Mr. William Copley was not inclined tamely to resign the ancient privilege of his family of sending up Burgesses for their own Borough; he attempted to do so again, in spite of the decision of 1620, and through the adverse decision in his case, Parliament affirmed, and Sir Edward Coke with it, the right of a woman to vote.
CHAPTER VI.
FREEWOMEN.
“Preserve your Loyalty, defend your Rights.”
—Anne Clifford’s Sundial Motto.
In days when the word “Free” had no doubtful signification, women could be “Free” in several different ways. They could be Freeholders in towns by inheritance or by purchase. They could be Free of “Companies,” in some of them by patrimony, service, or payment; in others through being widows of Freemen only. In some cases a widow’s “Freedom” was limited by the conditions of her husband’s will, but in almost all of the Companies, at least, in London, some women could be Free. They could be Free in Boroughs, under the same conditions as men, by paying brotherhood money, and by sharing in the common duties of Burgesses, as “Watch and Ward,” “Scot and Lot,” and the service of the King; they could be “Free” as regards the Corporation, and they could be “Free” as regards voting for members of Parliament.
I have preferred to use the word “Freewomen” as more definite than any other. The “Widows and Spinsters” phrase of to-day does not carry back to old history. Under certain limited conditions married women could be “Free”; under certain other conditions they could be “Spinsters.”
“The case of a wife trading alone. And where a woman coverte de Baron follows any craft within the city by herself apart, with which the husband in no way interferes, such woman shall be bound as a single woman as to all that concerns her craft. And if the husband and wife are impleaded in such case, the wife shall plead as a single woman in a Court of Record, and shall have her law and other advantages by way of plea just as a single woman.” She has her duties and penalties as well as her privileges, can be imprisoned for debt, etc. (See “The Liber Albus of London,” compiled 1419, translated by J. Riley, Book III., p. 39.)
(See also “Historical Manuscripts Commission,” vol. x., appendix iv., p. 466, et. seq. Report on papers found in Town Hall, Chelmsford.) There, among several lists of women, wives, and mothers, are many designated “Spinsters.” Among “presentments for neglecting to attend church” (23 Eliz.) were ten women—“Margareta Tirrell, spinster, alias dicta Margaretta Tirrell uxor Thomae Tirrell armigeri”: “Maria Lady Petre, spinster, alias dicta Maria Domina Petre uxor Johannis Petre de Westhornden prædicta Milites.” Many others appear as “wife of” at the same time as “spinster.” The writer of the Report believes that “spinster” in these cases was equivalent to “generosa,” and notes that it is insisted on when women have married men of meaner descent. I myself am inclined to think that a Guild of women had arisen out of the silk-spinning industries of Essex, and that the word “Spinster” implied membership of that Guild.
Members of Guilds.—In the old social and religious guilds which seem to have been established for good fellowship during life, for due burial, prayers and masses after death, and for charitable assistance of needy survivors, there was perfect equality between the sexes. Brotherhood money is exacted from “the sustren” as well as from the brethren. In 1388 (12 Richard II.) an order was given that all Guilds and Brotherhoods should give “returns of their foundation.” Women appear as the Founders of some of these. The Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Kingston-upon-Hull, was founded by 10 men and 12 women (p. 155). The Guild of Corpus Christi, Hull, founded in 1358, by 18 women and 25 men (p. 160, “Early English Gilds,” J. Toulmin Smith). The Guild of the Holy Cross, Stratford-on-Avon, had half of its members women, as also the Guild of Our Lady, in the Parish of St. Margaret’s, Westminster, whose original manuscripts I have read. Even when the guild was managed by priests, as in the Guild of Corpus Christi, York, women were among the members. In St. George’s Guild, Norwich, men were charged 6s. 8d. and women only 3s. 4d. for brotherhood. These guilds had “Livery” of their own in some cases. They had a beneficial effect on society, moral good conduct being necessary to membership, and a generous rivalry in self-improvement a condition of distinction. They taught an equal moral standard for both sexes. Hence the treatment of vicious men and vicious women was the same. (See “Liber Albus,” p. 179, 180, etc.)