🎄A FESTIVE TREAT: BONUS CHRISTMAS BLOG POST🎄 🎁As we approach the holidays, @lsangha.bsky.social has collected some of the best 'Christmassy' names in The National Archives' will registers. 🎅Featuring Mr Christmas, Christopher Pudding, John Turkey & many more 👇 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

🎄CHRISTMAS BLOG POST!🎄 A silly gift for you all: I dug through The National Archive wills looking for Christmassy names. There were a lot, inc: Mr 🎅 Christopher 🍮 ❄️ Green Thomas 🦃 Theophilia 🛷 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult... 📜 #EarlyModern 🗃️ @leverhulme.ac.uk @uoearchhist.bsky.social

🚨FAB PROJECT NEWS🚨 We are delighted to report that we have been awarded a free study break at a Landmark Trust property as part of their Landmark Futures scheme! The whole team will spend a week in Bath at the handsome Georgian building, Elton House. More here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

📢 NOW LIVE: December's 'Will of the Month' post! 📢 Read on to find out about the life of a Ragusan merchant who found himself in Stuart London, sick of 'the Disease of the Stone' 👇 He left bequests of: 1 parrot 🦜, 300 pairs of stockings 🧦, & 360 jars of wine 🍾 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

In Alice's will, made in 1705, she left her wedding ring to her oldest daughter with the stipulation that it should then be passed down the Comber line with other Wandesford family heirlooms. Her younger daughter received her 'wedding bodice and crimson stomacher of flowered satin'. #EarlyModern 🗃️

🎅December Will of the Month!🎅 This merchant from the Republic of Ragusa made reference to the altarpiece he commissioned ✝️ 300 silk stockings🧦400 pairs of stirrups🐴, and a parrot 🦜. #EarlyModern 🗃️ sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult... @leverhulme.ac.uk @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social

📢 NEW Will of the Month post 📢 For December's post, we searched for Christmas-related bequests🎅 'Stockings' led us to the will of a Ragusan merchant: featuring 300 pairs of stockings 🧦, a parrot & 360 jars of wine, & insights into foreign trade in Stuart London👇 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

The last Wills Project meeting before Christmas! As you can see, we came suitably attired, but held off on the mulled wine since it was only 11am .. A very productive year for us & our amazing community of volunteers - look out for our December will of the month & a special Christmas blog soon!🎉🎄🎅

Found the 'people named after birds' page of the will register

📢 In Case You Missed It! 📢 We've been busy - catch up with our latest 'Project Progress Update' Blog Post 👇 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult... Find our more about our recent milestones, and the building of our project database 💻📜 @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk #skystorians

📢The wills team have been very busy of late!📢 Here's a little update on our progress over recent months - our volunteers completed Zooniverse and the database is on it's way... #EarlyModern #DigitalHumanities #Transkribus 🗃️ @uoearchhist.bsky.social @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk

📜 There's a new 'Project Progress Update' blog post over on the @materialwills.bsky.social blog! 📜 Read on for more about our research progress, featuring @zooniverse.bsky.social news & updates about our database 👇 #skystorians #history #citizenscience @leverhulme.ac.uk @transkribus.bsky.social

📢 NEW 'Project Progress Update' Blog Post! 📢 We've recently reached a very significant project milestone, and thought this would be the perfect moment to provide a research update: sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult... Featuring @zooniverse.bsky.social news, and a sneak peek at our database! 📜✍️💻

📢November Will of the Month📢 Meet Reverend William Thomas, a widowed clergyman from Pembrokeshire who made his will in 1786. William left his breeches to Billy Rees and asked to be buried 'as remote from every other grave as conveniently may be'. 🪦✝️💀 #EarlyModern 🗃️ #Trousers

Many thanks to Public Engagement with Research at Exeter for featuring us prominently in their write up of the FUTURES festival 👇 @uoearchhist.bsky.social @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social sites.exeter.ac.uk/per/2025/11/...

