Hi Matt
His wife is also Anne, John signed the will. Witnesses are Nicholas Leydell (signed), looks like Richard Shummer / Shurmer (also signed), and Anne Shummer (made her Mark "X"). No other beneficiaries, just the wife & 2 daughters.
The inventory was made by William Greene of Minety, and Richard Summer of Upton in Gloucestershire, both were Yeoman (as was John Rayman)
Jane
Hi Jane
That all looks very interesting, and may lead us somewhere. Can you email me a copy of the Will so I can look at the signatures? I think I have seen a couple of the names before.
I have found several Wills for Shu[r]mer/Shummer/Su[r]mer/Summer [and other spellings] on the National Archives website and there are a lot of christenings in the parish of Purton, Gloucestershire. There is a christening for a Richard Shurmer in Purton in 1620 (son of John). His father appears to have had another son named William christened in Purton in 1622.
Also there is a marriage in Purton in 1584 between a John Rymer and an Alice Greene. I think this might be worth investigating as John might be an ancestor of John Raymer/Rayman and Alice could be related to William Greene. They might not be connected but I think it is something to check.
Now the really interesting bit.....
You mentioned that one of the witnesses to John Rymer's 1663 Will was a Nicholas Leydell. I think that this is actually Nicholas Playdell. The interesting thing is that I have seen that name before in connection with the Keene family but I will need to check my notes to see where. The other interesting thing is that Nicholas appears to have left a Will in 1664 (proved in the PCC). I plan to examine that tomorrow as it might give more info about the Rymer/Raymer line.
Lastly I thought I would give you an update about the family of John and Jane Keene. Based on the info in their Wills and the Wills of other related people I have established that they had 6 children. These were:
Thomas Keene - the eldest son [died in Wrougton and left a Will]
Barnard/Bernard Keene - the second son [married Mary Woodroofe in 1667. He left a Will]
Silvester Keene - the third son [from whom I descend]
Dorothy Keene - daughter
John Keene - son
Elizabeth Keene - daughter
I have copies of the Wills of Jane, Barnard, and Thomas Keene as well as the Will of Mary Keene (widow of Barnard). I'll send you details regarding these tomorrow.
That's all for now. I will PM you with my email address.
Matt