Letters of Tuition

[MythicalMarian]

Can some kind expert - and I know we have a wealth on here - please explain to me, once and for all, in idiot-proof language, just what these strange 'probate' records are. I have trailed the internet only to be told that they guarantee education etc. of a minor. All well and good, but why were they made? And why are they kept with wills? Does it mean the child died?

I've had a Tuition document sitting in my archives for a while. It is a document holding a father to the guarantee of education of his eldest daughter - then 15 years old. The document has been useful in helping to prove that the girl was indeed the daughter of my ancestor, but then I knew this from his later will, so I am not quite sure what the document adds to my knowledge, other than giving me the girl's probable year of birth.

Why was it necessary to take out these guarantees, and have any of you come across these documents before in your own research?

[Jan1954]

According to GENUKI here:https://www.mlfhs.org.uk/Infobase/Begin-Wills.htm

Tuition Bonds - When the testator had young children, he might nominate a person (often a relative) to ensure that the children were properly educated and set aside funds for the purpose. The appointed guardian could be asked to enter into a bond to guarantee his proper discharge of these responsibilities. Tuition would generally apply to children under the age of 14 (12 for girls) and so is of help in narrowing down the possible birthdates for a child named in the will.

[Mutley]

Hello,
One of our very experienced experts on wills is on holiday for a couple of weeks. If you do not get anyone who has come across this in their own research maybe you could nudge the thread back up to the top when he returns.

[MythicalMarian]

According to GENUKI here:https://www.mlfhs.org.uk/Infobase/Begin-Wills.htm

Tuition Bonds - When the testator had young children, he might nominate a person (often a relative) to ensure that the children were properly educated and set aside funds for the purpose. The appointed guardian could be asked to enter into a bond to guarantee his proper discharge of these responsibilities. Tuition would generally apply to children under the age of 14 (12 for girls) and so is of help in narrowing down the possible birthdates for a child named in the will.

Jan - thanks for that. I had actually seen this reference, but where my particular tuition bond differs is that the actual legal father of the child is undertaking her education etc. Now, I found this very odd - for why would he willingly enter into such an agreement by law when he was her father anyway. It makes me wonder if the child was perhaps a little by-blow - but then why would it say 'lawful' father - although I suppose it might.

Mutley - thanks for the tip about our resident wills expert. Which one of our erudite community is this? I will look out for him on his return to the forum.

[Jan1954]

Mutley - thanks for the tip about our resident wills expert. Which one of our erudite community is this? I will look out for him on his return to the forum.

Just nudge the thread in 2 weeks

[Jan1954]

It makes me wonder if the child was perhaps a little by-blow - but then why would it say 'lawful' father - although I suppose it might.

I think that this could probably be the case, otherwise why would it say "lawful father". I'm intrigued now - was the father living with the mother? Did the mother have a different husband? Was the child born pre-marriage?

[MythicalMarian]

Jan - Richard Siddall married his wife Ann Browne at Stockport St. Mary in June 1685 by Licence. The eldest child was Ann Siddall born about 1685/6 because the tuition letter is dated 1701 when she 'was 15 years or thereabouts'. Ann and Richard's other five children later appear in his will of 1726, no problem - and Ann went on to marry a Ferdinando Lawton at Mobberley in 1720. As Richard did not go in for traditional baptism, there is no way of knowing if Ann was born just before the marriage, or was perhaps Richard's child by a mistress (the family was quite wealthy - referred to in PR burials as 'Mr' or 'Mrs' Siddall etc.). But her date of inferred birth seems very close to the date of his marriage to Ann in any case. It is clear that the rest of the family accepted her as their sister, for she is named as Ann Lawton (when she's married) in several of their wills.

It isn't crucial, as Ann is not my direct ancestress, but it would be nice to find out just why this bond exists.

[Jan1954]

Aha!

Maybe she was born just before the parents wed and this was a way of her being acknowledged as his daughter.

One of life's little mysteries...

[Mutley]

[Geoffers]

I had actually seen this reference, but where my particular tuition bond differs is that the actual legal father of the child is undertaking her education etc. Now, I found this very odd - for why would he willingly enter into such an agreement by law when he was her father anyway.

It would be to ring-fence the funds, to ensure that they were used for a nominated purpose and could not be creamed off. If your ol'bor popped his clogs and his widow remarried, specific provision would need to be made to make sure that her new husband couldn't access the money - this would be especially so in the case of a child being illegitimate as he/she could only inherit or receive beneift if direct instruction was given to that effect. It would be interesting to see the precise wording of the bond and will in case any other inkling or clue could be inferred from the terms used.

'Lawful' father suggests to me an acknowledgement of paternity for a natural born child - or possibly a step-child if the mother had previously been married and widowed - however, that is only a hint at what may have been, you'd need to look further into this to confirm this as a probable reason.

A well written and detailed book (though it doesn't cover letters of tuition specifically) for interpreting wills and analysis of them is:

'When Death Do Us Part - Understanding and interpreting the probate records of early modern England' - Edited by Tom Arkell, Nesta Evans and Nigel Goose. ISBN 0 904920 42 9. publ. Leopard's Head Press.