Will of Richard Kemp

of Mereworth, Kent

First I will and direct that all such debts as I shall justly owe at the time of my decease my funeral expenses the charges of proving my will and all charges incident thereto shall be timely and honestly paid and satisfied

Also I bequeath unto my late Wife�s children Ann the wife of Thomas Gibbons of West Peckham in the said County Shop Keeper Mary the wife of John Gibbons of Wateringbury in the said County Carpenter and Elizabeth Miles Spinster now residing with me the Sum of Two hundred pounds apiece of awful money of Great Britain to be paid to them respectively within twelve Calendar months next after my decease And I do hereby charge and bind my real Estate and every part thereof to and with the payment of the said legacies each and every of them

Also I give and devise all that the messuage or tenement wherein I now reside and the outbuildings lands and appurtenances thereunto belonging containing in the whole by estimation fifteen acres be that little more or less situate in Mereworth aforesaid and now in my own occupation And also all those four cottages adjoining thereto with the outbuildings garden ground and appurtenances to such cottages respectively belonging situate in Mereworth aforesaid And in the respective occupations of Thomas Newman William Newman Thomas Colville and Widow Bell unto my good friend Robert Brattle of Wateringbury aforesaid Gentleman and the said Thomas Gibbons their Executors administrators and assigns for the term of One thousand years to commence from the day of my decease and from thenceforth to be fully complete and ended upon the trusts hereinafter declared thereof and subject to thereto

I give and devise the said messuage or tenement outbuildings cottages lands and hereditaments with their and every of their appurtenances unto my Daughter Frances Kemp for and during the term of her natural life without Determination of Waste except voluntary waste in pulling down houses and buildings and not rebuilding the same

And from and immediately after the Determination of that estate by any means whatsoever in the lifetime of the said Frances my daughter I give and devise the said messuage or tenement outbuildings cottages lands and hereditaments with the appurtenances unto the said Robert Brattle and Thomas Gibbons their heirs and assigns during the natural life of my said daughter In Trust to preserve the contingent Remainders therein after limited from being defeated overthrown And for that purpose to make actions and bring actions as occasion shall require but nevertheless to permit and suffer my said daughter and her assigns to receive and take the rents or issues and profits of the said hereditaments and premises for and during the term of her natural life

And from and immediately after the decease I give and devise the said messuage or tenement outbuildings cottages lands and hereditaments with the appurtenances unto all and every the son and sons of my said daughter lawfully to be begotten as tenants in common and not as joint tenants and the heirs of their several and respective body and bodies lawfully issuing And in default of or failing such issue unto all and every the daughter and daughters of the said Frances Kemp lawfully to be begotten as tenants in common and not as joint tenants and the heirs their several respective body or bodies lawfully issuing

And in default of or failing such issue female of my said daughter I give and devise the said messuage or tenement outbuildings cottages lands and hereditaments with the appurtenances unto the said Ann the wife of the said Thomas Gibbons [and] Mary the wife of the said John Gibbons and Elizabeth Miles to be divided between them share and share alike as tenants in common and not as joint tenants their several and respective heirs and assigns for ever

And as to the said term of One thousand years herein before limited to the said Robert Brattle and Thomas Gibbons I will and declare that they and the survivor of them his executors or administrators shall stand possessed thereof upon the trusts hereinafter declared thereof that is to say

Upon trust by mortgage or sale thereof or of so much thereof as shall be necessary or by proportion of the rents and profits of the hereditaments and premises computed thereon or a sufficient part thereof or by such other ways and means as to the said Robert Brattle and Thomas Gibbons or the survivor of them his executors or administrators shall seem expedient raise and levy the sum of Six hundred pounds of lawful money of Great Britain and do and shall therewith and thereout pay satisfy and discharge the said legacies of Two hundred pounds apiece hereinbefore bequeathed to the said Ann the wife of the said Thomas Gibbons Mary the wife of the said John Gibbons and Elizabeth Miles and after payment and satisfaction thereof and the said trustees costs and charges incurred thereby I will that the said trustees shall cease determine and be absolutely void

And I further declare that the receipts of the said Robert Brattle and Thomas Gibbons and the Survivor of them his executors administrators for the said Sum of Six hundred pounds or any part thereof shall be sufficient discharge to the persons paying the same who shall not be required to see to the application thereof or be accountable for the misapplication or nonapplication thereof or any part thereof

Also I give and bequeath all and every my household goods household stuff and furniture all my farming stock both live and dead and all and singular other my personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever (subject nevertheless to the payment of my debts and funeral expenses the charges proving my Will and all charges incident thereto) unto my said Daughter Frances Kemp her executors and administrators absolutely and forever

And I further will and direct that it shall be lawful for the said Elizabeth Miles during such time as she shall remain Single to reside and dwell in my present dwelling house with my said Daughter and to be there maintained at the expense of my Estate

And I do hereby make and ordain the said Robert Brattle and Thomas Gibbons joint Executors of this my last Will and Testament
And I do declare that they my said Trustees and Executors shall be charged and chargeable only for and with such monies as they shall respectively actually receive and not the one of them for the other of them nor for the acts receipts neglects or defaults of the other of them nor shall they or either of them be answerable or accountable for any loss or damage which shall or may happen in the execution of this my will or the trusts herein contained unless the same shall happen through their or either of their wilful neglect or default and that it shall be lawful to and for them the said Robert Brattle and Thomas Gibbons and the Survivor of them his executors or administrators by and out of the monies which shall come to their respective hands in virtue of this my Will to retain to and reimburse themselves respectively and to allow to his Cotrustee and Coexecutor all such loss of time costs charges damages and expenses as they shall respectively suffer sustain or be put unto in the execution of this my Will in the trusts thereof or in any wise relating thereto

And lastly I do revoke and make void all former and other wills and testaments by me at any time heretofore made
In Witness whereof I the said Richard Kemp the Testator have to this my last Will and Testament contained in four sheets of paper set my hand and seal that is to say my hand to the three first sheets thereof and my hand and seal to this fourth and last sheet the day and year in the first sheet first above written
Richard Kemp

Signed sealed published and declared by the said Richard Kemp the Testator as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who in his presence and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as Witnesses to the same The words �and the heirs of � body and� between the seventh and eighth lines from the top of the second sheet �and the heirs of� between the tenth and eleventh lines from the top of the same sheet having been first interlined and the words ��bodies lawfully issuing� in the said eight line and �body and bodies lawfully issuing� partly in the eleventh and partly in the twelfth lines from the top of the said second sheet having been first written on erasures and part of the eighth and ninth lines from the top of this sheet having been first obliterated
Jno Hosmer of Wateringbury, Surgeon - R. Rumsley of Mereworth, Farmer - Willm Scoones of Tonbridge Town Solicitor

Proved at London 14th December 1819 before the Worshipful John Dankins? Doctor of Laws and Surrogate by the Oaths of Robert Brattle and Thomas Gibbon (in the will written Gibbons) the Exors. [Executors] to whom Admon. [Administration] was granted

Notes:
1 Mar 1783 M Richard Kemp and Mary Miles, Widow � at Wateringbury, Kent.
17 Jun 1783 C Sarah Kemp, d. of Richard and Mary Kemp at Wateringbury.
2 Aug 1784 C Frances Kemp ---- � ----

Transcribed by Mrs. Shelagh Mason 29th September 2018 Use is freely given to individual researchers.

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