Genealogy Ebooks | Abstracts of Wootton Wills 1658 Vol. 4

Abstracts of Wootton Wills 1658 Vol. 430-01-2016

The Will of Daniel Dalton (No. 498) is a very human document and reminds one of the story of the man, much respected in his village, who died and whose son was interviewed next day by the clergyman of the parish who said to him ' Your father was a good man. I should like to say something about him in my sermon. What were his last words ? ' Well Sir,' replied the boy, ' He didn't have no last words. Mother was with him to the very end.'

In response to my representations the Authorities at Somerset House kindly paged the Probate Act Book for the year 1658, and I have thus been enabled to give references in every case where the Act can be found to the page in the Act Book. As is well known, the Probate Act is sometimes the only source from which the residence of a testator can be ascertained, but owing to the Act Books being un-indexed and the Acts recorded without any reference to the order of the Wills in the Registers, much valuable time can be expended in searching for any particular entry.

I have noted additions and variations supplied by the Act Book in squared brackets. There appears to be no Folio 52 in " Wootton." Volume I ends with Folio 51, and Volume II commences with Folio 53. A slip of my own may be mentioned lest any reader think I have omitted a Will, which is not the case. In my consecutive numbering of the Wills in this volume I have missed out the number 531.

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