Joseph RAYNER of Gateforth - 1795 Will COMPLETED

[Goughy]

Would appreciate an opinion on making sense of the 1795 Will of Joseph Rayner of Gateforth. 

He bequeaths  £26 to each of the following daughters

Ann Kirby of Hirst  (Courtney)  -  (Ann Rayner  married  William Kirby. Butcher,  1776)
Rosamund Taylor wife of Thomas Taylor, Haddlesey
Elizabeth wife of John Johnson

He bequeaths £13 to his daughter Sarah Dixon of Selby and £13 to be divided equally to his grandsons William and John Dixon also of Selby

He then bequeaths everything else to his two remaining daughters Mary Foster husband of James Foster (my great x 5 grandparents);  and Frances Taylor wife of Robert Taylor both of Gateforth. 

Now this is where my confusion kicks in!!   He bequeaths  “to my son in law Samuel Rouston the sum of £10 to be paid out at interest while he the said Samuel Rouston comes of age and then to be paid to him but if he should die before that time the £10 would be divided between my surviving daughters”   The Will goes on to say “and also my Will and mind is that my said Executors shall and will keep my said son-in-law Samuel Rouston two years after my decease and put him to school and the interest of the Ten Pounds to pay for his Leanring”

The Executors to the Will were his daughters Mary and Frances.

 I cannot find a trace of a Samuel Rouston (or name variants) in the area. 

I’m beginning to wonder if I am reading this correctly, Samuel Rouston cannot be his son-in-law can he as it would appear he is a person of school age???

Goughy

[arthurk]

"Son in law" hasn't always meant the same as it does now. It usually refers to a stepson, so in this case you might want to check for the marriage of Joseph Rayner to a widow Rouston, some time after the birth of all the other named children. The references to education suggest that Samuel Rouston may not have been much more than 10-12 years old when the will was written - but as a stepson, he could have been born anywhere, not just Gateforth. Also, the lack of reference to a wife in the will suggests to me that Joseph had been widowed - twice if I am correct about Samuel being a stepson.

Arthur

[Goughy]

Thanks Arthur, now you point out the meaning of "son-in-law" in that time frame it's obvious!  It always pays to get a fresh mind on the job sometimes.   I haven't as yet tracked down burial of his wife Elizabeth (my x6 grandmother).  Back to the Borthwick for more digging. 

Once again many thanks

EDIT:  Found marriage on Family Search 30 June 1788 Joseph Rayner and Ann ROYSTON 

[arthurk]

Looks promising - good luck with the rest of the search.

Arthur