Will of George Masters

of Meopham, Kent

And I order and Direct that all such Just Debts as I shall owe at the time of my Decease my Funeral Expenses and the Charges of proving this my Will be paid and discharged by my Executor hereafter named out of my Personal Estate
Item I Give and bequeath unto Catherine Hayes (my late Dear deceased Wife’s Granddaughter) the Sum of Two hundred pounds of lawfull Money of Great Britain to be paid unto her by my Executor hereafter named out of my Personal Estate at her age of Twenty one years if she lives to attain such age but without any Interest in the meantime
And if the said Catherine Hayes shall happen to dye before she attains her age of Twenty one years Then I Order and Direct that the said Legacy of Two hundred pounds shall not be paid or become payable but shall Sink into the Residue of my personal Estate

Item I give and bequeath unto William Hayes George Hayes and Elizabeth Hayes Brothers and Sister of the said Catherine Hayes the Sum of Ten Pounds a peice [sic] for mourning

Item I Give and bequeath unto Margaret Meopham Daughter of Margaret Meopham deceased and now or lately living with Thomas Goodwin at Pitfeild Green in the Parish of Meopham aforesaid the Sum of One hundred pounds of lawfull money of Great Britain at her age of Twenty one years
And I do order and Direct that my Executor shall pay and allow the said Margaret Meopham Interest for the said Sum of One hundred Pounds at and after the Rate of Three Pounds for the Hundred by the year by equal half yearly payments from the time of my Decease until the said Legacy of One hundred Pounds shall become Payable for and towards her Support and Maintenance
And my Will and Mind is that the Receipt and Receipts of the said Margaret Meopham shall notwithstanding her Infancy be good and Sufficient discharges to my Executor for such Interest And my Mind and Will is that if the said Margaret Meopham shall dye before she attains her said Age of Twenty one years That then the said Legacy of One hundred pounds shall not be paid but shall Sink into the Residue of my Personal Estate

Item I give and bequeath unto each and every of my Menial Servants who shall be living with me as Servants in my Family at the time of my Decease and which shall have contin[u]ed in such my said Service for the Space of One year or upward before my Death One Guinea a Peice.

Item I Give and bequeath unto my Neice Elizabeth the Wife of Thomas Avery the Sum of Ten pounds of lawfull Money of Great Britain to be paid unto her within Six Months next after my Decease.
And I Give and Devise all those Several Peices [sic] or Parcells of Land with the Appurtenances containing in the whole by Estimation Thirty Acres more or less lying and being in Warbleton in the County of Sussex and which I sometime since purchased for me and my Heirs of the said Thomas Avery and Elizabeth his Wife Unto the said Elizabeth Avery and her assigns for and during the Term of her natural life She keeping the same in good Condition and Repair and from and after her Decease Unto my Son William Masters his Heirs and Assigns for ever

Item I Give and bequeath unto my Nephew Peter Gunnings the Sum of Ten Pounds for Mourning
Item I Give and bequeath unto my Nephew George Gunnings and to my Neices Sarah the Wife of Walter Baldock Jane the Wife of John Childs and Catherine Gunnings the Sum of Twenty Five Pounds a peice to be paid to them Severally and respectively within Twelve Months next after my Decease
Item I give and bequeath unto Mrs Mary Pemble Widow and Relict of my late Worthy Friend Mr James Pemble late of East Greenwich in the said County of Kent Surgeon deceased the sum of Fifty pounds of lawfull Money of Great Britain to be paid unto her within Six Months next after my Decease as an Acknowledgment of the Friendship and kindnesss shown to me and my late Dear deceased Wife and of the many Civilities we have received from them

Item I Give and bequeath unto such of the Poor People of the said Parish of Meopham as are not Weekly Pensioners and do not receive the Common Alms of the said Parish the Sum of Five Pounds to be distributed and Divided amongst them by my Executor hereafter named and in such manner and proportions as he shall think fitt within One Month next after my Decease
Item I Give and forgive my Tenants John Large Joseph Mungean William Mungean and John Dunk respectively half a years Rent of and for the respective Houses Lands and Estates they now hire and rent of me

