Author Topic: Old Will Yorkshire (1832) - Inconsistent Name  (Read 607 times)

Offline karen58

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Old Will Yorkshire (1832) - Inconsistent Name
« on: Thursday 03 June 21 07:57 BST (UK) »
Hi

Will of Robert Winterbottom of Woolroad, signed March 1832, in which he bequeaths money to his daughter Hannah Winterbottom.

However, Hannah married in December 1829 more than 12 months before Robert signed his will.

You would expect that he would have referred to her by her married name.

Hannah's marriage register is correct as it records her place of abode as Woolroad.

I know that wills were drafted with the dates left blank so the witnesses could witness the testator signing and dating, just like we do today.

Is it possible that Robert had his will drafted, and delayed signing it for 12 months?

Does anyone else have a problem like this?

cheers Karen
Platts & Scholefields; Saddleworth
Winterbottoms; Saddleworth and Huddersfield
Pitchforths; Halifax and Huddersfield

Offline Kiltpin

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Re: Old Will Yorkshire (1832) - Inconsistent Name
« Reply #1 on: Thursday 03 June 21 09:37 BST (UK) »
Just off the top of my head, I can think of three reasons - 

1 - Forgetfulness - senile dementia starts small many years before it becomes apparent. He might not have remembered the marriage, nor her married name. 

2 - He might not have approved of the marriage. 

3 - Women in Scotland keep their maiden names for their whole life. 

Regards 

Chas
Whannell - Eaton - Jackson
India - Scotland - Australia

Offline Kiltpin

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Re: Old Will Yorkshire (1832) - Inconsistent Name
« Reply #2 on: Thursday 03 June 21 09:40 BST (UK) »
4 - He might have dictated the will to a third party "To my daughter, I leave ...". The third party might then have put in the name that they knew. 

Regards 

Chas
Whannell - Eaton - Jackson
India - Scotland - Australia

Offline karen58

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Re: Old Will Yorkshire (1832) - Inconsistent Name
« Reply #3 on: Thursday 03 June 21 19:56 BST (UK) »
Hi Chas
Thank you, good creditable reasons for the inconsistency.

Cheers Karen
Platts & Scholefields; Saddleworth
Winterbottoms; Saddleworth and Huddersfield
Pitchforths; Halifax and Huddersfield


Offline DianaCanada

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Re: Old Will Yorkshire (1832) - Inconsistent Name
« Reply #4 on: Friday 04 June 21 13:22 BST (UK) »
Karen, I have the same issue, around the same time period, also in Yorkshire (Bridlington).  I don’t have the details at hand, but one of his daughters had definitely married in London, she later returned to Yorkshire.  Will see if I can find the details, will post!

Offline karen58

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Re: Old Will Yorkshire (1832) - Inconsistent Name
« Reply #5 on: Saturday 05 June 21 00:17 BST (UK) »
DianaCanada, Thank you for letting me know this.

Really interested to hear your details.

cheers Karen
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Offline brigidmac

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Re: Old Will Yorkshire (1832) - Inconsistent Name
« Reply #6 on: Saturday 05 June 21 08:23 BST (UK) »
I wonder if it could be deliberate so it's known money goes to daughter and NOT  her husband
Roberts,Fellman.Macdermid smith jones,Bloch,Irvine,Hallis Stevenson

Offline karen58

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Re: Old Will Yorkshire (1832) - Inconsistent Name
« Reply #7 on: Saturday 05 June 21 15:47 BST (UK) »
Hi brigidmac

I'm not certain, but you might have something here. Or I'm just clutching at straws.

I wonder if it could be deliberate so it's known money goes to daughter and NOT  her husband

Under the doctrine of coverture, husband and wife were one, the one is the husband.

Once married, the wife’s real and personal property came under her husband’s control. So, the inheritance would become Hannah’s husband property no matter which way. From what I understand, a women had less rights over her personal property than her real property.

I have an 1823 will in which a husband bequeaths to his wife her clothes. What a beast!

But if the inheritance was promised as her dowry, I think the inheritance would be protected in some way. If a couple died without children, the woman’s dowry was returned to her family.

Also, the dowry was used to support the daughter financially throughout her married life and her widowhood. So, if the inheritance was promised as her dowry, that would ensue she benefited from it.

Have come across this delayed payment of a dowry before. I also have a 1740 will where the daughter receives the second part of her dowry.

If the inheritance was Hannah's dowry, it would be written in the marriage contract. Then wouldn't the marriage contact in the name of Hannah Winterbottom?

I don't understand dowries enough to say it could work this way.

Cheers Karen
Platts & Scholefields; Saddleworth
Winterbottoms; Saddleworth and Huddersfield
Pitchforths; Halifax and Huddersfield

Offline DianaCanada

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Re: Old Will Yorkshire (1832) - Inconsistent Name
« Reply #8 on: Sunday 06 June 21 20:36 BST (UK) »
Karen, please forgive the detail in returning the post.  I haven't looked at this particular branch of the family in quite a while.  It was interesting re-reading the will.
I actually was somewhat mistaken in my original post about his daughter Jane.
Thomas Ford was b. ca Feb 1755, Huggate, E. Yorks.  He married Ann Watson, b. Malton, E. Yks. (have a suspicion she might have been a widow) 11 Sep 1784, Kilnwick, E. Yorks..  Thomas died on the 6 or 7th of June, 1828, Bridlington, Yorks. 
The couple seemed to have spent their married life in Bridlington, as far as I can tell.  Thomas was a ship's carpenter and seems to have done alright for himself, as he owned some property.
All of the children are mentioned in the will, and a couple of grandchildren.  My ancestor, William, was the executor along with his mother.  By 1828 he had moved to Halifax, W. Yorks.
Thomas's daughter Jane is known to have married three times, or at least married twice, and in a relationship once, oddly, in London.  This is proved by the birth of her daughter Charlotte Egan.
After her father died, Jane married William Trowsdale Mason, in 1833.  He died within a few years and Jane was a widow for many years.
In the will she is referred to "Jane, wife of James Edgin (sic), without control, or intermeddling, of her present husband, and her receipt alone shall be sufficient discharge for the same" am not sure what this latter part means!
Strangely, when Jane married William T. Mason, she is listed as HALL, not Egan/Edgin.  Hall was her first husband's surname (her brother William, my ancestor, also married a Hall, but a complete coincidence as she was from Northowram, W. Yorks.)
I have not found a marriage for Jane to James, nor anything else about him, other that Charlotte Egan was his daughter.
My guess reading over the will is that Jane got pregnant in London (no idea why she was there) and pretended she was married to James, if he even existed.  It does seem though, that her parents might have known something, and hence the phrase "without control, or intermeddling"!
Sorry this isn't much help to you!