Will of Florence Mary Stevens, spinster, 1920 (proved 1932)

Oxford Probate Registry

THIS IS THE LAST WILL of me FLORENCE MARY STEVENS of THE HOLLIES MILTON UNDER WYCHWOOD, in the County of Oxford Spinster  I direct the payment of my just debts funeral and testamentary expenses AND APPOINT my friend THOMAS OSBORN of Buckingham in the County of Buckingham, Auctioneer and Estate Agent Executor and Trustee of this MY WILL [l.margin: Executor] and to whom I GIVE AND BEQUEATH the legacy or sum of TEN POUNDS free of duty.  I GIVE AND BEQUEATH the following articles namely to my friend Amelia Osborn of Marston Saint Lawrence in the County of Northampton my silver locket and chain gold ring set with turquoise stones and my gold watch and chain   To my friend Caroline Elizabeth Osborn of Marston Saint Lawrence aforesaid my gold ring with pearls and dark red stones   To my cousin Elizabeth Mary Stevens of Churchill in the County of Oxford my inlaid worktable and the legacy or sum of Thirty Pounds free of duty   And as to the residue of my said personal estate and any other property that may now or hereafter belong to me I GIVE DEVISE AND BEQUEATH the same unto my sister in law Annie Gallard Stevens of Winslow in the County of Buckingham for her own use and benefit absolutely and hereby revoking all other Wills made by me do declare this to be my last Will IN WITNESS whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of February One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty

FLORENCE MARY STEVENS -

SIGNED by the said Florence Mary Stevens the Testatrix as and for her Last Will in the presence of us present at the same time who at her request in her sight and presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses.
Widow) Mary Anne Franklin Milton under Wychwood Oxford None
Annie Cross (Spinster) Milton-under-Wychwood  Oxford.  None.
(4 Folios)

On the 9th day of June 1932 Probate of this Will was granted at Oxford

[PROBATE]
BE IT KNOWN that FLORENCE MARY STEVENS of Brook Hall Winslow in the County of Buckingham Spinster (formerly of “The Hollies” Milton under Wychwood in the County of Oxford) died on the 26th day of March 1932 at Brook Hall 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 THOMAS OSBORNE of Buckingham in the County of Buckingham Auctioneer and Estate Agent the sole Executor named in the said Will.

Dated the 9th day of June 1932

Gross value of Estate          …        £524 17 2
Net value of Personal Estate         £398 10 9

Extracted by  Walter R. J. Law, Solicitor, Buckingham.

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Notes

Florence must have been a boarder at Brook Hall, which was run as a boarding house at the time. She was aged 73 when she died. Her sister-in-law Annie Gallard Stevens was a member of the Neal family of The Bell, and the wife of the draper Augustine Stevens of 13 Market Square.

Florence was born at Water Stratford and was living in Winslow by 1901 with her aunt Sarah Starkey, working as a “hosiery and vest knitter”. She was the main beneficiary of her uncle George Baldwin (will proved 1903). She was living in Banbury in 1911 and 1921.