Will of William Batchelor

[Bookbox]

In the preamble, the missing word after Great Britain should be Frannce (or variant spelling).

At the start of the next line, before first, you would expect &c (= etc.).

ADDED - I wrote the above before seeing your extract for these lines 7-8. It is indeed ffrance and (I think) &tc (= etc.).

Diamond of Brenchley in the county of Kent xxxxxx xxxxxx
                                                                           wife of Richard Newman
reversion expectant upon the death of Ann Newman ʌ of Alfriston

I think the missing words at the end of the line are  ... ffarmer the
Compare the word the at the end of line 3 of the extract? The example in line 1 has a more elaborate attacking stroke for the t, but the word is the same basic shape, well spread out, with a very open e at the end. And it fits the sense.

I will have to leave the rest for now, but I'm sure you'll get answers from others.

[horselydown86]

...residue and remainder of my Estate whereof I shall die possessed

or which shall be any ways due owing or belonging unto me...

...heretofore made In witness whereof...

...The writing contained in this Sheet

of paper was signed...

...as witnesses thereto in his presence...

[horselydown86]

In the probate section - in order following the surname of the first Doctor of Laws (not sure of that name - maybe Beire or similar?):

Peter Calvert

constituted

deceased

...having been first sworn duly to Adm(iniste)^r


If you do some internet searches around Peter Calvert doctor of laws you'll probably find the other name.

ADDED:

Just a tip for the future:  it's much easier for us if you post small snippets of text with the transcript of those lines in the same post.  My brain is hurting considerably from juggling all the images plus maintaining a place in the text and the long transcript all the while constantly switching between web pages to post.

[londonscorpion]

Horsely, I am really sorry I did not think of the logistics - I had some crazy idea of you printing the snippets and working from them. I will take your tip on board.

Many thanks for all your help. Just a couple of points.

1. What is the squiggle at the end of the signature "Wllm Batchelor ?" on line 33.
2. On line 39 is it Fisher or Fishery.

Searching for Peter Calvert does not produce any info about his possible co-chairs.
 
Hope your brain is feeling better!!

[horselydown86]

Hope your brain is feeling better!!

It's recovering nicely, thanks.

To your first question, the initials are in the brackets are:  LS = Locus Sigilli

There's a bit of information in the discussion on this thread:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=766689.0

To your second, my feeling is that his name is Fisher and the slanting line is something of structural significance to the copyist.  There's a similar line just before the end of the probate section.  But I can't give you a definite answer.

[londonscorpion]

Many thanks.

[Bookbox]

I'm pretty sure the name of the surrogate will be Thomas Bever.