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Will précis and commentary

The Will of

SIR THOMAS LITTLETON

of Frankley, Worcestershire Deceased
Husband of Dame Catherine, née Crompton
Dated 20 December 1649

    In the name of the father
    the sonn and of His holy Ghost and onely true etrrnall god to whom be or
    ascribed all glory and {po.ve.} for ever more I Sir Thomas Littleton of Frankly
    in the County of Worcester this twentieth of December in the yeare of our Lord ~
5 1649 being in perfect memory for which I render humble thanks unto the Almighty
    make and ordaine this my last will and testament in manner following First and ~
    principally I comend my soule unto Almighty god my {gratiens} creator mercifull
    redemer, and holy sanctifier of mankinde assuredly {..ecting} fogivened of my sins
    (which with a penitent harte I acknowledge to be very) many and great through the ~
10 merritts of our Lord Jesus Christ the saviour of mankinde and only mediator betweene
    god and man And concerning my body when it shall leave this earthly Mansion
    my desire is if I dye within the Kingdom of England to be buried in the Cathedral
    church of Worcester without any {supe} {sluers} cost or baine ^[1] {peript}.This conernyng
    my goods which by these unhappy warre and at present but of {sinals} ^[2] {.allns}
15 I doe give and bequeath them all to my beloved wife {ie.oelle} plate household stuffe ^[3]
    cattell and chattelle whatsoever and wheresoever except only such as I shall here
    otherwise bequeath I give and bequeath to my beloved Nephew John Tracy Esq ^[4]
    my ruby ring Item I give to my beloved brother Sharington Talbot Esq ^[5] twenty
    pounds Item I give to my beloved kinseman William Matklow Esq twenty pounds
20 I give to my sonn Henry all my Armer and bookes Item I give to Sir William
    Leighton ^[6] my black sowrd Item I give to my servante that shall attend me in my ~
    bedchamber at the time of my demise such of my {.ot.r.ing} apparel as my wife
    and my sonne Henry shall think fitt Item I give to every other that shalbe my
    howshold servant at my decease and hath served me six moneths forty shillings Item
25 I give to Mr William Mos five pounds and it is my will that my sonne Henry
    take him into his care for his preserment ^[7] in the Ministerey Item I give to my ~
    deare and wellbeloved wife five hundred pounde and my will is shee be paie a hundred
    and fifty pounde ~~ which I borrowed of her for which I give her a note of my
    hand and it is my will she be not charged with any of my debts but that they be-||
30 payd out of my Lands not entayled ^[8] upon my heires Item I do give to the poore of {Laley}
    parish ten pounds to be disposed to them as my wife shall think fitt I likewise give to
    the poore of {Lagled} five marks ^[9] Item I give to my wellbeloved kniseman William
    Bromley Esq five pounds And whereas by an indenture date the nynteenth day of ||
    October 1648 I have {denisrc} to Sharrington Talbott William Bromley and William
35 Mutklow Esq and their asigned all my funds and Lands called {Liytond} in Arley
    in the county of Stafford from the end of seven day next after the day of the dea{le}
    of John Southall for nynty nyne yeares if my sonne Ferdinando ^[10] shall so long {…} upon
    trust and confidence to be by them desposed of and imployed in such sort as I should by
    my will or otherwise appoint. And as in the said Indenture it is more at large expr{esed}
40 now my will is, and I doe her by appoint the said Sharrington Talbott William ~
    Bromley ^[11] and William Mutklow after my decease to permit and suffer my said sonne ||
    to hold and {e.}noy the said farms and Lands, and to hold and c{olect}the rents and {.sirs}
    ther of to his owne use provided that he pay this rent reserves ^[12] upon this said lands
    and doe not sell or grant away his interrest on estate therin without reserveing and ~
45 keeping to him /self\ the full value over and above the foresaid rent which if my said ~
    sonne shall doe then I doe herby appoint the said Sharrington Talbott William ~

