Will of Anne Chalcroft 1591

[MattD30]

I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me with the handwriting in 1591 Will of Anne Chalcroft of Woolbeding. I am attaching two cropped images from the first half of the Will and would appreciate any help anyone can give in deciphering what these sections say or in establishing names and relationships.

In the first extract it looks like it reads "I give unto William Symth ......." but I'm not certain of William's surname or what comes after it. It might be Smyth, Smith or even something else. Can anyone help work out what this says?

Just below [3 lines under "William"] it looks like it says "I give unto goodwyfe Ayling" I'm pretty sure the surname is Ayling (or Aylinge) but can anyone confirm the word/name before it?

In the second extract Anne mentions several people who appear to be related to but although I can work out the first names I am having problems with the surname which appears to be the same in each case.

At the top it looks like it says "Item I give to Alice ______ my sister......" but I'm not certain of the surname. It might be Eames but I'm not sure, the first letter looks like an "E" but could also be something else.

If anyone can help with these bits it would be very much appreciated. The writing in the Will is quite small and although I can pick out several first names throughout it and also some relationships and other odd words but not altogther lol - apart from one section where she mentions her "son Peter"

Many Thanks in advance

Matt

[goldie61]

.. unto William Smyth a peck of Rye
and another peck of Ry.........

'goodwief Ayling'

Your second clip has 0 kb in it MAtt, and my computer tells me the file is empty.
Try Again! 

[MattD30]

.. unto William Smyth a peck of Rye
and another peck of Ry.........

'goodwief Ayling'

Your second clip has 0 kb in it MAtt, and my computer tells me the file is empty.
Try Again! 

Hi

Thanks for that helpful info. I can see "a peck of Rye" now you point it out and I'm surprised I didn't see it before. I wonder who "goodwife Ayling" was, a relative perhaps?

I must admit I did wonder why the second image didn't show up when I posted this. I don't think the second image is especially big but I will try to crop it down a bit more and then post it.

Matt

[MattD30]

Here is attempt 2 at posting the second extract from Anne Chalcroft's Will. I've cropped it down a bit more in size so I hope it will work here. The writing slopes a bit and so it is tricky to crop and the cropping tool I use won't let me crop smaller than this.

Hopefully this will work but if not I'll have to try something else.

Fingers crossed and thanks in advance.

Matt

[goldie61]

Could be an "E" Matt, though not a form I've seen before.

The next letter would seem to be an 'l' - more distinct in the second time it appears after William. Alice's husband's name.
So 'Elmes' ?

Wasn't Queen Elizabeth on the throne in 1591?
Her name must be in the 'blurb' at the start of the will.
What does that look like?

"E"s in examples of secretary hand

[horselydown86]

As I read it:

Alice Elmes
William Elms

I believe Alice is named as a wydow at the top of Clip 2.  It would be useful to see this line properly.

If she is a wydow and Jane and Alice are her children, the wording seems odd.  Why not just say they are her daughters?

So I'd be careful about concluding that saster Alice was married to William Elms.

[MattD30]

As I read it:

Alice Elmes
William Elms

I believe Alice is named as a wydow at the top of Clip 2.  It would be useful to see this line properly.

If she is a wydow and Jane and Alice are her children, the wording seems odd.  Why not just say they are her daughters?

So I'd be careful about concluding that saster Alice was married to William Elms.

I will try to post the top part again tomorrow if possible. Anne is definitely described as a widow (or widow as it is spelt in the will) so I agree that the wording about Jane and Alice seems odd. It is a very tricky Will to read.

I think Elms or Elmes is definitely correct.

The real question for me, is who was Ann the widow of?

More digging to do tomorrow.

Thanks for the help,

Matt

[MattD30]

Could be an "E" Matt, though not a form I've seen before.

The next letter would seem to be an 'l' - more distinct in the second time it appears after William. Alice's husband's name.
So 'Elmes' ?

Wasn't Queen Elizabeth on the throne in 1591?
Her name must be in the 'blurb' at the start of the will.
What does that look like?

"E"s in examples of secretary hand

I think it is an "E" now I look at it again. Here is an extract from the end of the previous Will. In this section there is mention of an "Elizabeth" and the first letter certainly looks the same as in Ann's Will to me.

So I think it definitely is an "E" and I think Elmes or Elms is probably what the name is.

Matt

[goldie61]

Yep!