Sir Edward Thomason, Knight

Sir Edward wrote a self-indulgent two-volume biography about his illustrious career as an inventor, medallion and button and buckle manufacturer in Birmingham.

He did not recall much of his ancestry, referring only to his father, nor of his descendants, in those volumes, and this paper, therefore, is drawn together from various sources, including letters and reports from Sir Edward to Sir Beriah Botfield, author of Stemmata Botvilliana[1].

Assuming there is at least a germ of truth in these documents (although not all by any means borne out by reference to Parish Records), it is reasonable to deduce the following:

Edward Thomason (Sir Edward’s grandfather) married the widow of William Beard. She had a son, Job, by William before her husband died in 1718 (buried at Dawley Magna on 31^st May 1718). Job Beard was baptised 7^th October 1715

Contrary to Sir Edward’s notes, referenced in Stemmata Botvilliana, it seems, from parish registers, that the widow was Elizabeth rather than Alice Botfield as was suggested, and that her first husband was William rather than Edward Beard.  This should ring alarm bells for the accuracy of the suggested family history – indeed, especially when reference is made to having examined parish registers including at Dawley Magna.

From analysis of those parish registers, and having regard to Sir Edward’s identification of his father and uncle, it is clear that Edward Thomason (grandfather) had two sons, Edward (father) and Richard (uncle), who were both baptised at Dawley Magna in 1725 and 1723 respectively, the sons of Edward and Elizabeth Thomason.

The Stemmata notes refer to Thomas Botfield, son of Beriah Botfield, appearing as witness to “a bond dated 16^th May 1759 from Alice Thomason, widow of Edward Thomason of Dawley Green, deceased, to her son Job Beard of Quatford for payment of rent, and keeping a house and premises at Dawley Green in repair, which Mr Beard had let to her from year to year at a nominal rent of £1. This document is endorsed 23^rd October 1763. She produced a promise under Beard’s handwriting dated 1^st May, to be permitted to be and live in the within cottage for life.”

Sir Edward notes that he searched in vain for any record of the marriages of Alice Botfield with Edward Beard, or with Edward Thomason, in the parish registers of Dawley, Shiffnal, Madeley, Bridgnorth, Wellington, Broseley, Stirchley and Roughton. “He nevertheless believes that his parents would not have assumed a relationship unless they had themselves believed it.”

Having searched parish records from within a 30-mile radius of Dawley Magna, I have found no obvious sign of any such union – but neither have I found any such union between any Botfield and any Beard and/or Thomason, nor of an Elizabeth nor an Alice with any Beard or Thomason at or around the appropriate time, except for one Elizabeth marrying a William Beard in Worcestershire.

Job Beard’s Grandson, Robert Taylor of Evelith in the Parish of Shiffnal certified that “my grandfather’s name was Job Beard, that he resided at the Halfway House, in the township of Eardington in the parish of Quatford, in the County of Salop, and made his will, dated 21^st July 1773, and died there 18^th September 1785, aged 70, and was buried at Quatford; that he married Mary  Littleford, who died there 5^th January 1800, aged 80, and was buried at Quatford; that he had an only child, Mary Beard, my mother, who was born 22^nd March 1748 and married my father, William Taylor of Tasley, Gentleman, and died at Tasley in 1815, aged 67, and was buried there.”

From parish registers, it can be evidenced that Job Beard was baptised at Dawley Magna on 9^th October 1715 (the son of William and Elizabeth Beard), he married Mary Littleford of Worfield at Womborne St Benedict Biscop on 6^th July 1741, and he was buried at Quatford on 17^th September 1785.

The only contemporary marriage of a William Beard within 30 miles of Dawley Magna was on 8^th June 1710 at Peckmore, Worcestershire to an Elizabeth Cheltnam.

