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Will of Dinah Delafield of Bradwell, spinster, 1775
National Archives PROB 11/1011/390
This is the last Will and Testament of Dinah Delafield of Bradwell in the County of Bucks Spinster I resign my Soul to Almighty God in humble hopes of Forgiveness of all my transgressions through the Mediation of my Blessed Redeemer I will that all legal Debts I shall owe at the time of my decease with my Funeral Expences be paid I give and devise all and every my Personal Estate of what nature kind or Quality soever or wheresover to my Sister Sarah Delafield and I constitute and appoint the said Sister Sarah Delafield Sole Executrix of this my Will hereby revoking all Former Wills by me made and do ratify this writing as and for my last Will In Witness whereof I the said Dinah Delafield have hereunto set my hand and Seal this sixth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Seventy five Dinah Delafield her mark Signed Sealed Published and Declared by the said Dinah Delafield as and for her last Will in the presence of us who have Subscribed our names as Witnesses at her request in her presence and the presence of each other Thos Bradbury [signature] Edwd Grant [signature]
On the thirty first Day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Seventy five Administration with the Will annexed of all and Singular the Goods Chattells and Credits of Dinah Delafield late of Bradwell in the County of Bucks Spinster deceased was granted to Thomas Eaglestone and Richard Cox the Executors of the Will with a Codicil of Sarah Delafield Spinster deceased whilst living the Sister of Dinah Delafield Sole Executrix and Universal Legatee named in the said Will of the said \dec(ease)d/ having ben first sworn by Commission Duly to Administer the said Sarah Delafield survived the said Testatrix but died before she had taken upon her the Execution of the said Will
Will of Sarah Delafield of Bradwell, spinster, 1775
National Archives PROB 11/1011/386
This is the last Will and Testament of Sarah Delafield of Bradwell in the County of Bucks Spinster being of sound mind and memory first I resign my Soul to Almighty God in humble hopes of forgiveness of all my Transgressions through the Mediation of my Blessed Redeemer and as to my worldly affairs I will that all my just Debts I shall owe at the time of my decease with my Funeral Expences be paid I give and devise all that Copyhold Messuage or Tenement and Premises with the Appurtenances in which I now Dwell situate in Bradwell aforesaid and which I have surrendered to the use of this my Will to my Niece Hannah Delafield Daughter of Joseph Delafield my Nephew and her heirs for ever whereas I am intitled to the Sum of three hundred pounds in the four per Cent Consolidated Annuities one thousand seven hundred and seventy two after the decease of Ann Bennett I give and dispose thereof as Follows one hundred pounds part thereof to William Delafield Son of my Nephew \William/ Delafield one hundred pounds other part thereof to John Son of my Nephew Joseph Delafield and to Sarah the Daughter of the said Joseph Delafield my Nephew Fifty pounds the remaining fifty pounds to Hannah the
[p.2] Daughter of the said Joseph Delafield I give to my Brother John Delafield the yearly Sum of ten pounds during the term of his natural Life to be paid him by two equal payments half yearly for his own use the same being intended by me for his Maintenance and benefit and at his decease to go to the said Hannah Delafield and her Heirs for ever I give to my Nephew William Delafield the Son of the said John Delafield the sum of ten pounds to be paid him in three Months after my decease I give to my Servant Lucy Coley twenty pounds to be paid her in three Months after my decease and also one Feather Bed Bolster two pillows, a Bedstead and Curtains two large Silver Table Spoons one Mourning Ring with a Stone in it and one pair of Silver Buckles my black Silk Cardinall and Bonnet and a Chints Gown one Black Gown and my best clear Lawn apron one under coat the best of my head Cloaths one pair Sheets and black Quilted pettycoat and it is my desire that the said Lucy Coley should have the use of the parlour with the best Chamber in the Copyhold House in which I now live till my Niece Hannah Delafield shall arrive at the Age of twenty one years and to prevent as much as possible the trouble my Executors may have with my Niece aforesaid it is my desire that the said Lucy Coley be allowed to wash to mend and make her Linen during her Minority and that she may have a home to come to provided she should chuse it my will an desire Further is that all the Household Goods be kept in the two Rooms aforesaid for the use of the Child till she come of age and that the said Lucy Coley be allowed to use the same with care and if my Niece Hannah should chuse to live with the said Lucy Coley then it is my will that my Executors do pay for the Board of the said Hannah Delafield three Shillings and Six pence per week to the said Lucy Coley so long as the Child shall chuse to live with her and my desire is that the rest part of the House be let with the use of the kitchen, the Garden to be disposed of as the Child shall chuse and that the Copper and the rest of the Fixtures be kept standing and an Inventory of the goods be taken and kept until the said Child Arrives at the Age of twenty one years and it is further my will and desire that all the plate Except what I dispose of above that I may be possessed at the time of my decease be put in a Box with an Inventory of the same put in the Box and be delivered into the hands of Mrs Jane Blunt of Newport Pagnell Bucks to be by her taken care till my Niece arrive at the age aforesaid I give and bequeath unto the Reverend William Coles of Ridgement in the County of Bedford and Thomas Eglestone of Stonebridge House in the County of Bucks all the rest residue and remainder of my of my personal Estate of what nature kind or Quality soever or wheresoever in trust for my Niece Hannah Delafield aforesaid and that they place out in the public Funds or some other place of Security all the
