The Will of William Child

William Child, father of Ann Child, wife of Admiral Willis, left £50 to his servant Ann Hall. His leasehold properties in London went equally to his children William Gilbert Child and Ann Willis, and his freehold properties in Scarborough went to his daughter Mary Child. His properties at Staintondale (i.e. Ravenhill) and his East India Stock and Bank Annuities were placed in trust such that the rents and income arising from them went to his daughter Mary so long as she was unmarried, and then they went to his son William and his heir 'begotten of a European Woman but not of a Black or Mulatto'. Should he not have such heirs, the income was to go to Mary and Ann equally, and after the last of them should die, to the heir male of Mary, and failing that, to the heir male of Ann. This is how Richard Child Willis came to inherit; neither William Gilbert Child nor Mary Child had any heirs, and he was Ann's sole heir.

Richard Child Willis only got Ravenhill after a legal battle. I think the intention of his grandfather’s will was to leave the estate in fee tail, meaning that each generation had only a life interest in it and had to pass it on to their heirs. This was a device often used to ensure that feckless relatives did not squander away the family fortune. However, the Court of Chancery found that the will was worded so that it devised the estate to Ann Willis’s heir (singular), rather than her heirs (plural) – or in other words, to her immediate heir Richard rather than all her future heirs in whatever generation they may be.

I William Child of Beverley in the County of York Esquire do make this my last Will and Testament as followeth I give to my Executors here after named the Sum of fifty Pounds each I give to my Servant Ann Hall if she be living with me at the Time of my decease the Sum of fifty Pounds I give to my son William Gilbert Child and to my daughter Ann Willis equally and to the heirs of their Bodies or Survivor all my Leasehold Houses Stables and Coach Houses in Northumberland Street and Great Smith Street Westminster with their appurtenances subject to the payment of the above mentioned Legacies But in case the said William Gilbert Child and Ann Willis shall both die without leaving such Issue then I give the said Houses Stables and Coach Houses with their Appurts to my Grand Sons John and William Hiscox equally and to the heirs of their Bodies or Survivor I give to my daughter Mary Child her Heirs and Assigns for ever my Freehold Tenements and Warehouses at Scarborough with their Appurts I also give devise and bequeath my Freehold Estate situate and being at Stainton Dale in the said County of York together with my Bank Long Annuities and East India Stock and all other Government Securities or Bank Stock that shall stand in my Name the Time of my decease unto James Tindall and John Woodall of Scarborough Esquires Bankers and to William Child Green of Southwark and William Hiscox of London Gentleman and to the Survivor of them and the Heirs Exors and Admons of such Survivor according to my several Estates and Interests therein upon the Trusts nevertheless And to and for the several uses Interests and Purposes hereinafter mentioned or expressed Of and concerning the same that is to say Upon Trust that they my said Trustees shall and do pay the Rents of my Said Freehold Estates last mentioned and also the Interest and dividends to arise from the said Long Annuities and East India Stock or other Securities When and as the same shall be received unto my said daughter Mary Child or her Assigns during her life provided she continues unmarried And from and after her Decease or Marriage which shall first happen then upon Trust as to the said Freehold Estates Long Annuities and Stocks last mentioned for my Son William Gilbert Child or His Assigns during His Life And after His Decease to the Heir Male of His Body begotten or to be begotten of a European Woman but not of a Black or Mulatto and of the Heirs Exors and Assigns of such heir male of my said Son William Gilbert Child according to my respective Estates and Interests therein and in case my said Son William G Child shall die without having such Heir male of his Body (my Daughter Mary Child being either dead or married at that Time) then upon Trust that they my said Trustees shall and do pay the Rents of my said Freehold Estates last mentioned and Also of the Interest and Dividends of the Annuities and Stock to my said Daughters Mary Child and Ann Willis or their respective Assigns during their Lives in equal Shares and Proportions and the whole thereof to the Survivor of them my said Daughters or her Assigns during the Life of such Survivor And from and after the decease of the Survivor of them my said Daughters then upon Trust as to the said Freehold Estate Annuities and Stock for the heir male of the Body of my said Daughter Mary Child and the heirs Exors and Admons of such a heir male as last mentioned according to my respective Estates and Interests therein And in default of such a heir male of the Body of my said daughter Mary Child then upon Trust as to the said Freehold Estates Annuities and Stock for the Heir male of the Body of my said Daughter Ann Willis and the Heirs Executors and Adons of such Heir male as last mentioned according to my said Estates and Interests therein And in case neither of my Daughters shall leave an Heir male then upon Trust as to the said Freehold Estates Annuities and Stock for my Grand Son William Hiscox or his Assigns during his Life And after his Decease for the Heir male of his Body and to the Heirs Exors and Admons of such Heir male according to my said Estates and Interests therein And in case the said William Hiscox should happen to die without leaving Heir male of his Body then upon Trust as to the said Estates last mentioned Annuities and Stock for all and every of my Grand Children equally as Tenants in common and for the Heirs of their Bodies and the Heirs Exors and Admors of such Heirs as last mentioned according to my several Estates and Interests therein But in case there shall be no such Grand Children or being such they shall all of them die without lawful Issue of their Bodies then upon Trust as to the said Freehold Estates Annuities and Stocks above give and devised and bequeathed to my said Trustees for my Nephews John Green and William Child Green their Heirs executors and Admors according to my respective Estates and Interests therein and to and for no other use Interest or Purpose whatsoever provided always that in case my said Freehold Estates Annuities and Stock last mentioned shall at any Time in pursuance of this my Will become in vested in any Person or Persons residing abroad all who shall be a Mine or Miners or if it shall happen by virtue of the Limitations of the Trust Estate Annuities and Stock shall upon Contingency not immediately vest in any Person or Persons but be held by my said Trustees in Abeyance or Expectation then I do direct that during such Abeyance or Minority or during the Time that the Heir or Heirs at Law shall be absent from England that the Rents Dividends and Profits of my said Trust Estates Annuities and Stocks shall be invested by my said Trustees in their then Names half yearly as received in the three per cent consolidated Annuities transferable at the Bank of England (deducting the Expense of boarding and educating such Minor or Minors not exceeding forty pounds in the year for each) and that such three per cent consolidated Annuities and the Dividends thereupon shall be and continue vested in my said Trustees upon the like uses Trusts Interests and Purposes as my said Long Annuities and East India Stock hereinbefore mentioned Provided always and I hereby direct that no part of the said Trust Estates Annuities and Stock to which any Person who is a married woman shall become entitled under this my Will shall upon account what ever be subject or liable to the Debts Control or Engagements of the Husband or Husbands of such Person or Persons but to and for the sole and separate use of her or them only neither shall the same or any Part thereof be liable to any Annuity or Annuities granted by any Heir or Heirs at Law but that so much and such part thereof as shall be made liable to such Debts Controls Engagements Annuity or Annuities shall from thenceforth become a forfeit to my Nephew John Green his heirs Exors and Admors according to the Nature thereof and which I do hereby give devise and bequeath accordingly I hereby declare that my said Trustees shall have full Power and Authority to grant Leases at Rack Rent or to open an Alum Work in my said Trust Estates for any Term not exceeding twenty-one Years notwithstanding the Limitations hearin before contained and that they shall not be answerable for the Acts Deeds and Defaults due of another but each for his or her own Acts and Deeds only All the Rest Residue and Remainder of my Personal Estate and Effects of what Nature and Kind soever (subject nevertheless to the Payment of my just Debts Funeral and Probate Expenses) I give and bequeath to my said Daughter Mary Child her Exors Admors and Assigns and I hereby appoint the said John Tyndall John Woodall and William Child Green and William Hiscox Executors and my said Daughters Mary Child and Ann Willis Executrixes to this my Will In witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal the twenty eighth Day of October in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and one - Wm. Child - Signed Sealed Published and Declared By the above named William Child 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 hereto William Waite Peter Hunsley Robert Whitelock

