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Will of Christopher Lethbridge of Exeter

Proved 6 March 1671

© Crown Copyright

PROB 11/335/372, Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury

Transcribed by John Moore

In the name of God Amen I Christopher Lethbridge 
of the Citty of Exeter Esqr being indisposed of body but of sound and perfect minde and memory (praysed be God for the same) takeing into my consideration the fraile condition of humane nature the certainty of death and the uncertaine time of dyeing And how that it behooveth every Christian to make a timely and orderly disposition of such estate whereof (by the blessing of God) he is possessor Doe make and ordaine this my last Will and Testament in manner and forme following And in the first place I commend my Spirit into the hands of God that gave it hopeing assuredly through the meritorious death and passion of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to be made pertaker of life eternall My body I committ to Christian buriall to be decently interred att the discretion of my Executrix and Executors in trust hereafter named And as concerning my temporall estate I dispose of it in this manner First unto the poore of the parish of St Mary Arches within the foresaid Citty of Exeter I give devise limitt and appoint one annuity or yearely rent of Three pounds and eight pence to be paid quarterly for and dureing the term of Three thousand yeares And to be issueing and goeing out of my dwelling house scituate within the said parish of St Mary Arches And my will is that the same shall be bestowed in a middle sort of bread by equall portions every Lords day by the Churchwardens of the said parish for the time being and by them given to Foureteen poore people there in…iteing such as they shall thinke to have most need thereof And if the said Churchwardens shall thinke fitt soe many may have it one Lords day and soe many others the next Lords day But my will is that the said bread be given to none but those that shall goe to the Church and stay there every Lords day dureing the time of Divine service and Sermon (if any be) unlesse such as cannot come thither by reason of some infirmitye or sicknesse Itm I give devise limitt and appoint unto the poore of the parish of Bowe als Nymett Tracye in the County of Devon One Annuity or yearely rent of Five pounds and ten shillings payable quarterly for ever to be issueing and goeing out of my mannour and Barton of Broad Nymett in the said County of Devon to be bestowed in a middle sort of bread and given to foure and twenty poore people of Bowe als Nymett Tracye aforesaid in such manner as the aforesaid three pounds and eight pence by the yeare is to be distributed to the poore of St Mary Arches aforesaid And my will further is that both the said annuities shall commence imediately after my death And that in case they or either of them shall not be paid as aforesaid That then it shall and may be lawfull to and for the Churchwardens of the said parishes respectively for the time being to enter into the said premisses charged with the said annuity that shall not [be] payd and to distrayne for the same with the arreares thereof if any be And the distresse or distresses therefore (from time to time) taken to detaine and keep until the said annuitye soe being behinde and the arreares thereof be unto them fully satisfied and payd Itm I give devise lymitt and appoint unto the Major and common Councell of the Citty of Exeter and to theire Successors for ever All my messuages lands tenements rents annuities and hereditaments whatsoever with the appurtenances And all my part property and portion of my messuages lands tenements and hereditaments scituate lyeing and being in the parish of St Thomas the Apostle and of Newton Abbott in the said County of Devon or either of them or which one issueing and payable to me my heires Executors or assignes out of any messuages lands or tenements lyeing in the said parishes or either of them In Trust neverthelesse That they the said Major and Common Councell and theire Successors shall for ever hereafter dispose of the rents issues and profitts of the said premises devised to them as aforesaid in such manner as is hereafter expressed That is to say Six pounds thereof to be yearely for ever imployed and disposed of in such Manner as the guifte of one or sir? Perryam dec[eas]ed (sometime one of the Aldermen of the said Citty[)] is disposed and imployed And whereas I have lately erected certaine Almeshouses lyeing within the parish of the Holy Trinity in the said Citty containeing Six severall dwellings I will and devise that fifeteen pounds and twelve shillings of the rents issues and profitts of the said premisses devised to the said Major and Common Councell as aforesaid shall yearely for ever be payd towards the maintenance of six poore people liveing in the said Almeshouses equally to be devided between them and paid unto them monthly one of which said poore people shall be of the parish of St Mary Arches aforesaid and all of them from time to time be placed there by the said Major and Common Councell And my will is that they doe appoint one honest person to collect the rents of the said premisses and to dispose of the same according unto this my will and for his paines to be taken therein and keepeing and passeing yearely a faire account thereof to the said Major and Common Councell I doe give unto the said person out of the rents of the said premisses forty shillings yearely for soe long time as he shall be by them employed therein as aforesaid And I doe likewise give out of the rents of the said premisses unto the said Major and unto soe many of the said Common Councell as shall be yearely present att the passing of the said account One shilling a peice And as to the Town Clerk of the sd Citty if alsoe present thereat two shillings and six pence And my Will farther is that the residue and remainder of the yearely rents issues and profitts of the said premisses (after the said Almeshouses shall be from time to time repaired and the rents rates taxes reparations and other charges incident or goeing out of the said premises devised to the said Major and Common Councell payd and discharged) shall be for ever yearely paid to the Governour of St Johns hospitall in the said Citty towards the maintenance of one or more poore boy or boyes there or for the binding out of Apprentices from thence att the discretion of the said Governour Alsoe I give unto the poore of the said Citty and County of Exeter which have weekely releife Forty pounds to be proportioned to each parish (according to the number of theire poore) by my Executors in trust and distributed att or soon after my funerall by the Severall Overseers of the poore of the respective parishes for the time being Itm I give and bequeath unto One hundred poore Tradesmen of the Citty and County of Exeter that have a wife and child or children One hundred pounds equally to be devided between them and paid within one yeare after my decease And my will is that six or eight of the said poore men be of the parish of St Mary Arches to be nominated by my Executors and that the residue of them be nominated by the said Major and Common Councell 
Alsoe unto the poore of the parish of Denbury in the County of Devon I give Twenty Nobles And unto the poore of the parish of St Thomas the Apostle in the said County I give five pounds Alsoe unto the poore of Tiverton I give five pounds Alsoe unto Mr Bartlett Mr Tickle and Mr Atkins heretofore Ministers in Exon unto each of them that shall be liveing att the time of my death I give foure pounds Item unto my Sister Margery Janes I give Twenty Nobles to buy her mourning and one annuity or yearely rent of foure pounds to be paid her by equall portions quarterly dureing her life in such manner as is hereafter expressed Itm I give unto my brother in law Richard Yeldon of Dipford in Devon Thirty shillings to buy him a ring And unto Johane Yeldon his wife (my sister) I give ten pounds to buy her mourning and Thirty shillings to buy her a ring Alsoe I give and devise unto my Sister Charitie Trevethicke ten pounds to buy her mourning and thirty shillings to buy her a ring Itm I give and bequeath unto Mary Gostwicke her daughter Forty shillings yearely dureing her life to be paid her by equall portions quarterly in such manner as is hereafter expressed But my will is that Roger Gostwicke her husband shall have noe power to sell or otherwise dispose of the same annuity But that the said Mary’s receipt for the same under her hand shall be a sufficient discharge to my Executors or to such person as I shall hereafter appoint to pay the same against the said Roger Gostwicke Item I give unto William Trevethicke and Martha Trevethicke children of my said Sister Charitie Thirty shillings a peice to buy each of them a mourning ring Itm I give devise limitt and appoint unto John Trevethicke Sarah and Agnes Lethbridge other children of my said Sister Charitie All that my messuage and tenement with the appurtenances in East Lydcott in the parish of High Heanton? in the said County of Devon for and dureing all my estate therein they paying out of the same unto Thomas Lethbridge my Nephew (and Sonne of my said Sister Charitie) foure pounds yearely to be paid by equal portions quarterly from my death dureing the said term if the said Thomas Lethbridge soe long live And if it happen that the said foure pounds shall be behinde and unpaid in part or in all by the space of six months next after the same shall become due and not paid upon request That then and from thenceforth the said devise of the said tenement as to the said John Sarah and Agnes