got the will - but what does it say?!

[nataliew]

have got the will of my 4x great grandfather Daniel Burford who died in Chiswick in 1864 via the much-subscribed online probate calendar but a couple of problems...
1) the copy is not too good and I'm hoping some of you might recognise familiar phrases
2) I'm not sure what it means in practice!
So below are the relevant parts of my transcript with my problem phrases in bold italics. If I've guessed a word I've prefixed a question mark. If there are 3 question marks, it's a whole word I can't make out!:
it starts with the usual last will and testament
I give devise and bequeath all and every my real and Personal estate and effects whatsoever and whensoever whether in possession ??sion or ??? unto my executor thereinafter named in trust? to pay over the ??? issues and profits? thereof unto my dear wife Mary Burford for and during the term of her natural life and after her decease with all ?was?? ?suable?? dispatch to ?sou?? the same into money for the best ?pair?? or ?paires?? he can obtain and divide the same ?usually or actually?? between and among my five children...
goes onto name the children as I'd expect to find them and ask that if they're dead, their share goes to their children
and I ?direct?? that the ?receipts?? of my said executor for the purchase money of my real or personal effects shall be good and sufficient ?discharges?? ?is?? the pruchases thereof and that since purchases shall not be obliged to see to the application thereof I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint my friend Daniel Stinton of Chiswick Farrier Executor of this my Will to whom I bequeath the sum of two guineas
then signs and witnesses the will


Phew!:pinch:
So my understanding is that the executor buys or somehow obtains a price for all of Daniel Burford's estate that he is then entrusted to pay to the wife. Is that right? Is that normal and why would that be?
The estate is valued below £450 and if it's relevant, the wife Mary dies two years later intestate (one of the sons is granted probate) with her estate below £200. Did the executor not pay her everything? Or was she not to be trusted with money?!
Thankyou!

[Kerrywood]

It would be best if you could get the original up onto a website, such as Photobucket?

Otherwise the suggestions that follow can only be guesswork ...


whether in possession ??sion or ???
whether in possession reversion or remainder


unto my executor thereinafter named in trust?
unto my executor hereinafter named in trust


pay over the ??? issues and profits? thereof
pay over the rents issues and profits thereof


and after her decease with all ?was?? ?suable?? Dispatch
and after her decease (with all convenient speed?)


to ?sou?? the same into money
to convert the same into money


for the best ?pair?? or ?paires?? he can obtain
for the best price or prices he can obtain


and divide the same ?usually or actually?? between and among
and divide the same equally between and among


and I ?direct?? that the ?receipts?? of my said executor
and I direct that the receipts of my said executor


shall be good and sufficient ?discharges?? ?is?? the pruchases thereof
shall be good and sufficient discharges unto(?) the purchasers thereof

As far as I can see, the executor has to manage the estate so that the widow has a life interest in the income from it. After her death, he is to sell everything, and the income arising from the sale is split between the five children.

As I say, it's largely guesswork without seeing the original.

[nataliew]

Thanks!
All seems a bit of a bother for a not very wealthy family!
I've not used photobucket but I'll have a look now

[Kerrywood]

All seems a bit of a bother for a not very wealthy family!


According to TNA's currency converter (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/default0.asp#mid), in 1860, £450 would have the same spending worth of today's £19,422.

[Kerrywood]

Further thought ...


with all ?was?? ?suable?? dispatch
with all reasonable dispatch

[Mutley]

From one who has difficulty reading my own handwriting, I can only look on this thread in amazement!

[Kerrywood]

From one who has difficulty reading my own handwriting, I can only look on this thread in amazement
Hopefully it will become clearer if/when we can see the original.

[nataliew]

learning all the time here!
All of your suggestions look like they fit when I look at the transcript again.
Okay -so he had more money than I thought! I still wonder why his wife left half that amount 2 years later (not even I can buy that many shoes and bags!)...
Photobucket looks good to use but I've not had time to do it tonight so I've tried uploading the images to a public album on the photo site I normally use. Let me know if this works!

www.
photobox.co.uk/album/759283417

Thanks again

[Kerrywood]

Thanks. Another time if you could upload a larger image it would be a little easier, but I think we can manage for now.

Most of the transcription I suggested above is OK, except ...


whether in possession ??sion or ???
whether in possession reversion or expectancy


I still wonder why his wife left half that amount 2 years later (not even I can buy that many shoes and bags!) ...
Sorry, I really can't answer that one. :confused5:

[nataliew]

any ideas if it's possible to check that the executor did pay her? On Mary's death, one of her sons was granted probate as she died without a will - would that contradict the terms of her husband's will, as he asked that on her death the executor pay the remainder of his estate to the children? Or am I confusing her estate with his (I think I am!)?

[Kerrywood]

am I confusing her estate with his (I think I am!)?
I think you may be confusing the two. Mary's estate is not the same estate as Daniel's.

Daniel left a will, and his executor had certain responsibilities before and after Mary's death, as Graham explained above.

Mary died without a will, so there was no executor. If she had sufficient assets of her own at the time of her death, her son applied to the court to administer her estate, and he should have distributed her assets in accordance with the law. This would be a separate procedure from the distribution of funds arising from the sale of Daniel's estate.


any ideas if it's possible to check that the executor did pay her?
Not as far as I know, unless any relevant solicitors' files just happen to have been deposited somewhere. Is there a particular reason why you think he may not have done?

[nataliew]

no, just a suspicious mind!