Will of William Raws of Sherborne, Dorset. Made 28th July 1847. Proved 11th March 1747 at London. (PRO PCC Prob.11/760). (Russell Line)

{Page 1:] I William Raws the elder of / Sherburn and County of Dorset Yeoman being at this time in / health of Body yet being mindful to settle my Temporal / affairs to prevent Inconveniences after my decease do make / and ordain this my last Will & Testament in manner and / form following Imprimis I will that my just Debts Funeral / Expenses and Legacies herein after mentioned to be paid in / Money be first paid out of my Personal Estate and if that / fall short of Paying them then my Will is that the / Rents of my Estate at Draycourt in the Parish of Limington / and County of Somerset and my Freehold Estate at Sherburn / be annually applied towards making up that deficiency till all / my just Debts be discharged Also I give and bequeath unto / my Grandson William Raws all that my Estate lying at / Draycourt abovementioned with all and singular the / Appurtenances thereof to have and to hold unto him my said / Grandson from such time as he attains the attains the[sic] age of / twenty one years during his natural life (but subject to the / payment of my just Debts as above appointed and if at his / decease my said Grandson shall have a Wife or Widow / Surviving him my Will is that his said Widow shall possess / the said Estate and receive the Rents Issues and Profits thereof / during her Widowhood she committing no willful waste thereon / but if she shall Marry again then immediately after such her / second Marriage or after her decease which soever shall be first / happen my Will is that the said Estate shall pass and remain to / the heirs of my said Grandson lawfully begotten and in default of / such heirs of the Body of my said Grandson my Will further is / that the said Estate return to my three Grandaughters Betty / Mary and Agnes their heirs and assigns for ever to be equally [Page 2:] divided between them. Also I give to my Grandaughter Betty (now / wife of Josiah Seymor) Five Shillings Also I give to my Grandaughter / Mary Fifty Pounds in money and all that my Messuage or Dwelling / House Shop Outhouses Garden with all the Appurtenances called / Winsor Castle and situate in Sherburn in a place called Newland[?] / to have and to hold to my said Grandaughter Mary her Heirs and / Assigns for ever subject nevertheless to Payment of my just / Debts as above Also I give to my Grandaughter Agnes Raws the / sum of One Hundred Pounds Also I give to Samuel Bownas of Bridport / and Arthur Gundry[?] of Bradford Abbas the sum of Ten Pounds to be / applyed to the use of the Poor according to the Instructions I / have given to Jonah Thompson of Nether Compton Also I give / to my sister in law Catherine Dornell[?] Five Pounds Also I give / to my sister in law Alice Bartlett Five Pounds Also I give to / my cousin Mary England Five Pounds which three last Legacies / are to be paid to the several Legatees within two years after my / decease if they be living but if any or all of them be dead before / her or their Legacy or Lagacies become due my Will is that / such Legacy or Legacies remain to my Executors Also I give all my / Household Goods and Furniture of my House to my three Grandchildren / William, Mary and Agnes to be equally divided amongst them Also / I give to my Grandson William Raws all that part of my Dwelling / House and Outhouses lying or situate on the eastside of the / Barton with half the Garden and all my Tan Pitts and Implements / belonging to the Tanning Trade (and also the Orchard and that part / of the Dwelling House where I now dwell after his Fathers / death) To hold to him my said Grandson with all and singular the Appurtenances for all such Term and Estate as I have therein / Also I give to my son William Raws during his natural life the / use of the House I now live in on the westside side of the / Barton with its Appurtenances and the Orchard and half the Garden / all the remainder of my Estate in Westbury being given to my / Grandson And I hereby constitute and appoint my said Son / William Sole Executor and Residuary Legatee of this my last / Will and Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto put my / hand and seal this twenty eighth day of July in the year of our / Lord One thousand even hundred and forty seven - William Raws / - his Mark - Signed sealed and declared by the Testator to be his last / Will and Testament in the presence of us who in his presence and / at his request subscribed our names as Witnesses the day and / year above written Barbara Chant James Lodar his Mark Jonah Thompson. This Will was proved at London the Eleventh day of March / in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and forty seven / before the Right Worshipful John Bettesworth Doctor of Laws / Master Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of / Canterbury lawfully constituted by the solemn and sincere / declaration of William Raws the son of the / deceased and sole Executor in the said Will named to whom / Administration was granted of all and singular the Goods and Chattels [Page 3:] and Credits of the said deceased having first made the declaration / or affirmation aforesaid by commission duly to administer. Transcribed from the original by Bryant Bayliffe, 2003