how to find and use wills<\/a> in family history research.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe 1744 will of John Moore of Kirkbampton is one of those that tells us more than just \u2018who got what\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Disappointing but still useful<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I was hoping that John Moore would prove to fit on my family tree. The fact he doesn\u2019t is disappointing, but still useful in that it rules this John out. I don\u2019t want wrong people on my tree!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Moore of Kirkbampton<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I know nothing about this John, and will leave it to others who might be interested to dig into his life further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I can tell from his will is that his \u2018personal effects\u2019 were worth the equivalent of just over \u00a320,000 in today\u2019s prices \u2013 mostly due to money owed to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that he may have had some family issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Moore was a yeoman \u2013 farming a freehold estate \u2013 so a solid Cumbrian farmer. He seemed, unusally, to specialise in horses. The inventory of his \u2018goods, chattlels and credits\u2019 starts with one horse, four mares, and 30 (squiggle!) mares. Then five cows, four young cattle, six little young cattle, and one pig. There are no sheep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The will was written on May 21, 1744, with John \u2018sick in body\u2019. The inventory of his effects is dated May 24, so he must have been on his death bed when he signed it. One of the witnesses to the will was a William Stordy. The others were Richard Moore (has to be a relation) and Robert Bowman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018My only daughter\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The will starts by naming his daughter Mary Moore. By the time the will was proved, on June 16, she had married a John Sturdy (a relation of William?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Moore leaves Mary all his freehold property in the parish of Kirkbampton, along with his freehold enclosures of meadow at Thurstonfield, and every other bit of land he has anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He leaves all his goods, chattels, (almost all his) cattle, bills, bonds, mortgages, money and everything else he owns to be equally divided between Mary and her mother, his \u2018dearly beloved wife Ruth\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I say \u2018almost all,\u2019 because he leaves his son John \u2018one yearling cow and one speckled heiffer\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s just two of his 15 cattle \u2013 and nothing else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alas, poor John<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Son John has to be over-21, or it would say otherwise. Under the conventions of the times, you\u2019d expect him to be \u2018son and heir\u2019. For John junior to take over running his father\u2019s farm, even if he had his own property. And as we can guess Mary was in her 20s in 1744, and her brother of a similar age, that doesn\u2019t seem likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile it is surely unlikely that Mary became engaged and married out of the blue between May 21 and June 16. The only marriage I can find for a Mary Moor(e) to a John Sturdy is actually dated August 1743. Either the will should have said Mary Sturdy, or she was surely engaged to be married by the time it was written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In other words, Mary had either a husband or a fianc\u00e9 to provide for her after her father\u2019s death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if she had been in need of support from dad, the usual form is for the son and heir to be required to take care of his sister, or at least for the estate to be divided between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why son John only got two cattle, we can only wonder. Along with three other questions: was son John living at home? What became of him? And if he didn\u2019t have land of his own, what did he do with the calf and heiffer?!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John Moore \u2013 wills and family history I have posted before about how to find and use wills in family history research. The 1744 will of John Moore of Kirkbampton is one of those that tells us more than just \u2018who got what\u2019. Disappointing but still useful I was hoping that John Moore would prove […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[423],"class_list":["post-2306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-history","category-wills","tag-kirkbampton"],"yoast_head":"\n
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