John Rolfe's Will, 1625
The Will of [John Rolfe of Whiteparish] in the county of Wilts,
yeoman, [ }ary, 1624/5. To the church of [Whiteparish]
6d., to be used toward the reparation of the church by the
churchwardens
of Whiteparish. Concerning my right and interest in certain
leases
of which I now stand possessed, after my decease my son
[
] Rolphe shall have that messuage or tenement and close adjoining, and
that close called long [ ] adjoining to Bushy
lease,
and that close called breach meade, and a parcel
[
] sometimes parcel of bushy lease and lying upon the lane called Rumsey
[ ] containing fourteen [lugge?] all being in
Whiteparish,
and also four [?pieces of] arable land containing ten acres called Webb
[?close] with a messuage which I hold of the right
[
] William Stockman of Bereford, county Wilts., Esq., by virtue of a
[?lease]
dated 20 March 8 James I, to hold the said lease and premises until the
full term of ninety nine years be ended, if myself, Henry Rolfe, my
son,
and John Rolfe the younger, my son, or any of us, live so long.
Said
closes of arable land and pasture containing ten acres sometime called
Webb close, which I now hold of William Stockman by lease dated 10
January
8 James I for ninety nine years if my sons Henry and John or either of
them live so long, I give to my son Henry for his life, and after his
death
my will is that Honor Rolfe, wife to the said Henry my son, if she
survive
her husband, shall hold the said premises during the time she remain a
widow, and when my daughter-in-law Honor be married to any other
husband
or die, then my son John shall enjoy the residue of the time
unexpired.
My son John shall have the three acres of ground sometimes waste ground
parcel of the Earldome lying between Langley wood and the round
coppice,*
demised to me and my assigns by William Stockman Esq., during the term
of [th]ree years, as appears by indenture dated 20 March 8 James
I. To John, my younger son, the new chest, my best coffer, my
iron
bound cart, and 3 pounds. To Joane, the eldest daughter, and
Hester,
the youngest daughter of my son john, a brass pan, pewter platter, a
hive
of bees and 20s. each. To Joane, my grandchild, daughter of
William
Holloway, a hive of bees and 20s. at
[
] twenty-one years my will is that [ ]
son
John or the longer [ ]
two kine and a mare which [ ] Item
I give to my daughter [ ] coverlid and
26s.8d.
to [ ] ease. Itm I give
to Richard Whiteer
[
] of money which money my executor
[
] taine to the age of twenty and six yeares
[
]ty shillings. And farther my will is that
[
] abovenamed shall have their twenty shillings apiece
[
] my decease: for which my abovenamed grand [?children shall give my]
executor
an acquittance and he shall accept of [ ]
sonne John a coverlid which lyeth in my press
[
] piece if they shall require it within one year after
[
] aged men and women of Whiteparish the sum of
[
] at the discretion of my executor and the minister.
[
] the rest of my goods and chattels unbequeathed, my [?debts and
legacies
paid and funeral expenses disch]arged, I give and bequeath to my son
Henry
Rolfe and [?make him my] sole executor; and I give to Mr. Parks,
minister
of Whiteparish, [ ] My neighbors John
Coles
of Mort farme and William Morris of Newton [
]field
to be my overseers, and to each of them I give 10s.
[
] to see my will faithfully performed. [Signed] John Rolfe his
marke.
[Witnesses' names torn off.]
Codicil dated 29 May 1625. I give to be delivered by my
life time which is no part of
[
] nor touching my last will, as witnesses John
[
Willi]am Morris. Mary my daughter shall have 13s.
[
] of the 17 pounds. I give to my son John 30
[
]nn pounds. I give to Mary my daughter a little barrell, etc.,
[
] a stall of bees for Thomas her son, and unto Mary my daughter a
gown.
To Henry my son the silt and the powdering tub. To John my son my
[ ]ake and the newest jerkin and hose.
All
the rest of my household stuff to be equally divided between Henry, my
son and executor, and John, [?my you]ngest son. [Signed] the
[mark?]
of John Rolfe the elder. Proved 8 October 1625, by the executor
named.
Inventory taken 6 October 1625, by John Coles, William Morris, and
Thomas
Rolfe, 113 pounds 1s.4d., exhibited by the executor 8 October
1625.
(Archdeaconry of Sarum, 1625, Original Will and Inventory.)
[Brackets
indicate the places where the foregoing will is mutilated or
illegible.]
*Miss French notes in 1912 that the woodlands still bore these
names.