I just received John Skelsey senior's will and it turns out that deaf John Henry was treated differently from his siblings. They were each to receive a share of their father's fortune upon the death of their mother: in the case of the two who had died, that share would be divided amongst their offspring at maturity. I understand that each share would be more than the value of an £80 annuity.
I expect the thinking was that the siblings were all married with children, and that John Henry was not, and being in his fifties was not expected to - though I know that deaf people did get married, often to other deaf people.
