Will of Richard Staniford the elder, brickmaker, 1812 (proved 1814 & 1817)

Herts RO 250 AW4

This is the last Will and Testament of me Richard Staniford the Elder of Winslow in the County of Bucks Brickmaker First I leave all my Messuages Cottages Lands Tenements Hereditaments and real Estate whatsoever and wheresoever to descend to my only Son and Heir Richard Staniford And I give and bequeath unto my three Daughters Mary the Wife of James Allen Elizabeth the Wife of Benjamin Kingston and Sarah the Wife of William Ward the Legacy or Sum of Fifty Pounds a peice of lawful Money of Great Britain Also I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Kitty [page 2] Staniford the Legacy or Sum of Three hundred Pounds of like lawful Money All which said several and respective Legacies or Sums of Money I will and direct shall be paid by my Executor hereinafter named to my said Daughters respectively within twelve Calendar Months next after my decease Also I give and bequeath unto my Granddaughter Mary the Daughter of the said James Allen the Legacy or Sum of five Pounds of like lawful Money which I direct to be paid to her by my Executor hereinafter named when and so soon as [page 3] she shall arrive to the age of twenty one years Also I give and bequeath unto my said Daughter Kitty Staniford my second best Feather Bed Bolster two Pillows Bedstead and Furniture one pair of Blankets one pair of Sheets and my second best Quilt And as to all the rest and residue of my Money and Securities for Money Household Goods and Furniture and Implements of Household Plate Linen China Beds Bedsteads and Bedding Utensils Tools and Stock in Trade and all other my Personal Estate and Effects whatsoever and of what nature or kind soever [page 4] not hereinbefore by me otherwise disposed of I give and bequeath the same and every part thereof And all my Estate and Interest therein and thereto unto my said Son Richard Staniford Subject nevertheless to the Payment of all such Debts as I shall justly owe at the time of my decease my Funeral and Testamentary Expences and the several and respective Legacies or Sums of Money by me hereinbefore given and bequeathed And I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint my said Son Richard Staniford full and sole Executor of this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking [page 5] and making void all former and other Wills by me at any time heretofore made and do declare this only to be my last Will and Testament In Witness whereof I the said Richard Staniford the elder and Testator have to this my last Will and Testament set my Hand and Seal this twenty fourth day of December in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twelve
                                                             [Signed] Richard Staniford

Signed Sealed Published and Declared by the said
Richard Staniford [page 6] the Elder and Testator as and for
his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who
have in his presence at his request and in the presence
of each other subscribed our Names as Witnesses
                                                            [Signed] James Hazzard
                                                            [Signed] Char. Willis Attorney Winslow

[another hand]

            This Will was proved in the Ecclesiastical Court of the Archdeaconry
            of Saint Alban on the 3rd day of September 1814 by the Oath of
            Richard Staniford the Executor therein named to whom was granted
Ad(ministra)c(i)on being first duly sworn
Personal Estate sworn under £1500
                                                                        [signed – illegible]
                                                                        Dep. Regr 21 Augt 1817

Some further documentation is included: on 16 August 1817 the Archbishop of Canterbury issued an order that the will should be released by the Archdeaconry of St Albans, where it had been proved, because the testator held “Goods Chattels and Credits in divers Dioceses or peculiar Jurisdictions within our Province of Canterbury sufficient to found the Jurisdiction of the said Prerogative Court”.  The will therefore came under the jurisdiction of the PCC not of the Archdeaconry.   The note at the end was evidently written when it was sent to the PCC, where according to the National Archives index it was proved on 29 August 1817.

Richard Staniford is presumably the "Mr Stanniford", bricklayer, who built the bridge at Addington for the Wendover to Buckingham Turnpike Trust in 1795 at a cost of £114 4s 7d. See S. Eveleigh, "Bridges on the turnpike road from Wendover to Buckingham", Records of Bucks 52 (2012), 191-202.