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Whilst evidence for occupation may be problematic, it does
point clearly towards Pendean being a yeoman’s house. Rather than attempt an
exact definition of what a ‘yeoman’ was in the 17th century it is easier to
note some shared characteristics and some differences. Yeomen occupied a
broad rural middle ‘class’, below the ranks of gentry, but above the ranks
of husbandmen and labourers. They derived their living primarily from the
land and typically employed non-family labour. Their houses were usually
larger and better furnished than those of husbandmen (for whom houses the
size of Poplar Cottage were more typical). They were more likely than
husbandmen to hold parish offices such as overseers of the poor or
churchwardens, giving them an important stake in the government and
administration of their communities. Generally, literacy levels amongst
yeoman were higher than amongst husbandmen, although Richard Clare was
illiterate, as evidenced by the ‘mark’ he used on the indenture of sale of
1639.
Richard Clare’s ‘mark’
from the indenture of 1639.
There were, nevertheless, marked variations in wealth
between yeomen. In terms of lifestyle, the wealthiest yeomen could equal or
surpass the minor gentry; whilst poorer yeomen were closer to the ranks of
prosperous husbandmen. While the total value of movable wealth recorded in
probate inventories provides only a crude index to wealth distribution
within and between social groups it is worth pointing out by way of
comparison that when the yeoman William Sandham died in 1678 his movable
estate was valued at £682 10s 10d whereas in 1697 Nicholas Austen’s movable
estate was valued at a more modest £231 15s 3d. At 40 acres Pendean was a
small farm by yeoman standards and much of its value would have been in the
rights of pasture that went with it. We know that Nicholas Austen was
holding land elsewhere in addition to Pendean since his probate inventory
records four barns in what were evidently separate locations.
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