Will and Probate
Derived from The National Archives Reference PROB 11/107/1364
Date of Will: 16th January 1606
Witnesses: William Watts, William Wood, John Torgood
| Beneficiary | Relationship to Testator | Bequest |
| Church of Stalbridge | Institution | Ten shillings |
| Poor people of Stalbridge | Community | Ten pounds (to be distributed at the overseers’ discretion) |
| John Scooler | Unspecified | Twenty nobles (to be bestowed on his daughter Frances) |
| Frances Scooler | Daughter of John Scooler | A heifer of a year old |
| Thomas Combe | Son of Robert Combe | A heifer of a year old |
| Margerie Combe | Goddaughter | Five pounds (to be paid at her marriage) |
| Other godchildren not named | Godchildren | Two shillings each |
| John Bartlett | Unspecified | Twenty shillings |
| Joane Wattes | Wife and executrix | All remaining goods moveable and unmoveable (residual estate) |
| William Wattes | Brother and overseerMany wills of the period appointed one or more Overseers. An Overseer is distinct from an Executor and acts as... In full. | Twenty shillings; conditional remainder of lease of Gomerso if wife dies before lease expires (jointly with his son Richard, with obligation to pay forty shillings yearly to each of testator’s four sisters and forty to the poor) |
| Richard Wattes | Nephew (son of William) | Conditional remainder of lease of Gomerso (jointly with his father) |
| Four sisters (including Katherine Combe) | Sisters | Conditional forty shillings yearly each if wife dies before lease expires |
| Joane Plante | Niece (daughter of Katherine Combe) | Conditional forty shillings yearly if Katherine dies before lease expires |
| William Wood | Friend and overseer | Twenty shillings |
Note:
- The will includes specific provisions for the lease of Gomerso, with a succession plan should his wife die before the lease expires, directing payments to his sisters and the poor.
Grant of Probate: 21st May 1606 awarded to Joane Wattes (wife and Executrix) in London.