Will of Elizabeth Lambe of Great Marlow. Written 1728, proved 1731.
Says she is writing will because of the uncertainty of this transitory life.
Commends soul to God and hopes for pardon and remission for her sins.
Debts and funeral charges to be paid by her own executor. She to be decently interred.
To Mrs Susan Cooke a ...gown.....(several indecipherable words)
To Mr John Cooke four silver (medals?) and two pairs.....
To Mr Thomas Stanton a gold ...ring.
To Mrs Cordelia Stanton a gold locket.
To Mrs Dority [spelling reflects the common pronunciation of the name Dorothy at this time] Ward a green emerald ring with two diamonds.
To Mrs Dority Cavalier a mother of pearl snuff box bound with silver.
To Mr Peeter Pagett a silver snuff box.
To my brother....Bot... £5 and to Debora his wife £5, my wedding ring and a black cloth gown.
To John Rogers and Thomas Rogers my nephews £10 apiece.
To Richard, Robert and Debora (Dirks?) my cousins £5 apiece.
To Grace (Dirks?) a black silk gown.
To my sister Mary (Borch? Booth?) a black gown and to her husband a silver spoon.
To Mrs Dority Horniman an ash coloured suit of silk and a quilted petticoat of red and green. In case the Ship "Mediterranean" in which the said suit and petticoat goes should miscarry the executor to make good the loss by way of a quantity of silk. [As becomes clear later in the will the testator is writing her will onboard a ship].
To Mr William M... £10.
I give mourning rings to Reverend Mr Benjamin Crow, to Mr William Gray, Mr Thomas Blackwell, Mr Thomas ...., Mr David Cannon, Mr Ch..g merchant at..., Mr John ..an, Mr John Row, Mr Robert Cartwright and his wife Mrs Mary Cartwright, Mr... my nephew and to his wife, each of the three sister of Mr (Mins?) in Bishopgate Street [presumably the street in London], Mr John Newton distiller and to his wife, Mr Thomas Buttler, Mr Cavalier of ...ghouse, to Captain Brown and to his wife, to Captain..., Mr Chamberlain Godfrey.
To Captain John Hark at my safe arrival at Legh... £10.
All else of personal estate to loving niece Anne Rogers who is also made executor of the will.
Witnessed by Richard Sh... and William May.
***
Questions may have arisen over the will as Elizabeth had made a mistake. Mr William May and Debora Rogers both of London appeared to give sworn statements as to being familiar with the testator and her wishes. William said that Elizabeth Lambe was late of Great Marlow, formerly of London and also of an illegible place in Italy. He was a fellow passenger on a merchant ship carrying Elizabeth from Legh...to England in April 1728 when and also took lodgings opposite her own lodgings when they arrived in London. There they both lived for several months. She asked him to come and help her with her will in October 1728 [presumably ahead of her return voyage from London to Leigh...]. At the time Elizabeth indicated that she had forgotten the first name of the niece Rogers that she wanted to execute her will (!!!!). It was either Anne or Debora she thought but didn't think it mattered if the will got it wrong. Elizabeth was dictating the document to William and as she said it wasn't important that he rendered the name correctly he plumped for naming the executor as "Anne Rogers". Some time later he was once more a fellow passenger on the "Mediterranean" ship with Elizabeth and also her niece - Debora Rogers as it transpired not Anne! During the voyage Elizabeth indicated to him that this was the niece she intended to be the executor and main beneficiary of the will. This niece Debora he brought to the probate hearing. The court accepted this and Debora was allowed to execute the will.
Hopefully she used some of her inheritance to get a nice big pendant with her name on to hang about her neck in case other relatives of hers were similarly vague as to her identity.
This p.c.c will transcribed from the original held at the National Archives, Kew and then summarized by me Charlotte Day.
Many other will transcriptions are on this blog, see the Wills Index.
©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my transcription summary with credit to this blog.
