Help reading a will from 1653

[cledry]

[cledry]

Transcribing the will attached above. So Far I have this: (underlined bits are words I need help with)

In the name of God Amen. I john Kitt of the parish of Ludgvan in the county of Cornwall, yeoman being sick in body but of good and perfect memory God be praised do make and ordayne this my last will and testament in manner and forme following. In proving I bequeath my soule into the hands of Almighty god my saviour not doubting through the merritts death and passion of my Lord and saviour.Iesus Chryst of pardon and forgiveness of all my sins and my body I commend to Christian buriall.

Item I give my daughter Margarett the wife of Francis Millett five shillings.

Item I give unto my daughter Elizabeth - thirty five pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid her in manner and forme following vizt twenty pounds at the end of one yeare next after my death and fivetine pounds at the end of two years after my death.

I likewise give and bequeath to my daughter Susanna Thirty two pounds of lawfull English money to be paid her in forme following (vizt) __ within one year after my death and __ within two years after my death.

I also give and bequeath unto my daughter Katherine Thirty two pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid her as followeth. This is to say ___ within one year after my death and ___ within two years after my death.

Item I give unto Richard Millett, Henry Millett and John Millett the childrin of my daughter Margarett. Twelve ______ a ______ All which ________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________ if my daughters Elizabeth, Susanna and Katherine eyther of them happen to dye before ________ _________ be paid as aforesaid ____________ survivor or survivors of them or either ofthem and my executor hereafter named shall have tat ________ or ___________at te tyme of te deathes of them _________ Elizabeth, Susanna and Katherine

[donne]

May 14, 2023 21:12:30 GMT -5 cledry said:

Transcribing the will attached above. So Far I have this: (underlined bits are words I need help with)

In the name of God Amen. I john Kitt of the parish of Ludgvan in the county of Cornwall, yeoman being sick in body but of good and perfect memory God be praised do make and ordayne this my last will and testament in manner and forme following. In proving Imprimis I bequeath my soule into the hands of Almighty god my saviour not doubting through the merritts death and passion of my Lord and saviour.Iesus Chryst of pardon and forgiveness of all my sins and my body I commend to Christian buriall.

Item I give my daughter Margarett the wife of Francis Millett five shillings.

Item I give unto my daughter Elizabeth - thirty five pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid her in manner and forme following vizt twenty pounds at the end of one yeare next after my death and fivetine pounds at the end of two years after my death.

I likewise give and bequeath to my daughter Susanna Thirty two pounds of lawfull English money to be paid her in forme following (vizt) xx l. within one year after my death and xij l. within two years after my death.

I also give and bequeath unto my daughter Katherine Thirty two pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid her as followeth. This is to say xx l. within one year after my death and xij l. within two years after my death.

Item I give unto Richard Millett, Henry Millett and John Millett the childrin of my daughter Margarett. Twelve pence a peece All which such seve-ral Legacies are to be paid by my executor hereafter named in manner [and] forme aforesaid and my will further is that if my daughters Elizabeth, Susanna and Katherine eyther of them happen to dye before their Le-gacies be paid as aforesaid That the survivor or survivors of them or either ofthem and my executor hereafter named shall have that le-gacie or legacies or soe much therof as shalbe unpaid at the tyme of the deathes of them the said Elizabeth, Susanna and Katherine

Hi Cledry, here is my reading of the will with your transcription marked up in red.  Note the Roman numerals used for some of the sums of money involved. Hope it helps.

[cledry]

Thanks Roger, that helps a great deal.

I am sure I will probably need more help before completing it.