Item I give and bequeath unto my Son in Law Mr William Smith and my Daughter Catherine Smith his Wife the Sum of Five hundred Pounds of Lawfull Money of Great Britain to be Paid unto them within six Months next after my Decease
Item I Give and bequeath unto my Grand Daughters Rebecca Smith and Catherine Smith the Sum of One hundred pounds apeice of lawfull Money of Great Britain to be paid unto them Severally and respectively at their Several and respective Ages of Twenty one Years or Days of Marriage which shall first happen but without any Interest in the mean time
and in Case my said Grand daughters or either of them shall happen to Dye before her or their Legacy or Legacys shall become payable Then I Order and Direct that the Legacy or Legacys of her or them so dying shall not be payable or paid but shall sink into the Residue of my Personal Estate

Item I Give and bequeath unto my said Son William Masters and Charles Smith of Stratford by Bow in the County of Essex Miller their Executors Administrators and Assigns the Sum of One thousand pounds of lawfull Money of Great Britain to be paid within Three Months next after my Decease In Trust that they the said William Masters and Charles Smith and the Survivor of them and the Executors and Administrators of such Survivor shall and so putt and place out the same (by and with the Consent and Approbation of the said William Smith and Catherine his Wife or the Survivor of them testified in writing under their hands or the hand of such Survivor and after both their Deceases at my said Trustees own Discretion) on real or Government Securities or Parliamentary Funds as Interest and from time to time with such Consent as aforsaid to take in and Receive the Moneys so placed out or any part thereof and again to lend or place out and Invest the said Moneys so to be called in or received upon other good Securitys of the same or like Nature as often as they shall think fitt with such Consent and Approbation as aforesaid
And upon further Trust that they the said William Masters and Charles Smith and the Survivor of them and the Executors and Administrators of such Survivor shall and do pay the Interest and Dividends of the said Sum of One thousand Pounds unto the said William Smith and Catherine his Wife and the Survivor of them for and during the Term of their respective natural lives unless they shall otherwise direct the same according to the Powers and Authoritys hereinafter given
And upon further Trust that they the said William Masters and Charles Smith and the Survivor of them and the Executors and Administrators of such Survivor shall and do either in the lifetime of the said William Smith and Catherine his Wife or the Survivor of them in Case they or the Survivor of them shall order direct or appoint the same or else imediately after the Decease of the Survivor of them the said William Smith and Catherine his Wife pay assign or transfer the said principal Sum of One thousand pounds unto all and every or such one or more of the Child or Children of the said William Smith and Catherine his Wife lawfully begotten and to be begotten or the Issue of such Child or children in such parts and proportions or the whole to one and at such time or times either in the lifetime of the said William Smith and Catherine his Wife or the Survivor of them or after the Decease of them or the Survivor of them as they the said William Smith and Catherine his Wife or the Survivor of them shall by any Deed or Deeds Writing or Writings to be by them or the Survivor of them Sealed and Delivered in the Presence of Two or more Credible Witnesses direct order or appoint

and for want of such Direction Order or Appointment Unto and amongst all and every the Child and Children of the said William Smith and Catherine his Wife lawfully begotten and to be begotten equally between them if more than one share alike
And in Case any of them shall happen to be dead having Issue the Child or Children of the deceased shall be Intitled only to the Share which his her or their Father or Mother would have been Intitled to if living equally to be divided amongst such Children if more than one And which said Several Parts Shares and Proportions for want of such Direction and Appointment shall be paid at such times as are hereinafter mentioned (that is to say) To Sons at their respective Ages of Twenty one years or sooner if my said Trustees shall Judge it meet for this or their Advancement in the World and to Daughters at their respective Ages of Twenty one Years or Days of Marriage which shall first happen
And in the mean time until the respective Shares and proportions of such Son or Sons Daughter or Daughters or their Child or children shall become Payable as aforesaid In Trust that they the said William Masters and Charles Smith and the Survivor of them and the Executors and Administrators of such Survivor shall and do pay and apply the Interest and Proceed of the said Sum of One thousand pounds for and towards the Maintenance and Education of such Child or children respectively or otherwise for their respective Benefit and advantage as to them my said Trustees shall soon meet

