Help Requested To Transcribe Will of Mawde Thurman, Widow of Clifton, Staff

[Andy_T]

Hi i previously found a marriage record of my 10 times great grandparents, Henry and Mawde Thurman at Tamworth, Wawickshire, 24th-SEP 1596. It seems that until 1616, their residency was at Great Ammington, Warwickshire. An inventory of Henry’s goods and chattels was made in1616 showing his residence as Great Ammington, Tamworth, Warwickshire. Amington, Tamworth (now in Staffordshire).

I just found and downloaded the 11th May, 1621 will of a Mawde Thurman, widow of Clifton Staff. Clifton is 2 miles SW of Ashbourne, Derbys and is now a part of Derbyshire.

Can anyone, please help to transcribe the will and it's free to download from the National Archives digital online records OR PM me with your email and I can send it to you as an attachment?

Thanks in anticipation,
Andy_T

[goldie61]

It's always better to post parts of a will on this Handwriting Board of Rootchat, so that as many people as possible can help you.
I took a look at the image on TNA, and it is very clear writing.

I'll start you off, and maybe you could see what you can make out in the rest of it.
You can post the parts you get stuck on.

In the name of God Amen I Mawde Thurman of
Haunton in the p(ar)ishe of Clyfton in the Countie of Stafford widowe being
sick in bodie but of good and p(er)fect remembrance thanckes be given ^ for the same ^to God^
doe make this my last will and testament in manner and forme following
vizt ffirst I give and bequeathe my soule to Almightie God the maker therof
hopeinge to be saved by the deathe of Jesus Christ my onelye sonne and my
bodie to be buried in the p(ar)ishe church of Clyfton And of my worldlye
goodes I dispose in this manner followinge ffirst I give and bequeathe to
Robert Thurman of Lynton xxs Item I give and bequeathe to Richard
Thurman of Lynton xxs Item I give and bequeathe to John Thurman of
of Lynton and to his three sisters xxs equallie to be devided betwixte
(them)


In line 6, it seems to read 'Jesus Christ my onelye son'. It should really be 'his onelye son', or even 'thy onelye son', but it looks as though the scribe here has put the wrong word. They were only human beings after all, and not infallible.
Between line 10 and line 11 he has repeated the word 'of 'twice.

[Andy_T]

Thanks for starting the translation goldie61, and although the writing is crisp and clear, I am only able to pick out odd words and for me it's not easy. I will give it a go and post bits of the will, need further help with later.

Andy_T

[Andy_T]

goldie61 Thanks again and I did have a go at transcribing the will with some blanks mostly names of people Mawde Thurman was leaving an "Item" to.
You  previously transcribed from line 1 " in the name of God Amen . . . "
to line 11 inclusive and I followed on from there down to line 30 "Probatum" which seems to be in Latin?
The date of the will is said to be 11 May, 1621, so is that the date of the unproved or the proved will?
The names of 3 Thurman beneficiaries were Robert Thurman, Richard Thurman and John Thurman, all living at "Lynton" being Linton, near Castle Greasley, South Derbyshire, from wence my traceable Thurman ancestors came in the 1600s.
On line 15 & 16 please help to transcribe.
the surname of Elizabeth in line 17?
And line 21 surname of Robert whose wife is Margerie?
NOTE: Henry Thurman married Mawde Foster at Tamworth in. 1596 and their daughter named Margerie Thurman, married a Robert Belgrave at St. Editha's Church, Tamworth on 13 October, 1613. The surname of Robert in Mawde's will is too scrawled for me to decipher.
Finally on line 28 & 29, the original will was signed \ witnessed by William SPARHOARD? and Robert #############?

Many thanks for helping goldie61 or to other roots members able to chip in.

Andy-T

[goldie61]

It would have been better to post a clip of the rest of the will Andy with your queries.
I have had to go back into National Archives to find the will again and download it again.
It all takes time.
If I kept all the documents I'd downloaded for other people over the years, my computer would have been full a long time ago!

From line 14:
Item I give and bequeath to John Beale xij d Item I give and bequeath
to Margaret Partridge xij d Item I give and bequeath to widdow
Harrison xij d Item I give and bequeath to Anne Shawcrosse xij d Item
I give and bequeath to Elizabeth Moore xij d

xij d is 12 pence. ie, a shilling.
The second 'i' was always written as a 'j' - I think to show this was the end of the amount of money, and nobody could add in any more.

Robert’s name on line 21 is ‘Belgreeve’.
He is also the second witness at the end of the will.
I suspect a spelling of ‘Belgrave’ as you say.
If you look at the word ‘Overseers’ (5th line from the bottom, after ‘William Hayward’), you can see the scribe uses a sort of ‘w’ for a ‘v’.
William Hayward is the other witness.

Yes, the probate is in Latin.
My Latin is very poor but it looks as if probate is given to William Allen,
The date given  of a will is always the date of probate. Sometimes this can be months or even years after the death of the person concerned.
I see there is a date given right at the top of the Mawde's will, which I think relates to HER will and not to the previous one. (It does say at the end of her will that it was written on the date previously written ).
This date is December xiij Anno Dom 1618. I think this is an '8'. It's possible it could be a 5.

Did you notice that although it says 'Mawde Thurman' in the body of the will, the scribe has written 'Matilde Thurman' at the side? probably just a mistake on his part.

[Andy_T]

 Thank you goldie61
I realise it is better to copy paste bits of documents and ask questions one by one. Right now my laptop needs attention and I'm using a tablet and not so proficient at copy pasting using this.

I did read "Matilda Thurman" and thought it was my poor transcription skills and wrote it as Mawde, which I believe to be the correct name.

The original date of the will is more likely to be in 1618 than 1615, albeit it was proved in 1621. This is because her husband Henry Thurman made a list of his goods and chattels in 1616. I learned that an Act of Parliament was passed in 1529 requiring evaluation listing of goods, chattels and cattle (but not property and land) of a deceased person if they amounted to more than £5 in value.
I don't think Henry Thurman made a will as wife Mawde did.

Thank you again.
Andy_T

[Andy_T]

BTW goldie61
In several instances where 12 pence is mentioned before "Item" bequeathed, would that be a shilling in cash as well as an "Item"  from her house or was it assumed that the said "Item" was worth 12 pence, or was it a series of 1 shilling cash bequeathed and no goods or chattels?
Perhaps it is cash only as no description was made of any items of value like furniture?

Andy_T

[goldie61]

The word 'Item' doesn't refer to a thing as in an item of something.
Each new bequest starts with the word 'Item' - in this will 12 pence.
Not always money.
It's just the way they list each new part of the will.

You could get
'Item, I give and bequeath to my son all my farming gear', or
'Item, I give and bequeath to my daughter my second best salt cellar'
etc

[Andy_T]

goldie61
Oh yes, I understand now.

Thank you.
Andy_T