In the Name of God Amen
I, Ferdinando Thorpe, of the parish of Desborough in the County of Northampton, being of sound and
disposing mind and memory do make and ordain this to be my last Will and Testament in manner and form following, that is
to say:
Imprimis, I commend my soul to the Hands of my Blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ, and I Desire to be
buried in the aforesaid parish of Desborough.
£100 is worth about £14,850 now
I give and bequeath unto my second Son Thomas Thorpe the sum of one hundred pounds of lawful Money of
Great Britain.
£150 is about £22,300
I also give unto my youngest Son Ferdinando Thorpe the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds of the same
Money.
Item, I give to each of my Daughters who shall be living at the time of my decease the Sum of one
hundred pounds a piece, over and above what may be due to them by any Marriage Articles or otherwise; and I
likewise give forty shillings to be distributed amongst the poor of the parish of Desborough.
All the Rest and Residue of my personal Estate, whatsoever and wheresoever in possession, Remainder or
Expecting[?] after payment of my just Debts, Legacies, and Funeral Expenses, I Desire and bequeath together
with my Loome[?], household Goods and Furniture unto my wife
Winifred Thorpe.
And I do hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my said wife Winifred Thorpe as also my oldest Son
Cosmas Thorpe to be joint and
sole Executors of this my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all former Wills by me heretofour made
In witness whereof I, the said Ferdinando Thorpe, have hereunto set my Hand and Seal this twelfth day of December
in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty three — Ferdo Thorpe JS —
Signed, Sealed, published and declared by the above named Ferdinando Thorpe to be his last Will and Testament in the
presence of we who have subscribed our Names and Witnesses thereto in his presence and at his Request —
; Susanna Cammark[?] — Mary Cammark — John Eorwins[?]
Probate
This Will was proved at London on the thirtieth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and sixty six befour the Right Worshipful George Hay, Doctor of Laws, Master Keeper or Commissary
of the prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted, by the oaths of Winifred Thorpe, the widow, the
Relict, and Cosmas Thorpe, the Son of the Deceased, the Executors named in the said Will to whom
Administration of the Goods, Chattels and Credits of the said Deceased was granted, they having been first
sworn by Comsn duly to administer.
Notes:-
Money values have been estimated as they would be in 2005, using the information in
Inflation: the
value of the pound 1750-2005 (House of Commons Library Research Paper 06/09)
The original will has no punctuation or separate
paragraphs. As this makes it hard to read I have
inserted some punctuation and broken the text into separate clauses.
"[?]" following a word means that the word on the original document is unclear and the
transcription may be incorrect.
" [???] " means that a whole word was illegible and could not be guessed at.
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