A Woman’s Will: The changing lives of British women, told through the things they have left behind

REVIEW BY AB A hive of bees, ‘nine pair of bedde stockes’ (bed socks), ‘my worst petticoat’, and the famous Sutton Hoo treasure: these are just some of the objects left to friends, relatives, and institutions by Britain’s women over the last 1,000 years. Female voices are often conspicuously absent from the historical record, but one place where they can be found is in women’s wills. In this book, Viki Holton explores the variety of bequests made by British women through time, from wealthy Anglo-Saxon widows to 20th-century philanthropists. The women represented come from all corners of society – queens and peasants, mistresses and nuns – and their wills offer a window in