In a letter from Sir Edward to Mrs Robert Taylor of Evelith, written from Ludlow 30^th July 1842, Sir Edward says: “from the memoranda or words which my only sister living, viz., Ann Thomason, aged 71, gives me information of, it appears that my grandfather, Edward Thomason, married the widow Beard in 1720 or 1721, and that this widow Beard was a Miss Botfield. My sister says that Job Beard of the Halfway House was my father’s brother-in-law [note, this would apply to what we now call step brother]; hence the cause of my uncle Richard leaving in his will £100 legacy to the Taylor family.”

It is curious that neither Elizabeth nor Alice Botfield appear at the appropriate parts of the Botfield family tree, that there is no evidence of either an Alice nor an Elizabeth Botfield marrying an Edward or William Beard, and there is no evidence from either of the wills of Edward’s father, also Edward, nor of his uncle Richard Thomason.

Looking at Richard Thomason’s will, I find no such reference to the Taylor family.In Richard Thomason’s widow’s will (proved 1804), Jane Thomason of Stourbridge leaves a legacy of £100 to “Mary Taylor of the parish of (Tasley) in the County of Salop, widow, niece of my late husband”. This is presumably the legacy to which Sir Edward’s sister Ann refers.

Therefore, on relatively thin evidence, but evidence nonetheless, it is appropriate to deduce that the hypothesis that Widow Beard married Edward Thomason may be fair and reasonable.

There are a few anecdotes provided by Sir Edward relating to his past and to stories told by his parents.

In his letter of 6^th April 1841, Sir Edward writes: “I recollected that, upwards of fifty years since, when I was at Mr Botfield’s at Dawley with my father, that we all rode over one morning to see a Mr Job Beard, whose residence was at a small inn, not far from Bridgnorth, and I was told that he was a relation.”

In a note (at Document No. 90 in Stemmata Botvilliana, entitled ‘Family Recollections by Sir Edward Thomason, Knight’) Sir Edward commented: “My father always informed his children to recollect that they were of the Botfield blood because his mother was a Miss Botfield.”

He continued: “My father informed his children that his mother and father died whilst he was a boy and, after their death, his uncle Mr. Botfield, the present Mr Botfield’s grandfather, took him into his house and had him educated until he was fourteen years of age, when he put him out an apprentice to a Mr Boden, a toy and buckle manufacturer in Edgbaston Street, Birmingham. The later Mrs Botfield always called us cousins, such as Cousin Sarah, Cousin Edward, etc.”

Note, William Boden’s Birmingham manufactory made toys, buttons and novelty devices. The typical apprenticeship was for seven years and the bond was circa £10. By mid-1700s Boden had six apprentices. His son Edward took over the factory and continued in business until the late 1700s.

Sir Edward notes that: “my father and mother always told their children that their grandfather, Edward Thomason of Dawley, married a widow of the name of Beard about the year 1722, and the maiden name of this widow was Botfield; a sister to the grandfather of the present Mr (Thomas] Botfield and Mr William Botfield, and consequently a great-aunt to them.”

Thomas Botfield’s will (dated 30^th April 1836, codicils from 15^th November 1838 to 10^th January 1843, proved 1843) refers to Sir Edward and Lady Thomason, and to their only son, Henry Botfield Thomason, Godson of Thomas Botfield. It also refers to Sir Edward’s niece by his brother James.

Thomas bequeathed £1,000 to his Godson Henry, and £100 to Sir Edward and Lady Thomason to buy rings.  He left the interest on £300 conditionally and successively “to Augusta Thomason, second daughter of James Thomason, for her life, and after her decease to the said James Thomason if he should survive her, and afterwards to Sir Edward Thomason, if alive, absolutely, but if not, then to his son, the said Henry Botfield Thomason.”

He also allowed Sir Edward and Lady Thomason to remain and stay in his mansion in Castle Street Ludlow for life.

As noted above, the confusion about Alice Botfield comes, perhaps from the appearance of a Thomas Botfield, son of Beriah, as a witness to a bond, dated 16^th May 1759, from Alice Thomason, widow of Edward Thomason of Dawley Green, deceased, to her son, Job Beard of Quatford, for payment of rent, and keeping a house and premises at Dawley Green in repair, which Mr Beard had let to her from year to year at a nominal rent of £1.

