Will of Emily Minter, matron of Winslow Union, 1883 (proved 1886)

Oxford Probate Registry

 I Emily Minter Matron of the Winslow Union, Buckinghamshire being of sound mind thus publish and declare this my last Will and Testament revoking and annulling all former depositions of my property. I give and bequeath to my Daughter Clara Horner Isabella Flemington School Mistress of the Winslow Union Buckinghamshire All monies invested in the Building Societies clothes and jewellery &c. &c. I appoint my Friend John Griffiths of High Wycombe Buckinghamshire Serjeant Major of the third Battalion of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry and George Egleton Grocer of Winslow Bucks together with my Husband William Minter otherwise called William Vincer Minter Master of the Winslow Union as my Executors of this my last Will and Testament. Dated this Twenty fifth day of April One thousand eight hundred and eighty three.

Emily Minter [signature]

Witnesses
Jane Myrtilla Halsted [signature] Winslow, Bucks.
Harry Ingram [signature] Butcher, Winslow, Bucks.

Affidavit of due execution filed.
Thomas M. Davenport [signature]
Registrar

Proved at Oxford, the Fifteenth day of March 1886, by the Oaths of John Griffiths, George Egleton and William Vincer Minter the Husband, the  Executors, to whom Administration was granted, limited to all such personal Estate, as the Deceased by and with the consent and approbation of her said Husband, and by virtue of all powers and authorities her enabling, had a right to appoint or dispose of and has in and by her said Will appointed or disposed of accordingly, but no further or otherwise.
The Testatrix Emily Minter, wife of the said William Vincer Minter, was late of Winslow in the County of Buckingham, and died on the Thirty first day of October 1885 at Winslow aforesaid.
Personal Estate Gross £136 : 4 : 11.

Willis and Willis, Solicitors, Winslow.

It is hereby certified the foregoing is a correct Copy. Dated this Twenty fifth day of March 1886.

[In The] High Court of Justice PROBATE, DIVORCE, AND ADMIRALTY DIVISION (PROBATE)
[DISTRICT] REGISTRY at Oxford
BE IT KNOWN that Emily Minter (wife of the said William Vincer Minter) late of Winslow in the County of Buckingham, died on the Thirty first day of October 1885 at Winslow aforesaid (being then possessed of certain personal property as her separate Estate) having at the time of her death a fixed place of abode at Winslow aforesaid within the District of the Counties of Oxford, Berks and Buckingham and having during her coverture with the said William Vincer Minter by and with his consent and approbation and by virtue of all powers and authorities her enabling made and executed her last Will and Testament bearing date the Twenty fifth day of April 1883 and thereof appointed John Griffiths, George Egleton and William Vincer Minter Executors. AND BE IT ALSO KNOWN that at the date hereunder written the said last Will and Testament of the said Emily Minter deceased (a copy whereof is hereunto annexed) was proved and registered  in  the District Registry attached to Probate Division thereof at Oxford of Her Majesty’s High Court of Justice at Oxford, and that Administration of all such personal estate as she the said deceased by virtue of all powers and authorities her enabling had a right to appoint or dispose of and has in and by her said Will appointed or disposed of accordingly but no further or otherwise was granted by the aforesaid Court to the said John Griffiths, George Egleton and William Vincer Minter the Executors as aforesaid they having been first sworn duly to administer the same. And it is hereby certified that an Affidavit in verification of the Account of the said Estate has been delivered duly stamped wherein it is shown that they gross value of the said Estate amounts to £136 : 4 : 11 and no more.
Dated the Fifteenth day of March 1886
It is hereby certified the above is a correct Copy. Dated this Twenty fifth day of March 1886.
Personal Estate Gross £136 : 4 : 11.
No Leaseholds.
Extracted by Willis and Willis, Solicitors, Winslow.

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Notes

For more about the family, see Minter family. Emily Flemington, née Benn, married William Minter as his second wife in 1868. She was born at Portsmouth in 1830. She married William Flemington in Daventry registration district in 1848. He was apparently posted to Australia as a soldier. They had a daughter Emily Mary Blanche born at Melbourne in 1847; in 1871 she was living at Green Hill Soldiers' Daughters' Home in Hampstead. They had returned to England when their daughter Clara was born at Weedon, Northants, in 1862. William Flemington of Northampton, formerly of the 40th Regiment of Foot, an army pensioner died on 29 June 1864 aged 43 (his surname was registered as Flemmington). Emily the daughter became schoolmistress at Winslow Workhouse but died in 1876; her mother is commemorated on the same gravestone (see photo). Both daughters took their stepfather's surname Minter.

Clara succeeded her mother as matron of the Workhouse, and was still in office when her stepfather retired.

The Married Women's Property Act of 1882 gave married women the right to dispose of their own property independently of their husbands.