Trying to read will of Gregory Tufton of Rye, Sussex (1555)

[Marayong]

Hi,
I'm hoping some kind souls would help me make sense of the attached will. I can make out occasional names and words, but working out what it says is beyond my limited 'skills'. I'm particularly after any names mentioned and their relationship to the testator as well as any lands he possessed and who they were bequeathed to. The will is that of Gregory Tufton of Rye, Sussex, possibly dated 27/11/1555 & probated 26/8/1557.
Thanks in advance!

[goldie61]

In the Name of god Amen the xxvijth day of Novembre A(nn)o Dom 1555 & in the seconde & thyrde yeres of
the Reignes of o(u)r Soveraignes Lorde & Ladye Philippe & Marie by the grace of god Kynge & quene off
England France Naples Jerusalem & Ireland defenders  of the ffayth Princes  of Spayne
& Cicile, Archduke of ……
Flanders and Tirll. I Gregorye Tufton of the p(ar)yshe of Rie in the Countie of Sussex beinge
of good & p(er)fect remembrance thankes be gyven to god do order & make this my p(re)sent Testam(en)t
& last wyll in man(ner) & fforme ffollowinge. ffyrste I comend my Soulle to Allmyghtie god trusting
to be saved by the merytes of Chrystes passion. Itm I wyll my bodie to be buryed in christen
buryall. Itm I wyll that at ^ the tyme of ^ my buryall  vjs viijd equally to be devyded betwen them Itm
I bequeath shalbe bestowed amonge the poore people - xs. Itm I beqweth unto viij  men to
bere me to my buryall vis viijd equally to be deyvded betwen them Itm I beqweth to the
poore people in Peysen( )she vjs viijd Itm I beqweth unto Thom(a)s Gylbert my ffryse cote
Itm I gyve & beqweth unto Katheryne my mayde servant my wyffes worsted kyrtyll & one
two yeringe haffer the best that she can choyse. Itm I wyll that all my apparell shalbe
gyven unto poore people at the dyscrec(i)on of my executotor. Itm I wyll that wheras Thom(a)s
Bragge of Rye aforesayd dothe owe unto me for brames(?) xiijs iiijd I do dyscharge and
forgyve hym vjs viijd  thereof. Itm wheras Thom(a)s Pursyll of playden
dothe owe unto me
vs iijd I do remyt & forgyve hym ijs thereof. Itm wheras Rob(er)te Shosmyth dothe owe unto
me iijs I do p(ar)done & forgyve hym xijd therof. Itm I gyve & beqweth unto Davye, John,
& Elizabeth my children All the Resydwe of my goodes cattelles & debtes & moveables not before
beqwethed in this my p(re)sent Testm(en)t Eqwally to be devyded betwen  them  by my sayd executor
when they shall come to their sev(er)all age of xviij yeres, And yf yt fortune any of my sayd
Sonnes to dep(ar)te this p(resen)te world before he shall come to his sayd age of xviij yeres
abovesaid Then I wyll th(a)t thother of my sayd Sonnes then lyvyinge shall have all his p(ar)te
& porc(i)on so decessed of the goodes cattelles & other the p(re)myssis abovesayd to hym before
beqwethed. And yf yt fortune the sayd Davye & John my sonnes bothe to dye & dep(ar)te
this p(re)sent world before they shall come to theyr sayd sev(er)all age of xviij yeares Then I
wyll that the sayd Elizabeth my daughter shalbe theyr heire & shall have & enjoye all theyr
goodes & other the p(re)mysse abovesayd to theym before beqwethed. And yf yt fortune Elizabeth
my sayd daughter to dep(ar)te this p(re)sent world before she shall come to here sayd age off
xviij yeaes Then I wyll that my sayd ij Sonnes shall have here p(ar)te porc(i)on of the p(re)mysses
to here before beqwethed eqwally to be shysted & dystrybuted between them. Itm I ordayne
constytute & make John Tuston my brother to be my executor  of this my p(res)ente Testam(e)nt
& last wyll. Itm I wyll that my sayd executor shall have the Custodye education &
brynginge upp of all my sayd iij chyldren & of their goodes before beqwethed to their
use & p(  )sytt untyll they shall come to their sev(er)all ages of xviij yeres abovesayd And
he to have allowed hym reasonably out of theyr goodes aforsayd for the brynging upp
of theym & ev(er)y of theym. Itm I wyll that George Wattyll shalbe ov(er)seer of thys my
p(re)sent testam(e)nt & Last wyll to whom I gyve ffull power and awtorytye to (see) yt p(er)formed
in all poyntes. Wytnes at the makinge herof Wyll(ia)m  xxxxxx   wattell Will(iam) Allyn & John
Doble w(i)th others.  S(um)ma Inv(entar)ij  -  lxxxijli vijs iiijd


The probate is in Latin.
If nobody picks this up, I suggest you make a separate post with the Latin bits.


Date on first line of the probate xxvj August 1557,
and on last line of it 27 August 1557.

‘one two yeringe haffer’ = one two year old heifer
A sheep or ewe or cow was often left to younger people - nephews and nieces and also including servants.


If I've got it right, the total of his goods was lxxxij li vij s iiijd, equals £82 7s 4d

There's a place 'Peysen( )she' to whom he gives the poor people vjs viijd (6s 8d). My guess is it's somewhere near Rye. This scribe uses quite a lot of contractions, and it looks as though there is one in the middle of this word.

Interesting to find a will from the reign of Mary (and Philippe). They were only on the throne for about 5 years, so this will be quite an unusual will.
I've left some of their titles - I might have a go at trying to find out what they are - not your usual places!
'Cicile' will be Sicily.

[goldie61]

So Philippe was also Archduke of Austria, Duke of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant, Count of Habsberg Flanders and Tirol.

Here written
& Cicile. Archdukes of Austrie, Dukes of Myllayne burgundie & brabant Counties of Haspurge
Fflanders and Tirll.

[Marayong]

Thanks. That's wonderful. The will came out of an unindexed folio of wills held at the East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office. "Peysen( )she" appears to be Peasmarsh. His son, David, died there in the 1570s and a John, who could be his other son (or nephew) died there in 1591. Both Gregory & his wife (who died a few months before the will) were buried at Rye.

Had picked up the John Tufton who was exec, but not that he was Gregory's brother. A John Tufton was mayor of Rye in 1561, probably the brother in question.

I'll give it a few days and try again with the probate if nothing else comes from this post.

Thanks again!!

[Bookbox]

There is no probate in the extracts posted.

The first line of Latin relates to the inventory …

Ex(hibi)t(um) in eccl(es)ia p(ar)ochi(a)li de Saylhurst xxvj^o die Augusti A(nn)o 1557^o p(er) exec(utorem) ad valore(m) eiusd(e)m iur(atum)
Submitted in the parish church of Salehurst on 26 August 1557 by the executor, who was sworn to the value of the same.

The last three lines of Latin do not relate to this will. They form a separate entry, recording the administration of the estate of John Nicholl of All Saints, Hastings, granted on 27 August 1557.

ADDED
In extract 1, lines 15-17, I think the debtors' names are Thom(a)s Gryggs of Rye and Thom(a)s Purfyll of Playden.

[Marayong]

Hi Bookbox,

Thanks for the latin translation. The wills in the book all run into each other with little or no division between them, so no surprise the last few lines are for someone else.