16. WEIGHTS & MEASURES
In ECW N&Q (3) Stuart Peachey asked about books on C17th Weights & Measures. The book I have found most useful is A DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, FROM ANGLO-SAXON TIMES TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by R E Zupko (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1968). Prof. Zupko has also published a more recent work which is also quite useful BRITISH WEIGHTS AND MEASURES - A HISTORY FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (Univ of Winsconsin Press) - but deals with the history of standard weights and associated statutes.
The problem in the C17th is that there were still a number of traditional and variant weights inspite of statute. For example, the statute weight of the stone was, as today, 14 LBS, but there were various different stone in use. The following are a sample.
8 LBS per Stone - Almonds; Alum (sometimes 13 LBS); Beef (London); Pepper; Sugar; Wax.
12 LBS per Stone - Beef (Herefordshire); Wool (Herefordshire)
14 LBS per Stone - Wool; Flax (sometimes 16 LBS)
16 LBS per Stone - Hemp (sometimes 20 LBS or even 32 LBS)
These examples taken from the DICTIONARY...
Ian Scott
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