“It is agreed by a generall consent that Wm. Hartshorne, husbandman, shall be made ffreeman of corporacon payinge such ffine as Mr. Maiour and the Chambleyns that now be shall assess. But he is not allowed any freedom or privilege by reason that his mother was a ffreewoman. Neither is it thought fit that any woman be hereafter made free of this corporacon.” (_Notes and Queries_, vol. v., 5th series, p. 138.) This note is important as showing the period of the change of tone and spirit. =Women could be on the Corporation.=—In 1593, in the Archives of the Borough of Maidstone, Kent, appears, “That the 11th of September, 1593, Rose Cloke, single woman, (according to the order and constitutions of the town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid) was admitted to be one of the corporation and body politique of the same town and parish, from henceforth to enjoy the liberties and franchises of the same in every respect, as others the freemen of the said town and parish. And she was also then sworn accordingly, and for some reasonable causes and considerations then stated she was released from paying any fine, other than for her said oath, which she then paid accordingly” (_Notes and Queries_, vol. xii., 5th series, 318). The transcriber doubts the “legality” of Miss Rose Cloke’s election. But it was not till a very long time after this date that any attempt was made to interfere with the liberty of the electors in choosing whom they would. Queen Elizabeth is said to have reproached the women of Kent for not more fully exercising their privileges. It may have been in connection with this illustration as to what their privileges might be. I had long meditated on the inner meaning of this reproach, before I came upon the elucidation. The freemen of Kent alone, in England, rose in arms against William the Conqueror, and would not lay them down until their ancient laws and customs were confirmed to them. The Custumal of Kent, therefore, based on the ancient Saxon laws, gave wider privilege to women than the Normanised laws of the rest of the country. Inheritance was equal and independent of sex, either in relations of descent or of marriage. The children all inherited equally, with a certain special tender consideration for the _youngest_, male or female. A widow had the half of her husband’s property till she married again; a widower had the half of his wife’s property, _while he remained single_. This equality in property necessarily gave the women of Kent fuller privilege. The recognition of the freedom of womanhood naturally made the men of Kent more free. “Of all the English shires, be ye surnamed the Free.” (Drayton’s “Poly-Olbion, 18.”) [v.]