✍ Introducing ✍ Sharpie, a letterform recognition game for beginner #EarlyModern #palaeography gjhilton.github.io/Sharpie/ AKA What I Did Over Reading Week. #skystorians I’d be so grateful if you had time to share or take a look and tell me what sucks and needs fixing. Love g 🗃️

Delighted everyone found this sculpture as delightful as me! Tombs, monuments & funerals are something I will be writing about as part of my wills research project - I wonder what insights 25,000 English wills will bring? 🪦⚰️📜🗃️ All the info on the project here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

Couple of wills talks coming up: I'm presenting to the Devonshire Association, Tavistock & West Devon branch on Friday. Then next Friday @bhamhistory.bsky.social & I are giving a talk at a joint Devon History Society & Devon Archaeological society workshop at Devon Heritage Centre. 🗃️

I've read quite a few married women's wills but never one made during childbirth. Great find! #EarlyModern 🗃️

📢NOVEMBER WILL OF THE MONTH📢 This month's featured testator is a widowed clergyman from Pembrokeshire who made his will in 1786. Reverend William Thomas asked to be buried 'as remote from every other grave as conveniently may be'. 🪦✝️💀 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

This is the first recording of any of Chris Hoban's wills inspired music! For lucky people in Devon, Chris will be performing ALL the wills songs at Topsham Folk Club on 18 January, with support from Miranda Sykes. Grab your ticket now 👇 #Exeter #Devon 🗃️ #Events wegottickets.com/event/680386

Alice Walter's will might be familiar if you read our project blog, as it was our Will of the Month in October 2024. Read @emilymayvine.bsky.social's post, and see a transcription of the whole will here: #EarlyModern 🗃️ sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

📜WILLS ON THE RADIO!📜 The brilliant Chris Hoban was on local radio talking about the wills project and playing some songs! This one is perhaps my favourite: based on the will of London widow Alice Walter, proved September 1665. TNA PROB 11/317/428. #EarlyModern 🗃️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXwB...

Transkribus is the handwritten text recognition tool that we used to transcribe 25,000 wills from 1540-1790 for our Leverhulme project. Beginners' guide here 👇 #DigitalHumanities 🗃️ #EarlyModern

And here we all are, not being at all self-conscious about having our photo taken and enjoying Harry's visualisation of our bequests.

It's been a busy week for the project! 1. A huge milestone: we're delighted to share that our @zooniverse.bsky.social volunteers have now checked ALL images! 🎉 Thank you to everyone who has contributed. We're going to pause Zooniverse for now while we evaluate if more training is required. 🧵1/4

📢 In Case You Missed It 📢 October's 'Will of the Month' post is now live on our blog 📜 When Margery Gadyng died in childbirth in 1540, she made a nuncupative or 'oral' will, leaving ribbons to the women who witnessed her declare her final wishes. Read more here👇 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

📢 NEW Will of the Month Post 📢 October's will is an unusual & poignant example of a married woman who made a will Margery Gadyng died in childbirth in 1540 - she declared her will to the midwife & women attending her, leaving them bequests of ribbons & rosaries sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

I'm pretty jealous of Jane - the cabinets are opened rarely to prevent light damage and to protect the delicate hinges. Jane's research focuses on global goods in our 25,000 wills - both imported objects and material culture that imitated them.

One of our PhD students Jane Tozer recently visited @nationaltrust.org.uk Ham House during their 'Open Cabinets' event while researching 'japanning' - furniture finishes that imitated East Asian lacquerwork. The cabinets are opened only twice a year - Jane captured this beautiful photograph:

Don’t forget to sign up for this Wednesday’s presentation on digitising Early Modern handwritten documents

📢TODAY📢 Tune in to hear @bhamhistory.bsky.social and @emilymayvine.bsky.social discuss our unique methodology 👇 Weds 22 Oct, 5pm Zoom #EarlyModern 🗃️ #DigitalHumanities @cemsexeter.bsky.social @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social @uoearchhist.bsky.social @dhlabexeter.bsky.social

If you want to know more about our use of handwritten text recognition software (Transkribus) on the wills project, tune in on Zoom next week 👇 All welcome (not just postdocs!). #EarlyModern 🗃️ #DigitalHumanities #HTR #CitizenScience

Project Research Fellows Harry Smith and Emily Vine are looking forward to speaking as part of the Warwick History 'Post-Doc' Club series, next Wed 22 October @ 17.00. They'll be discussing 'Digitization & Citizen Science'📜💻 Follow this link for Zoom details: warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/his...

