1678 Will - Matthew Reeve
Introduction
Dated: 8 Mar 1677/8, Hatfield Peverel, EssexProbated: Archdeaconry of Colchester, 20 Jan 1678/9
Transcript
In the Name of God Amen ye Eighth Day of March Ano Dom 1677 And in ye Thirtyeth yeare of ye Raigne of our Sovgne Lord Charles ye Second &c I Matthew Reeve of Hattfield pvill in ye County of Essex Inneholder being sick in body but of good & perfect memory, doe make & declare this my Last Will & Testament in manner & forme following utterly revoking & making void by these prsents all & evry other will & wills heretofore by me made or declared either by word or writing & for ye setting of my temporall estate wch it hath pleased God to bestow upon me I doe order give & dispose ye same as followeth, First I give and bequeath to my Beloved wife Mary all those my two pcells of coppy hold land containing by estimation five acres more or less (ye one called Rattlers Croft, ye other Croft behinde ye Almeshouse or by whatsoever name or names ye same is called or knowne by lieing & being in Hattfield pvill aforesd now in ye occupacon of Henry Medralse? or of his Assigns) for and during ye terme of her natural life, and after her decease, to ye heires of ye body of her ye sd Mary by me ye said Matthew lawfully begotten or to be begotten, and for want of such heires then I give & beuqeath ye said two crofts of land unto my loving father in law Edmond Crow, of Hattfield aforesaid yeoman, & my loving Brother Samuel Reeve of Tarling, & my loving Brother Edward Crow, & to my loving sister Elizabeth ye wife of John Hawes & to my loving sister Mary Crow all of Hattfield aforesd and to theire heires for ever, to be equally divided betweene them, Item I make by Beloved wife Mary my sole executrix of this my will, to whom I bequeath all ye rest of my estate, goods chattells whatsoever not herein menconed she paying my debts & funerall charges. In witnesse whereof I ye sd Matthew Reeve have to this my Last Will & Testament sett my hand & seale ye Day & yeare above writtenMatthew Reeve
Signed Sealed published & declared
to be ye Last Will & Testament of ye
sd Matt Reeve In ye prsence of
Robt Johnson
Alexander Willmott
Wilt? Ward