shall cease determine and be utterly void And then I give and bequeath the said tenement unto the said Thomas Lethbridge for and dureing all the residue of my estate therein that shall be then to come and unexpired Alsoe I give unto the said Thomas Lethbridge Forty pounds to be paid him within one yeare after my death Itm I give devise limitt and appoint unto the said John Trevethicke Sarah and Agnes Lethbridge and unto theire heires and assignes for ever All that my Messuage or tenement with the appurtenances lyeing and being in the parish of Monckokehampton in the said County of Devon which I lately purchased of my brother in law William Trevethicke Clerke Itm I give unto my Cozen Daniel Hamlyn the elder of Colebrooke in the said County gent Thirty shillings to buy him a ring And unto Zenobia his wife my neice I give ten pounds to buy her mourning and thirty shillings for a ring And unto Daniel theire sonne I alsoe give Thirty shillings to buy him a ring Item I give and bequeath unto John Hamlyn Mary Hamlyn Zenobia Hamlyn Johane Hamlyn Christopher Hamlyn Elizabeth Hamlyn Anne Hamlyn Sarah Hamlyn and Thomas Hamlyn (nine other children of the said Daniel Hamlyn the elder and Zenobia my neece) Fifty pounds a peice to be paid unto them as they shall attaine theire respective ages of one and twenty yeares But my will is that if the said John Christopher or Thomas Hamlyn shall happen to become heires to theire said Fathers estate before theire said legacie shall become due as aforesaid That then he that shall soe be heire to his said Fathers estate shall have noe benefitt of the said Fifty pounds given him as aforesaid but that the same shall be saved to my Executrix Alsoe I give and bequeath unto the children of John Hole of Zealemonachoru[m] gent which he had by his late wife Zenobia my neece Twenty pounds a peice the said childrens legacies to be paid unto them att theire respective ages of one and twnty yeares Alsoe I give and bequeath unto my brother Alexander Lethbridge Twenty Nobles to buy him mourning and ten pounds in money Itm whereas I were obliged as Executor to my Mother to pay unto Elizabeth Lethbridge (the daughter of my said brother Alexander) One hundred pounds in lieu whereof (in regard the said Elizabeth is not capable to give me a sufficient discharge for the same) I have thought fitt to have heretofore granted unto her one annuity or yearely rent of tenne pounds or thereabout for her life And to the end to make the said Elizabeth full satisfaction for the said One hundred pounds and the interest or damage for the forbeareance thereof I doe hereby give devise and appoint unto the said Elizabeth One other annuity of Three pounds by the yeare to be paid her by equall portions quarterly from my death dureing her life in such manner as is hereafter expressed Soe as my Executors be discharged of the said One hundred pounds Itm I give and devise unto James Pym sometimes my servant One annuity or yearely rent of forty shillings to commence from my death and payable to the said James Pym by equall portions quarterly dureing his life by the person or persons hereafter in this my will thereunto appointed And my will is that if the said James Pym sell or otherwise dispose of the same That then imediately after such sale or disposition the said annuity shall cease and determine Itm I give and bequeath unto my Nephew John Lethbridge (sonne of my said brother Alexander Lethbridge) the summe of One hundred pounds to be paid him within one yeare after my death soe as he doe first satisfie and pay unto Mrs Susanna Barnes of Exeter wid[o]w One hundred pounds unto whom I stand bound for the same for the said John Lethbridge Alsoe I give devise lymitt and appoint unto the same John Lethbridge All my estate right term and interest which I have of and in certaine messuages and tenements with the appurtenances lyeing in the parish of St Davids in the County of the said Citty of Exeter which were mortgaged or grannted by one Robert Wilcocks and are now in his or his undertennants possession But my will is that if the said Wilcocks his Executors or Administrators shall not be able to redeem the same That the said John Lethbridge his Executors and Assignes doe permitt the said Wilcocks his Executors and Administrators to have hold and enjoy the said messuages and tenements dureing the said terme under the yearely rent of eight pounds cleere to be payd to the said John Lethbridge his Executors and Assignes by equall portions quarterly dureing the said term Itm I give devise lymitt and appoint unto the said John Lethbridge my Nephew All those my two messuages and tenements in the Citty of London the one lyeing in the parish of Katharine Cree Church within Aldgate in Leaden Hall street now in the possession of one Alleson Clarke Citizen and Girdler of London the other lyeing in Red…esse