William Blackwell

Margaret Campion was married to a William Blackwell, but not Sir William Blackwell, the one who was the son of Richard Blckwall & Agnes Tunstead.

Family

Extracted from http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-52_ff_214-15.pdf

According to the will below testator [William Blackwell d. 1570] had five sons and four daughters:

Perhaps by a first wife, ?? Warton, perhaps sister of Edward Warton, gent.

1. Edward Blackwell, d. 1572

By Margaret Campion (d. 1586), daughter of Thomas Campion, (d.1539), merchant taylor of London:

1. Thomas Blackwell, Esq., d. 1574. Married Alice Avenon, widow of John Farrington.
2. George Blackwell, gent.
3. William Blackwell
4. Richard Blackwell, gent.
5. Anne Blackwell, who married Thomas Bacon (d.1577), by whom she was the mother of Mathy or Matthew Bacon (d.1639).
6. Saintes or Sence or Sens Blackwell (buried 24 August 1571). She married Matthew Draper (d.1577) on 13 June 1559.
7. Margaret Blackwell, unmarried when the testator made his will. In the will of her mother, Margaret Campion Blackwell (d.1586), TNA PROB 11/69/398, she is referred to as ‘Margaret Galleye, wife of Richard Gallye, one other of my daughters’.
8. Mary Blackwell, said to have been the testator’s youngest daughter. In 1565 she married William Walpole (8 August 1544 - 1587), son of John Walpole of Harpley (d. 1 November 1557), by whom she had no issue. See Jessopp, Augustus, One Generation of a Norfolk House, 2nd ed., (London: Burns and Oates, 1879), pp. 116-29 at < GoogleBooks >

