George Bardsey 1647 of Scalford Will
National Archives PROB 11/199/151
In the name of God Amen I George Bardsey being in perfect health and memory (for which God Allmighty bee for ever praysed) doe make and ordaine this my laste will and Testament in manner and forme Following Revocking all former Willes whatsoever vid
I bequeath my Sowle to Allmighty God my Maker and Fatherly Preserver hitherto for which I give him most humble and unfeigned thankes; most humbly beseeching him in all humilyty when ytt shall leave my body to take ytt to him and to wash ytt from all sinne and Pollution by the blood and Passion of my mercyfull Saviour and his only beloved sonne Christ Jesus And my body to the earth from whence ytt Came
My estate I dispose of as followeth
And first I doe make my deare mother Mar: [probably Margery, George son of Nevill and Margery baptised 1594, Margery widow buried January 1647/8] Bardsey my Executrix to whom I give my howse shee lives in and all the Land belonging to ytt with all the Stocke of Cowes Sheepe and other Cattell that are myne att Scallford or elswhere And all the goodes aboute the howse and yard that are myne only the Picture of the Countesse of Bucckingham I desire may bee sent to the Right Honable the Earle of Denbigh accordinge to my promise
And I likewise give to my sayd Deare Mother the three howses and all the ground belonging to them in Scallford Feild or Towne I bought of Widdowe Pares of Scallford aforesaid during her naturall lyfe only
And then all the howses and land where my sayd deere Mother liveth and the other three howses with all the ground that belongeth to them I give to my Nephewe James Bardsey Rector of Hickling and his heires males for ever
If my nephewe James Bardsey have noe heires male then my will ys all my Mothers and my debts being first payed that the landes and howses afforesayd Com to Ed: Dixon Geo: Fisher and Jo: Frisby the sonnes of my three Sisters Marye Elizabeth and Susanna my mother beeinge to dispose of all the Stocke and goodes that are myne but what is and shalbe excepted in this my will
And my will ys that my sayd Nephew James Bardsey pay att every six monthes end after the decease of my sayd Deere mother to my brother Anthony Bardsey the somme of three Poundes and ten shillinges during the naturall lyfe of my sayd Brother Anthony Bardsey and three Poundes and ten shillinges to my Sister Susanna Fisher att each sayd six monthes ends during her naturall lyfe owt of the Rents of the Land I have given him att Scallford afforesayd when ytt shall come into his handes by the decease of my sayd deere mother And that within one yeare after hee pay the President or Master of Queenes Colledge Cambridge the Somme of Tenn Poundes for the Colledge to the Library or the Comon P…
My will ys that hee pay to my most honoured friend Sir John Lamb Knight and Ch… to the Queenes … Twenty or Therty Poundes bee ytt more or lesse for soe much money hee was pleased to send us in our extremity And that hee pay John Bayly of G… in the County of Oxford the summe of Twenty or Therty Poundes bee ytt more or lesse for which hee trusted us in our greatest extremity att his house in G…ard afforesayd most of ytt being expended for the use of my sayd Nephewe J Bardsey which twoe last summes I most earnestly desire bee spedily and most carefully payd and honest satisfaction for their forbearance of ytt
Lastly I give to my deere Mother the Fifty Poundes my Sister Eliz: Bardsey ys to pay mee as by the bond under the hand of my late deere brother Francis Bardsey during the naturall lyfe of my aforesayd deere Mother payable att fower severall Payments in each yeare And what shall iustly appeare to bee unpayd of the afforesayd Annytie of Fifty Poundes per Annum since or before the death of my sayd brother James Bardsey I give to my aforenamed deere mother Mrs Mary [possibly a mistake in the probate copy, parish registers are consistent about the parents of children baptised in Scalford bearing the forenames George and those he names as his siblings in this will being Nevill and Margery, but Mary has also been indexed] Bardsey
My will ys that Forty Five shillinges and eight Pence bee only payd to Stephen Marritt his Poorest freindes as att his death hee desired
And yf my Nephew Ja: Bardsey dye without heires male my will ys that what hee payd to Rob: Pares his Executor by my bond bee repayd to his heires owt of the sume affore ytt bee divided
In wittnesse whereof I have hereunto put my hand and Seale most humbly intreating my most deare mother my deere Nephew James Bardsey or whom else ytt may Concerne to see ytt this my last will honestly performed most humbly entreating God Allmightie for his only Sonnes Sake and my only Saviour Jesus Christ to give them frigthfull hearts to doe ytt this fower and Twentyth of January one Thowsand six hundred Forty and three
George Bardsey his Seale
In the presence of
R Langham
James Bardsey
Steven Marritt
Probate London 26 January 1646/7 to Mar: Bardsey executrix