Will of Joseph Meakes of Addington, 1724/5 (proved 1733)
Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies D/A/Wf/179/178
This will was proved at the Buckingham Archdeaconry Court but largely concerns property in Winslow
In the Name of God Amen The last Will of Joseph Meakes of Addington in the County of Bucks Yeoman made this two & twentieth day of January 1724 Impr(im)is I Comend my Soul to God Allmighty Trusting for Salvation through Jesus Christ as for such Temporall Estate God has blessed me with I haveing made a Surrender to the Use of my Will I dispose thereof as followeth First I give All that my Coppyhold Mesuage or Tenem(en)t in Winslowe wherein Hugh Burrall lately dwelt and all those my Five acres & an halfe of land lyeing in the Comon Fields of Winslow herefore Dandriges with all Barnes Stables Outhouses buildings Yards Orchards Gardens Trees Hedges ditches Freeboards Comons wayes waters Water courses proffitts Comodities and apperten(ance)s thereto belonging unto Ann my loveing wife for the Terme of her n(at)urall life and after her decease unto William Meakes my Sonn and Ann his \wife/ for the Terme of their n(atu)rall lifes and the life of the longer liver of them and to the Heires of the said William forever Item I Give unto the said Ann my Wife all my Personall Estate whatsoever & wheresoever whom I make Sole Executrix of this my last Will & Testa(me)nt and I doe hereby Revoke all Former Wills by me heretofore made In Wittnesse whereof I have hereunto sett my hand & Seal the Day & year above written
the m(ar)ke of Joseph Meakes
Signed Sealed Published & Declared by the above named Joseph Meakes in the p(re)sence of us who have hereunto Subscribed our names as Wittnesses in the p(re)sence of the Testator of Sound Minds & Understanding
Nicho(la)s Merwin
Nicho(la)s Merwin
Hannah Merwin
John Wyatt
October 18th 1731
I the above named Joseph Meaks haveing by my Will above written given my Copyhold Messuage lands and tenements above mentioned unto the heirs of my son William Meakes after the decease of my Wife and of the said William and his wife now my Will and mind is not to revoke this my Will above written but after only as is hereafter mentioned that is to say I give and bequeath the same premisses after the decease of my said Wife and my said son William and his wife unto Rose and Ann Meaks daughters of my said sonne William and their heirs to be equally devided between them
Joseph Meakes his marke
Signed Sealed published and Declared by the said Joseph Meaks this 18th day of October 1731 as & for a Codicill to his Will in the presence of us who have hereunto Subscribed our names as Wittnesses in the p(re)sence of the s(aid) testator
Rob(ert) Adams S.[?] Cooley Nicho(la)s Merwin
[verso] April the Twenty sixth one Thousand seaven hundred Thirty and three
Sworn the Executrix within named before me
no Inventary Exhibited
Thomas Surrogate
Proved the twenty sixth day of Aprill in the year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and thirty three Before Thomas Price Clerk Surrogate by the oath of Ann Meakes Widdow the relict and Sole Executrix to whom Administration was Committed She being first Sworn duely to Administer.
The will of Joseph Meakes late of Addington deceased
Send out by Cooper
Notes
Joseph Meeks, dairyman, was buried at Addington on 1 Oct 1732. He was the son of Anthony and Mary Meakes baptised there on 6 Dec 1656. His mother was Mary Meaks whose will was proved in 1718. He inherited property in Winslow from John Dandridge of Addington (d.1683).
The surrender to the use of Joseph's will is recorded at the 1725 manor court, when the messuage was in the occupation of Mark Morris. Joseph Meakes of Bourton, dairyman, is recorded at several courts c.1700 as mortgagee of properties in Winslow.
William Meakes the son died in ?1752, and his widow Ann in 1758. They had two daughters: Rose (1709-46) who married Timothy Bence and Ann (b.1720) who married John Jellyman, The messuage (in Horn Street) and land were inherited jointly by Ann Jellyman and her husband, and by Rose's daughter Ann Bence who married James Barton.