Ambry

An ambry was a cupboard with closed doors.

This was generally the most substantial piece of furniture in a Cumbrian yeoman's house, and would have been placed in the parlour where the main fire was also. As such, it would have been relatively free of damp and used for the storage of linen and the like and for items of value.

It was viewed as a prestige item, and oftened mentioned in wills (usually just as the 'cupboard'). Indeed, its bequest can be used partially to show who the heir to a property was.

Husbandry Gear and Plough Gear

Husbandry gear (or plough gear) refers to the essential gear needed to run a farm.

It was considered to be a chattel, so should have been included in any probate inventory. It was not automatically inherited by the heir, so was often bequeathed in a will. Sometimes a specific bequest was made because the gear had to be shared between the heir (who had the bulk of the farm) and the widow (who received one third or one half according to local custom).

It may be, though I haven't attempted to check this, that the bequest indicates the presence of other individuals on the farm who had the potential force of will to take control of the items (e.g. a resident uncle; a married sister); but I haven't heard of anyone else suggesting this.

The bequest of the husbandry gear is a sure indication of who the heir of the farm was. This is convenient for the researcher because the transfer of customary property was an automatic process (according to the customs of the manor) and wasn't stated in wills (unlike the transfer of freehold property).

Supervisors and Overseers in Wills

Supervisors/Overseers were sometimes appointed in early wills.

I asked Dr Matthew Tompkins about this. His reply was that:

A supervisor's (or overseer's) role was to make sure the executor implemented the will according to its terms, and to take him to court if he did not, so he protected the interests of all beneficiaries under the will, though no doubt his oversight was particularly important to minors and other beneficiaries less able to stand up for themselves.

In many regions in the early modern period it was absolutely standard to appoint overseers as well as an executor, so in those areas no particular significance can be read into their appointment in individual cases. But in areas where it was unusual then perhaps the appointment of overseers indicates some unease in the testator's mind about the chosen executor(s).

Amy Erickson's Women and Property in Early Modern England has an interesting discussion of this on pp. 159-61, with some statistics. 75% of male testators in Sussex between 1579 and 1682 appointed overseers, but only 4-5% in parts of Yorkshire in the 17C did so.

Note that this use of the term 'overseer' should not be confused with the position of 'Overseer of the Poor'. Entirely different beasties.

I will include examples from Copeland wills as I work on them.

Ambry

Husbandry Gear and Plough Gear

Supervisors and Overseers in Wills

Rum Butter