I Benjamin Lewis of Landoggoe
in the County of Monmouth mariner do by this last Will give and devise as
followeth. I give & devise unto my
eldest son George Lewis and his heirs all my freehold houses lands &
premises wtsoever & wheresoever together with a long table a crane two iron
plates and a larg kettle being standards in ye house I now live in. Item
I give unto my son Benjamin Lewis his ex’trs adm’rs & assigns a
piece of meadow ground that I now hold by lease fm James Rooke Esqr
& his wife together with a house built on part of ye sd ground & all
other ye pr’mises contained in ye sd lease for remaind’r of ye term in ye sd
lease. I also give unto my sd son Benjamin
my three barges & the small boat with all the rigging tools &
appurtenances wtsoever thereunto belonging.
Item I give unto my sd sons George & Benjamin five
casks or cyder pipes and one hogshead to be equally divided betwixt them. And as I have given to several of my
children sev’ll sums I now give unto my daughter Jane wife of James
Williams & her hres at my decease a grove or patch of wood taken out of
the Lord Bishops waste. Item I give
unto my dau’r Elizabeth Morris fourteen pounds. And to my son Henry twenty
shillings. And to my son Charles
ten pounds. And to my son William
five pounds. And to my son John
twenty shillings. Item I give unto my
loving wife Ann one hundred & twenty pounds to be paid her ten
pounds at my decease & ye remaind’r to be pd her at ten pounds yearly until
ye whole is pd her. Item I give to my
son Joseph forty pounds, to my dau’r Ann forty pounds. And to my dau’r Frances forty pounds
to be paid them at their respective ages of twenty one years. Item it is my desire that my sd wife shall
have ye use of all my household goods during her life in case she continues a
widow & not otherwise. And I also
give her one part of my house being ye smallest apartm’t & in which my sd
son John now lives in and after her death or marriage that ye household
goods shall be equally devided betwixt my sd two dau’rs Ann & Frances. Item I give unto my sd son John all
my wearing apparel whatsoever & my clock at my wife’s decease or
marriage. Item I give unto my brother Charles
five pounds. And to my nephew Benjamin
son of my brother Wm five pounds.
Item I give unto my nephew James Marsh of Tintarn corviser five
pounds. Item I give twenty guineas to
be divided betwixt twenty of my oldest workmen or their widows or children as
menconed in a paper which I shall leave at my decease with my exec’r within a
month after my decease. Item I do
hereby constitute & appoint ye sd James Marsh sole exec’r &
trustee of this my last Will & Testam’t desiring him to see ye same duely
executed and that he may be allowed all expences costs & charges he shall
be at in ye due execucon of this my Will and after paying of my debts funeral
expences & legacies I give all ye rest & residue of my personal estate
if any there be to be equally divided betwixt my sd children. And I direct that ye rec’t of any married
woman to whom I have given any legacy shall be a sufficient discharge to my
exec’r for ye same without her husband joining therein. In witness whereof I have to this my last
Will & Testam’t set my hand & seal this twelfth day of Sept 1753. Benjamin Lewis.
Signed sealed
published & declared by the sd Benjamin Lewis the testator for to be
his last Will & Testam’t in the presence of us who have signed our names as
witnesses at his request and in his presence.
Charles Marsh, William
Smith. HM Edmonds
May the 2d
1754. James Marsh the sole executor
in this Will named was sworn well and faithfully to execute the same and to the
truth of the inventory by him exhibited and to render an acc’t &c before me
William Harry, Surrogate
This Will was
proved at Caerleon on the second day of May in the year of our Lord 1754 before
the Reverend Mr William Harris, Clerk, Master of Arts, the Chancellor’s
Surrogate, by James Marsh the sole executor in this Will named who was
first on the holy Evangelists personally sworn well and faithfully to execute
the same and to the truth of the inventory by him exhibited and to render a
just account of his administration thereof when thereunto lawfully required
A true and
perfectt inventory of the goods cattle and chattels of Benjamin Lewis
the elder of the parish of Landogo in the County of Monmouth latly dec’sed
taken this 28th day of Feby 1754
£ s d
To wearing apparel 2 0 0
In the best room
two beds & bedd steads and appurten’s thereunto belonging 4 10 0
One cubboard and
chair one box and covr 6 earthen plats one chest 0 12 0
In the second room
one bed and the appurtenc’s thereunto belonging one
table three chairs and one small box 4 00 0
In the Garret one
bed and bed steat one tubb one chest 1 05 0
One brass kettle 0 15 0
In the kitching
thirteen dishes of pewter 1 1 0
Two dozen pewter
plates 0 7 0
One clock 1 10 0
Three small
kettles and four iron potts 0 16 0
One copper punch
bowll one copper pot one Do coffee pot 5 0
Earthen ware 0 1 6
One iron grate one
fir shovle and tongs one driping pan 4 brass candle stocks
one brass spoon one morter and
pestle one flower and pepper box 2 0 0
Three spits one
toasting plate one dog wheel one warming pan one small
table one settle 6 chairs one pewter
pint one candle box 0 10 0
One silver cup 1 10 0
China 0 2 0
£21 4 6
Brot over from the other side
£21 4 6
One trencher crate 0 0 6
In the pantry one table
0 1 6
One tubb one powdering tubb one small cask
two tun pail two benchs one
wooden
bowl 12 trenchers one tun triping pan 0 6 0
To glass bottles and earthen ware 0 1 6
To 4 iron links
0 1 0
In the brew house one furnace and barrs 2 0 0
One pair of hand irons
0 2 6
4 hh’ds, 3 barrells 2 kilderkins one small
cask 4 tubbs 2 pails 1 18 0
Two pips of good cyder
5 0 0
One hh’d and one barrel of cyder 1 15 0
One stone trough
0 2 6
One horse 3 10 0
One hay reck
2 10 0
In the ketching one cubboard
0 5 0
One churn
0 1 6
£39 3 6
38 19 6
Appraised by us Cha Fisher, Geo
Lewis
Transcribed from
a photocopy by Dave Woolven, 2 Aspen Way, Malpas Park, Newport, South
Wales. NP20 6LB Tel
01633 858 359 19 January 2003