Dorchester

The Last Will & Testament of Mary TERRY

of Dorchester in the County of Dorset widdow

Impremis:  [In the first place] I give to the preachers of the Holy Trinity, of St Peter’s
and of All Saints in Dorchester unto the poore of each parish twentie shillings
to be distributed to them by the overseers of each parish by the advice of my exectuor.

Item: I give to my sonne John TERRY the some [sum] of fortie pounds wth [which] he oweth mee.

Also: I give unto Naomi the nowe wife of my said sonne John the some [sum] of fyve [five] pounds to be payed for her use unto such person or  persons as  shee shall appoint

Item: I give to my sonne Nathaniel TERRYE the some [sum] of sixtie pounds

Also: I give unto him the bed whereon I nowe lye with the furniture thereof and one paire of holland sheets and a paire of pillowties and my greene carpet and one drinking bolle [bowl] of silver and one suite of diapen? and two cushions

Item: I give to my sonne Stephen TERRY the some [sum] of fortie and six pounds

Item: I give to my beloved brother John WHITE fortie shillings and to my dear sisters Martha MOORE, Elizabeth GARDINER and Anne WHITE wife to my brother John WHITE to each of them the some [sum] of thirtie shillings.

Item: I give to my nephew John WHITE sonne of my brother John WHITE fortie shillings and one guilt spoone and to my nephew Samuell, Josiah, and Nathaniel sonnes of my brother John WHITE to each of them twentie shillings

Item: I give to my daughter Margaret wife to my sonne Josiah TERRY the some [sum] of fower [four] pounds

Also: to Anne EDWARDS servant to my said sonne Josiah twentie shillings

Item: I give to  neece [niece] Elizabeth WALTON twentie shillings; to my neece [niece] Susannah COOK fortie shillings; And to my niece Mary COOK ten pounds

Item: I give unto my neece [niece] Katharine HOPF the some [sum]  of fyve [five] pounds and to my Nephew Nathaniel COOK I give the like some [sum] of fyve [five] pounds all which my paid legacies  are formally bequeathed I will and appoint to be payed within one yearafter my decease.

The rest of my goods and chattels I give to my sonne Josiah TERRY whom I ordeyne and appoint to be executor of this my last will and testament published declared by the said Mary TERRY as her last will and testament in the presence of Thomas SYMONDS , Mary WHITE Memo and that the words (ten) in the eighteenth lyne (Terry) in the last lyne save one was interlyned before the acknowledgement of this will.

Probate:

1. Mary Terry was the sister of John White the Patriarch of Dorchester. She married c1591 to John the son of Stephen Terry. Her husband was Rector of Stockton Wiltshire and died 10 May 1625 leaving her a widow. She moved to Dorchester to live near her brother. Their children: were 1. Stephen Terry Bap 2 Aug 1592 died 28 Jul 1608; 2. John Terry referred to above who married Naomi (unknown); 3. Samuel Terry Bap 6 Jul 1595; 4. Josiah Terry Bap 25 May 1597, buried 25 Oct 1667; 5. Nathaniel referred to above baptised 11 Nov 1599; 6.Stephen Bapt Aug 1608 married 13 may 1633 Joan Hardy (she was buried June 1647). Source based on John Whites pedigree dated 1634 Harleian MS 1544, ff 223d, 224 as given by Rose Troup in her book John White Founder of Massachusetts.
2. Although Rose Troup provides a transcription of the will it has been heavily summarised, as it does not for example mention the bequest to Naomi.
3. Re sisters:- Martha White married William COOKE of Stratton who died 26 June 1615, she remarried to an unknown MOORE;  Elizabeth White married Thomas Gardner of Little Bourton in Cropredy Oxon.