Will of John Gibbs the elder, cordwainer and victualler, 1752

Herts RO 191AW8

In the Name of God Amen   This is the last Will and Testament of me John Gibbs the Elder of Winslow in the County of Bucks Cordwainer and Victualler which I desire may be fulfilled and performed after my decease and first and principally I resign my Soul to Almighty God and as to my Temporal Estate wherewith it hath pleas’d God to Intrust me (To the end all Controversies and disputes relating thereto between my wife and Children may be prevented and peace and good Agreement continued between them as is by me heartily wished and desired and for the making a Sufficient provision as well for the payment of all such debts as I shall owe at the time of my decease as also for the due payment of the Legacies hereinafter mentioned and my funeral Charges and Expenses of proving this my Will and all Charges and Expenses incident thereto and to the performance of the Trust hereby reposed in my Trustees hereinafter mentioned I dispose of the same in manner following (that is to say)   First I give and devise unto Kesiah my dear and loving wife during the term of her naturall life All that my Copyhold Messuage or Tenement situate and being in Winslow aforesaid in the said County of Bucks wherein I now live (which I have already Surrendered to the use of my will) and all and singular the Barnes Stables Outhouses Styes Yards Gardens Orchards and Appurtenances to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining and from and immediately after my said dear wife’s decease   Then I Give and devise the aforesaid Messuage or Tenement together with the aforesaid Barnes Stables Outhouses Styes Yards Gardens Orchards and Appurtenances to the same belonging or in any wise Appertaining unto my son Stephen Gibbs his heirs and Assigns for ever Also I give and Bequeath unto my said son Stephen Gibbs the sum of two hundred pounds of lawfull money of Great Britain to be paid unto him by my Executrix hereinafter named immediately after my decease Also I Give and Bequeath unto my Grandson John Cox the sum of One hundred pounds of like lawfull money of Great Britain after my daughter Alice Cox’ss decease Also I Give and Bequeath unto my Grandson Richard Cox the sum of Fifty pounds of like lawfull money of Great Britain after my said daughter Alice Coxs’s decease Also I Give and Bequeath unto my Grandson Francis Cox the sum of Fifty pounds of like lawfull money of Great Britain after my said daughter Alice Coxs’s decease And I do hereby Order and direct that the aforesaid three last severall sums of One hundred pounds Fifty pounds and Fifty pounds be forthwith paid by my Executrix hereinafter named into the hands of my loving Brother [page 2] Stephen Gibbs of Winslow aforesaid in the said County of Bucks Grocer and my good friend William Hobbs of Winslow aforesaid in the said County of Bucks Apothecary In Trust for my aforesaid Grandchildren and also upon this further Trust and to the intent that my said daughter Alice Cox her Executors and Administrators may have the use and profitts that shall be made thereof during the term of her natural Life   Also I Give and Bequeath unto my daughter Alice Cox the sum of Fifty pounds of like lawfull money of Great Britain after my said dear wife’s decease Also I Give and Bequeath unto my Grandaughter Peggy Gibbs the sum of Fifty pounds of like lawfull money of Great Britain after my said dear wife’s decease   And I do hereby also order and direct that the two last mentioned sums of Fifty pounds and Fifty pounds be forthwith paid by my Executrix hereinafter named into the hands of my loving Brother Stephen Gibbs and my said good friend William Hobbs In Trust for my said daughter Alice Cox and my said Grandaughter Peggy Gibbs And also upon this further Trust and to the intent that my said dear wife her Executors and Administrators may have the use and profitts of the two lastmentioned sums of ffifty pounds and ffifty pounds during the term of her natural life And I do hereby desire and Impower my said loving Brother Stephen Gibbs and my said good friend William Hobbs or the Survivor of then or the Executors or Administrators of such Survivor to putt and place out at Interest on Government or such other Security as they shall Approve of all such sum and sums of money as shall come to and be paid into their hands from time to time for the Benefitt and Advantage of my said dear wife Kesiah my said daughter Alice Cox and my aforesaid Grandchildren in such manner as herein before directed And that it shall and may be lawfull to and for my said loving Brother Stephen Gibbs and my good friend William Hobbs or the Survivor and the Executors and Administrators of such Survivor of them to detain and keep in their Hands all such and sums of money Costs Charges and Expences as they shall be putt unto in and about the Execution of the severall Trusts hereby in them reposed and that neither my said Brother Stephen Gibbs or the said William Hobbs shall be Answerable the one for the other but only each for such sums of money as he shall respectively actually receive or without any Gross or wilfull Omissions.    And I do hereby desire and request my said loving Brother Stephen Gibbs and [page 3] My said good friend William Hobbs to be in every thing aiding and Assisting to my said wife in the Execution of this my Will And I Give to my said loving Brother Stephen Gibbs and my said good friend William Hobbs for their Trouble therein two Guineas apiece (in no wise doubting but that they will truly and faithfully discharge the Trusts hereby in them reposed) And also I Give and Bequeath unto my Grandson John Deely the sum of Fifty pounds of like lawfull money of Great Britain to be paid to him by my Executrix hereinafter named immediately after my decease Also I Give and Bequeath All the rest residue and remainder of my Goods Chattells and personal Estate whatsoever and wherever not herein before Bequeathed) unto my dear and loving wife Kesiah she paying any funerall Expenses Debts and Legacies herein before mentioned in manner as aforesaid  And I do hereby make Ordain and Appoint my said dear and loving wife Kesiah  full and sole Executrix of this my last Will and Testament And Lastly I do hereby revoke and make void all former Wills by me made and do declare this to be my last Will and Testament and none other In Witness whereof I have to this my last Will contained in three sheets of paper to the two first sheets thereof sett my hand and to the last sheet my hand and Seal the twenty[?] seventh[?] day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Fifty two.

[signed] John Gibbs

Signed Sealed published and declared by the said
John Gibbs the Testator as and for his last Will and
Testament in the presence of us who have hereunto
Subscribed our names as Witnesses in the presence of
the said Testator and of each other

[signed]
Ferdinand Southam
John Budd
James Burnham Clk to Mr Southam     

[another hand] 13th June 1752
Sworn the Executrix above named before me
No Inventory
[signed] John Stephens Sur(rogate)      

[another hand] Proved the 13th day of June 1752 before John Stephens Clerk Surrogate by the oath of Kesiah Gibbs widow relict and sole Executrix to whom Ad(ministra)c(i)on was com(m)itted She being the first sworn duely to Administer

Note

John Gibbs (b.1692) lived at the Windmill Inn. His gravestone, recorded by Arthur Clear, gave his date of death as 25 May 1752, which was the date of his burial according to the parish register. He was one of the famous Gibbs bell-ringing brothers.

His first wife was named Elizabeth (probably died 1721), by whom he had these children:

He could also be the John Gibbs who with his wife Ann (who was baptised in 1727 aged about 40) had sons called John baptised in 1722 and 1725. An Ann Gibbs was buried in April 1729, and Kezia Gibbs witnessed Sarah Norman's will in September.

Click on the pictures for full images of the document:

page 1:

Will of John Gibbs p1

page 2:

Will of John Gibbs p2

page 3:

Will of John Gibbs p3

 


 

Copyright 25 September, 2018