There is a marriage in the registers at Dawley Magna between Edward Thomason and Alice Hearns on 5^th June 1752. This may have been the Alice Thomason who signed up to the bond as widow of Edward Thomason of Dawley Green in 1759. That might help to explain why, some 80 or so years later, Alice is presumed to be the mother of Job Beard, Richard Thomason and Edward Thomason. It does not explain the story of young Edward being orphaned at a young age and being taken in and then apprenticed out by Beriah Botfield at the age of fourteen.

Botfield Family Line

There is plenty more history to the Botfield family than I list below, taken from the Stemmata Botvilliana.

1. William Botfield, of Leighton (1623), died before 3^rd May 1639, leaving a son by his first wife Frances:

2. Thomas Botfield, Churchwarden of Eaton Constantine, co Salop, in 1665, father by Mary his first wife, who was buried at Leighton on 4^th Aug 1663, of Richard Botfield of Dawley, and of:

3. Thomas Botfield of Dawley, buried there 28^th May 1735. By Abigail, his wife, he left a daughter Agnes Botevyle, married William Baugh of Madeley, at Madeley, 17^th Nov 1728, [parish records show they had more children than listed in the Stemmata – for instance, Mary in 1689, Abigail in 1694, Thomas in 1696/7, and Margaret in 1699 but no obvious signs of an Elizabeth, nor of an Alice but a somewhat obscured name of a daughter in 1691] and a son:

4. Beriah Botfield, Esq., of Dawley, b. 28^th Feb 1702. He married Margaret, daughter of John and Ann Adams; and died 8^th Apr 1754, leaving a son:

5. Thomas Botfield, Esq., of Dawley and Ditton Stoke, Co. Salop, and Norton Hall, Co. Northampton, b. 14^th Feb 1736; who married, 29^th Sep 1760, Margaret, only daughter of William Baker, Esq., of Bromley in the Parish of Worfield, Salop, and by her (who died 5^th Nov 1803) had issue:

Thomas, of Horton Court, Co. Salop, b. 14^th Feb 1762; married, 14^th Feb 1800, Lucy, daughter of William Skelhorne of Liverpool. Mr Botfield, a magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant of Shropshire, served as High Sheriff of the County in 1818. He died without issue on 17^th Jan 1843, and his widow died 15^th Aug 1856.

William of Decker Hill, Co. Salop, b. 7^th May 1766; married, 14^th Jan 1794, Lucy, daughter of John Bishton, Esq., of Kilsall. Mr Botfield served as High Sheriff in 1806. He died without issue on 26^th Dec 1850, and his widow died 9^th Dec 1851.

Beriah, of Norton Hall, Co. Northampton, b. 27 Jul 1768; married, 26^th Jul 1806, to Charlotte, daughter of William Withering M.D., of The Larches, Edgbaston, near Birmingham, by Helena his wife, only daughter of George Cooke’s, Esq., and Ruth Amery his wife. He died 27^th April 1813, and his widow died 26^th October 1825. He was succeeded by his only son, the present Beriah Botfield of Norton Hall, Decker Hill and Hopton  Court, Esq.

Thomas Botfield (2 above), by his second wife, also Mary, had a son, William Botfield, baptised at Eaton Constantine on 3^rd Jan 1670, and a daughter Ales Botfield, baptised there on 17^th April 1668.

Thomas (2)’s son, Richard, of Dawley, married Mary, who was buried at Dawley on 28^th May 1735 (the same day as her brother-in-law). They had at least three children: Richard, baptised at Dawley 25^th Mar 1683; Mary, baptised at Dawley 24^th Feb 1684/5; and Sarah, baptised at Dawley 29^th Jan 1687/8.

