On looking over the parish registers of Mautby, in the county of
Norfolk, a few days since, I found thirteen entries of certificates of
the enforced observance of this practice, of which the following is a
specimen:--
"November the 8th, 1678. Was brought unto me an Affidavit for ye
Burial of William the So[=n]e of John Turner in Woollen according
to ye late act of Parliament for that purpose.--ANDREW CALL,
_Rector_."
The reason is clear--to increase the consumption of wool; but I should
much wish to know the date of the aforesaid act of parliament, and to
how late a period it extended. I find a comparatively recent trace of it
in an original affidavit of the kind, in the varied collection of my
friend R. Rising, Esq., of Horsey, which I subjoin in full, as it may be
interesting to many readers of "N. &. Q."
"Borough of Harwich in the County of Essex to Wit.
"Sarah the Wife of Robert Lyon of the parish of Dovercourt in the
Borough aforesaid, husbandman, and Deborah the Wife of Stephen
Driver, of the same parish, husbandman (being two credible
persons), do make oath that Deborah, the daughter of the said
Stephen and Deborah, aged 18 weeks, who was on the 7th day of
April instant interred in the parish Churchyard of Dovercourt, in
the borough aforesaid, was not put in, wrapped, or wound up, or
buried in any Shirt, Shift, Sheet, or Shroud, made or mingled with
Flax, Hemp, Silk, Hair, Gold, or Silver, or other than what is
made of Sheeps' Wool only; or in any Coffin lined or faced with
any Cloth Stuff, or any other thing, whatsoever, made or mingled
with Flax, Hemp, Silk, Hair, Gold or Silver, or any other material
but Sheeps' Wool only.
"Taken and sworn the fifteenth day of April 1769, before me, one
of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace. G. DAVIES.
"The mark of
x
SARAH LYON.
The mark of
D
DEBORAH DRIVER.
"Witness.
B. DIDIER."