Will of William Spooner, yeoman, 1698

Herts RO 135AW6

In the Name of God Amen I William Spooner of Winslow in the County of Bucks  Yeoman being weakly of body but of sound and perfect mind and memory praise be therefore given to Almighty God Do make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament in manner and form following that is to say First and principally I commend my Soul into the hands of Almighty God and my body I commit  to the Earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executors in Trust herein after named And as touching the disposition of all such temporal Estate as it hath pleased Almighty God to bestow upon me I give and dispose thereof as followeth Imprimis I will that my Debts and Funeral Charges shall be all paid and discharged Item I give and bequeath unto my Loving Son Robert Spooner and my Loving Daughter Elizabeth Tomerlin their executors and assignes All my Personal estate goods and chattels ready Moneys rights and Credits whatsoever In trust and confidence nevertheless and upon this express Condition that they the said Robert Spooner and Elizabeth Tomerlin their Executors or assignes shall and do well and truly pay and discharge all the just Debts by me owing to every person whatsoever Item I also give devise and bequeath unto the said Robert Spooner and Elizabeth Tomerlin and their heirs forever All that my Close of Meadow or Pasture grounds with the appertenances called or known by the name of Cowmead Close situate lying and being in Old Mill Field in the parish of Winslow aforesaid and containing by estimation eight acres  be it more or less  In trust to the several uses intents and purposes herein after mentioned and to no other use intent or purpose whatsoever that is to say that they the said Robert Spooner and Elizabeth Tomerlin shall sell the said Close and premises for the best price that can be had or gotten for the same  and the moneys to be received for the said Close and premises to be by them the said Robert Spooner and Elizabeth Tomerlin and their \heirs/ imploied and disposed to and for the payment of such of my Debts which my Personal Estate shall not be sufficient to pay and \out of/ the overplus arising by such sale (After all my Just Debts are paid) My Will and desire is that the said Robert Spooner and Elizabeth Tomerlin and their heirs shall pay unto my Loving Daughter Mary Denbarton five pounds within one Year after my Decease and also ten pounds apiece to the seven Children of my Son William Spooner  late deceased) when and as they shall severally attain the age of one and twenty years But if either or any of the said Children shall happen to dye before he shee or they shall attain his her or their Age of one and twenty years Then the parts of him her or them (so dying under Age) shall be equally divided and paid unto such of the said Children who shall survive (over and above their respective Sum of Ten pounds) when and as they shall attain their several Ages aforesaid according to the true intent and meaning of this my Last Will and Testament And I do hereby revoke dissannul and make void all former and other Wills by me heretofore made In witnes whereof I the said William Spooner have to this my Last Will and Testament \set my hand and seal/ this eight and twentieth day of November in  the tenth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord William the Third by the Grace of God King over England &c Annoque Domini 1698.

The mark of William Spooner

Signed sealed published and declared in the presence of
Peter Lowndes [signature]
John Shelton [signature]
Tho. Wainright [signature]

Inventories of William Spooner the younger and elder, yeomen, 1698

William the younger: Herts RO A25/4481

A Inventory of all and singular the Goods and Chattels of William Spooner the Younger late of Winslow in the County of Bucks Yeoman deceased Taken valued and apprised by Peter Lowndes Henry Townsend and Simon Hogson the tenth day of December Anno Domini 1698.

 

lb

  s

d
Imprimis his wearing Apparrel and Money in Pockett
1
10
0
Item in the Hall five large pewter Dishes two pewter Plates three old Chairs one warming Pan one pair of Bellis fire shovel tongs and other Lumber there
0
17
0
Item in the Kitchin one little Kettle two Tubs two Barrels and one Dough Cover
0
6
8
Item in the Chamber over the Milkhouse one Bedsted one old Feather bed one bolster two pillows two Blankets and three pair of Sheets
2
0
0
Item one old Chair one Chest two Boxes and other odd things
0
10
0
Item in the Yard and Barns a parcel of Hay
12
10
0
Item Wheat threshed and unthreshed
26
0
0
Item Barley threshed and unthreshed
8
0
0
Item Beans unthreshed
10
0
0
Item a Leaden Cistern and two Ladders
1
19
6
Item a Waggon and two Carts
9
1
6
Item two Pigs
1
2
0
Item one Plow Harrows Horse Collars traces & other Implem(en)ts of Husbandry
1
12
0
Item a Wind Fan an horse Trough one Hog Trough
0
6
8
Item Dung and Cowracks
1
6
0
Item Tilth wheat sown bean land and grass ground to cropp
8
1
6
 
------------------
In toto
84
18
10
Item a long Table & Court Cupbord
0
6
4
 
------------------
Totall
85
5
2

Valued and apprised by us
Peter Lowndes [signature]
Henery Townsend [signature]
Simon Hogson [signature]