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See here for her family
http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-52_ff_214-15.pdf
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES PROB 11/52/400 1
________________________________________________________________________
Modern spelling transcript copyright ©2009 Nina Green All Rights Reserved
http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/
SUMMARY: The document below is the Prerogative Court of Canterbury copy of the
will, dated 7 January 1568 and proved 17 October 1570, of William Blackwell, father of
Anne (nee Blackwell) Bacon, wife of the 16th Earl’s bailiff of Lavenham, Thomas Bacon
(d.1577), who held leases from Oxford.
For the testator, see also Chambers, E.K., William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and
Problems, Vol. II, (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1930), pp. 165-6 at:
https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.182554/2015.182554.Wil...
The testator was Town Clerk of London, and a member of the Company of Scriveners.
He was left a bequest, as Town Clerk, in the 1568 will of the London alderman, Edward
Jackman (see TNA PROB 11/52/55):
Item, I give and bequeath to Mr Blackwell, now Town Clerk of London, a ring of gold of
40s or the value in money, as he will.
The testator was appointed as an executor of the will of Lady Anne Grey (d.1559), who
also held property in the Blackfriars. See TNA PROB 11/42B/3.
TESTATOR’S CONNECTION TO SHAKESPEARE
The testator, his daughter, Anne (nee Blackwell) Bacon, and his grandson, Mathy or
Matthew Bacon of Gray’s Inn, are all mentioned in the indenture by which William
Shakespeare (1564-1616) of Stratford upon Avon purchased a dwelling-house or
tenement and plot of ground in the precinct of the Blackfriars on 10 March 1613 (see
Folger MS Z.c.22(45) and London Metropolitan Archives CLC/522/MS03738 on this
website for the purchasers’ and vendor’s copies of the indenture, respectively).
From London Metropolitan Archives CLC/522/MS03738 on the Shakespeare
Documented website at:
http://www.shakespearedocumented.org/exhibition/document/shakespear...
. . . part of which said tenement is erected over a great gate leading to a capital
messuage which sometime was in the tenure of William Blackwell, esquire, deceased, and
since that in the tenure or occupation of the right honourable Henry, now Earl of
Northumberland;
And also all that plot of ground on the west side of the same tenement which was lately
enclosed with boards on two sides thereof by Anne Bacon, widow, so far and in such sort
as the same was enclosed by the said Anne Bacon . . . .
Which said dwelling-house or tenement and other the premises above by these presents
mentioned to be bargained and sold the said Henry Walker late purchased and had to
him, his heirs and assigns forever of Mathie Bacon of Gray’s Inn in the county of
Middlesex, gentleman, bearing date the fifteenth day of October in the year of Our Lord
God one thousand six hundred and four.
See also the Loseley manuscripts at the Folger Shakespeare Library:
https://findingaids.folger.edu/dfoloseley.xml
L.b.391
Blackwell, William. d. ca. 1569. Letter, signed. To Sir Thomas Cawarden. London. June
21, 1554.
Blackwell says that the Bishop of Norwich (Thomas Thirlby, later Bishop of Ely) wishes
to buy a piece of ground in the Blackfriars which adjoins his property, that he is sending
a deed drawn up for Cawarden’s signature, “togyther with his saide Originall draughte
thereof in paper”. Shakespeare later bought the house erected over the great gate
leading to Mr. Blackwell’s mansion house.
See also:
Reference: Z/407/Lb.395
Title:
Draft or copy of bargain and sale by Sir Thomas Cawarden to Thomas
[Thirlby], Bishop of Norwich, of a piece of void ground in the Blackfriars, 39'
by 37' 3", abutting on the Bishop's property, on property in the tenure of one
Warren and on the 'great tennis play', for £6 13s 4d. William Blackwell and
Edward Blackwell are appointed agents and attorneys for Cawarden. [Film
Fo 321.110]
Date: nd [1554]
Held by: Surrey History Centre, not available at The National Archives
For the documents in a lawsuit requiring the production of evidences concerning a capital
messuage and other property in the Blackfriars brought in Chancery on 26 April 1615
against the testator’s grandson, Mathy Bacon, by Sir Thomas Bendish (d.1636), Edward
Newport, William Thursby, Robert Dormer and Mary, his wife, William Shakespeare of
Stratford upon Avon, gentleman, and Richard Bacon, see TNA C 2/JasI/B11/9. See also
the facsimile at the Shakespeare Documented website at:
http://www.shakespearedocumented.org/exhibition/document/sir-thomas...
It appears the lawsuit concerned evidences which related to the entire Blackfriars
property once owned by the Blackwells, and not solely to evidences related to the
gatehouse purchased by William Shakespeare. And in fact, although William
Shakespeare was joined in the lawsuit, the testator may not have held any evidences
related to the gatehouse in 1615.
For the Chancery decree dated 22 May 1615 ordering Mathy Bacon to deposit the