Beriah (4) – presumably Sir Edward’s father’s ward or sponsor – also had twins, Richard and Sarah, born on 11^th Jun 1739; Richard died on 31^st Jul 1739 and Sarah died 11^th Sep 1739; they also had at least two further children: Mary, born 16^th Dec 1732, died 15^th Dec 1741; and Martha, born 14^th Feb 1736, died 17^th Feb 1740. The family tragedies took place at or around the time when Beriah was supposedly advancing Edward as apprentice in Birmingham.

Further potential sources:

Marriage settlement of Edward Thomason with Phillis Bown Glover and bond from Edward Thomason to William Covey and Matthew Jefferys, 1799, Birmingham Archives (MS 3700/1/46B), Library of Birmingham, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2ND

The 1759 bond referred to above, if it is available in the Botfield papers at the Shropshire Archives in Shrewsbury.

Apprenticeship bonds for Richard and Edward Thomason in Birmingham at or around 1737 to 1739

Wills of the Botfields from the late seventeenth to the first half of the eighteenth centuries.

Wills of Thomasons from  the seventeenth century.

Will of Job Beard.

The Parish Registers of Dawley Magna

Thomas Botfield married Abigail Fowler at Much Wenlock on 3^rd May 1688.

Their daughter Mary was baptised on 16^th Apr 1689 at Dawley Magna:

Their daughter Abigail was baptised at Dawley Magna on April 10^th 1694:

Their son Thomas was baptised at Dawley Magna on Jan 7^th 1696/7.

Their daughter Margaret was baptised at Dawley Magna on 10^th December 1699:

Their son Beriah was baptised at Dawley Magna on Mar 1^st 1702/3.

And their daughter Agnes was baptised at Dawley Magna on 8^th Sep 1706

Some of the register entries are indistinct – such as this, at Dawley Magna, in 1691 (day and month are illegible)

This has been interpreted by FindmyPast as Alishe or Elishe Botfield, the daughter of Thomas and Abigail.

Closer analysis suggests this name may be Elenor rather than either Ann as suggested in the Stemmata Botvilliana family tree or Elizabeth.

The speculation in Stemmata Botvilliana (Beriah Botfield) may also suggest this daughter was Alice, although there is no reference in the family trees to an Alice Botfield, and this appears to have been attributed to Ann.

It is also reasonable to assume that the register may not have been so degraded when it was inspected in the mid nineteenth century, and that this was, indeed Ann.

On the contrary, though, for Sir Edward’s hypothesis to be correct, I believe this may need to be Elizabeth Botfield, given the following entries in the Register at Dawley Magna:

Job Beard was baptised on 9^th October 1715, the son of William Beard and Elizabeth his wife:

William Beard was buried at Dawley Magna 31^st July 1718:

Then, in 1723 at Dawley Magna Richard Thomason is born to Edward and Elizabeth Thomason, baptised on 23^rd June 1723:

and on 11^th April 1725, Edward Thomason, son of Edward Thomason and Elizabeth his wife is baptised at Dawley Magna:

At Dawley Magna, Thomas Botfield and his sister-in-law were both buried on 28^th May 1738.

And on 17 April 1746 at Dawley Magna, Abigail Botfield, widow of Thomas Botfield, was buried:

Job Beard was buried on 17^th Sep 1785 at Quatford:

An Edward Thomason married Alice Hearns at Dawley Magna on 5^th June in 1752, and this may have been the Alice Thomason who signed up to the document referred to in Stemmata Botvilliana in 1759 – giving rise to the mis-naming of the mother of Edward Thomason (1725-1791) as Alice.

As to the son, Edward, on 21^st January 1748, he married Catherine Evans at Quatford:

Catherine or Katern Evans was the daughter of John Evans and Cordelia Massey (who died on 21^st April 1759). They married at St Mary Handsworth, Staffordshire, on 30^th Jun 1729. Katern died on 16^th Jun 1759 and was buried on 19^th Jun 1759 in Birmingham.