[p.3] Money and Effects that I shall be possessed of at the time of my decease over and above and above [sic] the Legacies aforesaid and that the Interest of such money be applied in the first place for the payment of the said annuity or yearly the sum of ten pounds per annum to my Brother John Delafield and then for the use and Maintenance of the said Hannah Delafield until she arrive at the age of twenty one years and then it is my will and desire that she the said Hannah Delafield be put in immediate possession of the House aforesaid together with the principal and Interest of all such money I say at the Age of twenty one years and her receipt shall be a full discharge I give to the said William Coles and Thomas Eglestone the Sum of five pounds each for their Care and trouble in the execution of this my Will and I direct that they retain unto themselves all Expences they shall sustain in the Execution of this my Will nor shall they be answerable for the Loss of any money Except by their own willful neglect and I constitute and appoint the said William Coles and Thomas Eglestone Executors of this my last Will hereby revoking all former Wills by me made I do ratify this writing as and for my last Will and in Witness whereof I the said Sarah Delafield have hereunto set my hand and Seal this Second Day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy five Sarah Delafield [signature] Signed Sealed published and Declared by the said Sarah Delafield the Testatrix as and for her last Will and Testament in the presence of us who at her request attested the same in her presence and in the presence of each other Mar(tha?) Seeley [signature] Leo(nar)d Seeley [signature] Daniel Edmunds [signature]
I Sarah Delafield of Bradwell in the County of Bucks being of sound mind and memory do make this Codicil to my last Will and Testament in manner and form as Followeth I will and bequeath to William Delafield my Nephew the Sum of three pounds to be paid him yearly and every year during the term of his natural Life to be paid him out of the Interest on the money which I have in my Will bequeathed to my Niece Hannah Delafield and at his decease to return to the said Hannah Delafield I will and bequeath \to Elizabeth/ the Daughter of the said William Delafield the Remaining Fifty pounds out of the three hundred which I am intitled to at the decease of Ann Bennet and which I have disposed of in my Will as Follows one hundred to the Son of the said William Delafield one hundred to the son of Joseph Delafield and Fifty pounds to Sarah the daughter of the said Joseph Delafield whereas I have
[p.4] appointed the Reverend William Coles of Ridgemont in the County of Bedford one of the Executors of my last Will and Testament and he has declined it on the account of living at so great a distance I do therefore constitute and appoint Richard Cox of Westbury in the Parish of Shenly Bucks to be one of my Executors in his Room and I will and bequeath to the Said Richard Cox the sum of five pounds for his trouble in the Room of William Coles whereas I have bequeathed to my Servant Lucy Coley part of my wearing Apparel it is my desire that she may have the whole and every part thereof for her own use with whatever wood or Coals there may be at the time of my decease I will that my Sisters Black Crape [sic] Gown be given to Sarah the Wife of Joseph Delafield and that the rest of my Sisters Cloaths be equally divided between Elizabeth Daughter of William and Sarah the Daughter of Joseph Delafield I will and bequeath to the Reverend James Hall of Winslow in the County of Bucks the Sum of five pounds to be paid in one week of the time of my decease and I do acknowledge this to be a Codicil to my last Will and Testament and I do hereby ratify and confirm my said Will in everything wherein it is not Repugnant or Contrariant to this my Codicil in Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this Thirty first Day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy five Sarah Delafield [signature] Signed Sealed published and Declared by the said Sarah Delafield as and for a Codicil to her last Will and Testament and to be taken as part thereof in the presence of us Jane Blunt [signature] the mark of Jane Thompson
This Will was proved at London with a Codicil the thirtieth Day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Seventy five before the Right Worshipful Sir George Hay Knight Doctor of Laws Master Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Lawfully Constituted by the Oaths of Thomas Eaglestone otherwise Eglestone \the Ex(ecut)or named in the said Will/ and Richard Cox the Executor named in the said Codicil to whom Administration was granted of all and Singular the Goods Chattels and Credits of the deceased they having been first sworn by commission duly to administer
Notes
The Delafield sisters, who came from a prominent mid-Bucks Baptist family, were buried in Winslow at Keach's Meeting House, where Richard Cox the executor was one of the trustees. Their gravestone is still there (see below), although now badly worn. Arthur Clear appended to Thomas Matthews' account of the meeting house a record of the inscription and suggested a connection with a John Delafield who signed the Orthodox Creed in 1679 (Clear thought he was from Winslow but according to Arnold Baines he was from Dinton). The bequest to James Hall, the minister at the time, must be related to the burial. Some other Delafields were buried at Bradwell: Rachel in 1775 and John in 1780. No other connection to Winslow has been found, but as Baptists usually married each other in the late 17th and early 18th centuries they may have had a link to the Gyles family; their brother William married an Elizabeth Aldridge. Dinah and Sarah were born at West Wycombe in 1701 and 1706 respectively, daughters of Joseph who was originally from Bishopstone. They were living in Princes Risborough in 1766 when they benefited under the will of their cousin William Delafield, baker of St Botolph Aldersgate. Ann Bennett mentioned in Sarah's will was his servant and was left a life interest in his 4% Consols. For more about the family, see Brig.Gen. John Ross Delafield, Delafield, The Family History (1945), pp.304-05.
