Will of Mary Hobcraft, widow, 1778 (proved 1791)

Herts RO 227AW2

In the name of God Amen I Mary Hobcraft of Winslow in the County of Bucks Widow being in good Health of Body and of Sound Mind Memory and Understanding (praised be God for the same) Considering the Certainty of Death and the uncertain Time thereof Do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following (that is to say) First I give, diverse and bequeath unto my Daughter Elizabeth the Wife of Robert Gibbs All that my Two Thirds of the Messuage Cottage or Tenement Arable Land Ley Meadow and Pasture Ground lying  and being in the Town and Parish of Chalton [sic] upon Oatmore \in the County of Oxford/ late belonging  unto John Gateman and now in the Occupation of Oliver Harris his undertenants or assigns Together with all and singular \two thirds of the/ Outhouses Edifices Buildings Barns Stables Yards Orchards Gardens Hedges Ditches Trees Mounds Fences Freeboards Commons Profits Priviledges and Appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining and all other my Real Estate whatsoever and wheresoever To Hold the same unto and to the Use  of my said Daughter Elizabeth Gibbs her Executors Administrators and Assigns for and during all the Estate Term and Terms of Years which I shall have therein at the Time of my Decease  Also I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Mary the Wife of Bartholomew Paxton One Gown One Gold Ring and One large Silver Spoon Mark’d M.H. Also I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Ann the Wife of Henry Hanwell One Gown One Gold Ring and One Large Silver Spoon Mark’d A.H. And as to for and concerning all my Goods Chattels Rights Credits and Personal Estate whatsoever  and wheresoever and of what Nature kind or Quality soever the same may be (not herein before by me given and bequeathed) whereof or wherein I shall be any wise Possessed of, Interested in, or Intitled unto, at the Time of my Decease (after payment of my just Debts Legacies Funeral Expences Probate and Charges in executing this my Will) I do hereby give and bequeath the same and every part thereof unto my said Daughter Elizabeth Gibbs To and for her own proper Use Benefit and disposal for Ever And Lastly I do hereby Nominate Constitute and Appoint my said Daughter Elizabeth Gibbs full and sole executor of this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking and making void all former and other Wills by me at any time heretofore made and do declare this only to be and Contain my last Will and Testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this Thirty first day of October in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Eight.

The Mark of Mary Hobcraft

Signed Sealed Published and Declared by the said Testatrix Mary Hobcraft as and for her last Will and Testament in the presence of us who have hereunto subscribed our names as Witnesses in the presence of the said Testatrix and at her Request and also in the Presence of each other

[signed] John Turnbull
Wm Turner
Joseph Hunt

[reverse] The Eleventh Day of June 1791 the withinnamed Elizabeth Gibbs Sole Executrix of the withinmentioned Mary Hobcraft deceased was duly sworn before me Jonathan Brigges Surrogate
Personal Effects sworn under £50

Notes

Mary was the widow of William Hobcraft (d.1776). William's will mentions a son, also William.

The Hobcrafts don’t seem to have been copyholders of any property in Winslow, but arrived in the 1760s.  The Enclosure Award shows that William the father was a tenant of the Lowndeses and lived in Sheep Street, where he had a "garden and rickyard belonging to a farm house". This probably refers to the building later known as Curtis Farm (now no.47).

Bartholomew Paxton of Barton Hartshorn married Mary Hobcraft of Finmere at Finmere in 1760. Presumably he belonged to the Paxton family who were freeholders in Winslow in the 17th century.

Robert Gibbs of Winslow, tallow chandler and grocer, widower, married Elizabeth Hobcraft, spinster, minor, at Winslow on 16 Feb 1768 with the consent of her father, by licence.  Both were of this parish, and both signed the register.