Thank you Titanicfan for your encouragement. I'm afraid I've slowed right up on the transcription - I'm onto page 20 of the 27. There's such a lot of repetition in it that it can actually become a bit boring, so I just transcribe now in fits and starts as the mood takes me, and am slowly making my way through it.

Such a shame that it seems Elizabeth didn't leave a will - I went and looked in one of my favourite books about her (Elizabeth the Queen by Alison Weir) and there doesn't seem to be any mention of a will. According to that book, she apparently "named" James as her sucessor whilst on her deathbed, and didn't speak his name but mimed a crown on her head with her hands, which her attendants interpreted as wanting King James to succeed her. Seems a bit tenuous to me, but there we go!

I'll have a look back at my transcription and see if I can find some more interesting bits to post here for you to read. Or perhaps I'll tag them onto the other thread.