Image bank: 1661 House inventory

Inventory of goods belonging to Edward Smith, December 1661
TNA: PROB 4/67

This is an inventory of the goods belonging to Edward Smith who lived London before the Great Fire. The inventory is dated 12th December 1661.

For a high resolution file of this document, click here (Jpeg 482kb).

For a transcript of this document, click here (PDF 85kb).

Questions for exploring this document:
1.  Pick four things from the list and say what they are used for.
2.  What does this list tell us about Edward’s life?
3.  Why do you think people made lists of their most valuable things?
4.  What other things are missing from the list?
5.  Would any of the things on the list have survived the Fire of London?
6.  Look at the real document and try and spot any words in the transcript!

© The National Archives