Will of John Webb Watkins

Date: 2 Sep 1831 to 25 Oct 1831
Location: Clifton, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
Surname/tag: Watkins

A Transcription of the Will of John Webb Watkins Written 2nd September 1831. Proved January 1832.

In the name of God Amen - I John Watkins of the parish of Clifton, County of Gloucester do make this as my last Will and Testament in manner and form following / first I do devise that my Executrix and Trustees herein after named do see that I am decently Buried at the parish of Chewstoke in the County of Somerset and to pay the expenses of my Funeral and my just debts contracted for the last six years.

I do then give and devise and bequeath unto my wife Mary Watkins all my right Title claim and benefit that I may in any way be entitled to in four Houses in Green and in a Court behind Tenanted No.1. by in Tenants opposite the Crown Inn and three behind in a Court one let to Patrick Pearcall one let to James Green and the other lastly let to George Jones being Freehold subject to a ground rent of four pounds annually

and I do direct that my Trustees do collect the rents of the said four houses and do pay it over to my said wife for her use and benefit as long as she shall remain single but not otherwise during her natural life and after her death I do direct my Trustees or their administrators or Executors to collect the rents of the said four houses and then to divide the net profit after deducted any expense that might accrue equally and amongst my Six Children share and share alike during their natural lives

but if either of them should die leaving one child or more then their parents share if living should be divided amongst the said Child or Children equally during their life or lives and no longer and I do direct that if any of my said Children should die without issue ( crossed out section ) that the longest lived of my said Children shall be entitled to the whole of the said four houses to him and his heirs for ever

This is my will that the longest lived of my said Children shall be entitled to the fee and Inheritance him and his heirs for ever the erasure five lines above was made by myself

I also do direct that my Trustees do see that my Wife Mary Watkins to Insure in some insurance Office in Bristol for one hundred pounds - fifty pounds to be paid at her death to my good Friend John Davy, Baker residing near Windsor Terrace and the remaining fifty pounds to be paid to William Tratt who is now in the employ of Messrs Prichard and Co. Redcliff Street Bristol

and my will and desire is that my Executrix and Trustees do purchase two Black Gowns one for Betsy Bilbey if living and one for Martha Bilbey plain gowns and if the two don’t cost two pounds to send them over so much money with the Gowns to make the sum two pounds in the whole

and my further will and desire is that my wife do Insure her life for the Sum of Two hundred pounds or that my Trustees do insure that amount making in the whole the sum of three hundred pounds

and I do direct my said Trustees or the Survivor of them or their Executors at the death of my said Wife to pay unto the Clergyman or the Churchwarden of the parish of Chewstoke the Sum of twenty pounds to be laid out the Interest thereof in Bread for ever to be given to twenty poor people belonging to the parish of Chewstoke such as do not receive parish pay to be given unto them upon Saint Thomas’s day in every year for ever

and the remainder of the said two hundred pounds to be equally divided amongst my surviving Children Share and Share alike

in respect of the two houses I now rent of Mr Crop in Rownham Place, Hotwells I do direct that my wife do reside and hold the possession of them for her Benefit as long as she shall live she paying the rent and Taxes and at her decease I do will and direct that my Son Henry Stephens Watkins and my daughter Mary Stephens Watkins do have the possession of the said Two houses and to let them out to the best advantage and to Share any profit or profits that may arise from the said two houses share and share alike for and during the time that such two houses can be peaceably had under the agreement signed by the landlord they paying the Annual Sum of forty two pounds and also the Taxes and the repairs

In respect of what I am in possession of I have previous to makeing my will given the whole of it that is my Cloths to my Son Henry Stevens Watkins for his own use and Benefit and as for my other personal property that having been disposed of previous to the makeing this my will

And I do appoint my said Wife Mary Watkins Executrix Christopher Watkins Frederick Nelson Watkins William Watkins and Henry Stevens Watkins my Trustees declaring this to be my last will and Testament Whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal this second day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty one

John Webb Watkins

6th January 1832 On which day Mary Watkins Sole Executrix named and appointed in the foregoing Will of John Watkins late of the parish of Clifton in the County and Diocese of Gloucester Shoemaker deceased appeared before me and made oath that the foregoing paper writing contains the last will and testament of the said deceased - that he departed this life on the 25th day of October now last past without having revoked the same - That the Estate and Effects of the said deceased did not amount in value to the Sum of One hundred pounds, and that she would duly administer the same according to the said Will and that she will render an Inventory and Account of such Estate and Effects when lawfully required

Sources

• Ancestry.com. Gloucestershire, England, Wills and Inventories, 1541-1858 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
• Original data: Gloucestershire Probate Records. Diocese of Gloucestershire, Finding Reference GDR, Wills and Inventories. Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucester, UK.
• Transcribed by Joe Farler in January 2018