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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: mezentia on Monday 12 October 20 22:50 BST (UK)
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I unearthed this will on Ancestry:
Joseph Saberton Saberton Esq
in the England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858
where the several pages of images for this will may be found. I'm in the process of trying to transcribe it as there would seem to be references to one of Joseph's grandchildren within, and there was a court case in respect of bequests to a wife or wives that has a bearing on the will. I've barely started before I've hit problems with some of the writing. I've attached an image with the difficult words and phrases highlighted if anyone would like to have a go at suggesting what they might actually say. Given the sheer length of this document, I might be on this thread asking for help for some time ... ;D
Two of the places mentioned in the clip are Langwood Fen and Block Fen, identified from maps of Chatteris, but I'm not sure of what follows Witcham, I've not been able to get any help from early maps.
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He seems to have a fixation on "Annual Sum or Yearly Rent" plus other hard to read items.
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The last one is "annual sums or yearly costs", although I'm not sure if the last word is costs. Could it be rents?
The other 2 phrases:
"out annual sum or yearly cost"
"annual sum or yearly cost".
I see barryd thinks the last word in each phrase is rent.
Is the single word which neither Barry nor I can decipher be a name of a person or place?
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I wasn't sure if it was rent or costs, or even casts. Looking more closely at the letters e and n in other more easily distinguishable words, I think it is rent. The single word is a place, starting, I think with the letter N, so could be Nedlands, but I can't find anything of that name on the earliest maps on NLS
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I wasn't sure if it was rent or costs, or even casts. Looking more closely at the letters e and n in other more easily distinguishable words, I think it is rent. The single word is a place, starting, I think with the letter N, so could be Nedlands, but I can't find anything of that name on the earliest maps on NLS
This is: Witcham Medlands
The single word is: charged
Finally, rent/rents is correct.
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Thanks everyone for your help so far. Now for part 2 :). I think the first highlighted word is "eleventh". However, when all the three preceding dates are on the sixth of a month, why should the last annual payment be on the eleventh? I can't make out entirely the next highlighted area. The next highlighted phrase is, I think "on such". The next phrase is "???? and distress" but the first word eludes me, and what exactly are the powers that he is calling upon? Does distress have a specific legal meaning in this context? The final word could be "law" or possibly "lease"?
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I think eleventh is right.
"deductions".
Next is "on such".
"entry & distress"
Looks like "lease".
I think that entry & distress is allowing his wife to enter his rented properties
to recover debt.
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Just re-reading the words before lease. Are they "recovered by", or "reserved by"?
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recovered.
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Just re-reading the words before lease. Are they "recovered by", or "reserved by"?
... for recovering rents received by lease
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Part 3 ;D Ideas as to the two highlighted words, please. Could the first be dower? and the second freebench? On the basis that the will is here referring to Joesph's estate:
Dower - A wife’s interest in her husband’s property, inheritable at his death. English probate law set this at 1/3.
Free-bench - a legal term referring to an ancient manorial custom whereby a widow, until she remarried, could retain tenure of a part (or sometimes the whole) of her late husband’s land. This was not as a dower but a free right, independent of the will of the husband. Called ‘bench’ because, upon acceding to the estate, she becomes a tenant of the Manor, and has the right and duty to sit on the bench as one of the pares curiæ - Peers of the Court. The peers formed a jury or homage for the dispensing of feudal justice including trial of their fellow-tenants for misdemeanors. The widow was usually allowed her free-bench so long as she preserved her chastity but if any evidence appeared against her, or she declared an intention of remarrying, she had to forfeit her lands. The rights to free-bench varied according to local manorial custom.
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Part 3 ;D Ideas as to the two highlighted words, please. Could the first be dower? and the second freebench? On the basis that the will is here referring to Joesph's estate:
I agree with your readings here.
Just re-reading the words before lease. Are they "recovered by", or "reserved by"?
Definitely reserved by, in my opinion. I can't agree with Bookbox - to be received, the third letter should be a straight vertical, as it is in recovering. Instead it is a curved letter, which matches the fourth letter of lease.
