Dear Matt Thanks for replying, I wasn't at all sure about the exact meaning. Yes, it is interesting because: 1.  EDDEN in Brailes goes back as far as the LDS records permit, about 1538 I think.  It's well known that there was a wealthy EDDEN line in Brailes who were mill owners and cotton dealers.  (All my EDDENs so far are Ag Labs - wouldn't you just know it). 2.  "........ appointment of Margaret EDDEN, widow of Robert EDDEN of Brailes, labourer deceased, and John EDDEN of Brailes, chapman .............." Robert was a labourer, and John a chapman, "chapman a petty trader working in various places, a casual labourer, travelling chapman sold chapbooks, needles, lace, linen and household goods and bought old brass, clothes and human hair, - a peddler in other words".  There is a further conveyance of 29 Oct 1701 quoting John EADEN as a lace dealer. 3.  If  Thomas EDDEN was silk weaver of London, quite comfortable financially, why would his son Robert (assumed), be a labourer and Robert's son John be a common peddler? It didn't quite "sit right" with me and still doesn't, but thank you for clarifying the meaning of the transcript. I've also got: 17 march 1689, marriage settlement to John EDDEN, chapman, and Mary EDDEN, Margaret is there again, widow of Robert EDDEN, labourer deceased, says "Crowne End of Brailes between the houses of Mary RIMELL and Mary PORTER, John EDDEN signed his name (and he is a chapman), but Margaret "made her mark".  If John could write his name, it does rather imply that he was educated. Then there is another document dated 29 Oct 1701 that says that John EADEN was a "lace dealer". These documents are all on the "Access to Archives" site. Thanks again Matt. Kind regardsLynne ---------------------------------------- > To: [email protected] > Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:34:02 -0400 > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [WAR] C17 legal conveyance Brailes > > > < > understand this correctly: > "Conveyance from Thomas PARKER of Lower Brailes, yeoman, John HARBERT of > Brailes, taylor, son and heir of Richard HARBERT of the same, yeoman deceased, > with the consent direction and appointment of Margaret EDDEN, widow of Robert > EDDEN of Brailes, labourer deceased, and John EDDEN of Brailes, chapman, to > Edward WALKER of the Grove End of Upper Brailes, yeoman, of a cottage and lands > (in Brailes) being a settlement upon the marriage of the said John EDDEN and > Mary his wife, formerly settled by Thomas EDDEN of London, silkweaver and Mary > his wife, to the said Margaret EDDEN. To hold to the use of the said John and > Mary and their heirs". > Margaret EDDEN, widow of Robert EDDEN was appointed by Thomas and Mary EDDEN of > London to hold or look after a cottage and lands in Brailes for and until John > EDDEN (chapman) married Mary, in other words, they inherited it?>> > > > Very interesting - one doesn't often see explicit marriage settlements made by this class of people - silkweavers, chapmen, labourers - or relating to such a small landholding (as opposed to marriage settlements by the landed elite, among whom they were absolutely de rigeur, and usually dealt with large estates). > > Your interpretation is almost right, Lynn, but I doubt if Thomas and Mary's settled the property on Margaret to hold until John married Mary - it's unlikely that John had even been conceived at that point. I think a better interpretation would be as follows. > > 1. The cottage and lands originally belonged to Thomas Edden, silkweaver of London, and his wife Mary. > > 2. Some time previously Thomas and Mary had settled the cottage and lands on one Margaret, who is now the widow of Robert Edden, labourer of Brailes. I suspect Robert was Thomas and Mary's son and the cottage and lands were actually settled on both him and Margaret, jointly, on the occasion of their marriage - in other words that the earlier settlement was also a marriage settlement. > > 3. Robert has since died and Margaret has decided to re-settle the cottage and lands on John Edden, chapman of Brailes, and his new wife Mary, on the occasion of their marriage. Again, one asumes John Edden is the son of Robert and Margaret. > > To give effect to this second marriage settlement the trustees of the old settlement (Parker and Harbert - Richard Harbert would have been one of the original trustees but has died and been replaced by his son and heir) have conveyed the cottage and lands to the trustee of the new settlement, Edward Walker, yeoman of Grove End. (It's a bit odd that there's only one trustee of the new settlement - at least two would be normal - but perhaps that reflects the small size of the settled property and the small wealth of the parties.) > > Matt Tompkins > > List archives are at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/WARWICK > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. https://signup.live.com/signup.aspx?id=60969

<<3. If Thomas EDDEN was silk weaver of London, quite comfortable financially, why would his son Robert (assumed), be a labourer and Robert's son John be a common peddler? It didn't quite "sit right" with me and still doesn't, but thank you for clarifying the meaning of the transcript.>> A silkweaver was not necessarily a wealthy man - many were employed journeyman weavers, others were struggling self-employed artisans, especially at the end of the 17th century when the influx of Huguenot silkweavers would have created a great deal of competrition. On the other hand one does occasionally find elderly men described as labourers who had previously been husbandmen or artisans, or even yeomen, presumably because they have handed the farm or business over to a son and are now maintained by him and the wages from an occasional bit of paid labour. Usually such people retained their former status in these circumstances, but it seems in some times and places they were re-categorised. <<17 march 1689, marriage settlement to John EDDEN, chapman, and Mary EDDEN, Margaret is there again, widow of Robert EDDEN, labourer deceased, says "Crowne End of Brailes between the houses of Mary RIMELL and Mary PORTER, John EDDEN signed his name (and he is a chapman), but Margaret "made her mark". If John could write his name, it does rather imply that he was educated.>> Undoubtedly educated enough to write his name, but more than that is uncertain - it is known that some people could write their name but nothing else. On the other hand plenty of poor rural folk did learn to read and write. Matt