Sutton Will 1637/8

Will of Annis Sutton

of Hawkinge, Kent


Source: Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury PRC/17/70/212b
Submitted by Celia Cotton and Roger Sutton
In the name of God amen the vj day of November in the yeare of our lord god Thousand six hundred twentie three
I Annis Sutton Widdowe of the parish of Hawkinge in the County of Kent beeing sicke in my bodie but of good and perfect Remembrance thankes bee to god and fearing the uncertaine houre of my Calling to most certaine death doe ordaine make and declare my last will and Testament in manner and forme following
First I Comend yeild and give my Soule to the mercie of god And as for my body I will it to the Earth from whence it came to bee buried in the Churchyarde of hawking aforesaid

Itim I will to the Church of Hawking aforesaid vjs viijd
Itim I will to the poore of Hawking iijs iiijd
Itim I will to George Sutton my sonne xs to bee paid within one yeare next after my decease
Itim I will to the three sonnes of George Sutton (that is to saie) John Robert and Steven either of them xs to bee paid within one Yeare next after my decease

Itim I will to the three sonnes of Thomas Lad either of them xxs That is to say Robert Nicholas and Thomas To bee paid within one yeare next after my decease
Itim I will to Christian Brice my darter xs To bee paid within one yeare next after my decease
Itim I will to Gregory Donkinge and Robart Donkinge either of them xs To bee paid within one yeare next after my decease

Itim I will to my god sonn John Sutton sonn of William Sutton xl
Itim I will to Leonard Sutton sonne of William Sutton vl
Itim I will to Susann Sutton darter of William Suttone vl One Featherbed one bolster one presse and one brasse Pott
Itim I will to Marie Donkinge my Goddarter xxl To bee paid within one yeare Next after my decease
Itim I will more to Marie Donkinge one great Chest my best sute and wearing lynnen

Further my will and meaninge is that if Marie Donkinge my goddarter shall happen to die before the said tyme named in this will That then my will and meaning is that Gregorie Donkinge and Robart Donkinge her brothers shall have either of them vl and William Suttons three Children John, Leonard and Susanne either of them v marke

All the rest of my movable goodes whatsoever my debts and legaces beeing paid I will unto William Suttone my sonne in lawe whom I doe make and ordaine my Sole Executore of this my laste Will and Testament

In witnes whereof I have sett to my hand and Seale Annis Sutton widdowe her marke and Seale
Witnes to this will Richard Nethersoule Thomas Sutton his marke Robart Lushinton his marke
Concordat c[um] originali

Probatum fuit huius modi suprascriptum Testamentum Agnetis Sutton nuper dum vixit parochie de Hawkinge Archinat Cantuar[iensis] vidua
def[unc]ta vicesimo quarto die mensis Januarii Anno D[omi]ni 1637 [24 Jan 1637/8]
iuxta xr Coram Ven[erabi]li viro D[omi]no Francisco Rogers sacra Theologia professor Surrogato l[egi]timo Ven[erabi]lis viri D[omi]ni Willi[a]mi Stede legum d[oc]toris Rev[er]endi viri D[omi]ni Archi[diaco]ni Cantuar[iensis] Offi[cia]lis etc juramento Willi[a]m Sutton Executoris in d[ic]to Testamento no[min]ati Ac inde Approbat[um] etc Insinuatum etc Onusq[ue] Executoris eiusdem Testamenti d[ic]to Executori Comiss� fuit Prius in deb[i]ta juris forma jurat ad tra Sacrosita dei Evangelia salvo jure Cuiuscumq[ue] (Interee?) (hentis?) xr

Notes
The will was written by �Annis SUTTON� on the 6th November 1623 and proved over 14 years later on 23rd January 1637/8. Her name is recorded as Agnetis, ie Agnes, at grant of probate and the forms Anne and Agnes seem to have been interchangeable in this instance at least.
Thomas SUTTON may be the younger brother to her son-in-law William; see notes relating to her daughter Anne below. Thomas was living in Hawkinge at the time her will was prepared.