evidences in his possession with the court, see TNA C 33/127, f. 1074r at:
http://www.shakespearedocumented.org/exhibition/document/sir-thomas...
FAMILY BACKGROUND
The testator states in the will below that he was born in Edgware, and leaves bequests to
the poor of Hendon, Enfield, Sewardstone and Waltham Holy Cross, where he held
property and perhaps had family connections.
The names of the testator’s parents are unknown. In the will below he mentions his
‘sister Ewer’ and her children, his sister’s son, John Arland [=Ireland?], his brother-inlaw, Edward Warton, his cousin, Henry Spurling, and Henry Spurling’s sister, ‘now wife
of Richard Nicoll of Rydewaye’ [=Ridgeway?], his cousin Agnes Spurling, widow, and
his cousin, Ursula Patrick.
For the will, dated 4 August 1563 and proved 10 February 1565, of Henry Spurling,
yeoman, of Stanmore the Less [=Whitchurch], Middlesex, in which he mentions his wife,
Agnes, his father-in-law, ‘Mr Warton’, his brother-in-law, Richard Nicoll, whom he
appoints as executor, and his uncle, William Blackwell, esquire, of London, whom he
appoints as overseer, see TNA PROB 11/48/50.
Richard Nicoll appears to have been a member of the Nicholls family of Copt Hall. See:
A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, Eileen P Scarff and G C Tyack, 'Hendon: Other estates', in A
History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5, Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore,
Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham, ed. T F T
Baker and R B Pugh (London, 1976), pp. 21-23. British History Online
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol5/pp21-23 [accessed 27 July 2018].
John Fortescue and others granted a house and 43 a. of meadow and pasture in Hendon
to the hospital of St. Mary within Cripplegate, London, commonly called Elsyng Spital,
(fn. 42) in 1457. (fn. 43) The estate was granted in 1543 to Hugh Losse and Thomas
Boucher, (fn. 44) who alienated it in the same year to Thomas Nicholl of Highwood Hill.
(fn. 45) Nicholl conveyed it in 1551 to William Copwood and John Snow, (fn. 46) and in
1617 it was held by Thomas Marsh; (fn. 47) the land later formed part of Stoneyfields
farm, near the Hale, totalling 110 a., which was held in 1828 by Francis Dollman. (fn.
48)
Kilburn priory held a small amount of unspecified land in Hendon at the Dissolution,
worth 2s. and leased to John Brent. (fn. 49) The later history of the estate is unknown.
The estate of the Nicholls of Copt Hall originated in lands belonging in 1574 to Richard
Nicholl of the Ridgeway, who held a tenement called Goodhews and 20 fields and crofts
around Mill Hill, both freehold and copyhold. (fn. 50) In 1585 he surrendered six fields
to his son Thomas (fn. 51).
MARRIAGE AND ISSUE
First marriage?
Although the evidence is inconclusive, it appears the testator may have married firstly a
wife surnamed Warton (in the will below he mentions his brother-in-law, Edward
Warton, gentleman), and that Edward Blackwell may have been the son of his first
marriage.
The testator leaves bequests to his son, Edward Blackwell, and to Edward’s wife and
children, but does not state that his current wife, Margaret Campion, is Edward
Blackwell’s mother (as he does with respect to his sons, Thomas Blackwell, George
Blackwell and Richard Blackwell, and his daughter, Margaret Blackwell). Moreover in
her own will, dated 14 and 15 May 1586 and proved 4 July 1586, TNA PROB 11/69/398,
Margaret Campion Blackwell makes no mention of Edward Blackwell or his children,
and bequeaths her lands and goods to her son, William Blackwell.
It is also perhaps significant that in his 1539 will Margaret Campion’s father, Thomas
Campion, leaves bequests of £5 to Thomas Blackwell and William Blackwell, referring
to both as his ‘nephews’ [=grandsons], but leaves lesser bequests of £2 to Richard
Blackwell and Edward Blackwell, whom he does not designate as his nephews. For the
will of Thomas Campion, see TNA PROB 11/27/545.
Second marriage
At the time he made his will, the testator’s wife was Margaret Campion (d.1586), the
daughter of Thomas Campion (d.1539), merchant taylor of London. Thomas Campion’s
sister, Joan Campion (d.1557), was the mother of Bishop Thomas Thirlby, for whom see
the ODNB entry:
Thirlby, Thomas (c. 1500–1570), bishop of Westminster and of Ely, was born in
Cambridge where his father, John (d. 1539), was town clerk. His mother, Joan (d. 1557),
was the daughter of William Campion of London. Thomas was the first of their three
children, probably born a few years earlier than 1506 as claimed in his memorial at
Lambeth, since by 1521 he had graduated BCL from Trinity Hall, Cambridge. . . .
For the Campion pedigree, see Metcalfe, Walter C., ed., The Visitations of Essex, Part II,
(London: Harleian Society, 1879), Vol. XIV, p. 556 at:
https://books.google.ca/books?id=8vsUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA556
For the will of the testator’s brother-in-law, William Campion (d.1576), see TNA PROB
11/58/432.
According to the will below testator had five sons and four daughters:

