Will of Joseph Ruef or Ruff

Date: 26 Apr 1888 to 24 Dec 1888
Location: Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
Surnames/tags: Ruef Ruf Ruff

Will of Joseph (Ruef) Ruff (1810-1888) recorded in the Register of Deeds and Probative Writs in the Books of Council and Session^[1]

Joseph's will references the following members of his family, business associates, servants and legal professionals:

1. his wife Maria Ruff,
2. his son George Henry Ruff,
3. his son Fritz Andreas Ruff,
4. the watch and clock maker Joseph Stromeir,
5. his son Albert Edward Ruff,
6. William Kidd, writer's clerk with Niven and Macniven,
7. Adelheid Klausmann, his domestic servant,
8. James Orr Macniven, writer,
9. his daughter Wilhelmina Sophia, married surname Grohe,
10. Alex Forbes, Principal Keeper of the Register,
11. William Reid, Justice of the Peace,
12. (?) Wright, Sheriff Clerk Depute.
    

(Page numbers refer to pages in the register of deeds, content in square brackets added to clarify transcription.)
[Page 601]
Ruff [name in margin] 24th December 1888
At Edinburgh the Thirteenth day of December
One thousand eight hundred and eighty
eight the Deed hereinafter engrossed was
presented for registration in the Books
of the Lords of Council and Session for
preservation and is registered in the said
Books as follows:- I Joseph Ruff Clock
and Watch Maker in Glasgow and resid-
ing at Number nine South Apsley Place
there For the settlement of my affairs do
hereby Assign and Dispone to and in
favor of my wife Mrs Maria Ruff and
[Page 602]
my sons George Henry Ruff Merchant Lon-

