Will of George Baldwin, gentleman, 1903 (proved 1905)

Oxford Probate Registry

BE IT KNOWN that George Baldwin late of Winslow in the County of Buckingham, Gentleman, who at the time of his death had a fixed place of abode at Winslow aforesaid, within the District of the Counties of Oxford, Berks and Buckingham, died on the Nineteenth day of September 1905 at Winslow aforesaid.
AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN  that on the date hereunder written the last will and Testament was proved and registered in the District Probate Registry of His Majesty’s Court High Court of Justice at Oxford, and that administration of all the estate which by law devolves to and vests in the personal representative of the said deceased was granted by the aforesaid Court to William John (in the Will called William) Viccars of the Manor Farm, Great Horwood in the County of Buckingham, Farmer, and Thomas Daniel Curtis of Winslow aforesaid, Assistant Overseer, the Executors named in the said Will.
Dated this 27th day of October 1905.

Gross value of Estate £1071 – 18 – 4
Net value of Personal Estate £969 – 0 – 6

Extracted by Smalls & Barker, Solicitors, Buckingham.
This is the last and only Will of me George Baldwin of Winslow in the County of Buckingham Gentleman. I appoint my friends William Viccars  of the Manor Farm, Great Horwood in the said County of Buckingham, and Thomas Daniel Curtis of Winslow aforesaid to be Executors and Trustees of this my Will I devise all the real and personal estate whatsoever or wheresoever of which I shall die seized or possessed unto my Trustees Upon trust after paying thereout my debts and funeral and testamentary expenses to keep the same in the then condition or state of investment thereof (subject to the proviso hereinafter contained) and to pay the dividends and annual income thereof to my Niece Florence Mary Stevens during her life And from and after her death to stand possessed of the Stocks funds and securities hereinafter named Upon trust to pay assign or transfer the same to the persons hereinafter mentioned that is to say To my Nephew Harry Baldwin the Son of my Brother Richard Jesse Baldwin three shares in the London Super Aeration Limited two Shares in the Tivoli Manchester Limited and One hundred pounds Debenture in the Aylesbury Brewery Company Limited To Anthony George Stevens the Son of Augustine George Stevens ten Shares in the British Farmer’s Association Limited  To Frank Leonard Stevens also the Son of Augustine George Stevens two Shares in the Ramsgate Pier and Lift Company Limited To the said Anthony George Stevens and Frank Leonard Stevens and equally to be divided between them three Shares in the Globe Telegraph and Trust Company Limited and three Debentures in the Aylesbury Brewery Company Limited And as to all the rest residue and remainder of my property I direct my Trustees to stand possessed thereof after the death of the said Florence Mary Stevens In trust for the said Harry Baldwin Anthony George Stevens and Frank Leonard Stevens absolutely equally to be divided between them share and share alike Provided always And I hereby declare that notwithstanding the declaration hereinbefore contained to keep my investments in the existing state thereof at the time of my death my Trustees shall have full power in their free and unfettered discretion to sell any of such investments if they shall think desirable so to do And I hereby direct that in any such case the proceeds of any such sale shall be invested in investments permitted to Trustees by law under the Trustee Act 1893 or any statutory modification thereof for the time being in force and not otherwise Provided always And I further declare that if my Trustees shall sell and convert any of the Stocks Shares and debentures hereinbefore bequeathed in manner hereinbefore provided then the moneys funds or securities representing the proceeds of sale of such stocks shares and debentures shall go and belong to such beneficiary as the stocks shares and debentures would have gone or belonged to had the same had remained unsold and in the original state of investment thereof

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this Ninth day of December One thousand nine hundred and three.
George Baldwin [signature]

Signed by the Testator George Baldwin as his last and only Will in the presence of us present at the same time who at his request in his sight and presence and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses the words “two shares in the North Western and” having first been struck out in the twenty seventh and twenty eighth lines of the first page.
Geoffry [sic] M. Barker [signature] Solicitor, Buckingham.
Frederick Gibling  [signature] Clerk to Messrs H. & E.H. Small, Solicitors, Buckingham. (7 folios)

On the Twenty seventh day of October 1905 Probate of this Will was granted at Oxford to William John (in the Will called William) Viccars and Thomas Daniel Curtis the Executors
It is hereby certified the foregoing is a correct copy. Dated this Second day of November 1905.

Notes

George Baldwin (b.1841) was the youngest son of Richard Baldwin (d.1861), q.v. for more about the family. He lived at 13 Market Square with his sister Sarah Starkey, and had previously been involved in the drapery business at 15 Market Square with his nephew Augustine Stevens which ended in 1894. Florence Stevens the niece was also involved for a time. She was living in Banbury in 1911. In the Bucks Herald of 25 Feb 1905, Miss Stevens advertised for "a respectable Middle-aged Person to attend to an Invalid Gentleman".