Suggestions where to look for the misdemeanour(s) of a Georgian man

[Bo the Bodger]

I'm intrigued to discover what my 4x Gt Grandfather did which caused his father to write his will in this manner - his father died in 1762 when 4x Gt Gf was 30 and unmarried. Also in 1776 (4xGt Gf married in 1770) he and his only son were also completely excluded from his eldest sister's will when she spread her largesse to all her living brothers & sisters and all her other nephews and nieces. She also left £500 for her eldest brother's "natural son" for his education and an apprenticeship. His father's will provided his brothers and sisters with stocks, shares and income bonds to the tune of £500 each but the exhortation with regards to Francis was that “he is to receive £30 per annum to be paid quarterly in the King’s currency into his hand and no others by his elder brother”. Quite what he had been up to I haven’t been able to discover but it all suggests it was something quite extreme and I hoping that perhaps others have suggestions as to where I could look. He is pesky Pigott.

[Olde Crone Holden]

Not necessarily extreme,Bo. The son may already have had loads of money for one reason or another, not all bad reasons. Or perhaps he was a terrible gambler or something although handing him £30 would have been a bit daft. Someone of my acquaintance is a compulsive gambler and his financial affairs are strictly controlled by his son who buys and pays for everything his father needs and gives him £10 a day "pocket money" which he immediately gambles.

OC

[Janet in Yorkshire]

As recently as 2010, the father of a friend bequeathed £1,000 to his only son. The rest of the estate (which included a rather grand house in a desirable area) was to be divided equally between the two daughters. The reason behind this was that, on at least three times that we know of, the son had got his affairs into a terrible mess, had run up serious debts and each time the father had provided the finances to get things back on an even keel. The wording was something like "to my son P, who has already had my continued financial support, I leave £1,000 and the hope that he will spend it wisely."
Doesn't sound as if your man was providing what his father and sister deemed to be "adequate" provision and support for his natural son - perhaps they disapproved of his lifestyle, relationships etc.

Jay

[Bo the Bodger]

Thanks Both - OC family stories had it that 4xGt Gf had inherited a shed load (make it a barn load) from his bachelor Gt Uncle who was a Dean of Westminster St Annes and St Paul's cathedral but I've disproved that from the gentleman's will - it was given to 4xGt Gf's father. I have to say my gut feeling is that 4x Gt Gf was a gambler. I've got absolutely nothing to base it on but tellingly I can find wills for all his siblings but not for him & his son appears to sponge up money at every opportunity - even changing his name by royal licence to get a very large inheritance - which sort of suggests he was used to not knowing what was going to happen next. As I say absolutely nothing to base this on just "a feeling in my bones".

Jay - just to clear up my not very clear post it was the eldest brother (not my 4xGt Gf) who had the illegitimate son which his sister very generously supplied £500 for education and apprenticeship - so to my mind that shows she was quite broad minded for those days - or was illegitimacy not so frown on then?