Will of Roger Vaughan of Little Horwood, gentleman, 1715

Transcribed from the 1716 Manor Court Rolls; proved at the PCC (National Archives PROB 11/550/131)

In the name of God Amen I Roger Vaughan of Little Horwood in the County of Bucks Gent being sick in body but of good disposeing mind & memory praised be Almighty God for the same & being mindfull of my latter end & hopeing through the meritts & intercession of my Blessed Redeemer Christ Jesus to obtain eternall life amongst the blessed in the Kingdom of Heaven and as to my Estate & effects which God of his Infinite mercy has made me a disposer of & for p(re)venting all differences that may happen among my relatives concerning the same I doe hereby order settle & dispose of in manner herein after mentioned And first Whereas my late wife Margery al(ia)s Magdalene did after my intermarriage with her & without my knowledge privity or consent lend by way of Mortgage unto Elizabeth afterwards the Wife of John Mole both since \dec(ease)d/ the principall sum(m)e of Five hundred pounds of lawfull money of England and the said Elizabeth before her intermarriage with the said John Mole did by way of Mortgage for secureing the repayment thereof settle and convey her Coppyhold Messuage and lands and all other her Customary lands in Little Horwood aforesaid unto Thomas Wootton since dec(ease)d In Trust for my late Wife Margery Subject to the Equity of Redemption of the said Elizabeth upon her paying the said principall and interest money And whereas the said Elizabeth & her said Husband John Mole failing in the payment thereof I and my said late Wife Margery and the said Thomas Wootton Exhibited our Bill in the High Court of Chancery against the said John Mole and Elizabeth his Wife & al to foreclose them of their Equity of Redemption to the said Mortgaged p(re)mises And they were on or about the eleventh of January 1697 by a Decree of the said Court accordingly foreclosed but notwithstanding the said Decree and the poss(essio)n of the said Mortgaged p(re)misses was obteyned by me yett my Wife gott herself admitted in her own name to the said Coppyhold Estate to her & her heirs and that without my consent or privity I being then in the Army in Flanders and was forced to leave my effects to her management and my said Wife’s admittance still remains in the Court Rolls without my being admitted there though often applied to the Steward of the Court of the Mannor for that purpose & being advised that neverthelesse that I have an equitable right & interest in the said p(re)mises the same haveing been in my possession ever since my Wive’s death which is now about Eight years and that I have a right to dispose thereof by my last Will  I do therefore give Will Devise and bequeath All that my aforesaid Coppyhold Messuage and lands and all other my Coppyhold lands in Little Horwood aforesaid to my loveing Brothers Thomas & John Vaughan and their heirs To hold to them and their heirs for ever according to the Custom of the Mannor of Winslowe in the said County of Bucks wherein the said p(re)mises do lie & are part subject neverthelesse in the First place to the payment of my just debts Funerall charges And the severall legacies herein by me bequeathed to my Sisters Mary Ann and Elizabeth and to my said Sister’s Mary’s and Ann’s children and if it shall happen that any contest shall arise att any time after my decease between my said Brothers & their heirs and the heirs of my said late Wife Margery or any other person or p(er)sons claimeing the said Coppyhold p(re)mises & in case my said Brothers & their heirs cannot support & maintain this my disposition of the same then I doe hereby declare that the intended legacies to my said Sisters & their children are to be void & stand in no force and are not to be recovered out of my p(er)sonal Estate   Item I Give and bequeath unto my said Sister Mary the Sum(m)e of Forty pounds & unto my Sister Ann the like Sum(m)e of forty pounds to my Sister Elizabeth the Sum(m)e of five pounds   Item I Give and bequeath unto my Nephew Richard Bowen my said Sister Mary’s Son the Sum(m)e of Tenn pounds and to her other Child the Sum(m)e of Five pounds Item I Give and bequeath unto my Sister Ann’s Children the Sum(m)e of Five pounds apeice All which s(ai)d severall legacies abovementioned are to be raised out of my said Coppyhold estate and not otherwise In Witnesse whereof I have hereunto sett my hand & Seall in the p(re)sence of the Subscribeing Witnesses hereunto this Tenth day of December in the year of Our Lord 1715

the mark of Roger Vaughan

Signed sealed published & declared by the Testator Roger Vaughan in our p(re)sence & we have subscribed our names hereunto in his p(re)sence

Roger Adams
John Markham
Edmund Pitkin

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Notes

Roger Vaughan must have been in Flanders in 1697 in the British forces fighting against Louis XIV in the last stages of the Nine Years' War (War of the Grand Alliance), ended by the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697. He could be the Roger Vaughan who was made a captain in the Navy in 1690. He was captain of the Richmond in 1690 and the Dartmouth in 1694.

The case in Chancery against John Mole was brought in 1694 (National Archives C 7/350/24) and concerned property in Little Horwood and "Denton" [=Dinton], security for a loan of £500. Elizabeth is named there as Elizabeth Bampton, widow of John Bampton of Little Horwood. She was daughter and heir of Anthony Styles of Little Horwood and married John Mole at Michaelmas 1688. Roger is said to be of the parish of [blank], Middlesex, gent. Part of John Mole's answer was that Roger and Margery ("alias Magdalen") were never married. He described Roger as a common soldier or trooper. Nicholas Merwin is mentioned as acting as Roger and Margery's attorney. The property was previously mortgaged to Henry Edlin. Two yardlands and a farmhouse in Little Horwood were let to Robert White for £28 p.a.; a previous tenant, John Smith, had run up arrears before quitting. The property also included a freehold close of 10 acres called Blackthick Close, previously in the possession of Francis Wethered.