Usury legislation,cash, and credit: the development of the female investor in the late Tudor and Stuart periods1 |
| |
Authors: | JUDITH SPICKSLEY |
| |
Institution: | University of Hull |
| |
Abstract: | This article uses testamentary evidence from Lincoln diocesan court between the 1570s and the 1690s to examine links between inheritance, a rise in money‐lending amongst single women, and an increase in the proportion of women that never married. Two trends emerge: first, more fathers after the 1570s chose to bequeath cash to their daughters; second, they were more likely to restrict access to this portion by age rather than marriage. Assisted by a softening of attitudes towards interest‐bearing lending, these changes offered some single women a measure of financial independence that may have impacted on their marriage decisions. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|