Knaresborough Wills

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Selected wills from "The Publications of the Surtees Society; Established in the year M.DCCC.XXXIV":

VOL CIV for the year M.CM. "Wills and Administrations from the Knaresborough Court Rolls Vol I" published for the Society by Andrews & Co., Durham; Whittaker & Co., 2, White Hart Street, Paternoster Square; Bernard Quaritch, 15, Piccadilly; Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh. 1902.
VOL CX for the year M.CM.IV. "Wills and Administrations from the Knaresborough Court Rolls Vol II" published for the Society by Andrews & Co., Durham; Bernard Quaritch, 15, Piccadilly. 1905.

It is hoped that these will be of use to Family Historians as well as of general interest. Research for this section was undertaken by Alyson Jackson at The National Archives, Kew, London.

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Reigns of English Monarchs

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The Will of Richard Birnand 1591: Richard Birnand (or Burnehan) bequeathed many gifts to the poor, servants, friends and family - among whom he numbered the Ingleby's of Ripley. He made numerous gifts of gold from which rings were to be made. The bulk of his estate was left, probably in trust, to William Ingleby. The account is accompanied by notes on the Birnand family and connections with Guy Fawkes, the conspirator.

The Will of Thomas Hill 1600: Thomas Hill of "of Windsore" wished to be buried in "Knaresburghe Churche yard, nere to the place where mye ancestores hathe bene buryed heretofore". With an interesting footnote on St Robert's Chapel.

The Will of Peter Knaresborough Aug 16, 1564: Of the famous local family, the will consists largely of an inventory of his belongings and thus provides a fascinating insight into Elizabethan life. For more information on the name go to Knaresborough Family

Slingsby Wills: Wills of anyone with the surname Slingsby (or variants).

Notes on use of this section

Dates are often cited as being of a year of a particular monarch's reign - for help in dating open Reigns of English Monarchs- it will open in a scrollable panel.

The wills are transcribed with the original spellings. Some useful explanations follow:

Money
The old English system was based on pounds, shillings and pence:

pound: symbol: li or more modern £.
shilling: symbol: s; twenty shillings to the pound
penny: symbol: d; twelve pennies to the shilling

Roman numerals are used, j often being used in place of i when singular or at the end of a string.