And upon further Trust that in Case all such Child or children shall Dye without Issue before their Shares or proportions of the said Sum of One thousand pounds are payable or being such Issue all of them shall dye before their Shares or Proportions of the said Sum of One thousand pounds shall become payable that then the said William Masters and Charles Smith and the Survivor of them or the Executors or Administrators of such Survivor shall and do pay assign and Transfer the said Sum of One thousand Pounds unto the Survivor of them the said William Smith and Catherine his Wife and the Executors and Administrators of such Survivor to and for his or their own use and benefit

And my Will and Mind is that the said William Masters and Charles Smith or either of them their or either of their Executors or Administrators shall not be charged or chargeable with or acountable for any more of the said Trust Moneys than they shall respectively actually receive by Virtue of the Trusts aforesaid nor with or for any loss which shall or may happen of the said Trust Moneys or any part thereof so as such Loss happen without their Wilfull Defaults nor shall one of them be answerable or accountable for the Acts Receipts or Defaults of the other of them but each of them only for his own Acts Deeds Receipts or Defaults nor Shall they or either of them be answerable for any loss which shall or may happen by any Securities taken in Pursuance of this my Will or otherwise in the Execution and Management of the Several Trusts hereby in them reposed so as such Securitys taken in the lifetime of the said William Smith and Catherine his Wife or of the Survivor of them be taken with such Consent and Approbation as aforesaid

And my Will and Mind further is that the said William Masters and Charles Smith their Executors and Administrators shall and may in the first place by and out of the said Trust moneys deduct and reimburse him and themselves respectively all such Loss Costs charges and Expences as he they or any of them shall respectively Sustain expound or be put unto for or by reason of the Trusts hereby in them reposed or the Management or Execution thereof or any other thing in anywise relating therunto

Item I Give and Devise all and every my Manors Messuages Lands Tenements and Hereditaments whatsoever and wheresoever (not hereinbefore otherwise disposed of) with their and every of their Rights Members and Appurtenances Unto my said Son William Masters his Heirs and Assigns for ever

And I Give and bequeath all the Rest and Residue of my Ready Money and Securitys for Money Debts Goods Chattels and Personal Estate of what nature or kind soever (Subject to the payment of my Debts Legacys and Funeral Expences) Unto my said Son William Masters his Executors and Administrators
and I do make and appoint my said Son William Master Ex'tor of this my last Will and Testament and I do hereby revoke all former Wills by me made

In Witness whereof I the said George Masters have to this my last Will and Testament contained in Four Sheets of Paper set my hand and Seal (to wit) my hand to the first three Sheets and my hand Seal to this last Sheet Dated the Day and year first above written Geo Masters

Signed Sealed Published and Declared by the above named George Masters 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 thereunto
Fra: Brookes - Wm. Russell - Edwd Chapman

This Will was proved at London the Twenty Sixth day of July In the year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and Fifty Seven before the Worshipfull George Harris Doctor of Laws and Surrogate of the Right Honourable Sir George Lee Knight Master Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted by the Oath of William Masters the Son and Executor named in the said Will to whom Administration was Granted of all and Singular these Goods Chattels and Credits of the deceased having been first Sworn duly to administer.

George Masters was buried on 17 July 1757 at St John the Baptist, Meopham. The memorial also has the names of his wife Katherine née Pemble, their son William, and their daughter Katherine and her husband William Smith.

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