Will of John Dowsett of Latton, 1778

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: Dowsett

This is a transcription of the last Will and Testament of John Dowsett of Latton Priory, Essex, a yeoman.
It was written on 14 November 1778 and proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on 8 April 1779. ^[1]

Persons mentioned:

• John Dowsett: eldest son
• William Dowsett : second son
• Edward Dowsett : third son
• Samuel Dowsett : fourth son
• James Dowsett : youngest son
• Mary Dowsett : unmarried daughter
• Rebeccah Dowsett : unmarried daughter
• Sarah Overall : married daughter
• Elizabeth Howard : married daughter

In the Name of God Amen
I John Dowsett of Latton Priory in the County of Essex yeoman
Being Aged and infirm in body but of sound Mind
Memory and Understanding praised be Almighty God for
the same do hereby make and declare this to be my last will
and Testament in manner following (that is to say) First
I do hereby forgive acquit Release and Discharge my
third son Edward of and from the payment of the sum of
Forty pounds part of the sum of Seventy pounds which
he doth now stand indebted to me as by a promisory Note
under his hand doth appear Also I give and bequeath
unto my two Daughters Mary Dowsett and Rebeccah
Dowsett the sum of Forty five pounds a piece of lawful
Money of Great Britain to be severally paid them by
mt Executor herein after named within Six Months after
my decease And I likewise give unto my said two Daughters
Mary Dowsett and Rebeccah Dowsett and unto each of
them any one of my Beds with the Bedsteads Curtains
Vallences Blanketts and Coverlids thereunto respectively
belonging and any one pair of Sheets each for each
Bed they shall severally think fit to choose and take to
be severally delivered to them by my Executor hereinafter
named immediately after my decease Also I give and
bequeath unto my eldest Son John my fourth Son
Samuel and my two other Daughters Sarah Overall
and Elizabeth Howard the sum of fourty pounds a piece
of like lawful Money and to my Second Son William the
sum of Twenty pounds of like lawful Money to be likewise
severally paid them be my Executor hereinafter named
within Six Months after my decease And as for all my
ready Money and all the rest of my Goods and all other
my personal Estate and Effects whatsoever and wheresoever
(my Funeral Expenses the Debts which may happen to be
due and owing by or from me at the time of my decease
the Legacies by me hereinbefore given and bequeathed
being first there laid out paid and satisfied) I give and bequeath
the same unto my Youngest son James Dowsett Sole
Executor of this my last Will and Testament In Witness
whereof I the said John Dowsett the Testator have hereunto
set my Hand and Seal the Fourteenth day of November
in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and
Seventy eight The mark of X John Dowsett [seal] Signed
Sealed Published and declared by the said John Dowsett the
Testator as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence
of us who in his presence Subscribed our Names as Witnesses
to the same the Bequest of Twenty Pounds to his Second Son
William being first interlined
Samuel Mead
I Walkley

This Will was proved at London on the Eighth day of
April in the Year of Our Lord One thousand Seven hundred
and Seventy nine before the Worshipful Andrew Coltee Ducarel
Doctor of Laws and Surrogate the Right Worshipful Peter
Calvert Doctor of Laws Master Keeper or Commissary of
the Prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully Constituted
by the Oath of James Dowsett the Son of the deceased and Sole
Executor named in the said Will to whom Administration
was granted of all and Singular the Goods Chattels and
Credits of the said deceased he having been first sworn duly
to Administer.

Research notes

Testator John Dowsett LZPJ-KRL and Dowsett-12

Latton - small parish - Landlords ? the Althams Latton Priory Farm south of the parish BHO https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol8/pp186-195

Sources

1. ↑ Will of John Dowsett: "England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858"
   The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 11; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 1052
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 5111 #416010 (accessed 15 December 2021)