street called by the name of the Shovell and now in the possession of Thomas Younge for and dureing the term of the life of the said John Lethbridge Hee dureing that term yeilding and paying unto my heires and assignes the annuall or yearely rent of foure pounds by equall portions quarterly to commence from my death And alsoe yeilding and paying unto the aforesaid Elizabeth Lethbridge (his sister) and unto the said James Pym the said severall and respective annuities or yearely rents to them devised as aforesaid And my Will is that if the said Elizabeth Lethbridge and James Pym or either of them shall happen to survive or overlive the said John Lethbridge my Nephew That then the Annuityes before devised to them shall be payd by my Executrix dureing the residue of the termes they are to be paid as aforesaid Likewise I give and devise unto the said John Lethbridge All that my messuage and tenement with the appurtenances scituate on Eaebridge? in the parish of St Edmonds in the County of the said Citty now in the possession of John Yelland sadler for and dureing all my estate therein upon this condition that he the said John Lethbridge his Executors and Assignes repaire yeeld and pay the head rent and other charges issueing out of the said premisses And alsoe that he and they yeeld and pay unto the said Margery Janes and Mary Gostwicke the severall annuityes or yearely rents Before by this my Will devised unto them … … … … last mentioned premises soe long continue And my Will alsoe is that if the said Margery Janes and Mary Gostwicke or either of them shall fortune to survive and overlive my estate in the … last mentioned premisses That then theire said annuityes shall be paid them dureing theire lives as aforesaid by my Executrix And farther my Will is that if the said John Lethbridge my Nephew shall refuse or neglect to pay the said rent of foure pounds reserved to my heires and assignes as aforesaid or to pay the said severall annuities to the said Margery Janes Mary Gostwicke Elizabeth Lethbridge and James Pym according unto this my Will That then and from thenceforth it shall and may be lawfull tow and for my heires executors and assignes into the said premisses with the appurtenances devised to the said John Lethbridge as aforesaid to enter and the same thenceforth to have and enjoy as in my first estate any thing herein contained to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding Item I give and bequeath unto my Sister in law Mary Lethbridge of the Citty of Exeter widd[ow] the relict of John Lethbridge Clerke my brother deceased Thirty shillings to buy her a mourning ring Item I give and bequeath unto Christopher Lethbridge (sonne of my said brother John Lethbridge) One hundred pounds to be paid unto him when he shall attaine the age of one and twenty yeares But in case he dye before that time Then my Will and meaneing is That the said One hundred pounds shall be equally devided between his sisters Zenobia Mary Sarah Hester and Frances Lethbridge and payd unto them or soe many of them as have or shall attaine theire respective ages of one and twenty yeares Alsoe I doe give unto the aforesaid Zenobia Mary Sarah Hester and Frances Lethbridge my neeces Twenty pounds a peice to be paid unto them within two yeares after my death Itm I give devise lymitt and appoint unto my dearely beloved wife Elianor Lethbridge (as an increase of the joynture I formerly made her) All that forepart of my dwelling house in the Citty of Exeter (now in the possession of Edward Crosse) lyeing forward towards the high street there from the … parlour and from the chamber and … over the same for and dureing the term of her life free from the said annuity given to the poore of St Mary Arches as aforesaid excepting and allwayes reserveing unto my heires Executors and Assignes free liberty of ingresse egresse and …resse att all times to come goe carry and recarry in and through the entry of the said forepart of the said house to use … part thereof in as free and large a manner as I now enjoy the same Itm I give and devise unto my said wife and alsoe my daughter Johane Lethbridge All that my two gardens with a house in one of them lyeing and being in the said parish of St Edmonds for and dureing the term of theire lives Alsoe I give and bequeath unto my daughter in law Elizabeth Reed One hundred pounds to be paid her within three yeares after my decease And I doe alsoe give devise lymitt and appoint unto the said Elizabeth Reed and her Assignes all those two messuages and tenem[en]ts with the appurtenances scituate within the Towne and Burrough of Okehampton in the said County of Devon (now in the possession of Thomazine Arscott or her under tennants) for and dureing the term of one Thousand yeares she and they –––––––– yeelding and paying –––––––––– therefore yearely to my heires and assignes the