Will of William Stretton - Jurat of Tenterden - 1647

Date: 1647 to 1647
Location: Tenterden, Kent, England
Surname/tag: Stretton

Contents 1 Background 2 Transcription 3 The Text 4 Sources

Background

This is a transcript of the will of William Stretton a Jurat (equivalent to an alderman) of Tenterden in Kent, England. William wrote his will on the last day of May 1647 and it was proved on the 11 Jan 1647/48 ^{[1] [2]}

William Stretton was born in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England about 1585, became a butcher in London where he lived with his first wife and where the couple had at least 15 children until his wife died in 1635. Soon after, he married Margaret (Haffenden) Wyatt (abt.1602-) a widow The two elder children Rose and Margaret were still living.

At the time the will was written, eight children were surviving from William's first marriage. They were: Sara (married to Isaack Pickering), William, Joseph, Beniamin, Bartholomew, Elizabeth, Samuell and Caleb. Rose and Margaret, Margaret's children from her first marriage still survived. And William and Margaret had three surviving children their marriage by 1647, these being: Thomas, John and Nathaniel.

Transcription

Transcription conventions used in this text:

• Spelling and punctuation are as per the original document.
• The text was originally in one block of text. Paragraph breaks and bold text have been introduced to aid readability. The original line breaks indicated by a /
• Where present, ff has been rendered as F, and the old letter Thorn has been rendered as th.
• Abbreviations and breviographs have been expanded in [square brackets].
• Additions and margin notes, where they occur, have been added where indicated in the text.
• The image quality was satisfactory, and the handwriting legible.

The Text

In the name of God Amen I Will[iam] / Stretton of Tenterden Jurat this last day of May Anno D[omi]n[i] one thousand sixe / hundreds fourty seaven being at this present tyme in health of bodie and perfect in / mynde and memory thankes be given to God for the same have thought fitt at this tyme to declare and set downe in writing this / my last will and Testemant

And / first and principally I give and bequeath my soule to God that gave it and my bodie / to the Earth from whence it came with a assured hope of a joyfull resurrection to eter- / nall [line break at -] life and everlasting glory through the precious meritts of Jesus Christ my / only Lord and Saviour And for my worldly goods to be disposed of in manner / and forme hereafter following

My will and mynde is that my Executor shall pay / unto my loving wife Margaret Stretton the summe of one thousand and five and / forty Pounds to be paid her in such manner and at such tymes as is sett downe in / writeing under my hande and seale amongst other articles agreed upon a little before / the tyme of our Marriage As alsoe give unto her all her wearing apparell and her / dwelling in the house wherein I now live for the space of half a yeare without paying / for it And afsoe I give unto her the feather / bedd where on I now lye and one feather boulster and two pillowes and two pillowcoates and the Curtaynes and Valence / to the same bedd and the Rugge and two blanketts and one payre of sheetes

Item / I give unto my sonne Joseph one hundred pounds in monye to be paid him by myne / Executor hereafter named when he comes to the age of three and twenty yeares / As alsoe I give unto him my best Bible my best backsworde one of my bookes of / the writing of M[r] Perkins and his share of goods hereafter mentioned

It[em] I give / And bequeath to my Sonne Beniamine one hundreth pounds in money to be paied / him alsoe at the age of three and twenty yeares As alsoe I give unto him my Rapier / and one of the bookes written by M[r] Perkins and a share of goods hereafter menconed /

It[em] I give to my sonne Bartholomew fower score and tenn pounds in money to be / paied him at the age of twenty three years and my Black hilted backsworde And / one of the bookes of Acts and Monuments written by Mr Foxe and a share of / goods hereafter mentioned

It[em] I give unto my daughter Elizabeth one hundred / and fourty pounds in money to be paid her at the age of twenty yeares or day of Marriage / which shall first happen As alsoe I give unto her a trunk of linnen appointed her / by her Mother wherein is three payre of flaxen sheetes three dozen of laydworke / napkins three table cloaths two payre of pillowcoates a wrought wastcoate and a / suite of linnen for a Childe as alsoe a a parte of goods hereafter mentioned

It[em] I / give unto my sonne Samuell one hundred pounds in money to be paid at the age / of twentie three yeares And one of the bookes of Acts and Monuments written by M[r] / Foxe and a share of goods with his brothers hereafter mentioned

It[em] I give unto my / Sonne Caleb a hundred and tenn pounds in money to be paid him at the age of twenty / three yeares And one of the bookes of Acts and Monuments written by M[r] Foxe And / a share of goods hereafter named

It[em] I give unto my three youngest sonnes Thomas / John and Nathaniel to each of them one hundred and twenty pounds in money / to be paid them at their severall ages of twenty three yeares and their equall shares / of linnen with the rest of my sonnes before named  : To the two youngest either of / them a featherbedd a boulster and two pillowes and two blankettes

And if any one / or more of my sayd children shall happen to dye before their severall ages before / specified that then the portione of the sayd childe or children shalbe equally devided among / all them that survive

Item I give unto my daughter Sarah Pickering to be devided amonge / her children the summe of Tenn pounds to be paid within two yeares after my decease

And it / is my will that myne Executor shall imploy the severall portions of my children till they / come to their severall ages of Twenty three yeares as afore is sayd and to take care for / their educationand putting them out to bee apprentices at his owne discretion And to have only only / the use of thir sayd severall portions till they doe come to their severall ages as afore = / sayd for soe doeing

And I doe appointe and desyre my loving wife And alsoe my loving freind / M[r] Thomas Brett to bee overseers and to be aydeing to myne Executor and to aforde him their / best helpe and assistance in the putting forth of my children as they shall come to be able / and fitting to be Apprentices

Item I give unto my sonne William my best bedstedle and / best featherbedd boulster two pillowes Rugg two blancketts with the Curtaines belonging / to it

And it is my will that the Linnen silver Plate and the rest of the bedding pewter and / brasse undisposed of shall be equally devided among my Eight youngest sonnes And my /daughter Elizabeth to have an equall share with them of all except the linnen and every one of them / a chest or trunke to put their severall shares of goods in

Alsoe I give and bequeath to Joseph / Beniamin Bartholomew Elizabeth Samuell and Caleb to be equally devided all that money which / is due to me from the Parliament upon the Publique faith

Item I give to my wifes two daughters / Rose and Margharet to either of them Ten shillings gould to be paid to them by my Executor / within sixe months after my decease

And I doe appoint and it is my will that my Sonne / William shall be myne Executor of this my last will and testament And that after my debts / and funerall be discharged that then I give to my said Sonne William all the rest of my goods / undisposed of of all sortes whatsoever

In witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand and / seale the daye and yeare aforesayd and published this to be my last will in the pr[e]sents of / those whose names are hereunder writtenn W[m] Stretton Tho: Brett Tho: Manton

Sources

1. ↑ ” Will of William Stretton, Jurat of Tenterden, Kent”, The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England ,11 January 1648, PROB 11/203/61, (accessed 19 Oct 2023)
2. ↑ Will: "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: 203
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry uk Record 5111 #857108 (accessed 30 September 2023)