Edward and Katern had three children:

John Evans Thomason, born 1750, baptised 27^th October 1752 in Birmingham

Ann Thomason, born 1752, baptised 27^th October 1752 in Birmingham

Mary Thomason, born 1754, baptised 5^th April 1754 in Birmingham; she married, on 29^th May 1777, James Pickard, and they had several children.

Edward remarried at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire on 25^th March 1761, to Mary Garlick, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Garlick, who was baptised on 14^th November 1739 at Stoneleigh. Her will was proved 28^th August 1823.

Edward and Mary had six children:

Thomas Thomason, born 1762, buried 26^th Dec 1764 at Birmingham

Elizabeth Thomason, born 1763, will proved 13^th May 1837; she married William Covey and had several children

Sarah Thomason, born 1765, died 1823 (unmarried)

Ann Thomason, born 1767, will proved 1847 (unmarried)

James Thomason (of Norway) married and had two daughters

Sir Edward Thomason, born 1769, will proved 3^rd November 1849

Richard Botfield of Dawley

After much searching, the will of Richard Botfield of Dawley came to light. He died in 1769, the year Sir Edward was born.

His will (transcribed below) is tantalising inasmuch as it refers to Job Beard, Edward Thomason and his elder son (presumably meaning John Evans Thomason) and to Richard Thomason. He gives each of these ten pounds, along with several others, to be paid upon his burial. On the will itself the other recipients of ten pounds have signed as a receipt to say they have received their money from the will of Uncle Richard Botfield. This might indicate that those others are cousins of Job, Edward and Richard, and that Richard Botfield was their uncle too.

From Parish Registers:

Sarah Botfield married John Barrett on 28^th July 1714 at Shifnall – presumably Sarah was Richard’s sister, and the Barrats listed in the will are sons from this marriage.

Abigail Roberts married Richard Hulet (or Hewlett) on 12^th Jan 1741 at Dawley Magna.

Dorothy Roberts married Thomas Roden on 7^th May 1748 at Madeley – she was born about 1723 and died in 1805 at the age of 82, buried at Madeley 17^th March 1805.

A Mary Roberts, widow, married John Boycott on 30^th May 1705 at Newport, Shropshire, and they may have been parents or grandparents to William Boycott who married Abigail Little on 14^th July 1760. Wiliam Boycott of Church Aston, Shropshire, Butcher, whose will was dated 24^th April 1765 (proved 1766), leaving a widow, Abigail Boycott.

Richard Botfield married Joan Roberts on 16^th January 1724 at Madeley.

Jane Botfield was buried 21^st Mar 1767 at Dawley Magna, whose husband was Richard Botfield according to the parish register.

If we assume that this Richard Botfield married Joan or Jane Roberts, who had several sisters, this would account for nieces and nephews named Boycott, Roden, and Hewlett, and Richard’s sister, Sarah, in marrying John Barrett, accounts for the list of Barrats in the will.

Tantalisingly, Job had already received his money, and, presumably, neither Edward nor Richard was there to receive theirs.

The Botfield family tree does not give a date of death for Richard Botfield but it is reasonable to suppose him to have been the son of Richard Botfield of Dawley, and grandson of Thomas Botfield of Eaton Constantine. That would make him a nephew of Thomas and Abigail.

If that is correct, it is reasonably to suppose that the mother of Job, Edward and Richard may have been a sister of this Richard Botfield, and daughter of Richard Botfield of Dawley.

Others

Beriah Botfield died 7^th August 1863, aged 56, buried at Norton, Northants 13^th August 1863

Beriah Botfield, son of Beriah Botfield married 21^st October 1858 at Alberbury, Shropshire to Isabelle Leighton, daughter of Baldwin Leighton

Beriah Botfield of Cleobury Mortimer married 26^th July 1806 at Aston St Peter & St Paul to Charlotte Withering

Beriah Botfield, son of Thomas Botfield, married 11^th August 1777 at Tower Hamlets, St Leonard, St Mary Bromley to Elizabeth Phillips

Beriah Botfield was baptised 23^rd June 1780 at St James, Westminster, son of Beriah and Elizabeth

Beriah Botfield married 28^th November 1802 at Tower Hamlets, St George in the East to Sarah Newman

Beriah Botfield, son of Beriah of Ditton, Salop, matric. Christ Church Oxford 9^th Dec 1824 aged 17, BA 1828, MA 1847; Sheriff of Northamptonshire 1831; MP for Ludlow 1840-47, 1857-death; died 7^th August 1863.

