previous post<\/a>, I gave a few examples I\u2019d chanced upon.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nHere are a few more wills extracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Childhood things (Pattinson wills extracts)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When John Pattinson of Whitrigg drew up his will in 1756, he specified a couple of particular bequests for his son, also called John<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Namely, he left John junior a gun and the kitchen table<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYoung John was then aged about seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast-foward to 1787. John is now about 38, widowed since soon after the birth of daughter Elizabeth, and facing his own death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The codicil to his will specifies that HIS son John should get his gun and the kitchen table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Son John was then aged about six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No sex, please (more Pattinson wills extracts)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
John who died in 1756 left his widow Martha in charge of their three children. It\u2019s common for men to want to protect their estate from ever going to a loved-one\u2019s future husband. But John Pattinson takes it a step further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Martha is to be guardian of their children:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u2018as long as she remains unmarried and chaste\u2019. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nUseful bequests (Emerson wills extracts)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Widowed Catherine Emerson, of Eshgill, Alston Moor, died in 1712. Her yeoman husband, George Emerson, had died in 1693. Neither of them name children in their wills. Instead, the bequests go to nephews, nieces, cousins, friends\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She starts by leaving \u2018cousin Hannah Dickinson, daughter of Thomas\u2019 a LOT of household items, including \u2018my best kettell\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I am right about \u2018who is who,\u2019 Hannah would have been still in her teens. And would have had the kettle (and curtains, and dishes and frying pan\u2026) in her \u2018bottom drawer\u2019 for ten years before she married and had a home of her own. But it\u2019s all a nice thought, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Catherine later leaves ten shillings each to a Thomas Dickinson and a Joseph Dickinson, without saying who they are. Before turning to either cousin Hannah or a different Hannah Dickinson and leaving her:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\na Brewing Tub, three Barrels, two Stands, twelve Bottles, and two Skeels (water tubs) a Possett-pot; and a pair of Temps (some kind of sieve?).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nNo doubt very useful, if Hannah wished to follow Catherine and become a small-scale brewer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Catherine continues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nI give Isabel Emerson, Kathern Ritson, and Abigill Batson, all the rest of my Bottles, equally to be divided amongst them.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nEven in 1712, I wonder how grateful Isabel and the others would have been for a quantity of bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t even suggest they were full ones!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fight the good fight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The best line in Catherine Emerson\u2019s will \u2013 for the unlikely combination \u2013 goes to Thomas Dickinson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is possibly Hannah\u2019s father; possibly the Thomas who has been left ten shillings (if they weren\u2019t one and the same person); possibly another Thomas altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Emerson and Dickinson families of Alston Moor intermarried quite a bit. In fact, Catherine Emerson could well have been n\u00e9e Catherine Dickinson before she married George.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whoever the lucky recipient was, Catherine\u2019s will states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nItem. I give to Thomas Dickinson a Gunn and a Bybell.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nYou can find Catherine Emerson\u2019s will<\/a> on the North East Inheritance Database:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wills are a great resource for family history. Sometimes, they tell us information we\u2019d not have found or been able to confirm elsewhere: the married name of daughters, for instance. Often, they give us an insight into the person\u2019s life: what items they held dear enough to pass on; which child they favoured or trusted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[451,452],"class_list":["post-2792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wills","tag-emerson","tag-pattinson"],"yoast_head":"\n
Wills extracts - Cumbrian Characters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wills extracts \u2013 some unusual examples that illustrate how wills can be anything but dry as a resource for family historians\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wills extracts - Cumbrian Characters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wills extracts \u2013 some unusual examples that illustrate how wills can be anything but dry as a resource for family historians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cumbrian Characters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-16T14:49:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-15T14:21:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/will-snippets.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"232\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"HarrietP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GnaOxdown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GnaOxdown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"HarrietP\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wills extracts - Cumbrian Characters","description":"Wills extracts \u2013 some unusual examples that illustrate how wills can be anything but dry as a resource for family historians","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wills extracts - Cumbrian Characters","og_description":"Wills extracts \u2013 some unusual examples that illustrate how wills can be anything but dry as a resource for family historians","og_url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/","og_site_name":"Cumbrian Characters","article_published_time":"2025-02-16T14:49:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-15T14:21:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1562,"height":232,"url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/will-snippets.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"HarrietP","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GnaOxdown","twitter_site":"@GnaOxdown","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"HarrietP","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/"},"author":{"name":"HarrietP","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7"},"headline":"Wills extracts","datePublished":"2025-02-16T14:49:37+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-15T14:21:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/"},"wordCount":601,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/will-snippets.jpg","keywords":["Emerson","Pattinson"],"articleSection":["wills"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/","name":"Wills extracts - Cumbrian Characters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/will-snippets.jpg","datePublished":"2025-02-16T14:49:37+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-15T14:21:09+00:00","description":"Wills extracts \u2013 some unusual examples that illustrate how wills can be anything but dry as a resource for family historians","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/will-snippets.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/will-snippets.jpg","width":1562,"height":232,"caption":"wills extracts, Cumbrian Characters, Pattinson, Emerson,"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/16\/wills-extracts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wills extracts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/","name":"Cumbrian Characters","description":"Family history is so much more than names and dates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7","name":"HarrietP","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"HarrietP"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg"},"description":"Journalist and amateur genealogist","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pinterest.co.uk\/harrietpears\/","https:\/\/x.com\/GnaOxdown"],"url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/author\/harriet\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2792"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2796,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2792\/revisions\/2796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}