Will of Thomas Yeates, gentleman, 1816
National Archives PROB 11/1584/22
This is the last Will and Testament of me Thomas Yeates of Winslow in the County of Bucks Gentleman First I Give & bequeath unto my son Samuel Yeates & Samuel Lee Smith of Thornton in the said County of Bucks Gentleman the Sum of Four hundred pounds Sterling part of the sum of One thousand Six hundred pounds Stock in the four pounds per Cent Consols now standing in my name in the Books of the Governor & Company of the Bank of England In Trust that they the said Samuel Yeates & Lee Smith or the Survivor of them his Ex(ecut)ors or Adm(inistrat)ors shall & do with all convenient speed after my decease put & place or continue the same out at Interest on Government or other goods & sufficient \Securities or/ Security & pay & apply the Interest Dividends & proceed thereof in payment & discharge of the several annuities of ten pounds & ten pounds given & bequeathed & made payable by me to my sister Ann Bailey the Wife of Thomas Bailey during the term of her natural life in & by the last Wills & Testaments of Samuel Yeates & Bridget his Wife my late Father & Mother respectively deceased And as to the residue of the said One thousand Six hundred pounds Stock with all Interest & Dividends that may be due thereon at the time of my decease I give & bequeath the same & every part thereof unto my said Son Samuel Yeates for his own use & benefit And as to the said Sum of Four hundred pounds with the arrears of Interest or Dividends thereon (if any shall be) after satisfying & paying the said Annuities to my said sister Ann Bailey during her life as aforesaid I give & bequeath the same & every part thereof unto my said Son Samuel Yeates for his own use & benefit & do direct the same to be paid Assigned or transferred to him my said son Samuel Yeates his Ex(ecut)ors Adm(inistrat)ors or Assigns immediately after the decease of the said Ann
[p.2] Bailey accordingly Also I give & bequeath unto my said son Samuel Yeates & the said Samu Lee Smith the further Sums of two hundred pounds & eight hundred pounds sterling part of the sum of Four thousand two hundred & Ninety one pounds and eighteen Shillings div South Sea Stock three per Cent New Annuities now standing in my name in the Books of the said Company In Trust that they the said Samuel Yeates & Lee Smith or the survivor of them his Ex(ecut)ors or Adm(inistrat)ors shall & do also with all convenient speed after my decease put & place or continue the same out at Interest on Government or other good & sufficient Securities or Security & pay & apply the Interest or Dividends of the said Sum of two hundred pounds when & as the same shall from time to time arise & be received unto my dear Wife Sarah Yeates for & during the term of her natural life & in like manner pay & apply the Interest or Dividends of the said Sum of Eight hundred pounds when & as the same shall from time to time be received unto my Daughter Elizabeth Yeates for & during the term of her natural life & from & immediately after the decease & deceases of the said Sarah Yeates & Elizabeth Yeates I give & bequeath the said several Sums of two hundred pounds & Eight hundred pounds and every part thereof unto my Daughter Bridget Yeates for her own use & benefit & do direct the same to be paid assigned or transferred unto my said Daughter Bridget Yeates accordingly Also I give & bequeath unto my said Son Samuel Yeates & my said Daughter Bridget Yeates all my China & Plate equally to be divided between them share & share alike Also I give & bequeath unto my said Son Samuel Yeates the Bureau standing in my Parlour & the Bed he usually sleeps on with the Beadstead Furniture & all other the apparatus thereto belonging And as to the remainder of the sum of Four thousand two hundred & ninety one pounds & eighteen shillings \Stock/ & residue of my Household Goods & Furniture Implements of Household Linen ready money & Securities for money & all other my personal Estates & Effects whatsoever & wheresoever (not hereinbefore by me specially specifically disposed of) I give & bequeath the same & every part thereof & all my Estate & Interest therein & thereto unto my said Daughter Bridget Yeates to & for her own use & benefit subject nevertheless to the Payment of all such Debts as I shall justly owe at the time of my decease & my Funeral & Testamentary Expences And I do hereby nominate constitute & appoint my said son Samuel Yeates & the said Lee Smith joint Executors of this my last Will & Testament hereby revoking & making void all former & other Wills by me at any time heretofore made & do publish & declare this to be my last Will & Testament And my mind & will also is & I do hereby fully authorize & empower the said Samuel Yeates & Lee Smith & the survivor of them his Ex(ecut)ors & \or/ Ad(ministrat)ors to call in the said several sums of four hundred pounds two hundred pounds & eight hundred pounds or any or either of them & to place the same out at Interest again upon other good Securities or Security as often as they my said Trustees or the survivor of them his Ex(ecut)ors or Adm(inistrat)ors shall see occasion or think proper & I do hereby also declare & direct that my said Trustees & Ex(ecut)ors or either of them shall not be answerable for any Bank or other person with whom or in whose hands any part of the said Trust money shall or may be direc deposited or lodged for safe custody or otherwise in the Execution of the Trusts aforesaid or the one for the other of them but each for his own Acts & Deeds only or for any more of the monies aforesaid than shall be actually received by them or come to their respective hands or use nor for any loss or reduction therein without their or one of their wilful default or neglect & also that they shall retain all their Costs Charges Damages & Expences in the Trusts or Executorship of this my Will out of the monies in them respectively vested by virtue thereof In Witness I whereof I the said Thomas Yeates the Testator have to the two first Sheets of this my last Will & Testament contained in three Sheets of paper set my hand only & to this third & last sheet thereof my hand & seal this fifteenth day of April in the Year of our Lord Christ One thousand eight hundred & sixteen.
Thomas Yeates
Signed sealed Published & Declared by the said Thomas Yeates the Testator as & for <his> last Will & Testament in the Presence of us who in his Presence at his request & in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as Witnesses thereof
Char(les) Willis John Morcraft
Proved at London 3rd Sept(ember) 1816 before the Wors(hi)p(fu)l John Daubeny D(octo)r of Laws & Surr(ogate) by the Oath of Samuel Yeates the Son & one of the Ex(ecut)ors to whom Adm(inistrati)on was granted being first Sworn duly to administer Leigh (in Will written Lee) Smith the other Ex(ecut)or having first renounced.
Notes
Thomas Yeates was the son of Samuel Yeates, attorney (d.1777) and his wife Bridget (d.1797). Samuel's will refers to Thomas as "my wicked son" which must be linked to the fact that Thomas married his father's servant Elizabeth Eden at Winslow on 21 Sep 1778, less than a year after Samuel's death. Thomas' second wife (whom he married some time after 1805) was Sarah Carpenter (widow of George, tanner), who had three children from her previous marriage. Thomas is listed as "gentleman" in 1798. He does not seem to have held property in Winslow in his own name; in the 1795 Land Tax he is the tenant of Charles Bowler and in 1805 of Mrs Bowler. Sarah (d.1837) inherited a life-interest in 30 Horn Street and was living there in 1825, so perhaps that is where Thomas lived after his second marriage.
The will of Thomas' daughter Bridget Yeates (proved 1846) shows that his first cousin was Penelope Box, of the Buckingham banking family. It lists many other cousins too.