Will of William Harris of Berbice

Date: 23 Jul 1819 to 1828
Location: Middlesex, England
Surnames/tags: Harris Lawrence

Transcription from a digital image of the will found on the ancestry website 19 Jun 2022 ^[1] Bold text has been added for ease of reading and was not present in the original. Words which were illegible have been rendered [?]. When [?] is used as a suffix, it is to show that the transcribed word is not certain.

“On this day the twenty third of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen before me [?] Notary Public by Royal Authority duly admitted and sworn residing in Souton and in the presence of the witnesses hereinafter to be named personally came and appeared Mr. William Harris of the Colony of Berbice widower and planter residing at present at [?] 17 Gloucester Street Queen Square in the County of Middlesex he the appearer being healthy of body and of a sound and perfect mind and [?] by those presents to make his last Will and testament in manner following first he the appearor revoking annulling and making void all former testaments codicils and other acts having the power of a last Will made and passed by him separately or jointly with any other person or persons willing that the same shall have no force or effect and hereby proceeding to dispose a now he the testator [?] to give and bequeath unto his beloved son William James Harris in the colony of Berbice the sum of two hundred pounds Sterling for the purpose of outfitting him in some [?] or other useful branch of trade that may be considered for his advantage it being the testator’s desire and order that the said William James Harris shall have a plain education at the expense of his estate and efforts and that his manu[?]ission shall be effected with as little splay as possible and by sending him home to England at the expense of the testators estate further the testator gives and bequeaths unto his sister Sarah Harris spinster for and during the term of her natural life the yearly sum of sixty pounds of lawful money of Great Britain and in the event of his said sister surviving his the testators son William Adams Harris then and jn that case the said annuity is to be increased with forty pounds Sterling for and during the term of her natural life and to all the rest and residue of his estate and effects personal and real nothing thereof excepted and wherever the same might be situate and lying he the testator nominates substitutes and appoints for his sole and universal heir his dearly beloved son William Adams Harris and in the unfortunate event of his death before him the testator then and in that case in his place he the testator gives and bequeaths to his dear sisters Jane Ann Anderson Lawrence Frances Comolia Lawrence and Elizabeth Lawrence each the sum of two hundred pounds of lawful money of Great Britain and to all the rest and residue of his effects he nominates and appoints his natural or coloured son William James Harris and his nephew William John Lawrence share and share alike and in case his said natural son William James Harris should depart this life before him the testator then the rest and residue of his estate and effects is to be equally divided between his nephew William John Lawrence and his nieces Mary Oriana Spencer wife of Cresswell Spencer of Demerary Esquire Jane Ann Anderson Lawrence Frances Comolia Lawrence and Elizabeth Lawrence aforesaid or the survivor or survivors of them and in the event of the death of the said William John Lawrence before him the testator then and in that case he gives and bequeaths all the rest and residue of his estate and effects to his above mentioned nieces or the survivor or survivors of them share and share alike the testator nominating and appointing Gilbert Robertson of the Colony of Demerara plantor George Baird of the Colony of Berbice Planter and George Darling of Brunswick[?] Square in the County of Middlesex Executors of this his Will guardians of his son William Adams Harris as also of the minor heirs and administrators of their goods with such power and authority as to executors guardians and administrators ran and may be given and also the power of Assumption and Substitution the testator excluding out of his Mortuary Square Estate and Effects of all places where he may reside or his goods be situate Following these presents to be his last Will and testament in witness whereof he the testator has hereunto set and subscribed his hand and affixed his seal - the present passed in duplicate this same and paper in London in the presence of David Burwash and John Stott Johnson Wm Harris David Burwash John Stott Johnson in testimony, veritatis A. J. Guitars Nott Publ

17 Gloucester Street Queens Square 9 Aug W22 This is intended as a codicil to my Will which I make for the purpose of revoking the annuity of sixty pounds which I gave in my Will to my sister Sarah Harris and I do hereby accordingly revoke the said annuity if sixty pounds and every part thereof from being paid to the said Sarah Harris from my property by this my art … Proved at London with a codicil 6th July W27 before the worshipful William Calverley …“

Notes

One son was William Adams Harris (1804-1866) The other was William James Harris. He may be the William Harris who was the subject in 1828 of “Copy of correspondence [from the bishop of Barbados, William Hart Coleridge, to the secretary of state] concerning objections to the marriage of William Harris 'a free man of colour' and Betty Cudjoe, a slave. The bishop writes, 'I have directed the Revd Mr Luckock to proceeed in carrying into effect his original purpose of celebrating the marriage between the partiies in question, and generally in all cases to celebrate marriage between parties applying to him for that purpose where no legal impediment exists.'”^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 PROB 11: Will Registers 1826-1828; Piece 1728: Hober, Quire Numbers 401-450 (1827)ancestry image
2. ↑ https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2748999 Reference: CO 28/148