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Will terminology - freebench

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  • Will terminology - freebench

    Did we consider giving an explanation of some of the terms found in will?

    I have just finished transcribing the will of my Ancestor Abraham Stilwell.

    One part had me stuck for a while:

    "... And also all other my personal Estate whatsoever and wheresoever to and for her own absolute use and benefit and I direct that the provision hereby made from my said wife shall be accepted by her in lieu and full satisfaction of all thirds or freebench to which she is or may be entitled out of all or any part or parts of my real estates at the common law or by custom ..."

    I had to google to make sure I was transcribing it correctly.

    Free bench - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Elizabeth
    Research Interests:
    England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
    Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

  • #2
    As they are referring to 1/3, it sounds like the widows third she would be entitled to. I could imagine that in some parts of the country, that right to being looked after after her husband died might be referred to as freebench (eg meat & drink &roof supplied by husband's son, free of charge)
    Phoenix - with charred feathers
    Researching Skillings from Norfolk, Sworn from Salisbury and Adams in Malborough, Devon.

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    • #3
      Arrgh, I read too quickly and miss the meaning!

      It is the sort of term that you can misguess (as I did!). I wonder if it is countrywide or local?
      Last edited by Phoenix; 28-10-08, 13:50.
      Phoenix - with charred feathers
      Researching Skillings from Norfolk, Sworn from Salisbury and Adams in Malborough, Devon.

      Comment


      • #4
        I'd never heard that before. What sort of date are we talking about?

        Comment


        • #5
          It was 1833, Mary, in Sussex.

          Sometimes you don't trust your own eyes when you are transcribing if the word is new to you!
          Elizabeth
          Research Interests:
          England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
          Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

          Comment


          • #6
            Goodness, I thought you were going to say 13th century or something. I didn't expect it to be so recent.

            Comment


            • #7
              Oh, thankyou for this, Elizabeth - I knew about Frank Bank but not Free Bench!

              I have a will of 1843 which quotes dowry granted in 1266!

              OC

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              • #8
                Hi I have a couple of wills from the 1600s that mention freebench but I am very surprised to find that the custom carried on until 1925.
                Moggie


                FREEBENCH
                Freebench was an English right of a woman during her widowhood to an interest, generally one-third, in her late husband's copyhold land. It was abolished in 1925.

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                • #9
                  Abraham Stilwell was my 4xgt grandfather and he died in 1835 in Linchmere Sussex.

                  He was a farmer and blacksmith. Most of the will is quite normal, but he does twice mention "according to the custom of the said manor", which I thought was quite quaint.

                  (The manor was "Linchmere and Shulbred" and I don't think that the word "Shulbred" was often used either.) My avatar is his granddaughter, my gt-gt-grandmother.
                  Elizabeth
                  Research Interests:
                  England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
                  Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Freebench was the copyhold equivalent of Dower. The widow of a copyholder was often (usually? always?) entitled by the customs of a manor to continue as the tenant of the deceased's holding for life or until she remarried. This was called Freebench. However, a copyholder might "surrender" his holding "to the uses of his will", and this could override the customs. Probably that is what happened in this case, and if his copyhold holding(s) could be traced in the appropriate court rolls one would probably find that he had made such a surrender.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Roger, thanks so much for the explanation. I'm slightly clearer now! I'm going to have to re-read the will and write down the salient points. :D
                      Elizabeth
                      Research Interests:
                      England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
                      Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        What I find truly amazing about all these ancient Manorial laws and customs, is that they provided for women!

                        It is very easy to to look at Victorian customs and law, and assume that women had absolutely no legal right to anything.

                        In most cases they didn't, but it is interesting nevertheless that women were far better provided for under (ancient) Common law than under (modern) Statute law.

                        OC

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                        • #13
                          OC, I'm not so sure that's altogether true. By surrendering to the use of his will, a copyholder could presumably have cut off his wife with a farthing should he wish to do so.

                          Note the language in Elizabeth's example: "I direct that the provision hereby made from my said wife shall be accepted by her". I'd be surprised if that would stand up in probate these days.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Hi
                            As Elizabeth suggested in her original post should we have a section to explain terms found in wills and also manorial rolls. The difference between freehold & copyhold property. Meanings of words e.g heriot, feoffment, moiety, fee simple,livery of seisin, etc.
                            Moggie

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                            • #15
                              Hi Moggie

                              "The big book of genealogy" which is part of the Wiki does already include a few entries of this kind, (including "Freebench" as it happens, which I put there myself a while back.)

                              Any forum member can add or amend items there, so perhaps it would be best to use this facility rather than have a special one for legal terms only?

                              Good idea to add some of those you mention, though, if confident of their meaning.

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                Roger

                                I was thinking mainly of freehold, it's true, but in my early family, copyhold was just a cover-up for freehold, lol.

                                I am sure there was a legal reason why women had to agree to accept free bench, but I cannot remember what that reason was! Possibly something to do with stopping her from claiming the lot on behalf of her son, or even worse, stopping her new husband claiming it.

                                I still think it amazing that some manors managed to hold onto their ancient, pre-Norman laws and rights though!

                                OC

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Hi Roger
                                  I have a booklet which explains & gives examples of words & terms found in Title Deeds and Manorial Records & I will add some of these to the Wiki.
                                  I have a stack of wills for my family from 1555 onwards and have found that husbands went to great lengths to provide for their wives after their deaths (provided that they did not remarry). Property/land left to sons came with provisos that they paid their mothers Xshillings per annum at the 4 quarter days of the year and if in default their wifes/widows could enter the property of the sons and seize goods to the value of what they were owed. In several of the Suffolk wills the money was to be paid in the south porch of the village church & I often try to visualise all the local widows huddled together on a snowy Christmas morning waiting for their quarterly "hand outs".
                                  Moggie

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                                  • #18
                                    lol Moggie. that is an image.

                                    Do all churches have a south porch?
                                    Kit

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                                    • #19
                                      OC, in Elizabeth's will, the wife had to accept what her husband left in lieu of her automatic entitlement by custom. I'm not sure if she could insist on keeping her customary rights, but if she did she would presumably have lost whatever he had left as an alternative???

                                      Moggie, it would be great if you could put in some of those words, but do be careful about copyright.

                                      Comment


                                      • #20
                                        On the subject of wills, I have several family wills where there are a large number of nominal bequests of a shilling or half a crown to family members and friends.

                                        I know that the stock explanation is that goods or property had already been transfered or that some sort of slight was intended.

                                        I am not really happy with these explanations and I wondered if anyone had some better ideas.

                                        Richard

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