In the name of God Amen:
The Second day of December in the year of our Lord God one thousand & Six Hundred Fifty and two I,
Edward Lole of Desborough in the County of Northampton, yeoman, being aged and Feeble in body, but of Sound
and perfect memory, Thanks be given unto Allmighty god, therefore doe make this my Last Will and Testament
in manner and form as Followeth:
Inprimis I doe give and bequeath my Soul to Allmighty god my Creator And to Jesus Christ his only Sonne,
my Saviour and Redeemer, And my body to the Earth from whence it came, to bee interred and buried.
Item I give and bequeath unto my Grandchild Edward Loule, thee Sonne of
Richard Lole, Twenty pounds; and
to my grandchild Anthony Lole three Sheepe.
Item I doo give and bequeath unto my Sonne Thomas Coles[?] Children Living in Draughton the Somme of
Twentie Shillings a peece, To my grandchild Mrs Coles Twenty Shillings, twelve months after my Decease, and
three Sheepe to his Children.
Item I give and bequeath to my grandchild Mrs Coles my Bed a holling[?], a paire of blankets & two boulsters,
a pillow and two drawers[?] and two pairs of Sheetes and a mattrice and a Cubbourd and a Pecm[?]
Item I give and bequeath unto my Sonne Amos Revit[?] Children Living in Faxton the Somme of Twenty
Shillings a peece the Eldest to bee payde tweelve moneths after my Decease and the rest to bee payde two
yeares after my Decease And three Sheepe to his Children.
Item I doo give and bequeath unto my Sonne Symon Burdat Daughter
Susannah Burdat of Rowell the Summe of
Twenty Shillings to bee payde tweelve moneths after my Decease.
Item I doo give and bequeath unto my Sister Amey Marston of Desborough the Somme of Twenty Shillings,
to bee payde tweelve moneths after my Decease.
Item I doo give and bequeath unto the poore Widdowes of Desborough the Somme of Tenn Shillings to bee
payde at my Decease.
item I doo Give and bequeath to my daughter Hannah wife, unto my Sonne Richard Lole, the Feather bed and
all the rest of the goods which bee in the howse which are not before mentioned.
In Witnesse whereof I, the Said Edward Lole, have to this my Last Will and Testament Sett my hand and
Seale, the day and yeare first above written, in the presence of And that I doe desire that John Andrewe and
Phillipp Marson Should bee Oversseers[?] of this my Will Edward Lole his mark, Sealed and Signed in the
presence of John Andrewe, Phillipp Marson.
Probate
This Will was proved at Westminster the Eight day of March in the yeare of our Lord god, According to
the Computation of the Church of England one thousand Six hundred Fifty and three, Before the Judge for the
Probate of Wills and granting Administrations, Lawfully Authorized by the oath of Hannah Lole, the daughter
of the Sayde deceased, And Sole Executrix named in this Will of the Saide deceased, to whom was Committed
Administration of all and Singular the goods, Chattles and debts of the Sayde deceased, Shee beinge first
Legally Sworne well and truly to Administer the Same.
Notes:-
Edward leaves relatively small sums of money, nine
sheep, and some household goods, but no real estate, so it looks as if he was not a wealthy man.
His legacies are to his grandchildren, his sister Amy and his daughter-in-law Hannah. He may have outlived his wife and all of his children.
However there is a Richard Lole who witnessed the will of John Silby of Desborough on 26th March 1654, and
Hannah is described above as "wife" of Richard, rather than "widow", so it may be that Richard was much
better off than his father and this is the reason he was not left anything directly. Another possibility
is that Richard and his father had fallen out ...
The original will has no punctuation or separate
paragraphs. As this makes it hard to read I have
inserted some punctuation and broken the text into separate clauses. The spelling follows that
of the original.
"[?]" following a word means that the word on the original document is unclear and the
transcription may be incorrect.
" [???] " means that a whole word was illegible and could not be guessed at.
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