Then if you look at the letter before the v, while the r and i have a similar shape in this hand, the r is a bit more so, while the i is dotted. This one is more so, and it isn't dotted.
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Ok, so now for the next one. In the attached clip there is are two references to "my allotments of ? enclosed lands". But what is the word before enclosed?
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...new enclosed ^land^...
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Definitely reserved by, in my opinion. I can't agree with Bookbox - to be received, the third letter should be a straight vertical, as it is in recovering. Instead it is a curved letter, which matches the fourth letter of lease.
After a closer look I have to agree. Makes much better sense, in any case.
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Thank you to everyone for your help do far. The first 57 lines of page 1 done :) just 4 and a bit more pages to do! Hopefully, thanks to the help received so far it will get easier.
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And just as I though things were getting easier ::) My take on this bit is as follows:
1. my said wife and Charles Culledge of March in the said Isle of Ely Surgeon and
2. apothecary and William Warth of Chatteris aforesaid Miller their heirs and
3. assigns for ever but upon and for the trusts [____] and purposes and with
4. under and subject to the powers provisions and declarations hereinafter [declared]
5. and [contained] of and [_____] the same (that is to say) upon trust that they
6. my said wife and the said Charles Culledge and William Warth and the sur-
7. vivors and survivor of them and the heirs of such survivor and their her or
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intails
declared
contained of and concerning
it's that tricky 'c' which our modern day eye always reads as an 'r'! :)
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intails
Whilst it looks very like intails, I think it is actually: ...trusts intents and purposes...
Also: ...powers provisoes and declarations...
ADDED:
Mezentia, if you expect there to be more posts to come on this thread, it would be worthwhile to ask the moderator to shift it onto the Handwriting Deciphering and Recognition board.
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Mezentia, if you expect there to be more posts to come on this thread, it would be worthwhile to ask the moderator to shift it onto the Handwriting Deciphering and Recognition board
Yes and yes; I did think after posting initially that it's in the wrong board. Mea Culpa.
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Thanks again for all the suggestions so far received, I really do appreciate the help. I do seem to be "getting my eye in" a little in being able to decipher this particular variety of script, and have now completed the rest of the first part of page 2. :D Working on the brightness and contrast of the images downloaded from Ancestry does make reading a little easier, now only another 235 or so lines to go ::)
There was a little discussion about one term, intails or intents. On working on the contents a little further into the will where the term appears again, but this time a little more clearly, I believe that the term is actually intail, an archaic rendering of entail , which as the will is concerning Joseph's property, seems to make more sense in the context.
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There was a little discussion about one term, intails or intents. On working on the contents a little further into the will where the term appears again, but this time a little more clearly, I believe that the term is actually intail, an archaic rendering of entail , which as the will is concerning Joseph's property, seems to make more sense in the context.
While it is true that intail is an archaic rendering of entail, I am confident that this word is intents.
1. He dots the letter i. There is only one dot in that word.
2. He loops the letter l. The second last letter of that word isn't looped.
3. This is a standard legal phrase. Put this into a search engine: "trusts intents and purposes"
To read it properly, you have to see that the first stroke of the n is touching the e, making it look - wrongly - like ai..
To understand the phrase's meaning, read intentions for intents.
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I'm now nearly half way through this will, and I've found another example of this phrase, one that is slightly clearer than the initial instance. I now think actually that intents is the right interpretation. Certainly the final letter does not have the loop on the l as can been seen elsewhere, but does have an inclined upstroke as used on the t elsewhere, and there is clearly only a single dot over the initial i.
There are marginal notes on the image "Interlined on Origl" which means that I'm working from an image of a copy. I checked on the National Archives site and found another copy there, but it is a copy and the image quality is not nearly as good as the one on Ancestry. Thank heavens that it was free.
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I now think actually that intents is the right interpretation
Good to see that you have come to terms with intents, in line with Horselydown's clear and careful explanation as to why this is the correct reading (reply #21).
There are marginal notes on the image "Interlined on Origl" which means that I'm working from an image of a copy. I checked on the National Archives site and found another copy there, but it is a copy and the image quality is not nearly as good as the one on Ancestry. Thank heavens that it was free.
