View Full Version : Help reading a will
Phillip Drake (https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/5111/40611_310305-00252/132188?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return)
Ancestry says this will is for Phillipe Drewe, TNA says Phillip Drake (widow of Devon). It spans 2 pages but the first page is very faint and I can't make much out. It is from 1655 and I am not good at reading the writing from that time either.
At this point I'm really just interested in the names and their relationship, if stated. I think he/she has a son, Thomas,
Any help is appreciated.
Amye Drake is the daughter and executrix, so it is definitely Drake. Phillip is a unisex name, so no problem with that.
ElizabethHerts
25-04-20, 09:10
Definitely Drake.
From second page :
Thomas, son - ring given to her by her brother Sir Thomas Denys, Knight, deceased
Sons - Acton? and Wiliam
daughter - Johane, wife of Robert Collyns
Grandchild and godson - William Drake
Rest and residue to daughter Amye Drake, Executrix
ElizabethHerts
25-04-20, 09:10
The Acton family was very important in Devon.
Using other sources, because that first page is so very faint, she appears to be of Wiscombe in Devon.
Her brother was Sir Thomas Denys deceasd.
It looks as if there is a transcript available if you googled for it. I'm not familiar with that part of the word, but Wiscombe appears to be in either Colyton or possibly Southleigh.
Her husband names her in his will proved 1625. Note that she is "my nowe wyfe". This suggests that she may well be considerably younger than he was and not the mother of all the children.
ElizabethHerts
25-04-20, 09:41
It looks as if there is a transcript available if you googled for it. I'm not familiar with that part of the word, but Wiscombe appears to be in either Colyton or possibly Southleigh.
Home territory for me! I grew up at Honiton.
Her husband names her in his will proved 1625. Note that she is "my nowe wyfe". This suggests that she may well be considerably younger than he was and not the mother of all the children.
What is her husband's name please?
Thank you both for doing this so quickly.
All I know is that you don't pronounce Honiton HON i tun but honey tun (roughly!)
Sorry, he is William, of Wiscombe https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/5111/40611_310873-00094?pid=849586&treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Leb15945&_phstart=successSource
This is her brother's will: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/5111/40611_311281-00905?pid=893036&treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Leb15946&_phstart=successSource
He names William Drake and various nephews, including Acton, but I can't spot Phillip being named.
His name was William. Found the transcription, thanks Phoenix.
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/5111/40611_311348-00381/957147?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return#?imageId=40611_311348-00381
The will of Robert Dennys of Holcombe made 1592 mentions, among other, son Thomas and daughter Phillippe. However, it makes it plain that she is unmarried at the date the will is made. Further, Phillipe and her sister Margaret are nursing their father in his final illness. I have had a look at the printed visitations and pedigrees. They are deeply suspect as the visitations in particular appear to include the suppositions of those who had them printed and contain much later material. It looks as if Robert is not naming children who may have been provided for already.
When Phillippe's brother Thomas dies in 1613, he names grandchildren in his will.
Thanks Phoenix.
Want to look at a will for Gylbert Drake of 1580? You seem quicker at this than I am. His wife, Katherine was wonderful in her will. I have almost a page of notes on who inherited and their relationship to her, including a parents name. Except she gets lazy and mentions the "other children" of so and so.
I'm going through old wills trying to link everyone up as I need an LDS centre for parish records.
In order of mention:
sons George, John
daughters Jone, Gertrude, Isabel, Mary - all under 21
sons Robert, Phillip
Father in law William Sherman
John Sherman is named as an overseer and Johanne Sherman is a witness
The ages of the boys are not mentioned, but they may well be very young.
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/5111/40611_311348-00381/957147?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return#?imageId=40611_311348-00381
The will of Robert Dennys of Holcombe made 1592 mentions, among other, son Thomas and daughter Phillippe. However, it makes it plain that she is unmarried at the date the will is made. Further, Phillipe and her sister Margaret are nursing their father in his final illness. I have had a look at the printed visitations and pedigrees. They are deeply suspect as the visitations in particular appear to include the suppositions of those who had them printed and contain much later material. It looks as if Robert is not naming children who may have been provided for already.
When Phillippe's brother Thomas dies in 1613, he names grandchildren in his will.
This will was written in 1492, so probated 100 years later. I haven't got past line 2 yet so he may have lived to a ripe old age but it is a long time.
The visitations are not reliable as far as anyone Drake is concerned. Sir Francis' will was contested many years after his death and relationships were falsified by what many now consider to be a leading Drake expert. I also suspect there was falsification back during the time of Sir Francis. He wanted to be part of the rich Drake family in Devon, he wasn't, and later when he was famous and wealthy in his own right, I think they wanted a connection themselves.
OH is related to the rich family although I am yet to prove it myself and the money hasn't been passed down to him lol
This will was written in 1492, so probated 100 years later. I haven't got past line 2 yet so he may have lived to a ripe old age but it is a long time.
The visitations are not reliable as far as anyone Drake is concerned. Sir Francis' will was contested many years after his death and relationships were falsified by what many now consider to be a leading Drake expert. I also suspect there was falsification back during the time of Sir Francis. He wanted to be part of the rich Drake family in Devon, he wasn't, and later when he was famous and wealthy in his own right, I think they wanted a connection themselves.
OH is related to the rich family although I am yet to prove it myself and the money hasn't been passed down to him lol
Er one thousand FYVE hundred fower score and twelve. and the 34th year of Queen Elizabeth's reign.
Perhaps one day the College of Arms will put the original, signed visitations online. Then we might be able to compare them with the printed versions. Vivian is pretty good, because he does source the additions, but his book is not online.
The problems I find is that men often marry several times, often to women with the same name. Somewhere I have a copy of putative pedigrees for Walter Raleigh. At least five lined up on the page for comparison :eek:
Er one thousand FYVE hundred fower score and twelve. and the 34th year of Queen Elizabeth's reign.
Oops. I misread that. More than once.
I did get the four score part - first time I've seen that in a will. One of the first wills that mention Queen Elizabeth too.
In order of mention:
sons George, John
daughters Jone, Gertrude, Isabel, Mary - all under 21
sons Robert, Phillip
Father in law William Sherman
John Sherman is named as an overseer and Johanne Sherman is a witness
The ages of the boys are not mentioned, but they may well be very young.
I missed this. Thank you so much.
Elizabeth is very good at transcribing wills in full. It's a pain, but actually it is easier with tudor wills. Besides all the names of beneficiaries etc, the places are worth noting. A woman might bring property to a marriage, it might be bought, or simply possessed for a fixed term of years or lives.
When disentangling families, it is sometimes useful to follow the land. I can demonstrate a pedigree because a property held at time of death by a tudor ancestor was still owned and showing in the land tax records two hundred years later.
ElizabethHerts
28-04-20, 07:10
I will look at wills if you like. Just post which one with the link.
I've been doing wills from the 1600s for my Cornish parish.
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