11-0073-379_MartinCalthropp_1589
In the name of God Amen, the third day of May in the year of our Lord God a thousand five hundred eighty nine, (in the year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth the thirty first, I Martin CALTHROPP Knight, now Lord Mayor of the City of London being of good and perfect remembrance praised be God, calling to mind the frailty of this life and the uncertainty thereof and yet nothing more certain than the change of this our mortal bodies and of this present life, do therefore make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following. First I bequeath my soul to Almighty God my maker and to Christ Jesus my redeemer who sits on the right hand of God the father making intercession for me and all mankind assuring myself that by and through his most precious blood shedding his death and resurrection I shall find favour in the sight of God for all my heinous and innumerable sins and transgressions whom only I desire and most humbly beseech to pardon and remit the same not for any defect at all in me but for his most dear son Christ Jesus’s sake the only saviour of all mankind, and my body I commit to the bowels of the earth from whence it came in decent and Christian manner; and if it shall please God that I shall finish the course of this life during the time of my service to her Majesty and unto this honourable City of London as her Lieutenant or Mayor thereof then I will that my brethren the Aldermen of the City of London shall be made acquainted and join with my executor and other friends only for the manner and order of my burial in respect of the place I now serve in and not in respect of any vain glory or desire of myself who only desire the same in comely and decent sort as becomes a good Christian without pomp or train which being done I will and charge my executors that my debts whatsoever may be all duly and truly answered and paid unto all men unto whom I any ways stand charged or indebted and my said debts and funerals being all paid and discharged, I will and charge my executors that my whole estate by debts, wares, commodities or other chattels or moveables whatsoever belonging or owing unto me within the realm of England or in any parts beyond the seas by any accounts whatsoever be brought and collected together into one whole and entire sum, which being done and the certainty thereof known, then I will that the same be divided into three parts according to the good and laudable custom of the City of London, one part whereof I will and give to Dame Joane my most loving and good wife according to the custom of the same City, and one other third part thereof I will and give to and amongst all my children whereof it then shall arise or (grave) any remainder surplusage unto my daughters Anne PEYTON and Judith BARNHAM over and besides such portion of money as I have already given them for their advancement in marriage, my will and mind is that my said daughters shall have thereof their equal part and portion notwithstanding their former advancement; and the other and last third part I reserve to myself and my executors for and towards the better performance of this my last will and testament which I do give and dispose as hereafter follows. ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my most loving wife two black gowns price two and twenty shillings the yard. ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my loving brother Anthony CALTHROPP and my sister his wife to either of them one black gown price two and twenty shillings the yard. ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my loving brother Bartram CALTHROPP and my sister his wife to either of them one black gown price two and twenty shillings the yard. ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my loving brother KEMPE and my good sister his wife to either of them one black gown price two and twenty shillings the yard. ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my son PEYTON and my daughter his wife to either of them one black gown price two and twenty shillings the yard. ITEM; I give unto my son BURNEHAM and my daughter his wife to either of them one black gown price two and twenty shillings the yard. ITEM; I give unto my son Martin CALTHROPP and my daughter his wife to either of them a black gown price two and twenty shillings the yard. ITEM; I give unto my son John CALTHROPP one black coat or gown price two and twenty shillings the yard. ITEM; I give unto my son Richard one black cloak price two and twenty shillings the yard. ITEM; I give unto my son FREESTONE and my daughter his wife to either of them one black gown price two and twenty shillings the yard. I give and bequeath unto my cousin John JERMYN one black gown price two and twenty shillings the yard. ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my cousins William LYGGE, Anthony KEY, Richard FOX, Robert KENTISH, Humfrey BURTON and every of their wives a black gown price twenty shillings the yard so that they be at my funeral and wear the same otherwise not. ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my loving brother Anthony CALTHROP fifty pounds in money. ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my loving daughter Barneham my great and fairest standing cup with the cover. ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my loving daughter Peyton my second standing cup with the cover and my two gilt livery pots. ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my daughter Peyton the bed and bedstead furnished with the silk twist wherein I now lie, I give and bequeath unto my son Peyton my damask gown with my horse saddle and bridle and furniture. ITEM; I ordain and make my loving sons a Martin Barneham and Thomas Peyton my executors of this my present last will and testament – Sir Martin Calthropp Mayor – present at the delivery of this as the last will and testament of the said Sir Martin Calthropp Knight Lord Mayor of London, Anthony Calthropp, Citizen and Mercer of London; Mary Blunt, Joane the wife of the said Anthony Calthropp, William Price, Martha Thwaitesvand J Kemp
Proved 16th May 1589