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From:
Subject: John Browne (-1546) of West Hoathly
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 11:08:13 EST


At long last, I have obtained a copy of the Will of John Browne (dated 30
April 1546) of West Hoathly, Sussex which I have mentioned in previous
messages, and for which there was some interest.

Unfortunately the will in the Archdeaconary records of Lewes is in a very
poor state, and has suffered from water damage. The following is as much as
I can make out so far (which had taken many hours):


WILL of JOHN BROWNE of WEST HOATHLY
01 In the name of god amen [this] last day of April 1546 in the 38
02 yere of the reign of [our sovereign] lord Henry the viii by the grace __
03 I John Browne of [Westhothle] in the county of Sussex beyng soke of
04 body & hole of mynd _______ ____ thanks be to god do make & ordain
05 my testiment first I [bequeath] my sole to almighty god _________ blessed
06 lady __ _____ ___ the [holy] co'pany of hevyn & my body to be buried
07 in the church yard of Westhothle Itm I bequeath for the high altar there
08 iiijs Itm I [bequeath] __ ______ church of Chichester ijs Itm I will
have
09 at my buryeng iij masses wt bread & drynke for poore people Itm I
bequeath
10 to have lyke wise at my months day and twelvemonths day iii mass
11 & bread & drynke for poore people Itm I bequeath to Nicholas my son the
12 __________ ______ Hutchins? hands of Fletching wt the _________ Itm
13 I bequeath to the said Nicholas _______ ____ __________ the _______
14 of Jane my wife Itm I bequeath to ____ ___________ wtin one
15 year after the decease of Jane my wife. Itm I bequeath to Henry my son xl
16 to be paid when he is xx years old if he fayls before he is xx years
17 old to remain to the eyr Itm I bequeath to William my son iiii marks
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18 to be paid to him at the age of xx years old if the said William fayls
before
19 he is xx years old to remayning to the eyr Item I bequeath to Katheryn my
20 daughter v marks to be paid to her marriage Itm I bequeath to Margaret
my
21 daughter v marks to be paid to her marriage Item I bequeath to Jane my
daughter
22 v marks to be paid to her marriage __ if any of the ______ ______ happen
23 to dye the _____ their_____ that they _____ __________ to remayn wt
24 their eyr to dispose it at their ________ I will to Jane my wife
25 her chamber & the hole household stuff at her ________ to dispose
26 ____ the residue of my goods ________ paid the _____ ______ & my will
fulfilled
27 I give to Jane my wife Executor my son Thomas _____ & make my lawful eyr
28 Itm I will & bequeath unt ______ that is to say ________ in the personage
to
29 Jane my wife & xxli my son if it happen that Jane my wife doo dye
30 before _____ shall be _______ then I give & bequeath thae residue of the
xxli
31 __ ___ _____ to Andrew my son witnesses _______ John Bryan, ______
Foldwyke
32 _______ wt others & the said John Hounds the writer the wyll
33 &__________ his name _______

Notes:
Some of the "Jane"s may be "Jone"s
The "N" of the two "Nicholas" is backwards, it looks more like the shape made
by "VI"
The T of "Thomas" looks more like a modern handwritten "w"
It is tempting to assume "hands of Fletching" should be "lands of Fletching",
but the first letter looks like an "h".
"eyr" is heir; "soke" is presumably sick and what looks like "fayls" is
presumably fails, ie dies.
The text in brackets are assumed or partly assumed, the text being illegible.
The "___" represent words I can not read and their approximate length.

Adrian

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