Osborn a35

Fitzjames, John, Sir, 1470?-1542?
     [Will] : 1538 October 23
     1 item ; 51 cm. x 65 cm.
     Manuscript on parchment of the last will and testament of Sir John
Fitzjames, drawn up around the time of his retirement from the Court of the
King's Bench.
     The will opens with an appeal to "the most blessed Mother and virgyn
Marie St. Anthony and St. Chr[ist]ofer" for their intercession for his soul;
arrangements for funeral and intercessory Masses and for a Month's Mind
service.
     The extremely detailed lists of personal and estate bequests that follow
comprise a virtual household inventory of the manor house at Redlynch in
Somerset. His widow, Eleanor Draycott, receives liferent of Redlynch and
Knoll as well as use of the household furnishings, including the beds,
hangings, "carpettes, cusshyons, dysshes, potts, and pannes," as well as
tablecloths, jewelry, and various articles of plate. Fitzjames also leaves
"my greate book of Statutes in vellum or parchment" to his cousin Nicholas
Fitzjames, the nearest male heir and successor to Redlynch; silver cups to
various other relatives; and ten shillings for "every mayden of good and
honest conversation" in his household.
     With: 3 documents on parchment concerning James Fitzjames. (1) Indenture
transferring revenues and fees inherited from Sir John Fitzjames in the county
of Somerset, signed and dated 26 June 1568. (2) Indenture concerning the
same, signed and dated 26 June 1570. (3) Attestation of probate of a will
for a member of the Fitzjames family in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury,
signed by the Clerk Thomas Argall and issued in the name of Archbishop
Cranmer, n.d. (damaged).
     With: volume of manuscript transcripts of three of the documents made
for Sir Thomas Phillipps, with genealogical notes on the Fitzjames family.
     Fitzjames family.
     Phillipps, Thomas, Sir, 1792-1872--Ownership.
     Catholics--England.
     Decedents' estates--England.
     Inheritance and succession--England.
     Manors--England.
     Material culture--England.
     Prayers for the dead.
     Saints--Cult.
     Wills.
     Acc.: 00.12.2



To request this material for use in the Beinecke reading room, please go to Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog.