Edith Button of Godsell died a spinster in 1629. In her will she left her money and possessions to her two brothers, her four sisters, two of whom were married, two godsons and her father. Her inventory was extremely short. She owned five sheep and a cow, but these were surpassed in value by her wearing apparel and other textiles.
Edith’s will gives a fascinating insight into her wardrobe. She lovingly details individual items of clothing, making a clear choice as to which sister should inherit which items. She lists her best gown and her best green waistcoat, which would have been a kind of jacket. She owned a hat and mentions a black hat string. She also had no fewer than five coifs, a close fitting cap usually made of a light fabric such as linen. One coif was described as a “wrought white needle worke quaife” and another “my blacke printed quaife” - these were probably linen embroidered with white and black thread respectively and were in addition to her two “best” coifs. Accompanying the coifs were cross cloths, generally a piece of linen worn across the forehead; one of Edith’s was made of cambric, a fine white linen.
The range of fabrics and colours named is interesting. Edith had two smocks, a loose undergarment usually made of linen, though one of hers was made of a coarser canvas. She had two petticoats (underskirts), simply described by colour. Edith had a best apron and two others made of canvas, as well as one of dowlas and one of lockram, both a coarse linen originally from Brittany. Her footwear comprised one pair of shoes, one pair of green stockings and one pair of blue knitted stockings. Even smaller items were listed, including ruffs (a frill on the neck or sleeve of a garment) and bands and “one pind ruffe” - it was not unusual for parts of a garment to be pinned on rather than sewn, so that they could be removed at a later date.
Selected household textiles also appeared in the will: one table napkin embroidered with blue thread and a long holland towel, holland being a fine quality linen fabric originally from the Low Countries. Most intriguing of all is a piece of cloth five and a half yards in length. Edith clearly took an interest in her garments over and above their function as “wearing apparel” and it would be safe to assume that she was skilled in both needlework and knitting. In her will and inventory she is described as “simster”. This has been generally transcribed as spinster, but in the early 17th century the word “seamster” was used for a seamstress so it seems very likely that Edith made clothes to earn a living.