trouble understanding terminology in Will

[LesleyB]

Is this Thomas in 1851 with his first wife?

http://www.sussexweald.org/c.asp?MemoId=C1Ti2b&HNo=0016
Sheet 16
Dale Hill Farm
Thomas Jarvis, M, Head, married, age 50, born Ticehurst, Sussex; occupation: Farmer, 150 acres employing 9 people
Anne Jarvis, F, Wife, married, age 53, born Goudhurst, Kent
Walter Jarvis, M, Son, single, age 19, born Ticehurst, Sussex
Anna Jarvis, F, Daughter, single, age 18, born Ticehurst, Sussex
Helen Jarvis, F, Daughter, single, age 11, born Ticehurst, Sussex
Charlotte Sawyer, F, Visitor, single, age 20, born Ticehurst, Sussex
Matilda Kemp, F, Servant, single, age 20, born Ticehurst, Sussex; occupation: House servant
Thomas Baker, M, Servant, single, age 20, born Etchingham, Sussex; occupation: Farm labourer
Thomas Colman, M, Servant, single, age 24, born Burwash, Sussex; occupation: Farm labourer


...and on sheet 6 we find:
Clarence Cottage
William Jarvis, M, Head, single, age 43, born Ticehurst, Sussex; occupation: Accountant
Lucy Guest, F, Servant, widowed, age 67, born Ticehurst, Sussex; occupation: House servant

who may be nothing to do with it, but worth knowing he is there...

[LesleyB]

Interesting:
http://theweald.org/N10.asp?NId=4810837

Thomas Wickham Jarvis, son of Gibson Jarvis and Mary Jarvis [Wickham]
1799 Born In the Parish of Ticehurst, Sussex
14th May 1821 Married Anne Terry at St Mary the Virgin Parish Church in the Parish of Ticehurst, Sussex
c 1855 Married Sarah .....

- there is quite a bit more info there too, including a partial tree, and a couple of reports on ancestors and descendants but you may have seen all this already.

[BarbR]

Is this her in 1881 (from LDS site)?

Dale Hill, Ticehurst, Sussex, England
Sarah JARVIS Head W Female aged 78 b. Burwash, Sussex, England Annuitant
William JARVIS Brother U Male 13 Ticehurst, Sussex, England Grocer
Charlotte STANDEN Servant U Female 59 Ticehurst, Sussex, England Housekeeper Dom

- if so, that "brother" William seems awffy young. I wonder if it is a mistranscription? ("brother" may be 73 maybe and a brother-in-law???)

William was Thomas' brother and was 73 at the time.

Ah ha....is this them in 1861 with Thomas as a farmer? If so, probably reasonably well off.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.anc ... hurst.html
Enumeration District 2b
Civil Parish of Ticehurst, Eccl. District of Ticehurst
Folio 23 Page 8
37,,1,Thomas Jarvis,Head,M,60,,Farmer 220 Acr Emp 8 Lab 4b,Ticehurst Sussex,,
Sarah Jarvis,Wife,M,,57,,Burwash Sussex,,
William Jarvis,Brothr,U,50,,Accountant,Ticehurst Sussex,,
Fanny Finn,Visitr,M,,51,Tailors Wife,Burwash Sussex,,
Mary Colebrook,Servnt,U,,23,General Servt,Lamberhurst Kent,

and also there:
98,Gravelpit,1,John Noakes,Head,M,39,,Farmer 490 Acr Empl 13 Lab 7b,Ticehurst Sussex,,
Charlotte Noakes,Wife,M,,35,Farmers Wife,Bodiam Sussex,,
Henry J. Noakes,Son,,5,,Farmers Son,Ticehurst Sussex,,
Cate Noakes,Dau,,,3,Farmers Dau,Ticehurst Sussex,,

Yes that is the correct Jarvis's. There are so many Noakes in the area and it has been hard to pin down which ones are the right ones (they all seem to be called John ot Henry )

Is this Thomas in 1851 with his first wife?

http://www.sussexweald.org/c.asp?MemoId=C1Ti2b&HNo=0016
Sheet 16
Dale Hill Farm
Thomas Jarvis, M, Head, married, age 50, born Ticehurst, Sussex; occupation: Farmer, 150 acres employing 9 people
Anne Jarvis, F, Wife, married, age 53, born Goudhurst, Kent
Walter Jarvis, M, Son, single, age 19, born Ticehurst, Sussex
Anna Jarvis, F, Daughter, single, age 18, born Ticehurst, Sussex
Helen Jarvis, F, Daughter, single, age 11, born Ticehurst, Sussex
Charlotte Sawyer, F, Visitor, single, age 20, born Ticehurst, Sussex
Matilda Kemp, F, Servant, single, age 20, born Ticehurst, Sussex; occupation: House servant
Thomas Baker, M, Servant, single, age 20, born Etchingham, Sussex; occupation: Farm labourer
Thomas Colman, M, Servant, single, age 24, born Burwash, Sussex; occupation: Farm labourer


...and on sheet 6 we find:
Clarence Cottage
William Jarvis, M, Head, single, age 43, born Ticehurst, Sussex; occupation: Accountant
Lucy Guest, F, Servant, widowed, age 67, born Ticehurst, Sussex; occupation: House servant

who may be nothing to do with it, but worth knowing he is there...

Yes, I am sure you have the correct family, William was an accountant.

Interesting:
http://theweald.org/N10.asp?NId=4810837

Thomas Wickham Jarvis, son of Gibson Jarvis and Mary Jarvis [Wickham]
1799 Born In the Parish of Ticehurst, Sussex
14th May 1821 Married Anne Terry at St Mary the Virgin Parish Church in the Parish of Ticehurst, Sussex
c 1855 Married Sarah .....

- there is quite a bit more info there too, including a partial tree, and a couple of reports on ancestors and descendants but you may have seen all this already.

[/quote]

Yes, I have all that, some of what is quoted the Weald site isn't 100% accurate - taken from other sources etc.

So I do think Sarah was of sound mind and wasn't so young that she needed Trustee's.

Thanks for doing all that looking Lesley, definately the right folks.
Barbara

[Alan SHARP]

Hi Barb.

QUOTE:
Whereas by a bond dated the fifth day of March one thousand eight hundred and fifty five I became bound to John Noakes of Ticehurst aforesaid Farmer and Edmund Hilder of Rye in the said County Victualler as Trustees of my wife Sarah Jarvis in the penal sum of eight hundred pounds conditioned for the payment of four hundred pounds by executors or administrators to the said John Noakes and Edmund Hilder or the survivor of them his executors or administrators within twelve calendar months after my decease and which debt I do hereby acknowledge and confirm and I direct that the same shall be paid within twelve calendar months after my decease
END QUOTE

Upon reading the bond what troubled me was the mention of the debt being eight hundred pounds yet the husband was only acknowledging, and making guarantees for the repayment of half of it. That was why I was uncertain if I did understand the instrument correctly. A remarriage may help to explain that.

My guess is that Sarah came into the marriage owing eight hundred pounds. I would be looking for another will this time in Sarah Jarvis’s name about the same date. Not sure whether a codicil to her existing will would have sufficed but as she was getting an underwriter for half of it, by way of her new husband, I would expect she drew up a fresh will. The trustees named are Sarah's trustees so would be trusted citizens with some connection to Sarah whether business or family and, I would assume, pre-dating the marriage. Not every woman of that era had a will and trustees. Did her first husband die, or did she divorce where there was bad debt that she accepted responsibility for.

By any chance was the March 5th 1855 date near their marriage date. For the 1850's the sum is large but not if property was involved.

Very interesting – more questions than answers.

Alan SHARP.

[BarbR]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for your thoughts. I didn't think of looking for a Will for Sarah, but maybe that would explain some of it (or would it just give me more questions )

I have wondered if Sarah was married before, but as I can't locate a cert for her marriage to Thomas, it's hard to know. Thomas first wife died 1851 so I would think 1855 might be close to marriage year for them - they are married on 1861 census. Also I hadn't considered property being involved - a possibility given the large sum.

Barbara

[Alan SHARP]

Hi again.

Unless you are a knowledgeable historian of the time period, customs, and local law, it’s best to take nothing for granted. Assumptions can both help or hinder your research. In 1862 my Great Grand Father remarried the lady who had house kept since her arrival in NZ in 1858, because his first wife was dieing of TB. She died in 1860. The first born to the remarriage arrived exactly four months into the 1862 marriage. Oral history believes the second wife was a full cousin, but we lack vital papers to conclusively prove it.

Not so many years ago a farmer I know obtained a house keeper through the Church as his wife in her late 40’s was severely compromised with cancer. He raised eye brows when he remarried that house keeper, within a year of his first wife’s passing. Some of his children had not got through the grieving phase, but it is understood that his dieing wife had put it, that the housekeeper was a good and caring women, qualities which she endorsed. There is no issue to the second marriage, so it was not hurried up for that reason. Children she brought to the marriage, I believe he adopted, or at least the juveniles.

If Sarah brought to the marriage, land in which others had a life interest, that might help to explain why the advance appears to be open ended, not necessarily needing to be settled, until the death of the bond insurer. Or it might just be provisioning in case he died an unexpected death. Who knows, hopefully all will be revealed with time.

Alan SHARP.

[trish1]

It reads to me as if Sarah has an inheritance due at a future time, perhaps as a residual legatee - which may come from a parent, grandparent or as mentioned by some others a prior husband. I am suggesting this purely as I have seen similar situations in some of my family wills, not through any legal knowledge. It could also be that Sarah inherited from a relative, but as she was (perhaps) a single woman, trustees were appointed to administer her estate.

It seems from most of my scottish wills fathers have written into the wills that their daughters are to inherit absolutely (with the husband having no control of said inheritance) - but I do not know if this was possible in England as most of the wills I have seen from my English ancestors - have seen married women left an income from their father's estate while the capital was to go to the grandchildren (thus avoiding the husband gaining control of the capital). This has been carried on well into the 20th century (my husband is a residual legatee of his grandfather's estate). If this was the situation in your case, I am somewhat intrigued as to how/why the trustees allowed the husband to borrow from (presumably) his wife's estate. Given the timing 1855, perhaps it was some type of marriage agreement/settlement.

If you can find the history of Sarah - starting with the marriage - which does seem tricky to find! There is a Sarah Balcolm of the right age - unmarried and living in Burwash (born in same) in 1851. I don't see her in 1861. There is also a marriage for a Sarah Ann Balcolm - Dec 1854 - district Ticehurst - but no sign of the right husband on the specified page. It may be worth checking the registers at Ticehurst rather than GRO if you cannot find the marriage.
Actually Ticehurst moved districts - as shown here - http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/reg/dist ... hurst.html

Trish

[BarbR]

Hi Trish,
Thanks for your insights.

This Thomas did try to exclude one of his two son-in-laws from inheriting any money but made the other one an executor.

I tried freeBMD for Sarah Ann Balcomb but it looks like she married either a Hawkins or Mitten gentleman. I did send for a cert from Kent (Ticehurst is on the border with Kent which confuses things at times) for a Sarah Woodhams marrying Thomas Jarvis in 1854 but he turned out to be a Wharfinger with father William not Gibeon. I am wondering if perhaps they were not married in established church as there seems to be no record to be found!

Thanks for your input

Barb

[trish1]

Being as it was well after civil registration of marriages - the church should not matter in terms of finding same, but it certainly doesn't seem easy to find. Given the ages of the couple and the way the will is written it seems most likely that they married. One wonders if it was somewhere outside of England - but given that they both came from the same locality - that also seems unlikely - no need to escape to Gretna Green!

I just thought to look on the IGI - this looks a possible marriage - extracted entry
THOMAS JARVIS and SARAH HILDER Marriage 27 DEC 1854 Christ Church, Southwark, London, England
Husband Age at Marriage 55
Wife Age at Marriage 52

and from another source Thomas Jarvis - widower father Gibson Jarvis Farmer
sarah Hilder spinster - father Edmund Hilder Miller

No idea why it is missing from FreeBDM (well - probably should be why it is missing from the GRO indexes - but they are known to have many errors)

Trish

[LesleyB]

Interesting find Trish

sarah Hilder spinster - father Edmund Hilder Miller

There is loads of stuff online with regard to legal transactions for land, property etc for Edmund Hilder, Miller, which I kept coming across last night e.g.:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/ ... 8-06-18#-1

On 26 and 27 Jul 1805 Upper Park Farm was sold by the Fishers to Edmund Hilder of Ewhurst miller and John Hilder yeoman his trustee for £1,600, £1,200 of which was raised by mortgage to William Falconer of Plumpton gent who assigned to William Martin and William Tyrell of Salehurst farmers and Henry Noakes junior of Ticehurst farmer on 28 and 29 Mar 1815 (AMS5982/6/6-12)

On 21 and 22 Mar 1805 Lower Park Farm was sold by the Fishers to Benjamin Wood victualler and Charles Geer tailor his trustee for £312, £200 of which was raised by mortgage to Richard Sharpe of Lewes gent, who acknowledged repayment on 30 Sept 1815, prior to Wood's sale to Edmund Hilder miller and George Fagge Gilbert farmer his trustee for £400 on 21 and 22 Nov 1815 (AMS5982/6/13-21)

The whole estate
To avoid legal action by his creditors, Edmund Hilder assigned his personal estate and agreed to convey his real estate to his father Edward Hilder, his principal creditor, on 13 Mar 1817. The names of the fifteen other creditors appear on the agreement which is endorsed with their receipts for payments in two instalments, the last of which is dated 23 Apr 1818. The deed makes it clear that Edmund Hilder occupied Edward Hilder's windmill and watermill as well as his own land.
Edmund Hilder died in Sept 1821 without having made any conveyance of his real property to his father and by his will of 15 Sept 1821 appointed John Vigor butcher his trustee for sale for the benefit of his wife Sarah and children. Edward Hilder's will of 17 Dec 1823 was proved in PCC by Harry Hoad of Brightling farmer and Henry Bourne of Dallington farmer on 3 Dec 1824 and on 16 Apr 1827 they were admitted to Dudwell Mill. The will reveals Edward's extensive business dealings with his sons and sons-in-law, most of whom were other members of the Hilder family (AMS5982/6/22-25)

The executors attempted to auction the estates, twice in Burwash in 1824 and 1825 and in London in 1827 but they remained unsold. Finally on 2-4 Feb 1829 by a complicated series of transactions, the estate (including a newly-thatched barn and lodge on Upper Park Farm) was sold to John Honeysett miller and his trustees for £3,200, £3,000 of which was raised by mortgage to John Bryant of Robertsbridge in Salehurst draper.

The mortgages to Martin and Tyrrell (represented by his widow and administratrix Ann) and to Dodsworth and Hayes were paid off, extracts provided of the marriages and wills of the beneficiaries of the Pelham settlements and outstanding mortgage terms assigned to trustees.

There is quite a bit more to this too on the above page and and others.
I begin to wonder now, if the names Trish has found are the correct couple, if the monies being spoken of in the will are an ongoing consequence of all these earlier transactions...?