(*Completed with thanks*)Name in an early 17th C will.

[horselydown86]

Could be, Bookbox.

I didn't see that as a possibility on first reading (but was troubled by the rough spelling).  It's a small & faint horizontal but it is there.

As he is mentioned earlier we shall presumably find the answer there.

[horselydown86]

Lucy, having found that you did indeed name the testator, I had a quick scan of the will for the first instance of the name in that last clip.

Unless I am going batty, it appears that the last two clips aren't from the Harte will.  Is that right?

If so, it explains why you didn't notice his name before.

[Bookbox]

I think you're right, HD, well spotted. I did wonder why John Harte's son was called William Peterson, and it appears that the will of Daniel Peterson immediately precedes John Harte's in the register.

It's easy to get the pages confused when everything's hard to read.

[lucymags]

Oh, thank you both very much, Bookbox and horselydown, and I do apologise for posting that extraneous work! It is me who was going batty, clearly.  By the time I got to looking for the last time, I was tired after hours of peering at the three pages and must have zoomed in at the wrong spot. I wondered why I hadn't spotted those names before!

So as far as I can see so far, the only named relatives in the will are a single son, John; daughter Alice married to Nicholas Chapman and their son John; daughter Margaret married to David Sterne and their son Giles; and sister Johane/Joan (interesting about the derivation of that one, btw horselydown - I never did Latin at school, but have always found languages and etymology fascinating!).

And then there are the friends Richard Amherst and Sir Thomas Springett. David Sterne is one of the witnesses, I think Arthur Langwart/Langward(?) another one.

I am now going to put together the translations I have, then review it all again and see if I spot anything else of potential interest. (A shame I don't have a wife's name or surname, because there are no obvious matches in the Sussex marriage index, but I will cross that bridge later...)

[horselydown86]

David Sterne is one of the witnesses, I think Arthur Langwart/Langward(?) another one.

The named witnesses are as follows. 

...Theise beyng witnesses Robert Carewe
David Sterne Arthur Langworth:

Carew was a big name in Tudor England.  John's connection to Robert might be worth investigation.

* There's another son Edward who is under 26 years at time of writing.

He is first mentioned a few lines under where the word Norlington appears.

* Near the end of the middle page, he calls Richard, Earl of Dorset, his good Lord and Maister.

[lucymags]

Ah, thanks again, horsleydown. You beat me to it with one thing - I was just coming back to edit my post to change that to Langworth!

And I was going to ask about the Robert name, having figured out some of the letters but struggling to make it Carew (which name I'd come across on another branch of ancestors, except they were Careys - related, I think). It seems that Thomas Springett was the lord of Southease Manor soon after this, and also Plumpton Manor, and there was a Francis Carew who owned the latter before him. I suppose all of those wealthy landowners just passed those properties amongst the various families.

And thanks for tip about the other son Edward and the Earl of Dorset. I think I did spot that Edward at some point and then forgot to come back to that point.

I think that you have probably covered everything I need before I've had time to go through it properly for a final time. I'll just leave the thread open a bit longer in case I find anything else of interest to pick your brains about later, else will mark it as completed once I've noted everything (if I can find the way to do that again - I did once before... ).

Many thanks for your work (and to Bookbox), and for helping me to improve my skills. Much appreciated.

[lucymags]

Is this bit talking about sisters of the said John Chapman (his grandson) by any chance? 

[lucymags]

And sorry, last one - something about some land in Stroude(?) - can't make out the word after it, and on the line underneath is that a place beginning "All..."? There is a place on the map called Allington Farm, but I cannot see those letters there.
...now in the occupation of Margaret...

(I know that there's other land, some in the occupation of other people, but I'm not going to worry about the rest. Having spotted Stroude on the map, I'm just curious about that one.)

[Bookbox]

... I give to the twoe Sisters of the sayed John Chapman ...

... Harte my Landes and Tenement(es) called Strowdes Hamerland, the roughe Croft(es) and the
house thereuppon latelie builded All which now are in the occupation of Mathewe Everest
or his assignes set lying & beyng in the Burroughe of Blackham within the parishes of ...

(Irregular spacing between words can be misleading.)