Understanding a Will - Items in a Buttery and a Loft

[goldie61]

Here's my transcript of the actual will itself.  I'd be very interested to see how your transcript compares:

I recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God that gave it and for my body I recommend it to Christian burial at the discretion of my executors herein hereafter named and, as touching such personally which it hath pleased God of His mercy to bless me with,
 
Seal signed, published and pertained by the said William Ambrose to be his last will and testament in presence of William Goore, Thomas Cullshaw, Joseph Taylor.

I recently came across a similar inventory for William Ambrose's son, Ellis, who died in February 1724.  There are a few words in that document which also confound my transcribing abilities.

There's a couple of bits here that just don't sound right Buffnut.
It's unlikely to say 'touching such personally....'. It's more likely to say 'such personal estate', or some such phrase.

And that word 'pertained' seems out of place.  More often than not this was a standard phrase in wills - 'sealed signed published and declared...'       

Are you sure is says 'recommend' my soul? Of all the hundreds of wills I've seen, the vast majority of them say 'commend my soul'.
Would you like to post snippets of those bits to check?

You could also post the bits in the will of his son that we could help with.


By the way, I see you have added modern punctuation to your transcript.
Best practice from the powers that be is to transcribe any document exactly as it was written - that includes the spellings, (which I suspect you have modernised in your transcript in some places too), and punctuation.
I know it's easier to read now if we modernise it, but doing that can sometimes alter the meaning and intent of the original.
Think of the phrase "Have you eaten Granny?"!
You can aways make a further transcription of course should you wish for ease of reading.

[Buffnut453]

Here's my transcript of the actual will itself.  I'd be very interested to see how your transcript compares:

I recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God that gave it and for my body I recommend it to Christian burial at the discretion of my executors herein hereafter named and, as touching such personally which it hath pleased God of His mercy to bless me with,
 
Seal signed, published and pertained by the said William Ambrose to be his last will and testament in presence of William Goore, Thomas Cullshaw, Joseph Taylor.

I recently came across a similar inventory for William Ambrose's son, Ellis, who died in February 1724.  There are a few words in that document which also confound my transcribing abilities.

There's a couple of bits here that just don't sound right Buffnut.
It's unlikely to say 'touching such personally....'. It's more likely to say 'such personal estate', or some such phrase.

And that word 'pertained' seems out of place.  More often than not this was a standard phrase in wills - 'sealed signed published and declared...'       

Are you sure is says 'recommend' my soul? Of all the hundreds of wills I've seen, the vast majority of them say 'commend my soul'.
Would you like to post snippets of those bits to check?

You could also post the bits in the will of his son that we could help with.


By the way, I see you have added modern punctuation to your transcript.
Best practice from the powers that be is to transcribe any document exactly as it was written - that includes the spellings, (which I suspect you have modernised in your transcript in some places too), and punctuation.
I know it's easier to read now if we modernise it, but doing that can sometimes alter the meaning and intent of the original.
Think of the phrase "Have you eaten Granny?"!
You can aways make a further transcription of course should you wish for ease of reading.

Hi goldie61,

Thanks for the reply.  It's pretty clear I'm new to this malarky of translating old texts that lack punctuation.  I'll take another stab but this time spelling as it's written.

Here are some snippets that cover the questionable words. 

First is the "recommend my soul".

Second and third are two examples of "personally" although I'm not comfortable with the usage...I just can't imagine an alternative interpretation of what's written.

Finally, there's the "pertained" which, I agree, is incorrect.  Perhaps it's "Declaired"? 

Anyhoo...appreciate your help unravelling this document.  I have a few more snippets I'll share from the various wills that have thus far defied my attempts at interpretation.

[goldie61]

Interesting snippets Buffnut.

Yep, you're correct - it is 'Recomend my soule'.

It does look like 'Personallly' in the two following snippets.
3 'l's would be quite odd.
There are instances just in the bits you have posted of uncrossed 't's - see the word 'Discration' and 'Executors' (discretion of my Executors) - both have uncrossed 't's.

So I think the world is 'personallty'
From my computer dictionary.
personalty |ˈpərsənəltē|
noun Law
a person's personal property. The opposite of realty .
So his 'personal estate' as opposed to his 'real estate'.

And yes, I would say it's definitely 'Declaired' in the last snippet.

[Buffnut453]

Interesting snippets Buffnut.

Yep, you're correct - it is 'Recomend my soule'.

It does look like 'Personallly' in the two following snippets.
3 'l's would be quite odd.
There are instances just in the bits you have posted of uncrossed 't's - see the word 'Dicration' and 'Executors' (discretion of my Executors) - both have uncrossed 't's.

So I think the world is 'personallty'
From my computer dictionary.
personalty |ˈpərsənəltē|
noun Law
a person's personal property. The opposite of realty .
So his 'personal estate' as opposed to his 'real estate'.

And yes, I would say it's definitely 'Declaired' in the last snippet.

Many thanks goldie61.  Your additions are really helping me with this stuff.  I really like the "personalty" find...that's a cracker.  I'd never have guessed that. 