[cledry]

Roger, my eyes were getting crossed a bit so I skipped down to the bottom. I have posted what I have with underlined bits that I am unsure of. Also I cannot understand how my reading of the date as being in the reign of Charles when this was 1653 when there was no King in England. Here goes>

Katherine my youngest daughter sufficient and competent meate drink and lodging for one yeare after my death And I doe _________
Mr. Richard Tucker parson of Ludgvan, Mr. Henry Kitt my kinsman vicar of Gulval And my neighbour Mr. Arthur Mabbe and Henry Sparnon to be overseers of this my will to see all things performed and to be assistant and helpful to my Executor for having In witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand & seale __on the Eight day of June in the _____ yeare of the reign of our sovereign Lord king Charles by the grace of god of England Scotland ________

[donne]

May 16, 2023 6:27:06 GMT -5 cledry said:

Roger, my eyes were getting crossed a bit so I skipped down to the bottom. I have posted what I have with underlined bits that I am unsure of. Also I cannot understand how my reading of the date as being in the reign of Charles when this was 1653 when there was no King in England. Here goes>

Katherine my youngest daughter sufficient and competent meate drink and lodging for one yeare after my death And I doe intreate?
Mr. Richard Tucker parson of Ludgvan, Mr. Henry Kitt my kinsman vicar of Gulval And my neighbour Mr. Arthur Mabbe and Henry Sparnon to be overseers of this my will to see all things performed and to be assistant and helpful to my Executor for having In witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand & seale __on the Eight day of June in the xxij th yeare of the reign of our sovereign Lord king Charles by the grace of god of England Scotland France

Hi Cledry,
These are my suggestions for the missing words, though I can't make out the word following 'hand and seale'. The regnal year looks like 22nd year of the reign of King Charles (presumably the first one, since otherwise he would be described as the second) which would place the date of signing as 8 June 1646. Where does 1653 come from? Could it be the date of proving the will?

[cledry]

The date 1653 is the date the will was proved. At least according to what the National Archives show for 11/232/293 a date of 30 Sep 1653. I am thinking it might be unusual to have a difference of 7 years between the drafting and proving of the will. Your thoughts?




 

[Cornish Terrier]

I am thinking it might be unusual to have a difference of 7 years between the drafting and proving of the will.

Not so unusual - there are a number of reasons this might have happened.

The first issue is that I have so far been unable to locate a burial for John Kitt. There are a couple of pages in the relevant section of the Ludgvan register that are extremely difficult to read and some parts not possible at all so John may have lived for several years after writing the Will.

The other noticeable ting from the Will is that son John Kitt was named Executor BUT then the testator nominated Overseers which suggests that the son may have been under age at the time the Will was written.

If John Kitt died prior to his son reaching the age of 21 then Probate may have been delayed until such time as he was deemed of age to perform the task.

CT

[donne]

I agree with CT. We don't know when John Kitt died and he may have prepared the will well in advance of his death. The coverage of the Exeter BTs which in addition to the PRs could have provided a burial date also seem to have massive gaps around the time we are interested in. The other thing I've noticed is that the coming to power of Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth in 1649 introduced many changes in English institutions and confused the way things were traditionally done.

[cledry]

Interestingly a John KITT junior who wed a Thomasin MABB on 02 NOV 1682 at Ludgvan also wrote a will dated 1689 or 1690 where he mentions John KITT my father, Arthur MABB gent, my brother in law Martin HARRY of Ludgvan yeoman and Thomas JOHN of St. Earth (sic) yeoman.

I don't find a marriage of a Martin HARRY to and KITT females. However there is a Thomas HARRY who marries Katherine KITT at Ludgvan on 24 APR 1654.

So since John KITT is a junior his father must be also John KITT. However it seems as though there might be three generations here. Generation 1 John KITT my 10x great grandfather who's will I posted. Gen 2 a son of his. Gen 3. this John who mentions his father still alive in 1690. Or am I adding a generation?

[cledry]

Well, here's the will minus a few words I am having trouble with. Also any underlined words I am also unsure of. >

In the name of God Amen. I john Kitt of the parish of Ludgvan in the county of Cornwall, yeoman being sick in body but of good and perfect memory God be praised do make and ordayne this my last will and testament in manner and forme following. Imprimis I bequeath my soule into the hands of Almighty god my saviour not doubting through the merritts death and passion of my Lord and saviour.Iesus Chryst of pardon and forgiveness of all my sins and my body I commend to Christian buriall.

