Will of William French, billposter, 1904

Oxford Probate Registry

This is the last Will and Testament of me William French of Winslow in the County of Buckingham Billposter I appoint William Norris Midgley of Winslow in the County of Buckingham Solicitors Clerk and William Thomas George of Winslow aforesaid Stationer (hereinafter called “my Trustees”) to be the Executors and Trustees of this my Will I give to my Son George French my large high backed Chair my two pictures The Band Group and Wedding Group and the sum of Seven pounds I give to my Son William French my low and easy chair and the sum of Four pounds I give to my Daughter Elizabeth Ann French my Oak Cupboard in the Front parlour and contents and the sum of Seven pounds and all Policies of Insurance on my life and the moneys payable thereunder I give to my Daughter Lucy Ann Rowe the sum of Seven pounds to her husband Thomas Rowe the interest from the close of the year 1903 on my money in the Post Office Savings Bank and to their Daughter Mary Elizabeth Viccars the sum of One pound I give to my Grandson William George Walter French my Bureaueau [sic] and the sum of Seven pounds I give to my Daughter Polly Fennemore the sum of Seven pounds I wish it to be fully understood that the contents of the top upstairs room are the property of my said Daughter Elizabeth Ann French and my said Grandson William George Walter French I devise all the real estate (if any) and I bequeath all the personal estate not hereinbefore otherwise disposed of which shall belong to me at my decease unto my Trustees Upon trust to sell call in and convert the same into money or such part thereof as shall not consist of ready money and with and out of the money produced by such sale calling in an conversion and with and out of my ready money to pay my just debts my funeral and testamentary expenses and the legacies bequeathed by this my Will And upon further trust to pay and divide the residue of the said moneys unto and equally between and among all my children living at my decease Lastly I revoke all other Wills  In witness whereof I the said William French the Testator have hereunto set my hand this Twenty first day of August One thousand nine hundred and four
The mark of William French

Signed and acknowledged by the above named William French the Testator as his last Will in the presence of us present at the same time who at his request in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses the same having been first read over to him by William Norris Midgley in our presence when he seemed to understand the same and expressed to us his full knowledge of the contents thereof and made his mark thereto in our presence the words “I give to my Daughter Polly Fennemore the sum of Seven pounds” having first been inserted between the Seventh and Eighth lines from the bottom of the first page hereof
William N. Midgley [signature] Winslow
Stanley W. Midgley [signature] Winslow

Man holding a posterOn the Tenth day of December 1904 Probate of this Will was granted at Oxford to William Norris Midgley and William Thomas George the Executors.

It is hereby certified that the foregoing is a correct copy
Dated this Fifteenth day of December 1904.

BE IT KNOWN that William French of Winslow in the County of Buckingham, Billposter, 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 9th day of September1904 at Winslow aforesaid.

AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN  that at the date hereunder written the last will and Testament of the said deceased was proved and registered in the District Probate Registry of His Majesty’s 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 Norris Midgley, Solicitors Clerk, and William Thomas George, Stationer, both  of Winslow aforesaid, the Executors named in the said Will

Dated the 10th day of December 1904.                                   

Gross value of estate                      £80 - 4 - 11
Net value of Personal Estate        £68 - 42 - 1
Extracted by Willis & Willis, Solicitors, Winslow.

Notes

William French was aged 73 when he died in 1904. In the 1901 Census he was living in The Walk with his daughter Elizabeth, grandson William and widowed sister Mary. His wife Frances died in 1901 before the Census. He was first recorded in The Walk in 1881 when his job was given as town crier. Most of his bill-posting work would have been for George Wigley, for whom he also worked as a market porter. See the photo on the right. He probably lived in a house belonging to the Wigleys.

Previously William lived in Sheep Street, in 1851 with his father-in-law George Verney. He married Frances Verney at Winslow on 5 Aug 1850 (sister of George Verney d.1889). The 1841 Census shows him in Shipton in the household of his parents Hercules and Lucy French.

He was not related to the French family who ran various shops and businesses in Winslow. Hercules French (1800-1880) was the son of William and Alice French. William French (probably baptised 1757, son of William and Mary French) married Alice Gurney in 1778.

The children of William and Frances French mentioned in the will (some others must have died young) were:

Copyright 2 February, 2026