Edward Barnard (abt 1550-1627)

Introduction

1. The Last Will and Testament (LW&T) and Inventory of Edward Barnard are dated in the Archives as 24 April and 18 May 1627 respectively. Probate is dated 4 October 1627. There are two documents: one single-page LW&T and a very long single-page Inventory. The LW&T is in English (with a date in Latin numbers). The Inventory list is in English but the values are in Latin; it does not seem to be dated.

2. Edward’s date of death is assumed to have been about 1 May 1627. He was the husband of Joan Barnard, who died ten years later, in 1637. Her LW&T refers to the fact that she was a widow and also mentions her daughters Ellinor, Barbara, Sara (as does Edward in this LW&T).

3. The transcriptions have not been cross-checked or reviewed. Square brackets – eg [ ? ] – are used where a word is too difficult to decipher or where there is some doubt.

4. Spelling has been updated to modern usage where appropriate; similarly, punctuation and paragraph breaks have been added for ease of understanding. Footnotes have been added to provide context or emphasis.

LW&T of Edward Barnard; 24 April 1627

In the Name of God Amen, the 24th day of April in 1627.

I, Edward Barnard of Sutton Benger in the County of Wilts and Diocese of New Sarum, being sick in body but thanks be given unto god of good and perfect memory do make and ordain this my present last will and testament in manner and form following.

That is to say, first I commend my soul into the hands of God my heavenly father, purchased by our saviour Jesus Christ, and my body to the earth from whence it came, to be buried in the Church or Churchyard of Sutton Benger aforesaid.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my wife one bed which I do lie on, with all his furniture during her life, and after her decease to remain to my Executors.

And I give my wife a yearling calf, and one acre of corn at harvest, she leaving to my Executors another acre when she hath [recovered ?] her crop of corn to her self.

And I give unto my daughters Joane and Barbara, each of them a bushell of barley, and my will is that the corn in the barn shall spent amongst them.

All the rest of my goods moveable and immoveable I do give and bequeath unto my daughters Ellinor, Alice and Sara, whom I do make and ordain to be my whole and full Executors of this my present last will and testament.

I do appoint to be my overseers John Barnard and Leonard Ferris.

Witnesses

John Barnard [signed]

Leonard Ferris [signed]

Probatum

[Two lines in Latin at foot of the LW&T, with a date in Latin):

Probatum … Malmesbury 4 October 1627

Inventory of Edward Barnard; 18 May 1627

A true Inventory of all the goods and chattels of Edward Barnard of Sutton Benger in the County of Wilts late deceased, taken and appraised the 18th day of May 1627, by John Barnard, Richard Coller and Leonard Ferris, as followeth.

£ 	s	d

Imprimis. In the Hall. 1 table board, 2 formes, 1 cubberd, 1 planck, prized at … 10s 0d
Item. All the pewter 5s 0d
Item. All the brass £2 1s 8d
Item. In the inmost chamber. One towell, 4 sheets, 3 shirts £1 10s 0d
Item. In the chamber. 2 beds, 2 bedsteads, with their furniture and 2 coffers £4 4s 0d
Item. 2 mallseeves, 2 searcheds, 1 baskett 3s 0d
Item. 2 cheeseboards, 2 tressells, 1 pair of andirons
2s 0d
Item. The wool in the chamber
3s 0d
Item. In the better chamber. 1 bed with his furniture
£3 0s 0d
Item. 1 press, 1 coffer
£1 0s 0d
Item. 1 tub, 1 ladder, 1 stool
4s 0d
Item. In the kitchen. 1 board, 1 hangles, 1 pott hookes, 1 frying pan, 1 bellows
3s 0d
Item. 3 barrells, 1 kyve, 1 tubb, a cheesewrengle, 3 tunnes, and other implements
£1 0s 0d
Item. 2 kine
£5 0s 0d
Item. 3 calves
£1 0s 0d
Item. 1 coke of hay
13s 4d
Item. All the corn on the ground
£8 0s 0d
Item. the grass in the meade
13s 4d
Item. 1 cowlease not the hurd
3s 6d
Item. 2 leases on grounde
£2 0s 0d
Item. His apparel £2 0s 0d
Some toto is [Total] £33 16s 10d

Endnotes

1. The date is in Latin; the rest of the text in English.
2. New Sarum was the old name for Salisbury.
3. OED. An obsolete sense of ‘purchased’ is ‘incurred by one’s act or conduct.
4. A bushel was a unit of volume for liquids or dry goods, equivalent to about 8 gallons.
5. Overseers were named and assigned in a will to oversee the administration of the estate, especially when the Executor / Executrix was young or was a woman (for example, when it was the widow or daughter(s).
6. ‘Probatum’ is Latin for ‘probate’.
7. The original Inventory uses ‘prized’, meaning ‘appraised’ or ‘priced’.
8. The values of each item, and the total, are in Latin and not always clear. Similarly, quantities of some objects are given using Latin numerals.
9. ‘Imprimis’ is Latin for ‘first’. A table could be itemised in parts, for example as a frame, as well as wooden boards, which were laid across the frame. Similarly, the board that was used on the base of a bed was itemised separately from the bedstead and the mattress. A forme (or form) was a long, thin seat, usually without a back; ie, a bench. A planck (or plank) was probably a shelf for the cubberd (cupboard).
10. The chambers were the bedrooms.
11. A coffer was a wooden box or chest with a rounded top, often a strong box for valuables.
12. A ‘mallseeve’ is a ‘malt sieve’; a ‘searched’ is a ‘small sieve’.
13. A cheese board was not for the table, in the modern sense, but was a round board placed on top of a cheese while it was being made, to press it down. Two trestles would be a pair of detachable legs which support a table board. Andirons are metal stands, typically in pairs, for supporting wood burning in a fireplace.
14. A press was an enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard); bigger than a coffer.
15. Hangles were chains in a chimney from which pots and pans were hung on pot crooks; ‘1 hangles’ was presumably a set of chains. Similarly, ‘pot hooks’ were s-shaped hooks for hanging pots and kettles over an open fire; ‘1 pot hooks’ was presumably a set. Frying pans were designed with longer handles than today, to enable the user to stay well clear of the open fire, and/or with small rings so that they could be supported by pot hangings / hangles.
16. A cheese wrengle (or cheese wring) is a press used in making cheese, to compress the curds, and expel moisture and whey. A tun was a large cask for ale, beer, wine, etc., holding about 252 gallons (2 pipes or hogsheads); the largest barrel in common use. A kyve / kive (or keeve) was a type of tub or vat, used in brewing or bleaching.
17. Kine were cows, cattle; usually the milking cows in a herd. Hence the value at £5 for two, as compared to £1 for three calves.
18. A ‘cock’ or ‘coke’ was a heap of hay or dung; a conical heap of produce or material, especially of hay (rarely corn) in the field. A haycock.
19. ‘Mead / meade’ means: pasture; pasturage; meadow-land; meadow.
20. A ‘cowlease / cowleaze’ was pasture land on which cows were grazed. The appraiser is specifying that the value does not include the cattle.
21. A 'lease' was used then, as now, to mean a legal contract to convey land or property to another party for a period of specified time. The precise meaning of ‘on ground’ here is not understood.
22. A mixture of Latin and English, for ‘the total sum is’. The correct Latin would be ‘summa toto est’ or just ‘summa toto’.

For More Information

For Notes, Explanations, or More Information about this or any other Sutton Benger Will, please contact us:
Hello@BengerTrails.co.uk