Reading a 1600's will

[redjed1]

Hi,
Just received a will of my 10x ggrandfather Thomas Devol (spellings vary) of Spalding, Lincolnshire. Unfortunately it is written in 1600's english. I can make out a few words, but wondered / hoped that someone in this forum can help with what is written. My ancestor is his son William, who I believe was left £8-5s and (further down) some other stuff. The will says that Thomas was a labourer - does that mean a farm labourer, or something else?

Also recieved a will of his father Richard, who was a yeoman (?) - but the wills are not on A4 size paper (!) so it's taken a while getting this first one to a size I can upload (much help from my daughter). Second will will hopefully follow - it's also got a bit in what looks like latin.

Any help gratefully received 

Moderator comment: image of will removed.
Post now considered complete.

[clayton bradley]

In the name of God Amen the fouarth day of October anno die
1637 I Thomas Davile of Spalding in the county of Lincoln
laborer being sicke in body but yet of good and perfect mynde
and memory thanks be given to God doe ordaine and constitute
this my last will and testament in manner and forme
following vizt First I bequeathe my sowle into the hands of
Allmighty God hopeing by the merrits of his dear sonne Christ
to have free remission of all my sinnes and to raigne with him in his
ceolestiall kingdome and for my mortuary as the law requireth
Item I give unto Samuell Davile my sonne the house wherein
I dwell and the house where Robert Dente dwelleth to him &
his heires for ever he paieing unto my sonne William Davile
yearly and every yeare dureing the tyme and terme of his
naturall life the somme of six shillings and eight pence of
lawfull moony of England of these ?sowall payinge hereafter
mencioned vizt at or upon the feast of th'Annunciation of our
blessed Vergin Mary next insueing the somme of three shillings
fowar pence and at or upon the feast of St Michaell the
Archangell the like somme of three shillings fowar pence
and in case the said Samuell Davile depart this life before
he attaine the age of one and twenty yeares or without
issue of his body lawfully begotten that then I bequeathe
two houses aforenamed unto Ellen my wife dureing the course
of her naturall life and after her decease unto William
Davile my sonne Elizabeth Davile and Elizabeth the wife of
William Lintyn my daughters equally to be devided
amongst them and theire heires for ever Item I give unto
my sonne William Devile all my apparell bothe lining and
wolling (except my coate) the rest of my goods
cattells chattells mooveables and unmooveables my debts
being paid my boddy being decently and orderly brought to
the ground I make my said wife Ellen executrix of this
my last will and testament & my will is to have my said sonne Samuell ioined in all things executor with her I give to
my two verry good freinds Leonard ?Suell of Spalding
aforesaid husbandman and Christopher Linwood of the same to
be supervisors of this my last will and testament in witnesse whereof I have hereunto put my hand the day and yeare aforementioned 1637 signed Thomas Davile
witnesses whose names are written ?Mayell Phillipps William Dale
will look again after lunch and correct my typos, cb

[smudwhisk]

Clayton has beaten me to it, but here's my version with a few gaps anyway:

In the name of God amen the fourth day of october 1637 I Thomas Davile of Spalding in the county of Lincoln Labourer being sick in the body but yet of good and perfect mind and memory thanks be given to god do ordaine and .... this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following.  First I bequeath my soul into the hands of almighty god hoping by the merrits of his dear son Christ to have .... of all my sins and to ... ..... kingdom and for my mortuary as the Law bequeath.  Item I give unto Samuel Davile my son the house where now I dwell and the house where Robert Dente dwelleth to him and his heirs for ever, he paying unto my son William Davile yearly and every year during the time and term of his natural life the sum of six shillings and and eight pence of lawful money of England of these ......... hereafter mentioned viz at or upon the Feast of ... of our blessed virgin Mary next .... the sum of three shillings four pence and at or upon the feast of St Michael the Archangel the like sum of three shillings four pence.  And in case the said Samuel Davile depart this life before he attain the age of one and twenty years of without issue of his body lawfully begotten That then I bequeath ye two houses aforementioned unto Ellen my wife during the term of her natural life and after the decease unto William Davile my son Elizabeth Davile and Elizabeth the wife of William Linton? my daughters equally to be divided amongst them and their heirs forever.  I give unto my son William Davile all my apparell both living Walling? (except my coat).  The rest of my goods, cattels and chattels, moveables and unmoveables, my debts be ... paid, my body being defentially and orderlly brought to the ground.  I make my said wife Ellen executrix of this my last Will and Testement and my will is to have my said son Samuel ... in all things executor with her .... my two very good friends Leonard Snell of Spalding aforesaid husbandman and Christopher Linwood of the same to be Supervisors of this my last Will.  In witness wherein I have here unto put my hand the day and year abovewritten 1637

Have to admit I've modernised a few of the spellings and put in some full stops just to make it easier to read.

[redjed1]

Brilliant ! 

Thanks to you both. Really made up and impressed.

John

ps back after Christmas with the other will, if you're up for it.

[clayton bradley]

Smudwhisk is quite right. Thomas's wife is called Ellen, and Snell is a better reading for the witness. I've corrected some of my typos and added "remission of sinnes" in line 8, cb

[redjed1]

Thanks for your efforts Clayton

I had Thomas' wife as an Alyce Eldred (off an internet source). I suppose he knew best.

Best wishes, John

[Stuart P]

As a general comment about deciphering pre-1700 documents, it is useful to know that the script in use was called Secretary Hand. "Old Secretary Hand" can be downloaded as a font for your computer, so you can type out an alphabet as a crib sheet. From this starting point, write out examples of letter forms in your particular document - each scribe will have his own peculiarities.

There are 2 letters which no longer exist - thorn (Alt 0165) which looks like a y and stands for "th" - hence "Ye Olde Cake Shoppe", and yogh (Alt 0288) which looks like a z - hence "Menzies" pronounced "Mingess" and "Zetland" for "Shetland". Two extra forms of the letter "s" are at Alt 0137 and Alt 0169 and "ss" is Alt 0219.

[redjed1]

Thanks Stuart, I'll give it a go on the other will. This one dates 1616 and while I could make out a few words in the 1637 will, this one looks a different language altogether. Plus it has a final paragraph in Latin (?). I'll adjust the size and upload it to get the help of the experts on here (hopefully).

John