COMPLETED Help Decipher 1831 Will Warwickshire

[dobfarm]

Hi Arthur

I think the Yeoman word covers both, a farmer in this  Will case ! but also loose term for a man of means as an owner of land/freeholder, who could vote, who stands for authority, justice or defender of and man of influence in local community parish affairs in the pre 19th centuries. You also have similar term for constable as the guards at the tower of London. Next down the social ladder was a Husbandman, who was a tenant lease holder of land as a farmer or manufacture on that rented land like a cottage farmer/weaver.

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/bcac2871-dbea-4cdd-8fc3-de9e8e8b8cb7

[arthurk]

Hi Arthur

I think the Yeoman word covers both, a farmer in this  Will case ! but also loose term for a man of means as an owner of land/freeholder, who could vote, who stands for authority, justice or defender of and man of influence in local community parish affairs in the pre 19th centuries. You also have similar term for constable as the guards at the tower of London. Next down the social ladder was a Husbandman, who was a tenant lease holder of land as a farmer or manufacture on that rented land like a cottage farmer/weaver.

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/bcac2871-dbea-4cdd-8fc3-de9e8e8b8cb7

Well, you've inspired me to hit the reference books. The document you mention refers to someone who happens to be "yeoman, constable and churchwarden": constable and churchwarden were specific positions within the parish, and were probably quite often filled by yeomen, but there is no automatic connection. "Yeoman" is actually a rather vague term with no formal definition, and with some variation over time and place as to exactly who fell into that class. Broadly speaking, it was a relatively wealthy farmer who worked on his own land (either owned or tenanted). The books I consulted (see below) did not mention any civic or parish duties - which when you think about it is probably to be expected if there was no settled definition of who was or wasn't a yeoman.

Arthur

Sources:
Joy Bristow - The Local Historian's Glossary of Words and Terms (3rd edition, 2001)
Terrick V H Fitzhugh - The Dictionary of Genealogy (3rd edition, 1991)
David Hey - The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History (1996)

[dobfarm]

Its like a lot of pre Victorian stuff, as far a ancestry is concerned, either very accurate or very vague, like this ruddy Will, loads of very accurate legal waffle, but vague as to people in and relative connections mentioned in the Will as to usual ancestry tree research stuff. 

Ah Well !

Thank you for your contributions and found your deciphering help and information very useful. 

Happy New Year.

Dobby