Mapledurwell Probate Material 1661-80

There are seven wills and nine inventories for this period including the will and inventory of the major freeholder, John Sumner and the copyholder of the Manor Farm, Gregory Mathew. Christopher Elizabeth Smith’s probate is a mystery. She was buried on Christmas Day 1638 and her inventory was assessed in January 1639 but the probate was not granted until 1665.

These transcriptions have been made from copies of original probate documents supplied by HRO and TNA.  Words have been modernized and punctuation added to make reading easier but names have been transcribed as written. Words in italics indicate omissions in the original document which have been added to make sense of the text. Words in square brackets indicate that they have been transcribed as seen but where the meaning is unclear. Basingstoke is described as being in the county of Southampton, the old name for Hampshire.

A glossary is attached of unusual words.

Links to all the wills and inventories appear below:

• Roger Ayres, yeoman, 1661 (Will and inventory)
• Thomas Marline, sievemaker, 1662 (Will and inventory)
• Gregory Mathew, yeoman, 1663 (Inventory)
• Christopher Frye, husbandman, 1664 (Will and inventory)
• Elizabeth Smith, widow, 1665 (Inventory)
• John Ifould, millwright, 1668 (Will and inventory)
• William Eayres, yeoman, 1670 (Will and inventory)
• John Sumner, yeoman, 1675 (Will and inventory)
• Richard Marlin, husbandman, 1676 (Will and inventory)