rent or Summe of three shillings and foure pence dureing the said term Alsoe I give unto my loveing freinds Daniel Vinicombe of Alphington in the said County of Devon gent Twenty shillings to buy him a mourning ring And unto Francis Vinicombe his brother I give five Markes Also I give and devise unto my kinsman Thomas Lethbridge my kinsman[Sic.] of Jacobstowe in the said County gent Twenty pounds And unto Thomas his sonne I alsoe give Twenty pounds Item I give unto my kinsman Edward Crosse five pounds And unto Mary his wife my Goddaughter I give ten pounds and thirty shillings to buy her a mourning ring Itm I give and bequeath unto Mary Mawpowder (sister of Francis Mawpowder of the said Citty Merchant) Three pounds And unto Mary Mawpowder his daughter I give Three pounds Itm I give and bequeath unto such of the children of [blot] Fowler late of Bucklers Berry in London Merchant dec[eas]ed as shall be liveing att the time of my death Twenty pounds equally to be devided between them Alsoe unto George Osmond my servant if he shall be liveing with me att the time of my death I give Twenty Nobles And unto each woman servant that shall be then liveing with me I give Five Markes a peece Alsoe I give unto my Sister in law Mary Jordaine late wife of Samuell Jordaine Five pounds And unto Elizabeth Jordaine my Sister in law I give Five pounds and Thirty shillings to buy her a ring Itm I give and devise unto Thomas Trevethicke sonne of the said William Trevethicke towards his maintenance and education in the University of Oxon Tenne pounds yearely for six yeares from the second day of February last past before the date hereof if he remaine soe long a Studient there But my will and meaneing is that for soe many yeares of the said six yeares as I in my life time shall pay the said Tenne pounds a yeare the same shall be accounted and allowed as part of the said Five yeares And that my Executrix or Executors in trust shall be liable only to pay the residue thereof Itm I give unto Johane Morishead sometime my Servant Five Markes Itm all the rest of my goods and chattells not hereby formerly given and bequeathed I give devise and bequeath the same unto the aforesaid Johane Lethbridge my daughter whom I make and ordaine Executrix of this my last will and testament And I doe hereby appoint my brother in law William Trevethicke of St Evall in the County of Cornewall Clerke Thomas Lethbridge the elder of Jacobstowe and John Lethbridge of Hatherleigh in the said County of Devon gent Executors in trust of this my last Will and Testament untill my said daughter shall attaine her age of foure and twenty yeares or be married and then to be accountable to my said daughter for my estate that shall come to theire hands by reason of the said Executorship And unto each of my said Executors in trust I give Twenty pounds and Twenty shillings a peice to buy each of them a mourning ring And my will is theire reasonable costs and charges which they or [blot] of them shall neccesarily[Sic.]  be putt att in and about the execution of the said trust shall be allowed defrayed and borne by my said daughter In witnesse whereof I the said Christopher Lethbridge the Testator have hereunto sett my hand and Seale Yeoven the Seaventeenth day of November In the One and twentieth yeare of the Raigne of our Soveraigne Lord King Charles the Second over England &co. Annoq[ue] D[omi]ni 1669 Christo: Lethbridge Sealed signed published and declared in the presence of Samuell Calle John Boson John Crosse F Vinicombe.

Probatum fuit huiusmodi Testamentum apud ædes? Exonienses scituat in Le Strand in Comitatu Middlesexiæ Coram venerabili et egregio viro Domino Leolino Jenkins milite Legum Doctore Curiæ Prærogativæ Cantuariensis Magistro Custode sive Commissario legitime constituto Sexto die Mensis Martij Anno Domini Millesimo Sexagentesimo Septuagesimo (stilo Angliæ) Juramentis Gulielmi Trevethicke Thomæ Lethbridge et Johannis Lethbridge Executorum Fiduciariorum in huiusmodi Testamento nominatorum Quibus Commissa fuit Administratio omnium et singulorum bonorum jurium et creditorum dicti defuncti de bene et fideliter administrand[o] eadem Ad Sancta[m] Dei in debita Juris forma vigore Commissionis Jurat.


There follows in a different hand:
Probatum fuit huiusmodi Testamentum apud London Coram ven[erabi]li et Egregio viro Domino Leolino Jenkins Milite Legum Doctore Curiæ Prærogativæ Cant[uariensis] Magistro Custode sive Commissario l[egi]time Constituto Duodecimo die mensis Augusti An[n]o D[omi]ni 1674 Juramento Joannæ Trevill als Lethbridge ux[oris] Gulielmi? Trevill filiæ Executricis in eodem Testamento nominat[æ] Cui &c de bene &c vigore Commissionis Jurat. prob… priori nominibus Wm? Trevethicke Thomæ Lethbridge et Joh[ann]is Lethbridge Executoru[m] Fiduciariorum in … durante Minoritate dictæ Executricis ra… plenæ ætatis … … et ex…