Botfield Tree from Stemmata Botvilliana

Alternative Hypothesis

Edward Thomason, the grandfather of Sir Edward Thomason, married the widow Elizabeth Beard (mother of Job) in or around 1720 to 1722.

Edward and Elizabeth had two sons, Richard and Edward. Somehow, these two boys and Job were nephews of Richard Botfield, who advanced them as apprentices to Birmingham.

There were clearly links to the Botfield family, but it is not clear quite how.

Edward later married Alice Hearns and she, as Alice Thomason, signed the document in 1759 – ten years before Sir Edward was born.

There is little evidence for this hypothesis but it may be a better fit for the evidence.

The initial question remains, however, as to whether there is a link  between the Lyon family descent from Thomasons of Shropshire, and Sir Edward.

The Lyon family descent from the Thomasons

Colonel Colin Sinclair Lyon (1894-1967) married Dorothy Winstanley Thomason (1899-1946) on 31^st Dec 1924.

Dorothy was the daughter (one of eight children) of Edward Edmund Thomason (1857-1912) by his marriage to Margaret Winstanley Procter (1866-1907).

Edward was born at Shifnall in Shropshire, the son (one of ten children) of Henry Thomason (1812-1887) by his marriage to Sally Haslewood Perks (1820-1893).

Henry was born at Kemberton, Shropshire, the son (one of five children) of William Thomason (1765-1825) by his marriage to Mary Barber (died 1822), whom he married at Quatford on 27^th June 1805.

William was baptised at Stockton by Bridgnorth on 3^rd Aug 1768, the son of Samuel Thomason (1745-1787) and Mary Phillips (died 1816), whom he married at Stockton on 3^rd May 1764.

Samuel was the son of Benjamin Thomason (baptised at Beckbury 29^th Jul 1697, buried at Stockton 21^st Dec 1777) and Ann Doughty (born 1717), whom he married on 8^th April 1735 at Stockton.

Benjamin was the son (one of at least eight children) of John Thomason (died 1714 at Beckbury) and Joyce (died 1727).

The known children of John and Joyce were:

1. Edmund Thomason (1677-1717)
2. Roger Thomason (born 1679)
3. Samuel Thomason (born 1682)
4. John Thomason (1686-1687)
5. Joyce Thomason (born 1688)
6. Richard

Alternative Hypothesis

Edward Thomason, the grandfather of Sir Edward Thomason, married the widow Elizabeth Beard (mother of Job) in or around 1720 to 1722.

Edward and Elizabeth had two sons, Richard and Edward. Somehow, these two boys and Job were nephews of Richard Botfield, who advanced them as apprentices to Birmingham.

There were clearly links to the Botfield family, but it is not clear quite how.  Richard Botfield left money to Richard and Edward Thomason and indicates they were nephews. Beriah Botfield may well have advanced them through apprenticeship into the Birmingham Toys, Buttons and Buckle trade.

It may well be the case that Elizabeth Thomason, the boys’ mother, died when they were small – and to that extent they were orphaned – and the Botfield side of the family took the boys in because their father could not look after them alone.

Edward later married Alice Hearns and she, as Alice Thomason, signed the document in 1759 (and is described as mother to Job Beard) – ten years before Sir Edward was born. This description is not too problematic, as wills of the time often interchange, say, mother and mother-in-law (as a step mother would have been called).

The initial question remains, however, as to whether there is a link between the Lyon family descent from Thomasons of Shropshire, and Sir Edward.

The Lyon family descent from the Thomasons

Colonel Colin Sinclair Lyon (1894-1967) married Dorothy Winstanley Thomason (1899-1946) on 31^st Dec 1924.

