Inventories were often made as part of the process of proving
wills. They were lists of the belongings of the deceased, drawn up
by the executors, and including the financial value of each item.
They are remarkably interesting documents, as they are usually the
only surviving indication of the sorts of possessions people owned
and valued in the past. For large houses, the inventory is often
arranged on a room-by-room basis, allowing a picture to be formed
of how individuals kept their homes.
See also Wills for related
information.
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