1600will1649, sheet 2

    Bromley and William Mutklow to surrender the said Lease and their interest therein to
    my heires And wheras by my deed indented the eighteenth day of October 1649 ~
    I have granted to the said Sharrington Talbott William Bromley and William Mutklow
50 an {ch..}ity or yearly rent of twenty five pounds per Annum to be issuing forth of the
{farme}
End of page one
    farme called the Moate Farme ^[13] and Lands demises ^[14] to William Bibb for the lives of Edward
    Bibb and Jouyce Bibb children of the said William which anuitie was soe granted upon {f…st} and
    confident to be unployed and disposed of in such sort as I should by my will or {offi.r.v..} direct or
    appoint Now my will is and I doe herby direct and appoint the said Sharrington Talbott ~ ~||
55 William Bromley and William Mutklow to permit and suffer my sonne Charles to have received
    and take the said Anuitu or yearly rent of twenty five pound to his owne use Provided he
    doe not sell the same for any time or tearme whatsoever, which if he shall doe then my will is and
    I doe appoint that the said Anuitie shall payd to any heires of this my will I make and ordaine
    my wife my Executrix and my beloved brother Sharrington Talbott and my beloved kinseman
60 William Mutklow Esq and my beloved Nephew John Tracy Esq overseers of which I errnestly
    entreate them to tak the {care} In witness herof I have put to my hand and seale the day
    and ware about written (Littleton This declares to be my will before those who herunto
    subscribes these names the 20th of December 1649 {.on} Littleton Will Mosse Ia: Loyle

1   Baine - take one's bane = ‘catch one's death,’ the agent or instrument of ruin or woe, the ‘curse.’ – Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
2   Sinals – possibly ‘seldon’– OED
3   Stuffe - property, especially movable property, household goods or utensils; furniture – OED
4    Sir John Tracy (d.1678) – son of Sir Robert Tracy (c1593-1662) of Stanway, Toddington, Gloucestershire who married Bridget, daughter of Sir John Littleton of Frankley. Grandson of Sir John Tracy (1561-1647/9), MP and Royalist. The administration of Sir John’s goods being granted to his grandson John in November 1648. It should be noted that Ferdinando Tracy was the younger son of John Tracy. See note 10.
5   Sherrington Talbot of, Salwarp, Worcestershire, christened on 26 June 1599, was the son of Sherrington Talbot and Elizabeth Leighton. He married Jane Lyttelton, daughter of John Lyttelton and Meriel Bromley, on 13 October 1627 at Hagley Hall. He was buried 11 August 1677, at Lacock, Wiltshire.
Also referenced at ...
6   Sir William Leighton – possibly - Sherrington Talbot (see note 5) was the son of Sherrington Talbot and Elizabeth Leighton
7   Preserment – possibly ‘attentiveness, readiness’ - OED
8   Entayled - to settle (land, an estate, etc.) on a number of persons in succession, so that it cannot be bequeathed at pleasure by any one possessor ¬- OED
9   Mark - in England a monetary unit equivalent in value to two-thirds of a troy pound of pure silver or two-thirds of a pound sterling ¬- OED
10  Ferdinando – born about 1639 Latter-Day Saints microfilm: 1512596, Ancestral File Number: B1X8-1K
11  Sir William Bromley (died 1682) was born at the family seat at Baginton, Warwickshire, as a member of an old Staffordshire family. His son, also Sir William Bromley, was Speaker of the House of Commons (1710-1713). - Wikipedia
12  The 'reserved rent' means the 'rent reserved in the lease'. In everyday language this means the rent that the lease states is to be paid. In addition to a regular fixed rent payment the 'reserved rent' may also include a contribution towards insurance and/or service charges.
13  Moate Farme – perhaps now Pickards Farm at OS SO762 814, which is shown to have a moat
14  Demises – in law: to give, grant, convey, or transfer (an estate) by will or by lease - OED

Source:
English Handwriting 1500-1700: Basic conventions for transcription
The National Archive: PROB/11/211 referenced to Sir Thomas Littleton

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