ABSTRACT
In common with other contemporary household accounts there is a dearth of women at Acton, both in the household and at the dinner table. The most frequent women guests on Sundays were the wife of Robert Dynham, Agnes Whyte who was married to Alex, and the wife of John Whyte, another Agnes. Female servants were often engaged for only a short period, another reason for their comparative invisibility. Young women may also have joined a household temporarily for different reasons, for instruction, safekeeping or to make new social contacts. The support of female relatives and friends at times of private significance is natural for women sharing subjective, emotional experiences. The women who visited Alice in 1413 are representative of the entire social spectrum from those six nameless females enjoying a meal after a morning of gathering rushes to the well-to-do Lady Joan Swinburne who arrived with a large retinue for a very short stay.
