FAMILY
John Packe's christening, on 4 Jan, 1542, was one of the earliest in East Barming's parish register. He was the oldest son of William and Johan Packe and received the largest portion of their estate.
John married Elizabeth Raynolde in Teston on July 7 1567.
AN AGE OF TRANSFORMATION
He was raised during a period of transition. Wyatt's 1554 rebellion may have failed, but England ceased to be a Catholic nation after Queen Mary died. Kent's great forests were disappearing. Wood was needed to build for the new timber framed houses that were replacing the shoddy huts of prior generations. An expanding iron (and after 1560 glass) industry taxed the available wood supply for fuel. (Jasper Ridley, THE TUTOR AGE ,The Overlook Press: Woodstock & New York, 1990, p 234) The oak used by the Royal Navy came "out of the Wealds of Surrey, Sussex or Kent.” (William Cobbett, RURAL RIDES, Penguin Classics, 1985. p 39 ) Large bear, elk and wolf, were been driven into extinction as their habitat was transformed into farmland. (S T Bindoff, TUTOR ENGLAND: Pelican History of England # 5, 1961, pp. 10, 11)
WHEELWRIGHT
According to his will from 1613, John Pack of East Barming was a wheelwright.
He would have built, or repaired, all the machinery used by the local mills. He made the carts that traversed Maidstone’s streets. He needed seasoned elm, which would not be weakened by having slots carved into it, for the hub of his wheels. The spokes were carved out from the heart of oak trees, where the grain was strongest. The outer circle was made of ash, which could withstand the strain of being driven on.
CHILDREN: