Will of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset

[WillowG]

Re reply 103 by Bookbox. Feast of the Annunciation is 25th March, also known as Lady Day and one of the quarter days,  a traditional day for leases to begin & end and rents to be paid.

Feast of Michaelmas (horselydown reply #101) was gradually downgraded after Reformation and replaced by Harvest Festival.

That is so cool, Maiden Stone! And a little sad I love these old festivals and their names and how they used to celebrate them! I wish more of them had survived into modern time. Like Lord Misrule at Christmas. That must have been so fun! Apparently Henry VIII and then Mary I and then Elizabeth I outlawed a lot of them.

Killjoys

I should have said that the celebration of Michaelmas Feast was downgraded and replaced by Harvest Festival. Michaelmas festivities considered too "Romish" for the new order.

Yes. And that is very sad, in its way There are so many people who want to remove the relatively innocent fun that people get up to. Like Halloween and Valentine's Day. I think some of those 'Romish' holidays would have been fun to have 

[horselydown86]

Snippet #45:

...this my present wrytinge before declarid I have subscribid myne name and wheras I before

in this my present will have constitute and orderid my Eterly welbelovid lady Margaret

my wif and my speciall frendis Cutbert Tunstall Busshiop of Durh(a)m Sir John ffitziames

Cheif Justice of the kinges benche william Shelley one of the kynges Justicz of his comon place

Edwarde wotton knyght william Ashebye Esquire and Robert Broke to be my executours of

this my last will and Testament I have now constitute and ordeyned Mathew knyghtley doctour

of Cossington william horwood gentilman and Christofer wren gentilman to be lyke other


I would read Eterly as utterly.

ADDED:

I mistakenly called his wife Anne in my Reply #100 - shouldn't have relied on memory.

[horselydown86]

Snippet #46:

myn ex

Short for myne executours, which words commence the following page.

[WillowG]

Snippet #45:

...this my present wrytinge before declarid I have subscribid myne name and wheras I before

in this my present will have constitute and orderid my Eterly welbelovid lady Margaret

my wif and my speciall frendis Cutbert Tunstall Busshiop of Durh(a)m Sir John ffitziames

Cheif Justice of the kinges benche william Shelley one of the kynges Justicz of his comon place

Edwarde wotton knyght william Ashebye Esquire and Robert Broke to be my executours of

this my last will and Testament I have now constitute and ordeyned Mathew knyghtley doctour

of Cossington william horwood gentilman and Christofer wren gentilman to be lyke other


I would read Eterly as utterly.

ADDED:

I mistakenly called his wife Anne in my Reply #100 - shouldn't have relied on memory.

It happens to the best of us, HD, as it clearly has in this case

I agree about Eterly being utterly.

The phrase well-beloved wife is repeated in many wills. Was it merely politeness and custom, do you think, or did it betray genuine sentiment? Or both?

Thank you so much!!! I really cannot thank you enough!

This has been an utterly wonderful help 

Including the two snippets I am posting now, there are only four left, then we are DONE

Though I am going to miss this will a little bit, he has provided us with a lot (albeit probably unintentional) of fun 

[Bookbox]

Snippet 47

... myne executours annexid and adioyned to and with my forsaid lady my wife and other my(n) executo(ur)s

as or before named in this my present will to and for the further p(er)fourmance and execution of this

my laste will  and allso I bequeth and gyve unto my soverayne lorde the kynge one of my best

geldinges and one hundrithe pound(es) in sofferanns to by his grace a sadale*  and allso I bequethe

unto his grace a coople of my best houndes  allso I will and bequethe unto my lady Anne Boleyne

xx li  Allso I will and bequeth to Thomas nowe Duke of Norff(olk) xl li  Allso I will and bequethe to

Charles nowe Duke of Suffolke xl li  And allso I will and bequethe unto John now lorde of Oxford

xxx li  Allso I will and bequethe to shr [sir?] William Fitzwill(ia)m now Channcelour of the duchie xx li

Allso I will and bequethe to sir Henry Gulford now Comptroller of the kynges house xx li  Allso ...

     * = in sovereigns, to buy His Grace a saddle (probably)


Snippet 48

... I will and bequethe to doctour Stephyns nowe secretarye unto the kynges grace xx li  Allso I will

and Bequethe to Mary Coplay x li to her mariage  Allso I will and bequethe to Anne Elmar[?]**

to hur mariage x li  Item I will and bequethe to Cicele Howarde x li to hur mariage  Allso I will

and bequethe to Elenour Palmer x li to her mariage  Allso I will and bequethe to Elizabethe

Charde to hur mariage x li  And allso I will that Hugh whitfelde have yerely out of my

Manour londis and ten(emen)tis in Growbye xl s for terme of his lyfe  And allso I will that John wor- ...

     ** could be a longer name, abbreviated

[WillowG]

WOW!!! That was amazing! I got gooseflesh reading that! How weird to see their names in original writing like that, mentioned casually by people who knew them personally!!!

A few of these people, I trust, need no introduction

my soverayne lorde the kynge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England

my lady Anne Boleyne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Boleyn

Thomas nowe Duke of Norff(olk) - The uncle of Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Howard,_3rd_Duke_of_Norfolk

Charles nowe Duke of Suffolke - His daughter Frances would later marry the testator's son Henry, with great tragedy as the result for their three daughters, Lady Jane Grey, Lady Katherine Grey, and Lady Mary Grey:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Brandon,_1st_Duke_of_Suffolk

A little bit more unknowns:

shr [sir?] William Fitzwill(ia)m now Channcelour of the duchie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_FitzWilliam,_1st_Earl_of_Southampton

sir Henry Gulford now Comptroller of the kynges house - The testator's brother-in-law, he was married to my well-beloved Margaret's sister Mary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Guildford

Thank you so much, Bookbox!!! You are amazing Stellar work, as always!!!

[WillowG]

Elenour Palmer (died 1558) was an English philanthropist who established a charity to help the poor of Chipping Barnet and Kentish Town, now parts of London. Her charity still exists (!!!) and owns and runs almshouses and residential homes for the elderly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Palmer

That is quite impressive!

If that is the right Eleanor Palmer, she would have already have been married once. Her first husband died in 1509, her second in 1542, so it might fit that this was a bequest towards her second marriage.

In one of those strange twists of fate, Eleanor Palmer's son Jerome (d.1565) married Eleanor, daughter of William Paget, 1st Baron Paget. William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, would later buy the wardship of our Anne Grey, Lady Willoghby's eldest son Thomas, the testator's grandson, and had him married to his daughter Dorothy.

[Bookbox]

Snippet 49

... (Wor)thington have yerely out of the said Manour landes and ten(emen)tis* in Growby xl s for terme of his lif

Allso I will and bequethe towardes the buyldinge and makinge upp of the chuche of our blyssid ...

     * - contraction mark omitted


Snippet 50

... ladye of Tylltey within the countie of Essex one hundrith markes to be paid by myn executours

and they to paye yerely xx mark(es) untill the said somme of a C markes be fully paid


=====

I'll do the probate clause separately later this evening.

[WillowG]

Oh, thank you so much, Bookbox!

Tylltey (Tyltey, Tiltey, Tilty) appears to have been another name for where the Greys were from:
https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/essex/churches/tilty.htm