HAMSON-LANE Family History

Last Will and Testament                                                      

John Eastland, 4 x Great grandfather of Patricia Dorothy Eastland - Generation 7.                                                                                                  

 

Name: John Eastland.
Residence Place: Ashburnham, Sussex.
Year of death: 1803.
Record Date: 28 Jan 1804.
Record Place: Chichester, Sussex.
Occupation or Status: Tenant farmer.

 

John's Will was proved in the Court of Chichester on 28 January 1804 (3 months after his death), and his nominated Executors were his sons Richard and John Eastland. It's clear from his Will that John left his family well provided for.

 

To his wife Sarah Eastland, he bequeathed £20 (£680 today) payable quarterly for life, to and for her own living, together with the best bed with bedstead hangings and furniture belonging thereto, and the chest of drawers, living glass, dining table and cabinets in the parlour chamber, free from all deductions whatsoever.

 

To his daughter Fanny Noakes, he bequeathed £100 (£3,400 today) payable 3 months after her husband's demise.

 

To his daughter Ann Collins, he bequeathed £5 (£170 today) payable quarterly for life, free from all deductions whatsoever, in equal amounts from the part of the estate left equally to his sons Richard and John Eastland.

 

To his grandson John Eastland, he bequeathed £100 (£3,400 today) payable on his 21st birthday from the part of the estate left to his father Richard Eastland.

 

To his daughter Sarah Kennard, he bequeathed £5 (£170 today) payable quarterly for life, free from all deductions whatsoever, from the part of the estate left to his son Richard Eastland.

 

To his daughter Mary Morris, he bequeathed £5 (£170 today) payable quarterly for life, free from all deductions whatsoever, from the part of the estate left to his son John Eastland.

 

To his sons Richard and John Eastland, he bequeathed the rest and residue of his goods, chattels, rights, credits and personal estate whatsoever, equally to be divided between them share and share alike.

 

The overall value of the estate that John bequeathed to his family was considerable, and this, together with the description of furniture such as a 'dining table', 'best bed', 'hangings' and 'cabinets', suggests this family had a comfortable lifestyle and lived in a well appointed middle class dwelling.

 

John's Will seems to be scrupulously fair in terms of it's provision for his family, with the exception of the caveated bequest made to his daughter Fanny. It's hard to be sure exactly why John was unhappy for Fanny to receive her inheritance until after her husband's death.

 

There was no provision made for his step-daughter Mary Golding because she died almost a quarter of a century before him.

 

Another slightly incongruous bequest, was the one John made to his grandson John Eastland, when he hadn't made the same levels of bequest to any of his other grandchildren - possibly because he was the eldest male grandchild, had a special relationship with his grandfather or supported his grandfather on the farm.