Fantastic to see @lsangha.bsky.social and project Creative Fellow Chris Hoban share the fruits of their creative collaboration as part of the Futures Festival at Exeter Phoenix!

There's still time to grab your ticket for a FREE 'WILLS PROJECT' EVENT Join @lsangha.bsky.social & musician Chris Hoban this Saturday for a FREE performance of history & music inspired by #EarlyModern wills 📜🎵 📍Exeter Phoenix 📅Sat 11 Oct 🕐13.30 Register: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-an...

📢 A round up of our recent news 📢 1. UPCOMING 'WILLS PROJECT' EVENT: Join @lsangha.bsky.social and musician Chris Hoban for a FREE performance of history & music inspired by #EarlyModern wills 📜🎵 📍Exeter Phoenix 📅Sat 11 Oct 🕐13.30 Register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-an... 🧵1/3

Chris and I are really excited to be part of the FUTURES Festival and to have the chance to perform the wills music in the Phoenix Auditorium, following our sold out event earlier this year.

📢 A FREE wills project event - Exeter, 11 October 📢 Project co-investigator @lsangha.bsky.social & Creative Fellow musician Chris Hoban invite you to join them for a unique performance of history and original music inspired by #EarlyModern wills 📜 #history Register for your free ticket below 👇

📢 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 📢 September's 'Will of the Month' post is live on our blog 📜 Written by Dylan Cox, a 3rd year Exeter History student, it explores the will of a C17th London gentleman, and his charitable bequests & mourning rings 💍 #skystorians #history sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

I really liked the fact that Dylan chose to research a 'boring' will from our collection - one with very few personal or sentimental bequests. As you will read, even wills like this contain a lot of rich historical detail. Bravo Dylan!

📢SEPTEMBER WILL OF THE MONTH📢 It's a special one! Written by Exeter undergraduate student Dylan Cox, who undertook work experience with the project team. He explores the will of a London gentleman 👇 #EarlyModern 🗃️ @leverhulme.ac.uk @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

📢 NEW WILL OF THE MONTH POST 📢 We're delighted to share this very special post by Dylan Cox, a 3rd year History student at Exeter. 📜 Dylan has transcribed & researched the will of a London gentleman who made several bequests, including to Bridewell prison 🧵1/2 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

In Case You Missed It: Last week we circulated our Autumn 2025 Newsletter 🍂✉️ Want to catch up on what we've been up to recently? You can now read it over on our website 👇 #history #EarlyModern #skystorians

We'll be sending out our Autumn 2025 Newsletter tomorrow 🍂✉️ Sign up to our mailing list before then to receive a copy in your inbox! 👇

In the next few days we'll be circulating our Autumn 2025 project newsletter! 🍂✉️ To receive a copy and find out what we've been up to over the last few months, make sure you're signed up to our mailing list: forms.office.com/e/JbUEq4Za1u @leverhulme.ac.uk @uoearchhist.bsky.social #history

Who would have thought that early modern wills could create such a burst of creativity! 👏 This post reminded me of the fascinating artsy and sensory ways to engage with history. There is still so much to explore...

📢 ICYMI: in our new blog post Laura Sangha talks about her collaboration with a musician to explore wills, history and creative approaches 👇 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult... #EarlyModern 🗃️

📢NEW WILLS PROJECT POST!📢 In the post our project Co-Investigator Laura Sangha recounts what happened when she collaborated with musician Chris Hoban in order to explore the wills in our sample. sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult... #EarlyModern 🗃️

Japanner, Horse Boiler or Oatmeal Man - which is leading the 'best testator occupation' race for you? 🪑🐴🥣