William the elder: Herts RO A25/4482

An Inventory of all and singular the Goods and Chattels of William Spooner the Elder late of Winslow in the County of Bucks. Yeoman deceased Taken valued and apprised by Peter Lowndes Henry Townsend and Simon Hogson the tenth day of December Anno Domini 1698 as followeth

 
li
s
d
Imprimis his wearing apparrel & money in Pocket
1
0
0?
Item in the Hall one long Table four joint stools one old press Cupbord one Safe one Iron Jack one great Bible and a walking Cane
1
1
0
Item in the Chamber over the Parlour one hanging press valued at
0
12
6
Item in the Kitchin one Tubb one Cheese-press two little brass Pottage pots and two iron Racks valued at
0
14
0
Item one bedstead valued at
0
12
6
Item in the Yard three Shovils and two small Millstones
2
3
4
Item in Debts owing to him
80
0
0
In toto
86
4
2

Valued and apprised    
by us

Peter Lowndes [signature]
Henry  Townsend [signature]
Simon Hogson [signature]

Declaration of Robert Spooner

[Latin text] Comparuit personaliter Robertus Spooner et allegavit quendam W(illel)mum Spooner Senr nuper de Winslow in Com' Buck' def' dum vixit mentis compos Test(ament)um Suum in Scriptis condidisse ac in eodem nullum omnino Executorem constituisse
[5 lines of deleted text]
seq' fuisse ac e(ss)e filium et unum fiduciar' in d(i)c(t)o Test(ament)o nominato Quare petiit Adm' bonor' d(i)c(t)i def' (cum d(i)c(t)o suo Test(ament)o annexo)
[3 lines of deleted text]
sibi sub idonea caut(i)o(n)e co(m)itti ac Jur'

Jurat' et
Fiat Adm(inistrati)o

G. Cooke surr [signature]

[Translation] Robert Spooner appeared in person and claimed that one William Spooner senior, late of Winslow in Bucks deceased, of sound mind while he lived, made his will in writing and in it appointed no executor. And (he said that) he had been and was the son and one of the trustees named in the said will. Therefore he sought administration of the goods of the said deceased, with the said will annexed, to be granted to him under suitable surety, and he was sworn.

[There is also an obligation in Latin for Robert Spooner, uncle and testamentary guardian, to administer the goods of Thomas, John, Joseph, Francis, Elizabeth and Martha Spooner, minors, children of William Spooner jr.]

Notes

William Spooner was buried at Winslow on 8 Dec 1698. He made his will just after the deaths of his son William, who was buried on 18 Nov 1698, and his daughter-in-law Elizabeth, buried on 27 Oct 1698. He was baptised at Winslow on 12 May 1624 (son of Nicholas) and married Margaret Thorpe at Winslow on 27 Sep 1653, when his father handed over a messuage and 80 acres of land to him. He sold a substantial part of this to William Lowndes in 1681; see William Spooner's letter to William Lowndes. Margaret was buried at Winslow on 2 Mar 1689/90. Most of the legacies in the will were actually paid by William Lowndes after he bought Cowmead Close; he also discharged some of Robert Spooner's debts.

See also: Mitchell family (from which William was descended; he had a dispute in Chancery with a distant cousin)

The children of the elder William were:

  • William, b. 11 Oct, bap. 11 Nov 1654. His children were:
    • Thomas: baptism not recorded at Winslow; died before 1711
    • John: bap. 29 Oct 1683; sold Cowmead Close in 1711
    • Joseph: bap. 4 Nov 1685, alive in 1706
    • Elizabeth: bap. 27 Feb 1686/7, d.y.
    • Robert: bap. 4 July 1687, alive in 1708
    • Francis: bap. 28 Dec 1688, alive in 1710
    • Elizabeth: bap. 30 Dec 1690, m. William Williams of Bristol
    • Martha: bap. 19 Sep 1692, alive in 1714
  • John, b. 12 Oct, bap. 9 Nov 1655; probably the John Spooner of Winslow, carpenter, widower who married Margaret Brewer of Cublington, widow, in 1706.
  • Thomas, b. 4 Dec 1656, bur. 6 Dec 1656
  • Robert, b. 15 Nov, bap. 12 Dec 1657; living in Whaddon by 1711; m. Ann
  • Joseph, b. 11 Nov, bap. 8 Dec 1660, bur. 6 April 1661
  • Elizabeth, bap. 12 July 1662: m.1 ---- Tomerlin; m.2 1701 Edward Turnham
  • Katherine, bap. 3 Sep 1664
Click on the pictures for full images of the documents:

The will (upper part):

Will of William Spooner

The will (lower part):

Will of William Spooner

The inventory:

Inventory of William Spooner

Declaration of Robert Spooner:

Declaration of Coventry Spooner

 

Copyright 14 December, 2018