Mountforth Inventory

This document is the 1549 probate inventory of Elizabeth Mountforth of Kilnhurst Hall, which is one of the few probates to survive in Yorkshire from before the late 17th century.

The inventory of her goods suggests that she had relatively little to leave, although it is possible her estate was undervalued to avoid high probate fees. Surprisingly for a woman of gentry status she apparently had no silverware and her plates and drinking vessels were of pewter. She had only 2 gowns and two head dresses, and her furniture consisted of a table, a chair, a form, a bed and a few storage chests. Much of the inventory is concerned with her livestock and crops, so we know that she kept and bred cattle (including oxen which would have been used as draught animals to pull ploughs and carts), horses, pigs, ducks, hens and bees and grew wheat, barley and oats.

The early 16th century was a period of high inflation, so she was probably not very well off. The same can be said her children, one of whom was so fearful of losing his job he dare not even attend her funeral.

 Image Transcript and History of the Mountforth Inventory (209 Kb)