What you are working from on Ancestry is a register copy of the will, made shortly after probate and filed in the PCC registry. These PCC will registers are now held at the National Archives in PROB 11.
The National Archives downloads (currently free) are the same copies from the will registers, but digitised from old microfilm and often of poorer quality.
References to interlineation are to the original will, which (if it survives) will be held at the National Archives in PROB 10. These original wills are not online.
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Thank you Bookbox for your comments. The images on Ancestry, after a little change to brightness and contrast, can be made much more readable, so I'm able with a little help here and there to make good progress in transcribing this document. I'm actually using a piece of software called Transcipt written by Jacob Boerema and once the image is tidied up and straightened, the software works well and is a very good aid to transcribing the documents I'm working on.
As far as this will is concerned, so far there is only one reason for wanting to consult the original (if it exists, and if we ever escape from this current little issue of Covid-19) is that there is a gap on one line where a percentage interest rate should be shown. However, this is not of vital concern, although I've still just under half of the remainder to do.
When it is all done comes the next interesting challenge, and that is to try and work out what it all means! The primary intent is clearly to provide income for his wife, and legacies for his children in terms of income for his daughters and land and property for his sons. However, there are references to another will under which Joseph is a legatee (which I can't find), and his pecuniary liabilities at the death of other residents of Chatteris.
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Here we go again:
1. all my funeral and testamentary expenses and the legacy of fifty pounds hereinbefore
2. bequeathed to my said wife and also the [____] fees and expenses payable for the [___]-
3. on of my said trustees or trustee to such of my estates hereinbefore devised as are of copy-
4. hold or customary tenure and the residue of the said monies (if any) I give and beq-
Help to fill in the gaps, please.
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... fines fees and expences ...
... admissi-
on ... (split over 2 lines)
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Nearly there! Could this be "for the sake of reciprocity" in the first image.
The word in the second completely escapes me. I expected it to be Oath but it doesn't seem to resemble that at all.
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...for the sake of conformity and...
...sworn by Co(m)mon duly to administer...
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All done! Thank you all once again for your help. :) :)
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The usual wording is ...
... sworn by Com(missi)on duly to administer
It shows that the executor did not attend the probate court but took the oath before a Commissioner for Oaths instead, saving a journey.
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The usual wording is ...
... sworn by Com(missi)on duly to administer
Of course...I knew that but somehow have forgotten.
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Of course...I knew that but somehow have forgotten.
I knew you knew that. Just a reminder :)
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Just a reminder :)
Thank you.
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The usual wording is ...
... sworn by Com(missi)on duly to administer
It shows that the executor did not attend the probate court but took the oath before a Commissioner for Oaths instead, saving a journey.
Can I quote you on that? 8)
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I've been dipping in and learning.
What year was the will?
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It was proved in 1847: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D127138
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Also available on Ancestry, search wills and probate for Joseph Saberton Saberton. The Ancestry images are better quality than those on the National Archives site. If anyone would like a copy of my transcription, please PM me with an email address.
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As we appear to have some contributors to this thread somewhat more knowledgeable than me on the subject of Wills, I would like to pose a question to them.
The will that is the subject of this thread contains the following devise at the start:
...
1. made by me at any time or times heretofore and declare this to be my last will and
2. testament I give and devise unto my dear wife Emma Saberton and her assigns during
3. her widowhood one annual sum or yearly rent of three hundred pounds of law-
4. ful money of the United Kingdom to be charged upon yearly issuing and pay-
5. able out of all my farm and lands ...
I was under the impression that one would devise real estate, that is to give as a gift of real property and lands in a will, but all else would be bequeathed. Is income from property and land therefore counted as real estate? And as an aside, why would Joseph devise one annual sum, when he later talks of it being
yearly issuing and payable out of all and singular other my lands tenements and hereditaments whether freehold or copyhold
?
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Is income from property and land therefore counted as real estate?
Devise is used mainly for real estate, not normally for profits issuing from it, but you will often find variation in the terminology used in wills.