Item I give my daughter Margarett the wife of Francis Millett five shillings.

Item I give unto my daughter Elizabeth - thirty five pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid her in manner and forme following vizt twenty pounds at the end of one yeare next after my death and fivetine pounds at the end of two years after my death.

I likewise give and bequeath to my daughter Susanna Thirty two pounds of lawfull English money to be paid her in forme following (vizt) 20 within one year after my death and 12 within two years after my death.

I also give and bequeath unto my daughter Katherine Thirty two pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid her as followeth. This is to say 20 within one year after my death and 12. within two years after my death.

Item I give unto Richard Millett, Henry Millett and John Millett the childrin of my daughter Margarett. Twelve pence a peece

All which such severall Legacies are to be paid by my executor hereafter named in manner and forme aforesaid and my will further is that if my daughters Elizabeth, Susanna and Katherine or eyther of them happen to dye before their Legacies be paid as aforesaid That the survivor or survivors of them or eyther of them and my executor hereafter named shall have that legacie or legacies or soe much therof as shalbe unpaid at the tyme of the deathes of them the said Elizabeth, Susanna and Katherine or eyther of them And if soe be my executor hereafter named shall not satisfie and pay unto my said daughters Elizabeth Susanna & Katherine the aforesaid severall legacies to them by me bequeathed as aforesaid that then for non payment therof my will ___ and I doe hereby give grant and bequeath unto my said daughters Elizabeth Susanna & Katherine and to them _____ All that my Tenement in or called Rospeith being the inheritance of John ______ of ________ esquire And all my rightfull Estate founde in first and demand therin But if my executor satisfies and pay unto my said daughters Margarett Elizabeth Susanna and Katherine the foresaid legacy to them bequeathed and aforesaid my will ___ and I doe herby give grant & bequeath my aforesaid Tenement in or called Rospieth with _________ ________ And all my right and estate therin And also all other my goods chattels and chattels not before given or bequeathed any debts paid and severall expenses discharged __ unto John Kitt my sonne whom I doe make commite and appoint my whole and sole executor And I doe further will and command that my executor shall funde provide for the foresaid Katherine my youngest daughter sufficient and competent meate drink and lodging for one yeare after my death And I doe intreate
Mr. Richard Tucker parson of Ludgvan, Mr. Henry Kitt my kinsman vicar of Gulval And my neighbour Mr. Arthur Mabbe and Henry Sparnon to be overseers of this my will to see all things performed and to be assistant and helpful to my Executor for having In witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand & seale __on the Eight day of June in the 22nd yeare of the reign of our sovereign Lord king Charles by the grace of god of England Scotland France

[donne]

May 20, 2023 8:59:14 GMT -5 cledry said:

Interestingly a John KITT junior who wed a Thomasin MABB on 02 NOV 1682 at Ludgvan also wrote a will dated 1689 or 1690 where he mentions John KITT my father, Arthur MABB gent, my brother in law Martin HARRY of Ludgvan yeoman and Thomas JOHN of St. Earth (sic) yeoman.

I don't find a marriage of a Martin HARRY to and KITT females. However there is a Thomas HARRY who marries Katherine KITT at Ludgvan on 24 APR 1654.

So since John KITT is a junior his father must be also John KITT. However it seems as though there might be three generations here. Generation 1 John KITT my 10x great grandfather who's will I posted. Gen 2 a son of his. Gen 3. this John who mentions his father still alive in 1690. Or am I adding a generation?

I've had a look at the John KITT will you mention, AP/K/457. My interpretation of the executors is slightly different to yours in that I reckon that it is Arthur MABB gent who is the brother-in-law to the John KITT who wrote the will i.e the description and condition of the individual comes after the name. The will was signed 20 Nov 1689 and proved 22 Sep 1690, so the death of John KITT must have occurred between those dates. There is an interesting second page in the folio in which it would appear that John KITT the father mentioned in the will has died since the will was written and the remaining executors Arthur MABB, Martin HARRY and Thomas JOHN renounce their appointment and recommend that letters of administration be granted to Thomasine KITT. Thomasine is described as the mother of William KITT who along with his sister Frances are the beneficiaries of the will.

