail in early modern Britain. This represents part of a larger dataset produced by the Dictionary Project at the University of Wolverhampton, by whose kind permission it is reproduced on the "British History Online" website.
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