Description
Manuscript, on parchment, in a single secretary hand, of a copy of the will of Sir John Fitzjames. The will opens with an appeal to "the most blessed Mother and virgyn Marie St. Anthony and St. Chr[ist]ofer" for their intercession for his soul; arrangements for funeral and intercessory Masses and for a Month's Mind service.; The extremely detailed lists of personal and estate bequests that follow comprise a virtual household inventory of the manor house at Redlynch in Somerset. His widow, Eleanor Draycott, receives liferent of Redlynch and Knoll as well as use of the household furnishings, including the beds, hangings, "carpettes, cusshyons, dysshes, potts, and pannes," as well as tablecloths, jewelry, and various articles of plate. Fitzjames also leaves "my greate book of Statutes in vellum or parchment" to his cousin Nicholas Fitzjames, the nearest male heir and successor to Redlynch; silver cups to various other relatives; and ten shillings for "every mayden of good and honest conversation" in his household.
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1539 October 23
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