Baptisms of three sons to Robert and Agnes have been found at Hawkinge between 1572 and 1580: Roger, George and John. All three inherited land and property in Robert�s will of 1603.
Roger appointed his brother George executor of his will in 1617 and left him his lands in Hawkinge, Alkham and Folkestone. The burial of John SUTTON 6 August 1603 at Hawkinge seems likely to be that of their brother who is not mentioned in the wills of 1617 and 1623; no evidence has been found that he married or left a will. The will of Agnes includes bequests to both her son George and to his three sons, John, Robert and Steven SUTTON.

Daughter: Christian LADD/BRICE
Robert SUTTON made bequests to the LADD family in 1603: Robert, Nicholas, Thomas and Anne, children of his daughter Christian, who married Thomas LADD at Hawkinge in 1592.
Roger referred to his eldest sister Christian BRICE in 1617 and her five children.
Agnes also made bequests to the three sons of Thomas LAD: Robert Nicholas and Thomas; also her daughter Christian BRICE.
The Tyler Index includes the burial of Thomas LADD, 4 Apr 1610 at Swingfield and the marriage of Leonard BRICE to Christian LADD on 12 October 1612 at Tilmanstone, around 7 miles NE of Swingfield. No evidence has been found of any children from this marriage: Christian was around 45 by 1612.

Daughter: Margaret DONKIN
Robert made a bequest of �20 to his daughter Margaret in 1603. The following year she married Gregory DUNKYN at Hawkinge.
Roger bequeathed a lamb to each of Margaret�s three children in 1617 naming her two sons, Gregory and Robert.
Agnes mentioned her god daughter Marie who received �20, the largest monetary bequest made in this will, and her brothers Gregory and Robert. Marie also received clothing and a �great chest�.

Daughter: Anne SUTTON
Anne is referred to in Robert�s will of 1603, when she was under 21 and bequeathed �20 a cow and (possibly) a bed; also mentioned in the will of her brother Roger in 1617.
Her baptism has not been found and may have occurred during 1587 or 1589, years for which the Hawkinge transcripts do not survive; it seems likely she was the youngest child of Robert and Agnes as she is named after her sister Margaret in the wills of 1603 and 1617.
Agnes SUTTON appointed her son-in-law William SUTTON executor in 1623. It seems rather puzzling that she should have a �son-in-law� of the same surname, and sometimes the term is used for a step son. However other bequests to her godson, John son of William SUTTON - �10 - and Leonard and Susan SUTTON, his siblings - �5 � provide a distinctive set of forenames of William�s children that match three baptisms to William and Anne SUTTON at Hawkinge between 1617 and 1622/3.
It appears that Anne SUTTON (or Agnes � again both names are used), the daughter of Robert and Agnes SUTTON, married William the son of Thomas SUTTON and Margaret (nee RAFE or similar). Their marriage entry at Hawkinge was recorded by TYLER: William SUTTON to Agnes SUTTON, 27 Sep 1613; the timing and place supports the theory that this was a marriage of second cousins.
Anne died around four months after the baptism of her third child Leonard and was buried at Hawkinge on 13 July 1623; her mother prepared her will four months later.

Surviving heir: George SUTTON
Deaths of his brothers meant that George SUTTON was the sole male heir to Robert by 1623.
He was party to a feoffment in 1629 (JARVIS collection):
Thomas Sutton of Hawkinge, yeoman, to George Sutton of Hawkinge, yeoman.
3r. of land in Alkham in a place called Standen Valley.
Date: 20 July 1629
In January 2017 I suggested that George was the son of Robert and had purchased land from Thomas, baptised in 1590, his second cousin. Assuming the marriage of William SUTTON to Agnes SUTTON involved the individuals noted above then two parties were also brothers-in-law.


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Will of Annis Sutton
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