Using A Will
Wills can contain a diamond mine of information; which you can use to track down the right family. This week I am going to tell you how I used a will to knock down one of my brick walls.
The will in question is not a direct ancestor of mine, but my 10x Great Uncle, Colonel Nicholas Paige. I found this will while trying to find out some information about my 10x Great Grandparents, Richard Hobbs and Elizabeth Paige, and came across some information that two of their daughters, Sarah (bap 1677) and Martha (bap 1685) went to live with their uncle in Romney Marsh, Massachusetts.
From there I found the will of Nicholas, which I've linked here if you want to read it although I'll put the important extracts below, to see if there was any more information I could use to try and find a link further back. In this will, he wrote with his wife, I found that:
He was sometime of Plymouth, England
We Give & Bequeath unto the Two Daughters of our Sister Elizabeth Hobbs now Living in Crookhorn (Crewkerne) in England Margaret & Eliz Hobbs Twenty pounds each in money
We Give unto our Sister Margaret Forgson now living in Martineco Twenty pounds money
We do give and bequeath unto our Cousin John Gerrish & Sarah his wife our Boy Jethro for to Live with him & her until he Thirty year of Age which he will be the Twentieth Day of February one Thousand seven hundred twenty five & at that time the boy is to be free for himself & we do pray our Cousin Gerrish to teach the boy his Trade perfectly & then when he is free for himself which will be in the year 1725 we do give & Bequeath to him five pounds money
... he satisfying & paying all our Just Debts & Legacys by us Owing & by this present Will Disposed of But in Case that this our Execx Mrs. Martha Hobbs should have no children or dye without children then in that Case our Will is that her husband shall Enjoy the Estate During his Life & at his Death we Do hereby Will and Bequeath the whole Estate of Housing & Lands Both in Boston Town & Romney Marsh unto our Cousin William Paige now of London in England & to his heirs for Ever & Lastly...
So here, I have a lot of information about the family of Nicholas Paige, although I should add that Sarah Gerrish was the niece - not cousin of Nicholas.
From there, I checked the parish records of Plymouth and found a baptism of a Nicholas in 1637 to a Joseph and a Margaret Paige, I also found a baptism in 1640 for Margaret and 1642 for Elizabeth, with the same parents. I already knew about Sarah, Martha, Elizabeth and Margaret's existence, leaving just the cousin William...
As yet, I can't fully find a cousin called William living in London. However it seems that Joseph, Nicholas' father, had a brother called William in 1616, so the name is definitely in the family. From here, I will try and trace Joseph's brothers to see if they had a son called William.
It seems Nicholas and definitely his wife Anna had a very colourful life, which I will address in another article.
So, if you get stuck with your relatives try looking for a will, some of them have been transcribed and put online (like the one above) but if not, there may be one in a local archive or in The National Archives. Who knows, it may even knock down a brick wall!
Published: 15 October 2015
The will in question is not a direct ancestor of mine, but my 10x Great Uncle, Colonel Nicholas Paige. I found this will while trying to find out some information about my 10x Great Grandparents, Richard Hobbs and Elizabeth Paige, and came across some information that two of their daughters, Sarah (bap 1677) and Martha (bap 1685) went to live with their uncle in Romney Marsh, Massachusetts.
From there I found the will of Nicholas, which I've linked here if you want to read it although I'll put the important extracts below, to see if there was any more information I could use to try and find a link further back. In this will, he wrote with his wife, I found that:
He was sometime of Plymouth, England
We Give & Bequeath unto the Two Daughters of our Sister Elizabeth Hobbs now Living in Crookhorn (Crewkerne) in England Margaret & Eliz Hobbs Twenty pounds each in money
We Give unto our Sister Margaret Forgson now living in Martineco Twenty pounds money
We do give and bequeath unto our Cousin John Gerrish & Sarah his wife our Boy Jethro for to Live with him & her until he Thirty year of Age which he will be the Twentieth Day of February one Thousand seven hundred twenty five & at that time the boy is to be free for himself & we do pray our Cousin Gerrish to teach the boy his Trade perfectly & then when he is free for himself which will be in the year 1725 we do give & Bequeath to him five pounds money
... he satisfying & paying all our Just Debts & Legacys by us Owing & by this present Will Disposed of But in Case that this our Execx Mrs. Martha Hobbs should have no children or dye without children then in that Case our Will is that her husband shall Enjoy the Estate During his Life & at his Death we Do hereby Will and Bequeath the whole Estate of Housing & Lands Both in Boston Town & Romney Marsh unto our Cousin William Paige now of London in England & to his heirs for Ever & Lastly...
So here, I have a lot of information about the family of Nicholas Paige, although I should add that Sarah Gerrish was the niece - not cousin of Nicholas.
From there, I checked the parish records of Plymouth and found a baptism of a Nicholas in 1637 to a Joseph and a Margaret Paige, I also found a baptism in 1640 for Margaret and 1642 for Elizabeth, with the same parents. I already knew about Sarah, Martha, Elizabeth and Margaret's existence, leaving just the cousin William...
As yet, I can't fully find a cousin called William living in London. However it seems that Joseph, Nicholas' father, had a brother called William in 1616, so the name is definitely in the family. From here, I will try and trace Joseph's brothers to see if they had a son called William.
It seems Nicholas and definitely his wife Anna had a very colourful life, which I will address in another article.
So, if you get stuck with your relatives try looking for a will, some of them have been transcribed and put online (like the one above) but if not, there may be one in a local archive or in The National Archives. Who knows, it may even knock down a brick wall!
Published: 15 October 2015
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