Jacob Bickford Hele

[Phoenix]

This man makes a will in 1833.
He adds a codicil in 1835
He dies in 1836.

There is a death duty entry in 1836 and an Inland Revenue copy dated the same year.

All well and good.

So why was it then proved in London in the PCC in 1840?

The executor was the main beneficiary, though his two illegitimate daughters also did quite nicely. There is nothing to suggest he had property other than in Devon.

[Phoenix]

This, from Lincs to the Past also baffles me:
Bundle 8 [old "No 6"]
Office extract from a will

Will of Jacob Bickford Hele of Deptford, Devon, esq.

Proved 23 July 1836.

Extent: 1 sheet

Date: 6 Nov 1833

Repository: Lincolnshire Archives [057]

Date: 6 Nov 1833 IRNHAM DEEDS/8/30


I can only assume that Jacob had held some copyhold or leasehold land for which they wished to establish the current holder.

[kiterunner]

There is this on Lincs to the Past:
http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayStandard.aspx?oid=900562

[ElizabethHerts]

This isn't relevant to your actual question, Phoenix, but I thought I'd throw it in.

The Heles were an important Devonshire family. There is a Hele's School at Exeter which wasn't founded until 1850, but the trustees of Elize Hele founded a school at Plympton in 1658. It mentions the school I attended, too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hele%27s_School,_Exeter

[Phoenix]

Thanks, Kite.

I wonder if Henry Weekes had the will recorded in the PCC for convenience, in case people kept demanding copies?

JBH was obviously a trustee, possibly for more than one family, but that case had already obtained a will, and presumably accepted Henry Weeks as heir, by 1839.

[Phoenix]

I know, Elizabeth. Ancestry had his will as Elizabeth Hele.

The Heles were an extremely rambling family by stuart times. It was said they could produce enough adult males of good standing to form a jury.

I have a blip c 1640, when Arthur Hele marries Mary. No profesional researcher has ever found the marriage. It was probably in Diptford, where the surviving records start in 1653. There was probably a significant male in her family called Solomon. I would like to think her a daughter of Solomon Taylor from the neighbouring parish of Harberton, but as yet can find nothing to suggest this.

I can take Arthur back to Stephen Hele, who acquired land in Diptford in the 1550s (which JBH held when he died)

Stephen is on page 146, at the top, and Ellis or Elize on page 147:

https://archive.org/stream/visitationcount02camdgoog#page/n165/mode/2up

[ElizabethHerts]

A very interesting family, Phoenix. It seems that the Heles and the Maynards were related by marriage from the tree. I wondered if that might be the case.

[Phoenix]

a very complicated family, Elizabeth! And once they start intermarrying, they can't stop themselves.

JBH's illegitimate daughters were snapped up fast by family members as soon as their father died.