don and Fritz Andreas Ruff residing at four
Saint Albans Terrace Hillhead Glasgow
and Joseph Stromeir Watch and Clock
Maker one hundred and ninety three
Crown Street Glasgow and the survivors
and survivor of them and the heir of the
survivor (the major number of them being
a quorum) as Trustees and Trustee for
the ends uses and purposes aftermention-
ed All and Sundry my whole means and
estate heritable and movable real and
personal at present owing and belonging to
me or which may hereafter pertain or
belong to me at the time of my decease
Together with the whole writs titles and
vouchers thereof and I nominate and ap-
point my said Trustees to be my Executors
and Executor. But these presents are grant-
ed in Trust for the ends uses and pur-
poses aftermentioned vizt [videlicet]: (First) For pay-
ment of all my debts and funeral expenses
and the expenses of executing the Trust
hereby created (Second) For payment of all
such legacies of bequests as I may leave or
bequeath by any Codicil hereto or other writing
however informally executed or defective
shewing my wishes and intentions (Third)
I direct my Trustees to allow my wife in
the event of her surviving me the free liferent
use and enjoyment of my whole means
and estate during all the days and years
of her life, which liferent shall be alimen-
tary to her and not affectable by the
[Page 603]
debts or deeds of my said wife or liable to
the diligence of her Creditors and shall
not be assignable by her, and I empower
my said Trustees notwithstanding said
liferent and on their being satisfied that
the foresaid liferent is not sufficient
comfortably to support my said wife
of which they shall be the sole
judges to encroach on the capital of
the estate by such sum or sums as
they might think sufficient it being my
express wish that my Trustees shall
have power as the same is hereby con-
ferred upon them to encroach upon
part or if necessary the whole capital so
as to support my said wife during her
lifetime (Fourth) On the death of my
said wife I authorise my Trustees to divide
the capital then remaining among my
lawful children then alive equally among
them share and share alike Declaring
that in respect I have made certain ad-
vances or come under certain cautionary
obligations for my son George Henry
Ruff and also made certain advances
to my son Albert Edward Ruff I direct
my Trustees to charge my said sons five
per cent interest on the amount of such
advances which interest shall be paid
to my said wife so long as the sums
remain unpaid and on the death of
my said wife the amount of such advances
or cautionary obligations for which my
estate has been found liable so far as
[Page 604]
unpaid shall be deducted from the shares
of Residue falling to my said sons if then
alive. Declaring that in the event of any of
my children predeceasing me and having law-
ful issue such issue shall succeed to the
share their parent would have been entitled
to had he or she survived. Declaring further
that the foresaid provisions in favor of my
said wife and children are hereby declared
to be in full of their legal rights and that
the provisions in favor of my said child-
ren shall vest on the death of my said
wife should she survive me and to enable
my Trustees to carry out the purposes of this
Trust I confer on them all necessary and
requisite powers and particularly power to
sell my heritable estate either by public
roup ['roup' was added in margin]
or private bargain and I reserve my own
liferent use and enjoyment of my said
means and estate and I revoke all previous
settlements executed by me and I consent to
the registration hereof for preservation.
In witness whereof these presents written
on this and the preceding page by William
Kidd Clerk to Niven + Macniven Writers
Glasgow are (under the declaration that
the word “powers” occurring in the fourth
line counting from the top of this page is
delete) [line number of the original document, not the registered copy] subscribed by me at Glasgow on the
sixteenth day of April in the year eighteen
hundred and eighty eight before these witnesses
Adelheid Klausmann Domestic Servant to
me the said Joseph Ruff and the said
William Kidd (signed) Joseph Ruff Adelheid
[Page 605]
Klausmann witniss (sic [noted in the margin in relation to the spelling of ‘witness’]) W. Kidd witness.
We Mrs Maria Ruff George Henry Ruff
Fritz Andreas Ruff + Joseph Stromeir all
within designed do hereby accept of
the offices of Trustee + Executor conferred
on us by the within Trust Disposition
+ Settlement, do witness whereof these
presents written by James Orr Macniven
Writer Glasgow are subscribed by us
as follows. By me the said Mrs Maria
Ruff at Glasgow on the twenty third
day of November Eighteen hundred and
eighty eight before these witnesses Adel-
heid Klausmann Domestic Servant to me
the said Mrs Maria Ruff and Wilhelmina
Grohe [the ‘h’ has a heavy correcting stroke that makes it look blotted, possibly the result of being corrected from a ‘k’ to an ‘h’] residing at Number nine So[uth] Apsley Place Glasgow and by us the said George
Henry Ruff Fritz Andreas Ruff and Joseph
Stromeir all at Glasgow on the twelfth
day of December Eighteen hundred and
eighty eight before these witnesses the
said James Orr Macniven and William
Kidd Clerk to Niven and Macniven Writers
Glasgow (signed) Mary Ruff George H.
Ruff Fritz A. Ruff, Joseph Stromeir Adelheid
Klausmann wittnis [sic] Wilhelmina Groke [sic - should be Grohe]
witness W. Kidd witness J[ames]. O[rr]. Macniven
witness. Extracted from the Register of
Deeds +c [meaning ‘etc.] in the Books of Council and Session
on this and the eight preceding pages [page number of the original document, not the registered copy]
by me Principal Keeper of said Register.
(signed) Alex Forbes. Glasgow 24th December
1888. This is the Extract Registered Trust Dis-
position + Settlement referred to in my
[Page 606]
affidavit to the Inventory of the Personal
Estate of the late Joseph Ruff Clock + Watch
Maker in Glasgow. (signed) F[ritz]. A[ndreas]. Ruff.
W[illia]m Reid J[ustice]. [of the] P[eace]. Collated by (?) Wright S[heriff] C[lerk] D[epute]
Transcription from original document including line breaks, spelling and punctuation with explanatory comments added in square brackets by Newsam-80 14:26, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

1. ↑ "Wills and Testaments", National Records of Scotland ScotlandsPeople (accessed 2 May 2023), Ruff, Joseph, 24/12/1888, Clock and watch maker, 9 South Apsley Place, Glasgow, Will, Reference Number: SC36/51/98, Glasgow Sheriff Court Wills.