Amanuensis Monday: Will of Hugh Filbee of Lewknor, 1756

Yeoman Hugh Filbee was buried in St Margaret’s churchyard in Lewknor, Oxfordshire, on 14 January 1767. Here is a transcription of his will. While it sheds light on the names of his children, and suggests his wife had predeceased him, it provides few if any clues which help distinguish him from the various Hugh Filbees who had been baptized at St. Margaret’s and were living in Lewknor in the mid 18th century. Still, it’s a start

Will of Hugh Filbee of Lewknor, Oxfordshire  
Made 24 May 1756; proved 26 January 1767
Oxfordshire Records Center: ref 24/3/3
[To facilitate online viewing, the following transcription does not reflect the line breaks of the original document.]

“In the Name of God Amen. The Twenty Fourth day of May [word scratched out] in the Twenty Ninth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland. King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord One Thousand and Fifty Six ~

I Hugh Filbee of the parish of Lewknor in the County of Oxford Yoem[an] being in reasonable good health and of sound and perfect Mind & Memory praise be therefore given to Almighty god for the same do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following (that is to say)

First and principally I commend my Soul into the hands of Almighty God hoping through the Merits Death and Passion of my Saviour Jesus Christ to have full & free Pardon and forgiveness of all my Sins and to inherit Everlasting Life and my Body I commit to the earth to be decently buried at the Discretion of my Executors hereinafter named and as touching the Disposition of all such Temporal Estateas it hath pleased Almighty God to bestow upon me I give and Dispose thereof as followeth

First I give devise & bequeath to my two Sons Hugh and Henry Filbee All that my Freehold Estate which I lately purchased of  Mr.William Rolles commonly called Steven’s Farm (that is to say) all that my Messuage or Tenement situate lying and being in the parish of Lewknor aforesaid together with all the Lands Barns Stables and other Appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging situate within the precincts of Lewknor aforesaid or in a Meadow called Shillingford Mead To have and to hold to them and their Heirs forever dividing the same equally betwixt them or if either of them shall have a mind to take the whole my Will is that He shall and may so take it paying to the other Eight score pounds

And I give bequeath unto my said Son Henry Filbee All that Close which I lately purchased of Edward Gomm of Lewknor aforesaid lying next to Robert Croxford on the West side thereof and to his Heirs forever And I give & bequeath to my daughter Mary the Sum of Fifty Pounds to be paid unto her by my Executors hereinafter named within two years next after my Decease

And I give & bequeath to my Daughters Jane Alice & Judith Forty Pounds apiece to be paid unto them by my Executors hereinafter named within two years next after my Decease

And I give & bequeath unto my Daughter Ann Five pounds to be paid unto her by my Executors hereinafter named within two years next fter my Decease

And I give & bequeath unto my Daughter Elizabeth Ten Pounds to be paid unto her by my Executors hereinafter named within two Years next after my Decease

And I give Devise & bequeath unto my said two Daughters Mary and Judith all my Furniture in the Chamber over the Hall to be equally Divided betwixt them immediately after my Decease Share & Share alike

And Further if it shall so happen that my Personal estate at my Decease shall not be Sufficient to pay my Daughters their said Legacies my Will is that the same shall be made good them out of my Freehold Estate devised as above But if it shall happen that any or either of my said Daughters shall dye unmarried before my Decease in that Case my Will is that her or their Legacy or Legacies be given to the rest of my Daughters who shall be then living Share & Share alike

Also all the rest of my Goods Chattels and Personal Estate whatsoever after my just Debts and Legacies aforesaid are paid and discharged I give & bequeath to my said Sons Hugh and Henry whom I make and appoint Joint Executors of this my last Will & Testament desiring them to see the same performed according to the true intent & meaning of these Presents

And Lastly I do hereby revoke and make void all former & other Wills by me at any time heretofore made declaring this to be my last will and Testament

Sealed published and declared by the said Hugh Filbee the Testator}                                  Hugh Filbee     [his seal]
his Last Will & Testament in the presence of us who also Subscribed our}
[word cut off image copy] as Witnesses in the presence of the said Testator}

the mark of
Elizabeth   X   Knight
John Smith
Fran~ Robson

This Will was prov’d and
Sworn to by the within nam’d
Executors Hugh & Henry Filbee
the Sixteenth Day of January
1767. before me

James Beaver, Surrogate

Prob. passed 26th Jan^ry 1767″

(Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging prompt hosted by Geneabloggers)

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