So we seem to have the KITT dynasty as John KITT who died between 1646 and 1653, his son John KITT (who died between 20 Nov 1689 and 22 Sep 1690) producing a grandson John KITT who marries Thomasin MABB 1682, dying between 20 Nov 1689 and 22 Sep 1690, leaving wife Thomasin and son William and daughter Frances, both of whom would appear to be less than 8 years old.

I assume that the Katharine KITT who marries Thomas HARRY in 1654 would be the Katharine mentioned in the 1653 will - also mentioned in the will is Susanna who could be the Susan KITTE who marries James SCADDEN 1 Jan 1655 in Ludgvan?

[cledry]

Hi Roger, you could be correct about the brother in law. Arthur MABB left a will so that is worth looking at.

[donne]

May 20, 2023 11:36:50 GMT -5 cledry said:

Well, here's the will minus a few words I am having trouble with. Also any underlined words I am also unsure of. >


All which such severall Legacies are to be paid by my executor hereafter named in manner and forme aforesaid and my will further is that if my daughters Elizabeth, Susanna and Katherine or eyther of them happen to dye before their Legacies be paid as aforesaid That the survivor or survivors of them or eyther of them and my executor hereafter named shall have that legacie or legacies or soe much therof as shalbe unpaid at the tyme of the deathes of them the said Elizabeth, Susanna and Katherine or eyther of them And if soe be my executor hereafter named shall not satisfie and pay unto my said daughters Elizabeth Susanna & Katherine the aforesaid severall legacies to them by me bequeathed as aforesaid that then for non payment therof my will is and I doe hereby give grant and bequeath unto my said daughters Elizabeth Susanna & Katherine and to their assignes All that my Tenement with thappurtenan-ces in or called Rospeith being the inheritance of John Penros of Penros esquire And all my rightfull Estate founde in first and demand therin But if my executor satisfies and pay unto my said daughters Margarett Elizabeth Susanna and Katherine the foresaid legacy to them bequeathed and aforesaid my will is and I doe herby give grant & bequeath my aforesaid Tenement in or called Rospieth with thappurtenances And all my right and estate therin And also all other my goods chattels and chattels not before given or bequeathed any debts paid and severall expenses discharged __ unto John Kitt my sonne whom I doe make nominate? and appoint my whole and sole executor And I doe further will and command that my executor shall funde provide for the foresaid Katherine my youngest daughter sufficient and competent meate drink and lodging for one yeare after my death And I doe intreate
Mr. Richard Tucker parson of Ludgvan, Mr. Henry Kitt my kinsman vicar of Gulval And my neighbour Mr. Arthur Mabbe and Henry Sparnon to be overseers of this my will to see all things performed and to be assistant and helpful to my Executor for having In witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand & seale __on the Eight day of June in the 22nd yeare of the reign of our sovereign Lord king Charles by the grace of god of England Scotland France

I've added my suggestions for some of the remaining underlinings.

[Cornish Terrier]

So since John KITT is a junior his father must be also John KITT.

I don't have time right now to read through the more recent posts properly but I did pick up on the above comment and thought it worth a comment of my own.

The fact that John Kitt was recorded as 'John Kitt jnr' DOES NOT necessarily mean his father was also John Kitt. Of course it may well be that this was the case BUT ...............

Many people are totally confused regarding the use of terms such as junior, senior, cousin, kinsman etc. in Cornwall (and probably other parts of England) in past centuries. People tend to apply the modern day literal meanings rather than consider other possibilities.

The fact that John Kitt was known, at least at that particular time, as 'junior' in simple terms merely means that he was the younger of at least two men of that name in the Parish. In this case the elder John Kitt might have been an uncle or perhaps the grandfather. Although unlikely with a name like Kitt it is also possible that the elder person was from an unrelated family with the same surname.

So don't get yourself tied down to a conclusion based on modern day understandings of the terms without considering other possibilities. There are times when doing that can save a lot of headaches!

CT