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? 🪑🐴🥣

Jukes listed his occupation as a 'Japanner' ('japanning' is a European imitation of East Asian lacquerwork), which is interesting, but not as interesting as Thomas Dugdale of Dirty Lane, Southwark, who described himself as ... 'Horse Boiler'. 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

When John Jukes wrote his will in 1784 he said he didn't mind where his grave was so long as it wasn't damp.📜🪦💧 'i will and desire to be buried in a decent manner, if in the country to be buried at jedgly, if in london where you please, but let it be a dry ground and a good stone over'.

We post regularly over on our blog - this includes our 'Will of the Month' series, as well as other discussions of research and project updates 📜✍️📚 We've now been writing blog posts for 18 months: you can search and filter all of them to find what you're looking for 👇 #skystorians #history

📢 In Case You Missed It 📢 Our August 'Will of the Month' post is now live on our blog! 📜 It explores the will of a Huguenot 'Master Weaver', who lived in Stepney and made a bequest of 'all the Loomes and Harnesses belonging to a Weavers’ Trade' 🧶 #skystorians 👇 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

Loughborough 1678 and an unusual request in a will - That my Body be buried in my Garden (and it may have been, as there's no burial in the parish registers)

Super post about an important benefactor of the then newly founded French Hospital as well as the church in Threadneedle Street. Of interest to @huguenotsociety.bsky.social. More on this period of Huguenot history in London in the forthcoming Huguenot Society Journal.

A reminder that every @materialwills.bsky.social will of the month post includes a full transcription of the featured will. We now have a collection of 20 wills, from across the 16th-18th centuries 👇 #EarlyModern 🗃️ sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

📢AUGUST WILL OF THE MONTH📢 Emily Vine's top new post explores the 1726 testament of a Frenchman who fled to England to escape religious persecution. #EarlyModern 🗃️ @leverhulme.ac.uk @uoearchhist.bsky.social @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

August's 'Will of the Month' post is live over on the @materialwills.bsky.social blog 📜 We've been thinking about community & craftsmanship in the will of a French Protestant refugee, and the 'Huguenot' trades of silk-weaving, silversmithing, and watchmaking ⌚ #history #earlymodern #skystorians 👇

📢 NEW Will of the Month post! 📢 It explores the will of a Huguenot refugee & 'Master Weaver of Stepney' whose will is a insight into community & craftsmanship 📜 He leaves money to the French church & mentions the Huguenot trades of silversmithing & watchmaking ⌚ sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

In 1585 Katherine Doylye [!] had a dedicated 'cheese chamber' in her home stocked with a full complement of cheese making equipment and 80 cheeses worth £2 13s 4d. 📜🧀 Inventories in Oxfordshire, 1965, p. 193. @cheeseandpeople.bsky.social

We never imagined that one of our wills would end up on the main stage at the legendary Sidmouth Folk Festival! Thanks so much to Chris Hoban for making it happen 👏📜🎺🗃️

The DH lab is thrilled to have had a hand in facilitating this event for such a fascinating project! So great to hear that it was a resounding success! #DHLab #DH #Digital #Humanities #DigitalHumanities #DigitalHumanitiesLab #Exeter #ExeterUniversity #ExeterUni #MaterialCultureofWills #HASS #HUMS

📢 In Case You Missed It! 📢 It's been a busy few days on the wills project 📜✍️ Last week we held our hybrid transcribathon - joined by around 80 people in Exeter and around the world 🌍 @kmbarton.bsky.social did a great job of live posting - you can catch up here 👇 bsky.app/profile/mate... 1/3🧵

Tying up some loose ends from the Transcribathon last week - thanks again to everyone who took part! In person we a lovely range of folks: 2 just finished Exeter College A level students; 2 just finished undergrads; members of the History department & Centre for Early Modern Studies #EarlyModern 🗃️

📢Great new will of the month from @emilymayvine.bsky.social just out📢 Emily explores the will of a more humble testator, a servant whose will is one of the only records of her life left behind. What can it tell us? sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult... #EarlyModern 🗃️ @uoearchhist.bsky.social

📢 New Will of the Month post 📢 How do we write about those who left little behind, both in terms of possessions, & evidence in the historical record? 📜 This month's post explores the life of a servant woman, Mary Carlton, who had few objects to bequeath other than her 'box' 🧵1/2 #skystorians

If you'd like to see what we got up to, one of our postgraduates [ @kmbarton.bsky.social ] did an absolutely amazing job of live posting on this thread 👇 #EarlyModern 🗃️ #transcribaton #crowdsourcing #DigitalHums @leverhulme.ac.uk @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social sky.social @uoearchhist.bsky.social

📜 Thanks so much to all our volunteers who showed up for the #transcribathon today! 3494 classifications completed and one very happy project team!

If you haven't been able to join the @materialwills.bsky.social transcribathon today - you can catch up with what we've been up to in this thread 👇 We're about halfway through our 3 hour transcription session! 📜✍️ #history #earlymodern #skystorians @zooniverse.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk