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INTRODUCTION.
________
WHEN I went down to Canterbury to compile this Index, in the spring of
1914, I little thought that within six months this country would be
involved in the most destructive war in the history of the world. Yet
such proved to be the case, and its effect upon this work was
immediate. In order to lessen expense it was decided to make the
accession of Elizabeth the stopping point; but this was the least of
the evils that the War brought in its train. Printing became a slow and
costly matter. Meanwhile I had been compelled to leave Canterbury for other fields of work, and proof-reading and
correction had to be done without any opportunity of referring to the
registers and act books, except by Correspondence. It also had to be
done when and how it could, often after a long day's work, when brain
and eyes were both weary. Chief amongst the" casualties" of that time
was the omission of a bundle of slips under the letter H, which did not
turn up until the whole of that letter had been printed off. When or
where this happened it is idle to speculate: the slips when they turned
up had to be relegated to the Addenda; and to crown all, the
Introduction for the volume, originally written in Canterbury from
notes made in the course of the work, is "missing", and I am now called
upon to write another with the printer waiting, so to speak, on the
doorstep.
Yet after all, considering the troublous years through which the work
has passed, its final completion is a subject for very sincere
congratulation all round. Everyone connected with the work did
his "bit". Mutual help was the order of the day, and in this spirit I
am knocking up another Introduction Without any of my original notes to
help me, and in this spirit I am quite sure it will be received.
First of all I must point out that the covering dates, 1396 - 1558, are
slightly misleading, as the will of John Reade, of Deal, was proved in
1365 [C. 1. 1.], but to all intents and purposes the period covered by
the bulk of the wills is the one adopted.
The question has often
been asked how it comes about that the wills proved at Canterbury so
greatly exceed those in any other registry; but no satisfactory answer
is forthcoming, nor is there any explanation of the circumstance of
wills relating to the same place being sometimes proved in the
Archdeaconry and sometimes in the Consistory Court.
Two interesting discoveries were made in the course of the work. The
first was that the register known as "Wingham" was wrongly placed in
the Manuscript Calendar at the Probate Office, after those of 1570,
whereas it contained a number of fifteenth century wills. Wingham was
one of the peculiars of the Archbishop, and the register in question
covers the parishes of Goodnestone, Ash next Sandwich, and Nonington,
as well as the place from which it derives its name.
The second "find" was that of a number of Office copies of wills, tied
up in bundles, in a corner of the strong room. In some cases these had
not been entered in the registers, while in others they differed in the
wording from the copy in the register, although there is little doubt
that the procedure usually followed was to enter the will in the
register from the Office copy, as it was customary to hand the original
will back to the executors. These Office copies were arranged and
numbered and have been included amongst the references in this volume.
In going through the Act Books many unfinished entries relating to
wills were noticed. They appeared to be in the nature of memoranda, and
generally consisted of the name of the testator and of the executor or
executors. Possibly the wills were never proved or for some reason were
not admitted, hence the unfinished entry; but I thought it right that
they should go into the Index, as the information they give might
furnish the genealogist with a long-wanted clue.
A Calendar of the Wills and Administrations at Canterbury, 1640- 1650,
hitherto un-indexed, even in MS., having also been compiled, it was
decided to print it at the end of the present volume, as its bulk
scarcely justified its occupation of a volume to itself, and many years
are likely to elapse ere that period is reached were it reserved for
printing in its proper chronological position. . An Introduction to
that portion will be found to preface it.
Many other points of interest in the Index deserve notice, such as the
variation in the names of persons. and. places; but the printer waits
and I must pass on to my final duty, which is to return thanks to a
host of friends and helpers.
The thanks of the subscribers are due to Mr. Mapleton Chapman for
giving facilities for the work to be carried to completion. To the
staff of the Probate Registry my warmest thanks are accorded for their
unvarying consideration; particularly to Mr. E. W. Carver, who took
great interest in the work, and who assisted in the sorting and
numeration of the Office copies and also in the sorting of the slips of
the Calendar; to Mr. Arthur Hussey for valuable suggestions and help in
the progress of the work. Especial thanks are also due from the
subscribers to Mrs. Bartlett (nee French), of Boston, U.S.A., who
during a visit to Canterbury discovered a missing Act Book of the
Archdeaconry Court, shown in the Index as A. Act, 5a, and covering the
period from 1524 to 1530, and to Mr. Fielding, the Archbishop's
Registry, for handing it over to the Probate Registry. Last, but by no
means least, the thanks of all connected with the work are due to Mr.
