| Will of William Palfreyman of East Mersea dated 20 March 1503 transcribed from Essex Record Office document D/ACR 1/81/1.
Transcription, abstract etc by Trevor Hearn March 2022
Abstract:
William Palfreyman of East Mersea
Date of will: 20th March 1503
Date of death: unknown
Date of Probate: unknown
William bequeaths his soul to Almighty God, Lady Saint Mary and all the Saints in Heaven and requests that his body is buried in the churchyard of St Edmund in East Mersea. A sheep is bequeathed to the high altar for forgotten tithes.
He bequeaths his house and lands called Palfreymans (known as Paul Freemans by the time of the 1838 Tithe Map)
together with his house and lands called Asnais to his wife Joanne. After her death the properties pass to William's son Richard. Joanne also receives the residue of the personal estate of William.
Richard is instructed to pay: 5 nobles to an honourable priest to sing for his soul and all christian souls in the church of St Edmund in East Mersea for 3 months; 2 nobles to the Blackfriars; a noble for maintenance of the road between William's house and the church; and a noble for the maintenance of Ardlers Run. He is also instructed to pay 4 nobles to Joanne, the daughter of William, as soon as possible after all legacies have been paid.
Joanne, wife of William, is appointed executrix and Richard is appointed executor.
Transcription of the will:
There is a translation to Modern English further down the page
Test[amentu]m Will[iam] palfryman de Estm[er]sey
In the name of god Amen the xxti day of marche the yer[e] of
our[e] lorde ml vc & iij I Willia[m] Palfryman of Estm[er]sey good mynd
& hole reme[m]brance make my testament in this man[ner] First
y bequeth my soule to allmyghti god to our[e] lady saynt
mary & to all the saynt[es] in hevyn my body to be buried in
the churchyard of saynt Edmu[n]d in Estm[er]sey It[e]m y bequeth
to the hie Awt[er] of the same church a shepe for my tithes
forgotyn It[e]m y bequeth to Johan my Wif my howse &
my lande callyd palfrymans & my howse & my lande cal-
lyd Asnais[?] [Note 1] terme of her lif & after the deth of Jone my
Wif y Will that Richard my son[n] have both the forsaid
howses & land[es] It[e]m y Will that Richard my son[n] after the
deth of the forsaid Jone my Wif in ij yer[e] pay to on[e] onest
prest of good condic[i]one v nobles to syng for my soule & all
Cristyn soulys on[e] quart[er] of on[e] yer[e] in the forsaid church of
Estm[er]sey It[e]m y Will that Richard my son[n] pay ij nobles to
the Blakfrai It[e]m a noble to make the hye way bytwyx
my howse & the church ther as is moste nede It[e]m y Will
that the forsaid Richard pay a noble to make the way
Ardlers Run[?] [Note 2] It[e]m y Will the forsaid Richard my son[n] pay
to Johan my daught[er] iiij nobles as sone as he may after
the payme[n]t[es] of the forsaid mony It[e]m y gyve & bequeth
to Jone my Wif all myn[e] other god[es] Whom y make myn[e]
Executrix & Richard my son[n]
Modern English translation:
Testament of William Palfreyman of East Mersea
In the name of God, Amen. 20th March 1503.
I William Palfreyman of East Mersea being of sound mind
and good remembrance make my testament as follows:
First I bequeath my soul to Almighty God, to our Lady Saint
Mary and to all the Saints in Heaven. My body is to be buried in
the churchyard of Saint Edmund in East Mersea. I bequeath
a sheep to the high altar of the said church in respect of my
forgotten tithes. I bequeath to my wife Joanne my house and
land called Palfreymans together with my house and land called
Asnais for the rest of her life. After the death of my wife Joanne
I desire that the aforesaid houses and lands are passed to my son Richard.
I desire that, after the death of my wife Joanne, my son Richard pay
5 nobles [Note 3] within 2 years to one honourable priest to sing for my soul
and all christian souls for 3 months in the aforesaid church of
East Mersea. I will that my son Richard pays 2 nobles to the
Blackfriars and a noble to maintain the highway between
my house and the church wherever the most need is. I desire
that the aforesaid Richard pay a noble to maintain
Ardlers Run. I will that Richard my son pay 4 nobles to my
daughter Joanne as soon as he can after the
payments of the above legacies. I give and bequeath
all my other goods to my wife Joanne whom I appoint
my executrix together with Richard my son as executor.
Note 1 This word is hard to decipher in the original digitised version; I have not been able to locate a reference to this name in the Essex Place Names Project website
Note 2 This word is also illegible on the original version so this is a "best guess" based on the letter that are discernible;
Note 3 Noble: An English gold coin first minted by Edward III, usually valued at 6s. 8d. (half a mark).
| 