I'm confused. If we're speaking of Wadley's Notes or abstracts of the
wills ... in the Council House at Bristol (1886), then the phrase 'a
certain draught called "Avenprevey,"' occurs not in number 217, but only
in number 258 (will of William Canynges, 1474), on page 152. Besides,
these are notes on wills in modern English, so the term "draught" might
have been added by the annotator (Wadley?).
Keith
________________________________
From: The English Place-Name List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Richard Coates
Sent: 25 March 2009 11:00
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: The first named public convenience in England in 1423 (?)
Can anyone top this for date?
Avenprevey - "also two messuages on the bridge of Avon, situate between
a messuage of Isabel, late wife of Sir John Seymour knt., on the north,
and a lane where one goes to a certain draught called Avenprevey, on the
south" (will of James Cokkes, 21 May 1423 (Wadley no. 217), spelling
modernized by the editor). Draught is another obsolete word for 'privy'
(OED, noun, sense 46.a.). This record may antedate by some distance the
OED's earliest record of the word draught in the required sense ("before
1500").
Richard
