Item I give to the poore people that shall resorte to my buriall thirteene shillings and fower pence of lawfull money to bee
distributed unto them at my buriall by myne executrix hereafter named or her assignes
Item I give and bequeath unto William Fry my eldest sonne tenn shillings of lawfull money to bee paied him by myne executrix
hereafter named
Item I give and bequeath unto Anne my daughter now the wife of Ruben Jeffrye and unto every of the children that the said Anne shall have living at the time of my decease tenn shillings of like lawfull money to bee payed them by myne executrix hereafter named
Item I give unto Susan my daughter now the wife of John Fry thirtie pounds of like lawfull money to bee payed her by myne executrix hereafter named within halfe a yeare next after my decease
Item I give and bequeath unto Joane my daughter fourescore pounds of like lawfull monie to bee payed unto her by mine executrix hereafter named at her full age of one and twentie yeares or daye of her marriage which of them soever shall first happen
The residue of all my goods and chattells whatsoever my debts and legacies being payed, and my funerall expences discharged I fully and whollie give and bequeath unto Susan my loving and beloved wife whome I make and ordaine the whole and sole executrix of this my testament and Last will
This is the last will and testament of me the said Thomas Frye made and declared the daye and yeare aforesaid concerning the order and disposition of all and singuler my lands tenements and hereditaments whatsoever That is to saye
First I give and bequeath unto the said Susan my wife the whole use rent profit and occupacon of my tenement and lands in Spelherst als. Speldherst aforesaid called Mitchells and all the lands of mee the said Thomas now used and occupied with the same with all and singuler the appurtenances soe longe as shee shall continue and remaine a widowe and unmarried and noe longer
And I hereby further devise and will that if it shall happen the said Susan my wife to live unmarryed
untill such time as the said Joane my daughter ought to bee paied her legacie by this my testament
and last will unto her geven and bequeathed and that my goods and chattells which I shall leave unto
the said Susan my wife shall not after my debts payed bee sufficient to paie all the legacies by this my
testament and last will given and bequeathed Then I will that it shalbee lawfull to and for
the said Susan my wife to fell cut downe and sell all or anie the coppice woods growing uppon my said lands
and the monie thereof made and arising to imploye for and towards the payment of my said daughter Joanes legacie hereby to her given
soe that the said Susan my wife doe after such fall in coppice the woods soe felled
And after the said Susan my wife shalbee departed this life or married againe then I give and bequeath all and singuler my said messuage or tenement called Mitchells and all the lands thereunto belonging or therewithall now used occupyed or inioyed (except the shingled barne and five severalls or parcells of land conteyning by estimacon fifteene acres more or lesse lying on the west side of the waye leading from Gibbs crosse unto broad feild, and the upper end of the lane from Gibbs crosse aforesaid to the pond in the forestall, and one roode of land more or lesse as it is now marked and staked out, lying on the east side of the said Shingled barne unto Thomas Fry my sonne To have and to holde the same with all and singuler the appurtenances unto the said Thomas my sonne his heires and asignes for ever
Item I give and bequeath unto Richard Fry my sonne (from and after my said wives decease or second marriage as is aforesaid, the said five severalls or parcells of land on the west side of the said waye with the said Shingled barne and roode of land more or lesse as it is now marked out on the east side of the said barne, and the upper end of the said land from Gibbes crosse aforesaid unto the said pond in the fore stall To have and to holde the same with all and singuler the appurtenances unto the said Richard my sonne his heires and asignes for ever
Provided alwaies and my will and true meaning is that it shall and may bee lawfull to and for the
said Thomas Fry my sonne his heries and assignes at all times and from time to time forever to drive
leade chase ryde carry and recarry betweene my said Messuage called Mitchells and the Kings High
waye thoroughe and alonge the said lane
And further I will that my said sonne Richard his heires and assignes shall have the like waye at all
times and from tyme to time forever to drive leade ryde chase carrie and recarry through and alonge
the said lane from the forestall pond aforesaid downe to his other landes downewards
Provided alwaies alsoe that if either of my said sonnes Thomas or Richard shall happen to departe this life before they shall accomplishe the full age of twentie and one yeares, then I will that all and singuler the lands and tenements of him soe dyinge and hereby to him given shall whollie remayne unto the Survivor and to his heires and assignes forever
Provyded alsoe that if the said Susan my wife shall happen to marrie againe, Then I
hereby will that the said Thomas Frye my sonne shall paie unto her yearelie and every yeare during
her naturall life the some of three pounds six shillings and eight pence of lawfull Englishe monie,
and that my sonne Richard shall then likewise paie unto her yearlie and every yeare
during her naturall life the sum of thirtie three shillings and fower pence of like
lawfull monie at foure quarterly equall payments in every yeare
And if and as often as it shall happen that either of my said sonnes or their heires to make default in payments thereof contrarie to the true meaning of this my will Then I hereby devyse and will that it shall and may be lawfull to and for the said Susan my wife and her assignes into the lands and tenem'ts hereby given unto my said sonnes, or of him soe making defalte to enter and distraine and the distresse and distresses then and there taken to leade drive chase and carrie awaie and the same to imparke * detaine and keepe untill shee shalbee trulie from time to time payed the some or as much as shalbee behind with the arrearages therof if anie shalbee Anie thing to the contrary notwithstanding
Provided lastlie that if it shall happen the said Susan my wife to departe this life before the said legacie hereby given unto the said Joane my daughter ought according to this my will to bee payed unto her and that the said Joane cannot lawfully recover the somme, Then I hereby will that the said Thomas my sonne his heires or assignes shall paie or cause to bee payed unto the said Joane the like some of fowrscore pounds of Lawfull Englishe money
And if the said Thomas my sonne shall happen to make defalte in the payment thereof Then I hereby further devise and will that it shall and may be lawfull to and for the said Joane and her assignes into all and singuler the mssuage lands and tenements hereby geven and bequeathed unto the said Thomas my sonne to enter and the issues and the profitts thereof coming and arising to receave and take unto the said Joane my daughters owne use and behouf untill shee shall have received of the issues and profitts thereof the said some of fowerscore pounds togeather with all costes and charges disbursed and layed out and aboute the same
In Witnes whereof I the said Thomas Fry the testator to this my testament and last will conteyning
three sheetes of paper, and this parte of a sheete have set my hande and seale revoking and utterlie
frustrating all former wills by mee heretofore made, and doe publishe this to bee my laste will and
testament the daye and yeare aforesaid in the presence of
Edward Frye of Greene Lane and Rob: Sarpes
Thomas Frye
Probatum fuit: [Latin] at London 18th February 1623/4.
Notes:
Thomas Fry was buried at St. Mary, Speldhurst, Kent on 20th January 1623/4.
* “Imparke”: out-of-use word meaning to enclose an area.
Transcribed by Shelagh Mason 25th August 2020
Return to Kent GenealogyWill of Thomas Fry