Whereas in my Will dated the twenty eighth Day of October last I appointed William Child Green of Southwark one of my Executors and Trustees but on Account of a Misunderstanding between him and my Grand Son John Hiscox of a serious Nature I hereby revoke the said Appointments of Executor and Trustee and do hereby declare that my Trust Estates shall stand in the Names of James Tindall John Woodall and William Hiscox only Given under my Hand and Seal at Beverley the twenty seventh Day of February in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and two – Wm Child – Witnesses to the signing and sealing of the above Codicil in the presence of each other Peter Hunsley William Waite Robert Bateman

Beverley 17th February 1803

Dear Sirs As my Nephew and Grandson have settled their disputes William Child Green may be continued one of my Executors and Trustees if you and my Daughter Mary think proper in that Case you will please to destroy the Codicil voiding that Appointment Instead of my Houses in London being subject to the Payment of the Legacies to my 3 or 1 Trustees and to my Servant Ann Hall (not Mrs Willis) I wish them to be paid out of my Trust Estate to which I dare say my Daughter Mary will have no Objection I am my dear Sirs ever yours – Wm Child – Messrs Tindall and Woodall

John Woodall the younger and John Travis of Scarborough in the County of York Gentlemen make oath and say that they these Deponents personally knew and were well acquainted with William Child late of Beverley in the said County Esquire deceased for many years before his Death And these Deponents further say that they have looked upon the Letter or Paper Writing Annxed to or accompanying the last Will and Testament of the said William Child which Letter or Paper Writing is Dated Beverley 17 Febry 1803 and purports to be signed by the said William Child And these Deponents further say that not only the Name Wm Child thereto subscribed but also the whole of the said Letter or Paper Writing is of the Hand writing of the said William Child deceased these Deponents being well acquainted therewith and having very frequently seen of the said William Child right John Woodall John Travis The above named John Woodall and John Travis were sworn to the Truth of the above Affidavit at Scarborough above mentioned the tenth Day of October 1803 the several Alterations therein having been first made before me John Kirk

This Will with two Codicils thereto Annxed was proved before The Reverend John Kirk Clerk Surrogate of The Right Worshipful Osborne Markham Master of Arts Commissary Of the Exchequer Court of the Exchequer Court [sic] of the most Reverend Father in God William by Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of York Primate of England Metropolitan lawfully constituted and on the twenty first Day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and three Administration of and singular the Goods and Chattels Rights and Credits which were of the said William Child deceased was granted to John Woodall Gentleman one of the Executors in the said Will named he having been first sworn as the Law requires before the said Surrogate

This Will was proved at London with two Codicils on the third Day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and four before The Right Honourable Sir William Wynne Knight Doctor of Laws Mister Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted by the oaths of John Tindall John Woodall William Hiscox and Mary Child Spinster and Ann Willis wife of Richard Willis Esquire the Daughters of the Deceased the Executors named in the said Will to whom Admon of all and singular the Goods Chattels and Credits of the deceased were granted they having been first sworn to ? the said William Hiscox before the Worshipful Charles Coote Doctor of Laws and Surrogate And the said John Tindall John Woodall Mary Child and Ann Willis by Commission duly to Admr.