This will cost me (almost) quite literally blood, sweat and tears to find
I knew it existed, because it is indexed in this book here:
Index of wills proved in the Prerogative court of Canterbury 1383-1558. And now preserved in the principal Probate registry, Somerset house, Londonhttps://archive.org/details/indexofwillsprov10chur/page/26 (Said indexed entry has also been digitalised by Ancestry here:
Text: 1514 Aylemer, Aymere, Richiard, St. Peter Mancrofte, Norwich 31 FetiplaceIn their: Collection: England: Canterbury - Wills Proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1383-1558 (A-J))
Using the information in the indexed entry and a painstaking (and painful) look-at-one-image-at-time approach and eventually cheating by finding another will with the same coding that had been transcribed properly and then working forwards and backwards from there again employing the same painstaking (and painful) look-at-one-image-at-time approach, I found it!
Ancestry has the name transcribed as
Richard Dymore, Probate: 22 Feb 1514I am fairly certain that this would the same will that the National Archives have here:
Will of Richard RymereReference: PROB 11/17/615
Description: Will of Richard Rymere
Date: 26 February 1515
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Closure status: Open Document, Open Description
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D974713I do believe, however, and I hope that the group will agree with me, that this is our very own Richard Aylmer (d.1512) of Norwich
The son of Robert Aylmer (d.1493) of Norwich
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=799398.0And the brother of Thomas Aylmer (d.1500) of Norwich
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=800847.0Going through the two above wills has allowed us to piece together the following family tree:
Robert Aylmer (d.1493), Grocer, Sheriff of Norwich in 1471, Alderman of Norwich in 1480, Mayor of Norwich in 1481 and 1492. He was married to Elizabeth (d.1518). He had two sons, Richard (d.1512) and Thomas (d.1500), and two daughters, Cecile and Elizabeth (d. 15th of September 1493). After his death his widow Elizabeth is involved in a suit with Sir William Knyvett -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_William_Knyvett. At some point after this suit, Elizabeth remarries, to Thomas Thursby.
His son, Richard Aylmer (d.1512), Grocer, Sheriff of Norwich in 1501, Mayor in 1511. Married firstly to Joan, and had by her two sons and two daughters. After Joan's death he remarries again to an unknown second wife and has by her four daughters.
In his will in 1500, Robert's second son and Richard's younger brother Thomas Aylmer mentions a nephew named John Aylmer.
He is of particular interest, since we know that the father of Bishop John Aylmer is said to have been a John.
This John could be one of the two sons that we know Richard Aylmer had, or he could be an illegitimate child of one of his sisters.
Perhaps of Elizabeth, the sister of Richard and Thomas Aylmer, who died on the 15th day of September 1493? A month or two after her father, Robert Aylmer, who died in July or August 1493, but who makes no mention of a daughter Elizabeth in his will?
Or of a sister who married someone with the same last name?
My hope is that this last will & testament will tell us more about Richard Aylmer's family, and hopefully give us more information regarding this John Aylmer, who is of great interest to us.
I apologise for the wretched quality of this, which is undoubtedly why it took me so long to find it, and why the name is mistranscribed so abominably ill both at Ancestry and the National Archives.
The full will here:
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/5111/40611_311116-00503/852299?backurl=https%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fsearch%2fdb.aspx%3fdbid%3d5111%26path%3d&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnBrowsing#?imageId=40611_311116-00500My only comfort is that the will numbers only one page, and it does get better. A lengthy middle part is of much better quality.
Thank you so much in advance if you feel called to take this on