Contents
The Will
In the Name of God Amen
Ye 6th day of November in ye 13th year of ye reign of our Sovereign Lord King George by ye Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France & Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Anno Domini 1726.
I, Henry Rix of Wramlingham in ye County of Norfolk, Clerk, being in good health of body and of perfect mind and memory thanks be given to Almighty God, considering ye transitory and uncertain State of this Mortal life, revoking all former Wills by me made, do now ordain, constitute and make this my last will and Testament.
First and principally I commend my Soul into the hands of Almighty God as of a Faithfull Creator which I humbly beseech him mercifully to accept looking upon it not as it is in itself (infinitely polluted with Sin), but as it is redeemed and purged with the precious blood of his only beloved Son and my most dear Saviour Jesus Christ in Confidence of whose merits and Mediation alone it is that I cast myself upon the mercy of God for the pardon of my Sins and ye hope of Eternal life; and my body I order to be decently buried in Colton Chancell, and a Small Monument to be erected of about twenty pounds value.
Item Touching such temporal things as ye Lord hath been pleased far above my deserts to bestow upon me, I do bequeath ye same in manner following:
Impris1 I give to my dear Sister Mary Cross ye sum of £200 and to her daughter Mariana all my household linnen and also ye sum of £50 to be kept in her Mother’s hands to be disbursced as she sees occasion.
Item To Thomas Buttolph my Godson I give ye sum of £30 either towards his Education or putting him out as Apprentice
And to his sister Mary, I give ye sum of £20 towards her Education, both which sums shall be expended by my Executrix as she sees Occasion.
Item To my Brother Samuel Rix I give ye Sum of £40 and all my wearing Linning that may be serviceable to him;
And to my Nephew Henry Rix I give and bequeath my Estate at Wimbisham and Thunderly in ye County of Essex and to his heirs for ever, provided he allows my Brother Samuel all ye the clear profitts thereof during my said Brother’s natural life.
Item I give to my said Nephew Henry Rix ye Sum of £20 hoping he will faithfully discharge that trust towards my Brother; and also to my said Nephew I give my library, only excepting out the following books, (viz) my Cambridge Bible which I give to my Brother Samuel, and to my Sister Mary Cross I give Dr. Scott’s Christian Life in 5 Volumes and Mr. Bragg on ye Parables in 2 Vols and on ye Miracles in 2 Vols and to my Niece Mariana Buttolph I give 2 books of miscellaneous Sermons markt thus in ye beginning according to the Shelves they stand on G.g. 7 & G.g. 8, and to her Son and Daughter and also to my Nephew John Rix and to his Sisters Anne and Mary, I desire my said Nephew Henry to give about 10 books a piece such as he shall think most proper for them.
Item I give to my Nephew John Rix ye sum of £300 and to his Live Sisters Anne and Mary ye sum of £300 to be equally divided between them and if one of them dyes, then ye whole to ye survivor.
Item I give to ye Society for Propagating the Gospell, ye sum of £50 and to ye Society of Norwich who are Trustees for ye Clergy’s Widdows, ye sum of £30.
Item I order my Estate at Diss in Norfolk to be sold to answer and pay my Legacys.
Item My mind and will is that ye sum of £120 be expended by my Executrix towards gaining Queen Anne’s Bounty to ye Rectory of Colton in Norfolk, hoping ye next Incumbent and other well disposed persons will complete the said sum towards this End and design, but this Legacy to Colton is not to be paid unless ye following Conditions are complyed with (viz) ye patron of ye said Church do actually present unto it upon ye first Avoidance such persons as my Executrix shall nominate, And also that ye next Incumbent do actually make ye proposal to ye Governors of the said Bounty according to their Rules within 12 months or at furthest within 18 months after my decease.
Item whereas I have promised my Nephew Henry Rix the sum of £200 towards gaining Queen Anne’s Bounty to Ritling Vicarage in ye County of Essex when he is possessed of it, if that is not done by me, my Executrix shall doe it.
Item I give the sum of £60 to be laid out in lands to be put into Trustees hands for the teaching of 4 poor Children in the Parish of Colton aforesaid to read and say ye Church Catechism and for a Sermon to be preached there yearly on the day of my death or else on ye Sunday next after it to put the Auditors in mind of their Mortality and earnestly to advise them to prepare for death without delay and after the said Sermon this Clause of my will to be read.
The Minister to have 10s, The Clerk one, 8s for each Child’s teaching and the Remainder to be laid out in bread to be then given to ye poor of ye said Parish and my mind is that ye Minister, Church Wardens and Trustees shall have ye management of this Charity; the Minister to have two votes and the Trustees to be nominated by my Executrix.
Item I give the sum of £60 to be laid out in land to be laid out in lands to be put into Trustees hands for the teaching of four poor Children in the Parish of Deopham in ye County of Norfolk to read and say ye Church Catechism and for a Sermon to be preached there yearly on the day of my death or else on ye Sunday next after it to put ye People in mind of their Mortallity and earnestly to advise them to prepare for death without delay and after ye said Sermon this Clause of my Will to be read.
The Minister to have 10s, the Clerk one, 8s for each Child’s teaching and ye Remainder to be laid out in bread to be then given to ye poor of ye said Parish and my mind is that ye Minister, Church Wardens and Trustees shall have ye management of this Charity; the Minister to have two votes and the Trustees to be nominated by my Executrix.
Item I give to my Brother in Law Mr Edmund Palmer a Motto ring, and to his daughter that bread plate which was my Wife’s.
Item My mind is that all my Legacys should be paid within 12 months after my decease unless it be otherwise Specifyed in this my Will, excepting that to my Brother Samuel which shall be paid in 6 months next after my decease and my following bequests shall be paid as soon as conveniently may be (viz) £2 top the poor of Colton aforesaid and £2 to ye poor of Deopham aforesaid and £1 to ye poor of Wramplingham in ye County of Norfolk.
As to ye over plus when all my debts and Legacys are paid, my mind is that it shall be equally divided between my Executrix, my Brother Samuel, my Nephew John Rix and his 2 sisters Anne and Mary, accounting them only as one person.
Item I nominate & appoint my dear Sister Mary Cross Sole Executrix of this my last Will and Testament.
In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year first above written, only before sealing, I could have £10 added to Cousin Mary Buttolph’s Legacy.
Henry Rix
Signed sealed and declared by the Testator in presence of us who at his request and in his presence have Sett our hands and witnesses:
Susanna Grigson
Thomas Turner
Richard Pitts
The Codicil
Know all men by these presents that I, Henry Rix of Wramplingham in ye County of Norfolk, Clerk, do add what follows as a Codicill to my will (viz) that
Whereas my Niece Mary Rix is departed this life and in my Will I have ordered her Legacy to be paid to her Sister Anne, my mind now is that only £50 of it shall go to her which added to her own Legacy will make £200, and as to the Remainder of the said Legacy, my mind is that £10 of it shall be given to my Brother Samuel, £20 to my Godson Thomas Buttolph, £20 to his Sister Mary Buttolph which 2 last Legacys shall be expended for their Use by my Executrix as she sees Occasion. My mind also is that £20 shall be added to my Legacy to ye Society at Norwich who are Trustees for ye Clergy’s Widdows; and as to ye remaining £30, it shall be divided as my surplus is ordered; and whereas I had given my Niece Mary Rix a share in my Overplus, my mind is that her Sister shall enjoy that Share if She returns from the Andies to receive it, if not it shall goe to ye others to whom ye overplus is given and ye £200 given to my Niece Anne if she does not return shall be thus bestowed (viz): £100 as my overplus and ye other £100 towards gaining Queen Anne’s Bounty to ye Vicarage of Rishall in ye County of Norfolk, provided ye Minister there or some other well disposed person do within 12 or 18 months after my Executrix has had reasonable proof of my said Niece’s decease actually make ye proposall to the Governors of the said Bounty in due form according to their rules; and my request is that the Minister of the said Parish would after the time he comes to enjoy the benefit of ye said Bounty preach there every Sunday unless hindered by any lawful Impediment.
In Witness whereof that this is a true Codicill to be annexed to my said last Will and Testament, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty third Day of Aprill in ye year of our Lord Christ, 1727.
Henry Rix
In the presence of
Thomas Turner
William Frith
The death was recorded and the executrix appointed August 10th 1728.
The above will and codicil have been transcribed from
1) the copy registered when the Executrix was appointed held by Norfolk Record Office, their reference being NRO MF 97, No 89; and
2) a copy of the will held by the Norfolk Record Office, their reference being NRO MC 295. Transcription © G. Sankey.
Footnotes
- Impris: is an abbreviation for Imprimis which is Latin for ‘In the first place’ or ’especially’. ↩︎
Navigation
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 2/4/25 | Checked and revised against probate copy |
| 23/3/25 | Published – IMG_20230425_142329 |
Deopham History 