• Edward Blackwell. He was bequeathed £2 in the 1539 will of Thomas Campion, TNA

PROB 11/27/545. His wife and children are mentioned in the will below. He may have
died in 1572. See TNA C 142/164/79.

• Thomas Blackwell (d.1573), esquire, of Michelham Park, Petworth, Sussex. In the

will below the testator refers to him as his second son. In the will of Thomas Campion,
TNA PROB 11/27/545, he is referred to as ‘my nephew’ [=grandson]. He married Alice
Avenon, the widow of John Farrington (d.1569), and the daughter of Sir Alexander
Avenon (d.1580?), Lord Mayor of London in 1569-70 and eight times Master of the
Ironmongers. See Nicholl, John, comp., Some Account of the Worshipful Company of
Ironmongers, (London: John Bowyer Nichols and Son, 1851), pp. 544-5 at:
https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028067449#page/n563
See also Nicholl, supra, 2nd ed., (London, 1866), pp. 518-19 at:
https://archive.org/stream/someaccountofwo00nich#page/518
See also the pedigree of Avenon in Howard, Joseph Jackson and George John Armytage,
eds., The Visitation of London in the Year 1568, (London: Harleian Society, 1869), p. 3
at:
https://archive.org/stream/visitationoflond00cook#page/2
For the will of John Farrington (d.1569), citizen and cloth-worker of London, see TNA
PROB 11/52/101.
In his will, dated 26 January 1573 and proved 31 January 1573, TNA PROB 11/55/47,
Thomas Blackwell states that was heir to his brothers, George and Richard:
. . . all other my messuages, lands, tenements . . . in the counties of Middlesex and
Hertford which came and descended unto me as brother and next heir by, from and after
the deceases of my two brethren, George Blackwell and Richard Blackwell, gentlemen,
deceased . . .

• William Blackwell. In the will of Thomas Campion, TNA PROB 11/27/545, he is

referred to as ‘my nephew’ [=grandson]. He is mentioned in the 1573 will of his elder
brother, Thomas Blackwell, as ‘my well-beloved brother, William Blackwell,
gentleman’, and in the will of his mother, Margaret Campion Blackwell, TNA 11/69/398.

• George Blackwell, gentleman. In the will below the testator refers to him as his fourth

son. Henry Machyn recorded that ‘young Master George Blackwell’ was godfather at the
christening of his nephew, George Bacon, in February 1563. See Nichols, John Gough,
ed., The Diary of Henry Machyn, (London: Camden Society, 1848), pp. 300-1 at:
https://books.google.ca/books?id=5nZAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA300
The (blank) day of February was christened at Saint Andrews in the Wardrobe George
Bacon, the son of Master Bacon, squire, sometime Serjeant of the Acatry by Queen
Mary’s days. His godfathers were young Master George Blackwell and Master Walpole,
godmother, Mistress Sens Draper of Camberwell beyond Newington, and after, great
cheer. . . .
The same day [=8 March 1563] Mistress Bacon was churched at Saint Andrew’s in
Wardrobe, the wife of Master Bacon, Serjeant of the Acatry unto Queen Mary, and after
she went home unto her father’s house, Master Blackwell, and so she and a great
company of gentlewomen had a great dinner as could be had as for Lent as for fish.
George Blackwell is referred to as deceased in the 1573 will of his elder brother, Thomas
Blackwell.

• Richard Blackwell, gentleman. In the will below the testator refers to him as ‘my

youngest son’. He is mentioned in the will of Thomas Campion, TNA PROB 11/27/545,
and is referred to as deceased in the 1573 will of his elder brother, Thomas Blackwell.

• Anne Blackwell, who married Thomas Bacon (d.1577), by whom she was the mother

of Mathy or Matthew Bacon (d.1639). For the will of Thomas Bacon, see TNA PROB
11/59/473. For the will of the testator’s grandson, Mathy or Matthew Bacon (d.1639),
see TNA PROB 11/180/622.

• Saintes or Sence or Sens Blackwell (buried 24 August 1571). She married Matthew

Draper (d.1577) on 13 June 1559. For his will see TNA PROB 11/59/439. For the
Draper family see Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, Vol. III, (London: John
Bowyer Nichols, 1836), pp. 150-1 at:
https://archive.org/stream/collectaneatopog03londuoft#page/150
See also the Draper pedigree in Nicholl, John, comp., Some Account of the Worshipful
Company of Ironmongers, 2nd ed., (London, 1866), p. 520 at:

• Margaret Blackwell, unmarried when the testator made his will. In the will of her

mother, Margaret Campion Blackwell (d.1586), TNA PROB 11/69/398, she is referred to
as ‘Margaret Galleye, wife of Richard Gallye, one other of my daughters’.

• Mary Blackwell, said to have been the testator’s youngest daughter. In 1565 she

married William Walpole (8 August 1544 - 1587), son of John Walpole of Harpley (d. 1
November 1557), by whom she had no issue. See Jessopp, Augustus, One Generation of
a Norfolk House, 2nd ed., (London: Burns and Oates, 1879), pp. 116-29 at:
http://books.google.com/books?oe=UTF8&id=fjI2AAAAMAAJ&q=blackwell#v...
For the will of William Walpole, see TNA PROB 11/71/442.
For the testator’s family, see also Questier, Michael C., Catholicism and Community in
Early Modern England, (Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 319-320. Questier
states that the Blackwells were retainers of the Earls of Northumberland, and that the
testator’s son, Thomas Blackwell, was the 7th Earl’s steward and receiver. Questier
mistakenly states that the Archpriest George Blackwell (1547-1613) ‘was one of the sons
of Margaret Blackwell’. However as indicated in the will of Thomas Blackwell (see
above), Margaret Blackwell’s son, George Blackwell, was dead by 1573.
OTHER PERSONS MENTIONED IN THE WILL
For the Marsh family of Hendon, see Cokayne, George Edward, Some Notice of Various
Families of the Name of Marsh, (Exeter: William Pollard, 1900), pp. 1-3 at:
https://archive.org/stream/somenoticeofvari00gecg#page/n9/
See also the Marsh pedigree in Howard, Joseph Jackson and Joseph Lemuel Chester,
eds., The Visitation of London, Vol. I, (London: Harleian Society, 1880), Vol. XV, p. 81
at:
https://archive.org/stream/visitationoflond1517stge#page/80
TESTATOR’S MANORS
Manor of Campions
'Epping: Introduction and manors', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5, ed. W
R Powell (London, 1966), pp. 114-127. British History Online http://www.britishhistory.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol5/pp114-127 [accessed 27 July 2018]
The manor of EPPING or CAMPIONS lay in the north-west corner of the parish, near
the Waltham boundary. The manor house, which was demolished more than a century
ago, stood south of Parvills Farm. (fn. 100) The Campion family, from which the manor
derived its name, was associated with Epping and Waltham from the 14th century. (fn.
101) Their estate may originally have been connected with Chambers (see below). In
1490 and 1529 John Campion was holding a manor court for Campions. (fn. 102) He
was succeeded by Edward Campion, who held his first court in 1539. (fn. 103) In 1544
Edward and his wife Helena conveyed the manor to William Blackwell, (fn. 104) who in
1565 also acquired Chambers. Blackwell still held Campions in 1569. (fn. 105)
Manor of Charlton
Edward Hasted, 'Parishes: Charlton', in The History and Topographical Survey of the
County of Kent: Volume 1 (Canterbury, 1797), pp. 420-441. British History Online
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol1/pp420-441 [accessed 27 July 2018]
Queen Mary, in her 5th year, granted this manor, with its appurtenances, to Thomas
White, Roger Martyn, and William Blackwell, to hold with other premises, in capite, by
the service of a fortieth part of one knight's see. (fn. 3) It was granted by queen Elizabeth
in her 5th year, to lady Anne Parre.
Manor of Fridinghurst
'Parishes: Chiddingfold', in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3, ed. H E Malden
(London, 1911), pp. 10-16. British History Online http://www.britishhistory.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol3/pp10-16 [accessed 23 July 2018]
The manor of Ashurst and Fridinghurst came later into the possession of the Forde
family. Edmund Forde, who acquired it from Henry Windsor and Eleanor his wife in
1549, (fn. 34) held the first court of which record remains in 1550, and in 1560 Thomas
Rythe and Constance his wife and John Hussey further confirmed to Forde. (fn. 35) It
passed from Forde to Blackwell. In 1567 Thomas Blackwell held his first court, in 1583
Margaret Blackwell his widow, in 1586 William Blackwell, in 1608 Henry Blackwell. In
1610 Henry and William Blackwell, brothers, sold the manor to John Middleton of
Horsham and Thomas Burdett of Abinger for £1,100. (fn. 36)
For Henry Windsor and his wife, Eleanor Burbage, see the will of Sir Anthony Windsor
(d. July 1548), TNA PROB 11/32/517.
RM: Will{el}mi Blackwell
In the name of God, Amen. The 7th day of January in the year of Our Lord God a
thousand five hundred threescore and 7th, I, William Blackwell of London, gentleman,
being in good and perfect health of my body and also of good and safe mind and
memory, thanked be Almighty God, do make and ordain this my testament and last will
in manner and form following, that is to say:
First and principally I bequeath and recommend my soul unto the infinite mercy of
Almighty God, my Creator, Saviour and Redeemer, and to the most Blessed and
Immaculate Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lady Saint Mary the Virgin, and to all
the holy company of heaven, and my body I bequeath to his natural resting place, the
earth, to be buried where it shall seem to mine executrice hereafter named meet and
convenient;
And for my tithes and oblations negligently or otherwise forgotten or withholden, I give
and bequeath to the parson of the parish church of Saint Andrews in the ward of Castle
Baynard whereof I am a parishioner 3s 4d;
Item, I give to every poor godchild that [+I] shall have living at the day of my death, 12d;
Item, I give to my brother-in-law, Edward Warton, gentleman, a black coat, and to his
wife a black gown;
Item, I will that my said executrice shall give and bestow for me 12 black gowns with
hoods, that is to say, 6 of them to 6 men, whereof I will my son, Edward Blackwell, my
son [=son-in-law] Bacon, my son [=son-in-law] Draper, my son [=son-in-law] Walpole
and my brother [=brother-in-law] Campion to be five, if it shall please them to use the
same at my burial as mourners, the other 6 to the 6 women hereunder named that shall
then likewise mourn for me after the accustomed manner, that is to say, my said son
Edward’s wife, my daughter Bacon, my daughter Draper, my daughter Walpole, my
cousin, Ursula Patrick, and my sister [=sister-in-law] Campion, if they shall be living and
be contented so to mourn, and to every of my children and servants that I shall have at the
time of my decease that shall not be accounted any of the said 12 mourners I give and
bequeath a black gown or a black coat at and by the discretion of my said executrice;
Item, I will that my said executrice at the time of my burial or very shortly after shall
distribute and give or cause to be given to the poor people of the places hereafter
mentioned five pounds, that is to say, to those that shall resort to the place where I shall
depart this present life at the time of my burial or before, 40s by penny dole or otherwise
by her discretion, to the prisoners of either of the Counters in London 5s in bread, to the
prisoners in Ludgate 5s in bread, and to the prisoners in Newgate 5s in bread, to the poor
people of Edgware in the county of Middlesex where I was born, 20s in ready money, to
be given to the poor householders there by eight pence apiece or more or less by the
discretion of my said executrix, to the poor people of Hendon in the said county of
Middlesex, 6s 8d, to the poor people of Enfield in the same county, 6s 8d, and to the poor
people of Syverdestone [=Sewardstone?] and Waltham Holy Cross in the county of
Essex, 6s 8d;
Item, I give and bequeath to the Right Reverend Father in God and my most singular
good Lord, Thomas Thirlby, late Bishop of Ely, for a poor token or remembrance of good
heart and will towards his Lordship, one ring of gold of the value of five marks, and to
my cousin, Henry Thirlby, son of my cousin Thomas Thirlby, his Lordship’s brother, I
give and bequeath 40s, and to every other child of my said cousin Thomas I give 10s, and
to James Parkyns and Alexander Graunt [=Grant], my said Lord’s servants, I give and
bequeath 20s, viz., to either of them ten shillings;
Item, I give to John Arland [=Ireland?], my sister’s son, twenty shillings;
Item, I give to every of my said son Edward Blackwell’s children twenty shillings, and to
my sister Ewer [=Eure?] I give twenty shillings, [f. 214v] and to every of her children
20s, to every of the children of my cousin Henry Spurling, deceased, and of his sister,
now wife of Richard Nicoll of Rydewaye [=Ridgeway?], 10s, and to every of my said son
Bacon’s children born of the body of Anne, my daughter, his wife, 20s, and to every of
his other children 10s, and to my cousin Agnes Spurling, widow, 10s;
The residue of all my part of my movable goods, chattels and money, the same my whole
goods, chattels and money, after my debts paid and mine ordinary funeral charges borne
and allowed, divided according to the laudable custom of the said City of London into
three equal parts, I wholly give and bequeath in manner and form following, that is to
say:
To my wife, one hundred pounds;
To every of my sons, Thomas, William, George and Richard, such portion and so much
of my said part as shall make up every of their parts and portions of my said goods one
hundred pounds;
And to my daughter, Margaret, I do also give and bequeath of my said part and portion so
much as shall make up her part and portion of my said goods [interlined word illegible]
to her comfort and advancement in marriage, so always that she do use and behave
herself honestly and obediently towards her mother and do not marry or contract
matrimony with any person without the consent and goodwill of her said mother;
Item, I give and bequeath unto my Company of the Scriveners, 26s 8d;
Item, where my said son, Edward, standeth and is bound to me by his obligation bearing
date the 7th day of April in the 5th year [=7 April 1563] of the reign of our said Sovereign
Lady the Queen’s Majesty that now is in the sum of one hundred and forty pounds for the
sure payment of one hundred twenty-seven pounds and ten shillings by ten pounds by
year, to be paid at the four usual feasts of payment of the year by even portions, as by the
condition of the said obligation more plainly it doth appear, I do clearly remit, release and
forgive to him, the said Edward, his executors and administrators, by this my last will and
testament the moiety or one-half of all that and as much of the said sum of £127 10s as
shall fortune to remain and be due unto me at the day of my death;
And as for and concerning the disposition, ordering and bestowing of such poor lands and
tenements as it hath pleased the goodness of God to send me which I have not already or
shall not otherwise give, dispose and bestow, I will and bequeath to the above-named
Margaret, my wife, my two parcels of land or meadow with their appurtenances
commonly called Dooles lying and being in the common field within the parish of
Hendon in the county of Middlesex called Sheveshill, to have, hold and enjoy the same to
her and her assigns during her natural life;
Item, I give and bequeath to Thomas Blackwell, my second son, after the decease of my
said wife, all that my manor, lands, tenements and hereditaments with their
appurtenances in Epping in the county of Essex called or known by the name of
Campions, and also all mine own mansion house with all the meses or tenements
thereunto adjoining, with all and singular their appurtenances set, lying or being either
within the parish of Saint Andrew in the ward of Castle Baynard in the said City of
London or else within any other parish or ward of the same City, to have and to hold the
said manor and other the premises with their appurtenances in Epping and London
aforesaid immediately after the decease of his said mother to him, the said Thomas
Blackwell, his heirs and assigns, forever;
Item, I give and wholly bequeath after the decease of my said wife, to George Blackwell,
my fourth son, and to his heirs and assigns forever all that my farmhouse or messuage,
with all and singular the lands, tenements and hereditaments thereunto belonging now in
the several holdings or occupations of Robert Mershe [=Marsh?] the younger, William
Rolf [=Rolfe?] and John Mersh the younger of Hendon in the county of Middlesex,
yeomen, or of their assigns, set, lying and being in the same parish of Hendon, and also
those two parcels of land or meadow of mine with their appurtenances lying and being in
the said parish of Hendon in the common field there called Sheveshill which I before by
this my present last will and testament have given and bequeathed to Margaret, my wife,
for term of her life, to have and to hold all the same lands, tenements and hereditaments
with all and singular their appurtenances immediately after the decease of his said mother
to him, the said George Blackwell, and to his heirs and assigns forever;
Item, I give and wholly bequeath to Richard Blackwell, my youngest son, after the
decease of my said wife, his mother, all my lands and tenements with their appurtenances
set, lying and being within the parish of Hendon aforesaid which now are in the several
holdings and occupations of John Gibbes, Robert Mershe th’ elder and Robert Rippen,
yeomen, or of their assigns, to have and to hold all the same lands and tenements with
their appurtenances immediately after the decease of his said mother to him, the said
Richard, and his heirs and assigns forever;
And of this my present testament and last will I make and ordain my said well-beloved
wife, Margaret, my sole executrice, to whom I wholly give and bequeath all the residue
of my goods and chattels, whatsoever they be, not before by this my last will and
testament given or bequeathed, not doubting but that she of her good conscience and for
the love she beareth towards me will bestow some portion thereof in charitable deeds for
the comfort of my soul, my friends’ souls, and hers, and all Christian souls;
And of the same my said last will and testament I do make and ordain my said son,
Thomas Blackwell, mine overseer, to whom I give and bequeath for and in consideration
of such pains as my faithful trust is that he will take in helping forward my said wife for
the due and quiet execution of this my last will and testament, five marks;
In witness whereof I have sealed and subscribed these presents with mine own hand the
day and year first above-written in the presence of the persons hereunder named.
Matthew Draper, Thomas Wente, Richard Burne, Richard Pyckering, Robert Hartford,
Richard Blake.
Probatum fuit h{uius}mo{d}i Testamentu{m} cora{m} Domino Cant{uariensis}
Archie{piscop}po apud London xvij die mens{is} Octobris Anno d{omi}ni mill{esi}mo
qui{n}gen{tesim}o lxxo Iurament{o} ffrancisci Clerke Notarij p{ubli}ci
p{ro}cur{ator}is Margaret{e} Rel{i}c{te} et ex{ecutricis} in h{uius}mo{d}i
testament{o} no{m}i{n}at{e} Cui com{m}issa fuit administrac{i}o om{n}i{um}
bonor{um} d{i}c{t}i defunct{i} de bene &c Ad sancta dei Eu{a}ngelia Iurat{i}
[=The same testament was proved before the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury at London
on the 17th day of the month of October in the year of the Lord the thousand five hundred
70th by the oath of Francis Clerke, notary public, proctor of Margaret, relict and executrix
named in the same testament, to whom administration was granted of all the goods of the
said deceased, sworn on the Holy Gospels to well, etc.]