Life for Husbandmen / Yeomen Herts in the 1500s

[rpweedon]

Hello all,

Can anyone suggest where I might learn more about life in the 1500s-1600s for the average husbandmen living in Herts / Bucks?  I am looking for information sources like books, reference material, stories, biographies, etc.

I have traced my tree back 13 generations (last 5 generations by linking a series of wills).  Would like to understand how these folks lived during the early period.

Thanks in advance,

R. Peter Weedon

[[Ray]]

Hi
Why not start with H.A.L.S. ?     


https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/libraries-and-archives/hertfordshire-archives-and-local-studies/hertfordshire-archives-and-local-studies.aspx     


Ray

[stanmapstone]

You could look at English Farming, Past and Present

https://www.soilandhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/GoodBooks/English%20Farming%20-%20Past%20and%20Present.pdf

Stan

[Vance Mead]

If you mean more generally how they lived, there are some books by Christopher Dyer.

Making a Living in the Middle Ages: the People of Britain, 850–1520
Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages: Social Change in England c.1200–1520

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Dyer

Also:

The English yeoman under Elizabeth and the early Stuarts, Mildred Campbell

[Maiden Stone]

Estate papers for the manor. There may be surviving leases and rent rolls. My yeomen ancestors were abbey tenants in early 1500's then tenants of the new owner after the dissolution of the monasteries. (The home of their lord of the manor is the venue for "Antiques Roadshow" tonight.) Rent roll for 1580's has a note against my ancestor's name to say he'd been 6 pence short with his half-yearly rent for several years.
They may have been mentioned in manorial court records if their animals strayed or if they neglected to carry out a duty such as mending a road or if they fell out with neighbours.

[Vance Mead]

This is in Salop rather than Bucks/Herts, but I highly recommend The History of Myddle, by Richard Gough, written in about 1700-1710. He goes pew by pew in the church and tells about the everyday life and history of each family, going back to the 1500s for many of them.

[rpweedon]

Rootschat pros!

Thank you all for the brilliant recommendations.  Diving in now!

Peter