Trusts and wills - a question

[yelkcub]

I wonder whether someone may be able to help with a question regarding WILLS and TRUSTS.

In 1861 a petition came before Chancery concerning ‘the distribution of a fund paid into court under the Trustee Relief Act’. The fund in question was given ‘by the will of the testator, Thomas Page, unto and equally between his three brothers, Richard, Charles Robert, and Henry Page, for their lives, and upon the death of the survivor then unto and among all the children of his three brothers, who should be living at the death of the survivor’. Clearly the Trust involved a sizeable sum - big enough to warrant the expense of going to Chancery with a petition.

I have a copy of the 1836 will (Bank of England) of a Thomas Page – for other reasons I thought it likely that this was the same Thomas Page referred to in Chancery: for instance, Henry Page was one of Thomas’s executors. Yet in the will there is no mention of the Trust: the only property mentioned in the will is the residue of an annuity, ‘an amount not exceeding £290’. Does this necessarily mean that the Thomas Page whose will I have located is not the same as the Thomas Page who formed the Trust? Or could the formation of the trust have been finalized before the will was made, and could the details of the Trust, therefore, have been omitted from the will?

If it is the case that the conditions of the Trust would have been detailed in Thomas Page’s last will and testament, then clearly I have the wrong Thomas Page, and I am at a loss as to how I can go about finding the will of the right Thomas Page.

I would be most grateful for comments and advice from anyone with experience of such trusts in the early and middle 19th century.
Ian

[Geoffers]

In 1861 a petition came before Chancery concerning ‘the distribution of a fund paid into court under the Trustee Relief Act’.

Is there any explanation as to why the fund was paid into court?


The fund in question was given ‘by the will of the testator, Thomas Page, unto and equally between his three brothers, Richard, Charles Robert, and Henry Page, for their lives, and upon the death of the survivor then unto and among all the children of his three brothers, who should be living at the death of the survivor’.

Okedoke - fairly standard terms


Clearly the Trust involved a sizeable sum - big enough to warrant the expense of going to Chancery with a petition.

Do you know who presented the petition, and its purpose?


I have a copy of the 1836 will (Bank of England) of a Thomas Page

Date of will, or date of probate?


for other reasons I thought it likely that this was the same Thomas Page referred to in Chancery: for instance, Henry Page was one of Thomas’s executors.

Does the will refer to Henry Page as a brother?

Does the will refer to the other brothers - and in the same terms - i.e. sharing a fund equally and in the event of a death, etc, etc?


Yet in the will there is no mention of the Trust

Is this the same Thomas PAGE, or have you two different Thomas PAGEs?


Or could the formation of the trust have been finalized before the will was made, and could the details of the Trust, therefore, have been omitted from the will?

It's possible for people to set up trusts independent of wills - but the court case you quote specifically mentions 'by the will of the testator'. IF the will of the testator was to set up a trust, then that would be mentioned in the will. It depends on precise wording used.

[Peter Goodey]

The Bank of England Wills are just extracts. The Bank of England's interest in wills was solely in the transfer of government stock (gilts).

I would advise you to get hold of the original will.

[Geoffers]

The Bank of England Wills are just extracts. The Bank of England's interest in wills was solely in the transfer of government stock (gilts).

Good point Peter, I was concentrating so much on trying to make sense of the Trust, or not that I missed that - something about wood and trees seems appropriate?!

These are the 17th century PCC wills for for people named Thomas PAGE (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/search-results.asp?searchtype=browserefine&query=first_name%3dthomas%7clast_name%3dpage&first_date=16000101&last_date=17001231&catid=6&pagenumber=1&querytype=1&mediaarray=*)
Do any of them seem a likely match to your chap? Each will costs £3.50 to download, if you do download a will and have any trouble reading it, save the link you are given by TNA and post it here, we'll do our best to help you make sense of it.

[Peter Goodey]

Otherwise, perhaps the BoE extract mentions the court at which the will was proved?

[yelkcub]

Thanks for this clarification - particularly that Bank of England wills are extracts, concerned only with government stocks: I didn't know that, and it think that still leaves open the possibility that I have the correct Thomas Page. There is nothing in the copy that I have to indicate at which court Thomas Page's will was proved. The document is dated 1836. The will itself seems to be dated 1825, though a codicil appended by Thomas states that one of the original executors (his wife) died in 1830, and a new executor is named, which gives an approximate timeframe for the will.
Receiving the copy, I was surprised that the amount apparently left by Thomas Page was so little, but now that I have been made aware that this probably does not represent the full extent of his estate I can start again to look for his will, though at the moment I don't quite know where to look. Thomas Page is described as a gent of Coldbath Road, Greenwich. Henry Page, one of his executors, is referred to as Thomas's brother, but there is no mention of other brothers. Another executor was John Lewis Rutley, also of Coldbath Road, Greenwich, the important art dealer and collector whose business premises were in Great Newport Street, Soho.
Once again, I really appreciate your sharing your expertise
Ian

[yelkcub]

Bingo - thanks for the link to NA: an advanced search found Will of Thomas Page, gentleman of Greenwich, Kent - and the date 19 April 1836. The date on the document I have is 21 April 1836. Fingers crossed!

[yelkcub]

It WAS the will of the Thomas Page I was looking for, detailing the trust in favour of his three named brothers and their children. I would not have found this if you had not corrected my assumptions about Bank of England wills.Thanks again - Ian

[Peter Goodey]

Glad you found what you want.