Peter King asked about
> Rychard Hooper a huswyves pound [of wool]
> Edward Turner 3 wax pounds and a half
> These quantities are the tithe, not the whole of the person's
> produce. But what are a 'housewife's pound' and a 'wax pound'?
An invaluable source for information about this sort of thing is: R. D.
Connor, The Weights and Measures of England, HMSO/The Science Museum,
1987, ISBN 0-11-290435-1
This contains several entries about wax measures. At pp.126-127 Connor
says: "Fleta also tells us that the weight for wax, sugar, pepper,
cummin, almonds and wormwood is the weight of 25 shillings. But a pound
of gold, silver, electuaries and such like apothecaries' confections has
the weight of 20 shillings stirling only". There are similar entries
about the wax stone and hundredweight.
Unfortunately even Connor does not, so far as I can see, say anything
about the housewife's pound. England was full of different weights and
measures and the housewife's pound may have been a local weight or a
local term for a weight recognised elsewhere under a different name. No
doubt it meant something fairly specific to local people at the time.
--
Frank Sharman
Wolverhampton, UK.
tel: +44 01902 763246
look: no quotes, no graphics!
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