T. M. Blagg, who, while serving his country, found time to see this
bulky volume through the press, :and whose forbearance towards myself,
in the matter of proof-correcting, is here gratefully acknowledged.
Before laying down my pen I should like to make an earnest appeal to
the Kent Archaeological and the British Record Societies to see what
can be done for the repair of the records kept in the strong room at
the Probate Office in Canterbury. That they are kept dry and fireproof
is much to be thankful for; but they did not always have so secure a
resting-place, and time has been merciless in his treatment of them.
Many of the early registers are in a deplorable condition, their
covers either gone entirely or going; their sections loose, their leaves dogs-eared, and in the case of some of the paper
ones so fragile that they have to be handled with the utmost care. The
longer they are left unattended to the worse they will become, and we
owe it to those who come after us to see that they are kept in good
condition.
HENRY R. PLOMER.
October 8, 1920.
CALENDAR
OF
WILLS AND ADMINISTRATIONS
NOW PRESERVED IN THE
Probate Registry at Canterbury,
1396 - 1558.
ABBREVIATIONS.
A. Archdeaconry Register.
C. Consistory Register.
A.Act. Archdeaconry Act Book
C.Act. Consistory Act Book.
W. Wingham.
Adm. Administration.
Inv. Inventory.
O.C. Official Copy.
It may be advisable to remind the searcher that the years in the period
covered by this Calendar are reckoned as beginning on March 25. The
year dates given are the dates of Probate, not necessarily of the
making of the Will, and where Probate was granted between January I and
March 24 inclusive the year is expressed by it double date, e.g. 1538-9.
Henry R Plomer
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Part II
Wills and Administrations at Canterbury
1640 to 1650
Several years ago a number of Wills, covering the period
from 1640 to 1650 , which had never been registered, were discovered in the
strong room of the Probate Registry at Canterbury. The only person, outside the officials of the
Registry, who knew of their existence was the late Mr. Lothrop Withington, the
well known American genealogist, who happened to be working there at the time. He decided to make a calendar of them. This he had begun, but, as the documents
show, had not dealt with more than half of the at the time of his tragic death,
while returning from a visit to America
on board the Lusitania.
Upon the
news of his death, Mr. Eustace W. Carver, one of the clerks at the Probate
Registry, who had been accustomed to help Mr. Withington in the examination of
the Wills after office hours, mentioned the matter to me, and suggested that
together we carry out the object which Mr. Withington had in view. Mr Carver
believes that Mr Withington was in the habit of carrying the notes he had made
about with him and that they are now at the bottom of the Atlantic; at any
rate, they were beyond our reach and it was necessary to make fresh start.
Our task is
now completed, the whole of the work having been done after official
hours. Every will has been examined and
given a special number, those of the Archdeaconry being preceded by the letter
A and those of the Consistory by the letter C.
Where it was found that a Will had been registered, the reference to the
register has been added in brackets; thus A1380 (70-145) shows that the Will is
registered in the Archdeaconry Register 70 folio 145
With the
Wills were frequently found other documents such as attestations, sentences,
and inventories, and these have been duly noted in the Calendar.
Finally, in
order to bring this Calendar into line with that for the period 1396-1558, now
printed, the Administrations have been added for the same period.
About 3,300
Wills and Administrations are included in this Calendar, which with those
included in “Abstracts of Probate Acts in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury”,
edited by J. and G. F. Matthews, forms a complete record of the Wills of East
Kent folk for the period 1640-50
Our warmest
Thanks are due to Mr. Mapleton Chapman for facilities given in doing this work,
which through the generosity of Mr. Leland L. Duncan has been made available
for printing
HENRY R PLOMER
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