Will of Thomas Heydon de Watford 1543

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

This is a transcription of the original will of Thomas Heydon of Watford, Hertfordshire. It was written on 9 July 1542. It was proved at the Archdeaconry Court of St Albans on 13 January 1543/4. ^[1]

Spelling, punctuation and line breaks as per the original.
Paragraph breaks (at start of new of bequest) and bold text are my own for ease of reading.
Ligatures and abbreviations have been expanded in [square brackets].

Persons mentioned:

• Jerome my eldest son under the age of 16 years
• Thomas my son under the age of 16 years
• Elsabeth my daughter could also be Elizabeth, under the age of 16 years
• Blanche my daughter under the age of 16 years
• Cecyly my wife residuary legatee and executor of the will
• Hugh Byrd the Testator holds a lease from him
• John Byrd overseer of the will
• Roger Heydon overseer of the will - no relationship mentioned
• John Thyrland lately the Clerk of Watford, witness
• Robert Newman of the "Brotherhood" (? of a Religious Order), witness
• Thomas Foster Clerke, witness

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Anno D[o]m[ini] 1543

Thomas Heydon de Watford 1543

In the name of god Amen, the ix^th day of July yn the yere of
oure lord god m^t ccccc^o xlij^o in the xxxiiij yere of the Raynge of Kyng Henry
the viij^th I Thomas Heydon of Wyggynghall yn the pyshe of Watford wyth
yn the Countye of Hertford hole of mynd & of good memory god be thankyd
make thys my last wyll and testament in man[er] & forme followyng/ ffyrst I
bequeth my soule to Allmygty god, oure lady saint Mary & to all the holye
co[m]pany of hevyn & my body to be buryed in the churche yerd of Watford
aforeseid. It[em] I bequeth to the hye aut[er] yn the seid p[ar]ysshe churche for my
tythes neclygently forgotten xij^d/ It[em] I bequeth to the brotherhed yn
in Watford aforeseid xij^d/

Also I bequeth to Jerome my eldyst son xl^s
& a bullocke of iij yere old/ It[em] I bequeth to Thomas my son xl^s & a
bullocke of iij yere old/ It[em] I bequeth to Elsabeth my dought[er] xl^s &
a bullocke of iij yere old/ It[em] I bequeth to Blanche my dought[er] xl^s
& a bullocke of iij yere old/ If any of them fayle & dye y[a]t then the
porcyon of them y[a]t dye shalbe dystrybutyd a monge them y[a]t lyve
of those afore namyd & ev[er]y of ther porcyon to be delyveryd to them at
xvj yere of age/

Also I bequeth to Cecyly my wyfe my leace of
Wygynhall/ I bequeth to Cecely my wyfe the other leace wych Hugh
Byrd hath yn hys hands wych hathe recevyd of me for the one
halfe of the seid leace v^li xiij^s iiij^d w[y]ch yeres extendynth xlj/
I bequeth my other leace of the more warryn wyth all my goods & cattell
on bequethed moveable & one movable to Cecyly my wyfe whome I
make my hole executrix to fulfyll thys my last wyll/ John byrd & Rog[er]
Heydon to be supervisors of thys my wyll & to have for ther labors v^s a pece
Thes beyng wytnes John thyrland late curate of Watford Rob[er]t newma[n] brotherhed
p[re]st Thomas fost[er] clerke

Sources

1. ↑ Court of the Archdeaconry of St Albans, Registered wills and administrations, "Ewer" 1540-1546, fol. 49 recto, will of Thomas HEYDON of Watford, proved 13 January 1543/4; images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 15 January 2022) DGS no. 8076678, image 81 of 691 (can be viewed at Family History Centres and Affiliate Libraries); Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies, ref. 5AR49.