Here are a few more from the list of chattels for Ellis Ambrose, son of William, who died in 1723.

For the first, I'm struggling with the last word of the top line.  The text reads "one dishboard a little Cupbord & old seeling[?]"

I read the next row as "In pewter & brass & Iron ware Grate Crow and tongs."  I have no idea what a "grate crow" is but presume it's fire irons or something similar, or perhaps the style of grate itself.

For the second, I read the rows as follows, with problem areas mentioned in []:

"two Horses & one Mare"
"In Beast Kind" [initially I thought the second word might be kine but I'm now leaning towards "kind" in the sense of "beasts of all kinds"]
"In Husbandry Goods Carts Wheels" [I'm not entirely convinced by "Goods" while the "Carts Wheels" is an awkward way of writing...unless it's "Carts & Wheels"]

I must say I find it fascinating seeing these lists of ancestors' belongings.  Ellis and his Dad were both identified as yeomen and so it makes me realise just how few chattels people had in those days.  The labouring class must have had virtually nothing. 

[goldie61]

Here are a few more from the list of chattels for Ellis Ambrose, son of William, who died in 1723.

For the first, I'm struggling with the last word of the top line.  The text reads "one dishboard a little Cupbord & old seeling[?]"

"I read the next row as "In pewter & brass & Iron ware Grate Crow and tongs."  I have no idea what a "grate crow" is but presume it's fire irons or something similar, or perhaps the style of grate itself.

For the second, I read the rows as follows, with problem areas mentioned in []:

"two Horses & one Mare"
"In Beast Kind" [initially I thought the second word might be kine but I'm now leaning towards "kind" in the sense of "beasts of all kinds"]
"In Husbandry Goods Carts Wheels" [I'm not entirely convinced by "Goods" while the "Carts Wheels" is an awkward way of writing...unless it's "Carts & Wheels"]"


Here's where we wished they had actually used some punctuation!
It could be '....& Iron ware; Grate, Crow and tongs'
A fire grate as you say - possibly.
A Crow would have been a big crow bar used for a variety of jobs - "A Crowbar tool is used for digging big holes and for digging out big stones and stumps.
Or alternatively it might not be a fire grate at all , but a 'Great Crow', as in a very large crow bar!
Tongs for the fire.
All made of iron.

It does look like 'seeling'
I wonder if it's like the 'ceiling' we had before. As it's included in the wooden things, perhaps a piece of old wainscoting. I've seen things like boards and planks and even just 'timber' itemised in inventories.

Yes it looks like 'Kind' rather than 'kine'.

I see what you mean about 'Goods' in 'Husbandry Goods'.
Quite often you see the word 'Gear', (or Geers), but this writer does not use the old backwards 'e's, and writes the letter 'e' as we would now.
Looking at his 'o's in other words, they do tend to have that little loop on the top.
Not happy the last letter of that word is a 'd for 'Goods' though.
Can you see anywhere else in the Inventory where this writer does those backwards 'e's?

And once again we could have done with some punctuation.
In my experience, they would list carts, AND then wheels, but who knows, this may indeed be 'cartswheels'!



Yes, Inventories really give us a glimpse into our ancestors lives.
You may think they had very little, but what they had was obviously considered worth making a will for.
Sometimes you get the rooms given within a house, so you can make quite an estimate as to how well off they would have been relatively to the rest of society.
If they were 'yeomen', they were in a much better position than a lot of people!

[goldie61]

I've been thinking about this overnight.

The snips you have posted don't show the valuations of the items.

You may be able to make some inference about say, whether it's 'carts AND wheels', or 'cartwheels' from the relative value given. I expect the value of carts AND wheels would be more than just  cartwheels. A cart being quite a valuable asset, and if there was more than one - 'carts' - then even more valuable.
Of course you'd have to weigh this against the relative value of the other goods ...........
Just an idea.

[Buffnut453]

I've been thinking about this overnight.

The snips you have posted don't show the valuations of the items.

You may be able to make some inference about say, whether it's 'carts AND wheels', or 'cartwheels' from the relative value given. I expect the value of carts AND wheels would be more than just  cartwheels. A cart being quite a valuable asset, and if there was more than one - 'carts' - then even more valuable.
Of course you'd have to weigh this against the relative value of the other goods ...........
Just an idea.

It's a really good idea.  Only problem is I don't know what the going rate was for a second-hand cart and wheels (particularly when I don't know how many miles were on the clock  ). 

Here's a list of the items and their values in pounds-shillings-pence:

One clock 1-0-0
One table 0-5-0
One dishboard, a little cupboard and old seeling 0-12-0
In pewter, brass, and ironware, grate, crow and tongs 1-0-0
Chairs, stools and 2 little tables 0-6-0
Four pair of bedsocks and bedding 2-0-0
One chest and other odd things 0-5-0
Two horses and one mare 7-0-0
In beast kind 8-0-0
In husbandry goods, carts and wheels 2-0-0
In corn and hay 4-0-0
The deceased's apparel 1-0-0

Looking at the list, the animals and crops were clearly valuable.  Not sure about the carts and wheels when compared to, for example, four pairs of bedsocks and bedding.