Imprimis I give unto my eldest son an hundred and Fifty pounds to be paid him within One Year after my decease
Item The little silver Pann marked with his Mothers first letters vizt. M.C. of her Name
Item to his Wife the two middling Silver Salvers
Item to both ten pounds towards decent and moderate mourning as my wife shall direct to be devided betwixt them
Item I give and bequeath unto him my Study or Library of Books with this Reservation that
his mother may retain what Books of Devotion or others proper for her or desired by her for her own use
and as for the Sermons or Discourses in two Folioes or others scattered in my Study I am
willing they should be printed if his Mother and himself approve of a Publication and the times will bear it
Item I give to my Son Arthur fifty pounds to be paid him by my Executrix as soon as she well can and shall judge it for his good and decent mourning for himself only
Item I give unto my daughter Hester Cook Five hundred pounds to be paid her as soon as her Circumstances shall require it and she marry with her Mothers Approbation and consent The reason I give her such a Proportion exceeding the rest is because she is the only Surviving Child of my present Wife with whom I have had an am entitled to the largest Portion
as to my daughter Katherine Hindler * I have already given her Husband a Bond of One
hundred pounds which it seems he hath pawned and make me liable to the payment which
is a sufficient Legacy as I designed not to be paid until my Death
* Catherine Cook m. Thomas Shindler 10th November 1709 at St. George, Canterbury.
Item I give to the poor of the Parish of Mersham Fourty shillings and to the poor of the parishes of St. George and St. Mary Magdalene [both Canterbury] Fourty shillings to be fort[h]with distributed by the Churchwardens to such as frequent the Church and receive the holy sacrament
Lastly I do hereby will and fully constitute and ordaine my dearest Wife Hester Cooke to whom under God I have the prolonging of my days and the Quiet contentment of my Latter years my Sole Executrix of this my last Will and Testament and hereby give devise and bequeath unto her all the rest and residue of my Estate both real and personal including all bonds Debts and Dues and whatsoever I have or may have in the publick funds � likewise all Mortgages more particularly that larger one which I laid upon the Estate called Finglesham which was Five or six Hundred Pounds all my paternal portion for which I sold my Lands in Worestershire
Item a Lesse called Bunces Mortgage of thirty pounds with which arrears was raised to Five and Fourty pounds which I paid off and the Mortgage was assigned to me requiring my dear Executrix with all possible Expedition to pay all my Legacys just and legal Debts whatsoever
And this is my Last Will and Testament cancelling all other and revokeing them all other ingagements which I may occasionly or Accidentally have made I have hereunto sett my Hand and Seal this present Nighth Day of Aprill A.D. 1723 and in the Ninth Year of the Reign of our Soveraign Lord George King of Great Britain France and Ireland
Signed Sealed and Declared by the said John Cooke for and as his last Will and Testament
in the presence of us who have subscribed our Names as Witnesses thereunto
John Cooke
Witnesses hereof: Margaret Woolrich - Henry Savage - Edward Tiddiman
Probatum fuit: 18th January 1726
Notes:
29th February 1666 John Cooke of Cranbrook married Maria Hope at Headcorn.
Children:
John 16 Oct 1672 (Cranbrook); then at Smarden: Elyzabeth 9 Jul 1678; Thomas 13 Jun 1679;
Edward 27 Jun 1680; Dorothea Rebecca 6 Sep 1683; John 27 Nov 1684; Arthur 9 Dec 1685.
Mary Cooke, wife of John, Rector, is buried at Smarden 14th Dec 1685.
John Cooke marries secondly 29th October 1686, Widower, Rector of Smarden to Catherine
Brett, 18, virgin of Sevington, whose parents consent.
Children - at Mersham: 18 Feb 1690 Brett; 23 Oct 1692 George; At St. George, Canterbury: 24 Aug 1694 Mary.
Catherine then dies and is buried 30 Aug 1694, wife of John, Rector, at Mersham.
John Cooke marries thirdly 5 Jun 1695, Widower, Rector of St., George Canterbury and Hester Woolwich, Sp., both of Canterbury.
Children � at St. George, Canterbury: Mary 21 May 1686; Hallan 15 Oct 1697; Elizabeth 28 Jul 1699; Philadelphia 23 Jul 1701.
John Cooke is buried 18th August 1726, Rector of Mersham, at Mersham.
Hester is buried 18th October 1738 at Mersham.
In total, John Cooke had 13 children, many of whom died young.
Return to Kent GenealogyWill of John Cooke