And as an aside, why would Joseph devise one annual sum, when he later talks of it being
to be charged upon yearly issuing and payable out of all and singular other my lands tenements and hereditaments whether freehold or copyhold
Your transcript omits a word - the wording is
... to be charged upon and yearly issuing and payable ...
The repetition of annual and yearly is just the standard tautology often found in wills and legal documents. Similarly, you will often find a property described in a will as ... situate, lying and being in the parish of ... when all it means is ‘situated’. I wouldn't read too much into it.
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I was writing this when Bookbox posted. It may be partly of small value so I will post as written.
I'm not sure that anyone other than a nineteenth century lawyer could answer your questions definitively.
Regarding the first - modern dictionaries don't make a clear distinction between devise for real estate and bequeath for other gifts.
How strictly the distinction was observed in the nineteenth century is something I can't answer. (I am aware people on this forum have sometimes implied there was a strict distinction.)
It may be relevant that my interpretation of the wording of this part of the will is that he is creating a rent-charge on the properties and giving it to his wife.
One of my ancestors qualified to vote in St Giles in the Fields on the basis of a freehold rent-charge on a property in Drury Lane. (This was 1835 - 1842.)
So there's a case that a rent-charge may have been considered as real estate.
(I just saw Bookbox's reply.)
Like Bookbox, I think the second question is just about wording. After all, shortly after he refers to the one annual sum, he says that the several annual sums or yearly rents are to be paid in equal quarterly portions.
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Thanks horselydown86 and Bookbox. Your explanations help. I will make a footnote to my transcription to paraphrase your views for future reference.
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Just as a little postscript. We can see from Joseph's will that he had children from a previous relationship. His first wife was Elizabeth Skeels, although no trace of a marriage could be found initially for her and Joseph where it might be expected. Joseph married his second wife Emma on the 12th September 1826 in Chatteris. I'm assuming that Joseph's first wife had by that time died; I have still to track down a burial for her. Imagine then, my surprise, when a marriage for Joseph and Elizabeth did get uncovered, on the 27th February 1825, at, of all places, Gretna Green :o although, Elizabeth has become Henrietta somewhere along the way. Joseph and Elizabeth's first son was born in 1815, and their youngest in 1818.
The marriage entry can be seen at Ancestry in the Gretna Green, Scotland, Marriage Registers, 1794-1895. There can't be too many Joseph Saberton Sabertons, so I'm sure we have the right groom.
All of which, of course, raises a few questions. Why didn't they marry earlier? Was Elizabeth ill? Why didn't they marry by licence somewhere closer? If she was ill, how did she manage the journey to Gretna? Would the fact that Elizabeth's name was registered as Henrietta affect the validity of the marriage? I need to check the marriage law at the time, but would the marriage legitimise their children?
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Interesting complication! How old were they? Were their parents alive? Joseph and Elizabeth might have been living for years as if they were married.
Did the bride sign a marriage register? I'm wondering if whoever married them or wrote the register confused Betty and Hetty. (The priest at one of our family weddings kept getting the bride's name wrong until she corrected him, loudly and clearly.)
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Joseph was born about 1786, so he was about 28 years old when his first son was born, and about 38 when he married Elizabeth/Henrietta Skeels. The page from the Gretna records on Ancestry simply says:
Joseph Saberton Saberton
Stonea
March
Cambridgeshire
Henrietta Skeels
Chatteris
March
Cambridgeshire
February 27 1825
It is signed John Johnstone and John ??, and both signatories seem to appears on other pages, so are probably local witnesses. If Elizabeth died, then it didn't take Joseph long to get over her death, as he remarried only about 18 months later :o
As it is the Sewell family that are my main interest I haven't yet looked at the Sabertons in any great detail, but it looks like it's someting I might need to do now my curiosity has been aroused. :)
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Just found this on the Cambridgeshire Baptisms page on FindMyPast:
First name(s) JOSEPH
Last name SABERTON
Birth year -
Marriage year 1814
Marriage day 1
Marriage month Feb
Spouse's first name(s) ELIZABETH AVELING
Spouse's last name SKEELS
Place MARCH
Groom's first name(s) Joseph
Groom's last name SABERTON
Groom's marital status bac
Groom's residence of Chatteris
Bride's first name(s) Elizabeth Aveling
Bride's last name SKEELS
Bride's marital status sp
Bride's residence otp
By licence or banns by lic
County Cambridgeshire
Country England
Notes with consent of her father Thomas SKEELS
So maybe he was married before his first children were born. In that case, who is Henrietta Skeels? And who exactly did she marry?
