Will dated 1758 causing me a headache

[Megan Roberts]

Any help or thoughts on the following would be much appreciated.

I have a copy of Will apparently written as per normal. At the end of it there is no signature, but there is a date - 31 March 1758

There are then attestations by individuals swearing that they knew the deceased and that this really was his will. There is then the attestation to the effect that the will is proved on 31 March 1758.

From newspaper announcements we have his date of death as 22 March 1758 and that he was buried 24 March 1758.

Has anyone seen a similar situation like this?

thanks

[Coromandel]

Could it be that the will is undated, and that the date refers to the date on which the affidavits were made? Or is the date definitely part of the text of the will itself?

[Peter Goodey]

Has anyone seen a similar situation like this?

Well, I've got a nuncupative (oral) will which is a similar sort of situation but what is the question exactly? If it's the dates, Coromandel seems to have answered it.

AIUI, in any situation where there are doubts about a will conforming strictly to the letter of the law, there may be supporting affidavits.

[Megan Roberts]

The dates seems to be part of the will, but could simply be the date of the attestations.

The end of the will finishes with the usual sign off (this is my last will and testament hereby revoking ...............etc). On the line immediately below it is the date.

One of the Witnesses in the Probate proceedings, David Bruce (I think) swore that he was “well acquainted with Gwynn Vaughan......and that he was with him on the fifteenth day of this instant March at his lodgings in Golden Square.”

The questions that I have are:

(a) how common was it for unsigned wills to be accepted as valid? and

(b) is it me, or does the time period between his death (22nd March), and the date the will was proven (31st March) seem incredible short, particularly as I know there was a reasonable sized estate at stake?

I think that Gwyn Vaughan probably died from gangrene or some form of necrosis, as one of the papers reported his death being due to "mortification of the toe".

thanks

[Peter Goodey]

how common was it for unsigned wills to be accepted as valid?

If you mean as compared to unsigned wills not being accepted as valid, it's extremely unlikely for an invalid will to survive so it's impossible to answer the question.

See my message above, oral/dictated wills were not unknown back in genealogical times and could be accepted with suitable affidavits. They weren't very common if only because the least literate people (or those least likely to be able to pay a solicitor or equivalent) tended to be the least likely to leave a will.

is it me, or does the time period between his death (22nd March), and the date the will was proven (31st March) seem incredible short, particularly as I know there was a reasonable sized estate at stake?

Less bureaucracy in those days, people just got on with it. No PA1 or IHT400 to complete! In any case, it's complexity not size that slows matters down.