About the Talk

At the heart of this talk lie the last wills and testaments of over 300 women who lived in Tudor and Stuart Chichester. Most were written by widows, with a fair sprinkling from single women and a few wives. Together, they reveal a great deal about family and household relationships, the trust placed in women, and the social networks women built for themselves — brought to life through the stories of 'ordinary' women in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Chichester.

About the Speaker

James McInnes is a former teacher who now devotes much of his time to historical research, with a particular interest in what documents can reveal about the 'plaine country fellow'. He has published numerous articles on local history, and his transcriptions of the Tudor and Stuart wills of Chichester are available online at the Sussex Record Society's website.

Standard Info

Doors open at 2pm talk starts at 2.15pm Tickets £8.50 including teas and coffees.