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Have you looked for a death/burial of Elizabeth between her 1814 wedding and the Gretna wedding? The Gretna bride might have been a relative of Elizabeth. Did Thomas Skeels have a daughter Henrietta? Did Joseph's brother marry a Henrietta? Church of England and English law didn't allow marriage between brother/sister-in-law until late 19thC.
Was the mother of Joseph's children named in the baptism register?
Were there any children after the Gretna marriage? A death for the wife? It's possible they separated if the marriage wasn't legal.
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There's a Cambridgeshire baptism for Henrietta Skeels 1803.
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I saw that baptism, but can't find anything else for her. There's an awful lot of Skeels in Cambridgeshire. What's interesting ids the fact that the Gretna marriage has the groom as Joseph Saberton Saberton, and I can't find anyone other occurrence of the same name.
But I just found this gravestone (photo on https://www.gravestonephotos.com search for Joseph Saberton) has at the bottom
ALSO of
HENRIETTA his Wife
who departed this life
on the ??? day of ??? 1826
I can't make out the last line.
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There is a burial for 18 January 1826 that is listed as :
First name(s) Harriott
Last name Saberton
Birth year 1802
Death year 1826
Burial year 1826
Age 24
Burial date 18 Jan 1826
Parish Chatteris
County Cambridgeshire
Notes wife of Joseph farmer
Record set Cambridgeshire Burials
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Burials
Collections from England, Great Britain
Transcriptions © Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society
However, the image is on FamilySearch, page 513 of Burials 1813 to 1831. The image is of poor quality, and the handwriting not the best and seems to read Harriott, but I'm sure this is Henrietta.
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There's an awful lot of Skeels in Cambridgeshire.
But I just found this gravestone (photo on https://www.gravestonephotos.com search for Joseph Saberton) has at the bottom
ALSO of
HENRIETTA his Wife
who departed this life
on the ??? day of ??? 1826
Also these 3 graves all at St. Peter & St. Paul, Chatteris. Legible names and details. Year is year of burial. I had to try 2 spellings Saberton and Sabberton. I didn't find Henrietta or Harriott.
Sarah Skeels 1785 age 20 (1st name on monument)
Thomas Skeels father of Sarah Skeels
Mary Skeels mother of Sarah Skeels
Richard Orton *son-in-law of Sarah Skeels
Jos SABBERTON *son-in-law of Sarah Skeels
Mary SABBERTON nee SKEELS 1787 age 21 sister of Sarah Skeels
Ann Orton 1796 sister of Sarah Skeels
* I may have made a mistake with those relationships. I think it should be brother-in-law.
There was a request for an enhanced image of the memorial in 2017 from someone who was searching for her GGF's grave. There is an option to contact the person.
Seems to me that there was more than 1 Joseph Saberton who married a Skeels.
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Joseph SABERTON 1816 (1st name on monument)
John SABERTON 1871 (No relationship stated to Joseph)
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Joseph Saberton SABERTON 1847 age 61 (1st name on monument)
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Note: "It is most likely that only entries with dates and ages are interred in a grave."
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But I just found this gravestone (photo on https://www.gravestonephotos.com search for Joseph Saberton) has at the bottom
ALSO of
HENRIETTA his Wife
who departed this life
on the ??? day of ??? 1826
I can't make out the last line.
There's definitely a letter N in her name.
I can't see the dates.
Henrietta is feminine form of Henry and Harriet is feminine of Harry, which is an informal name for Henry, so Henrietta and Harriet are from the same root. They could be the same woman.