Dorothy was the daughter (one of eight children) of Edward Edmund Thomason (1857-1912) by his marriage to Margaret Winstanley Procter (1866-1907).

Edward was born at Shifnall in Shropshire, the son (one of ten children) of Henry Thomason (1812-1887) by his marriage to Sally Haslewood Perks (1820-1893).

Henry was born at Kemberton, Shropshire, the son (one of five children) of William Thomason (1765-1825) by his marriage to Mary Barber (died 1822), whom he married at Quatford on 27^th June 1805.

William was baptised at Stockton by Bridgnorth on 3^rd Aug 1768, the son of Samuel Thomason (1745-1787) and Mary Phillips (died 1816), whom he married at Stockton on 3^rd May 1764.

Samuel was the son of Benjamin Thomason (baptised at Beckbury 29^th Jul 1697, buried at Stockton 21^st Dec 1777) and Ann Doughty (born 1717), whom he married on 8^th April 1735 at Stockton.

Benjamin was the son (one of at least eight children) of John Thomason (died 1714 at Beckbury) and Joyce (died 1727).

The known children of John and Joyce were:

1. Edmund Thomason (1677-1717)
2. Roger Thomason (born 1679)
3. Samuel Thomason (born 1682)
4. John Thomason (1686-1687)
5. Joyce Thomason (born 1688)
6. Richard Thomason (born 1692)
7. John Thomason (born 1694)
8. Benjamin Thomason (born 1697)

For a hypothesis that links this branch of the Thomasons to Sir Edward’s family, the absence of an Edward Thomason is a bit worrying, given there were seven boys born and none was named Edward.

Looking back at who this John Thomason may have been, there are two candidates born in Shropshire:

John Thomason was baptised 3^rd Dec 1637 at Claverley, Shropshire, the son of John and Mary.

John Thomason was baptised 6^th Jan 1643/4 at Claverley, Shropshire, the son of Richard and Katherine.

There was an Edward Thomason, baptised at Kinver on 5^th Apr 1690, the son of Edward and Phebe Thomason.  Edward Thomason married Phebe Steadman on 10^th Apr 1687 at Kinver.

Edward Thomason and his wife Phoebe also had a son, William (baptised at Kinver on 24^th May 1692) and a daughter Mary (1688 to 1733) and a daughter Phoebe (born 1694).

Edward Thomason (probably the same Edward who married Phebe Steadman) was baptised on 29^th May 1636 at Claverley, the son of Richard and Katherine.

On 23^rd June 1635, Richard Thomason married Katherine Farmer (daughter of Edward Farmer) at Claverley.

The hypothesis is, therefore, that:

1. Richard Thomason (112 111 111 1) (born circa 1610) married Katherine Farmer (112 111 111 2), daughter of Edward Farmer (112 111 111 21), at Claverley on 23^rd June 1635; they had at least two sons:
   1. Edward Thomason, baptised at Claverley on 29^th May 1636; he had issue:
      1. Edward Thomason (born circa 1665), who married Phebe Steadman, daughter of William and Elizabeth Steadman, baptised 1^st Oct 1666 at Abberley, Worcestershire; they had issue:
         1. Edward Thomason, baptised 10^th April 1687 at Kinver; he married, as her second husband, Elizabeth Beard (previously Botfield?); and they had issue, two sons:
            1. Richard Thomason, baptised at Dawley Magna in 1723, married Jane Noxon, and died without issue;
            1. Edward Thomason, baptised at Dawley Magna in 1725, married first Kattern Evans and had issue, and married second, Mary Garlick and had issue including:
               1. Sir Edward Thomason
   1. John Thomason (112 111 111), baptised at Claverley on 6^th January 1643/4, and died at Beckbury in 1714. He married Joyce (maiden name unknown) (112 111 112). She died in 1727 in Beckbury. They had several children, including:
      1. Benjamin Thomason (112 111 11) was born in 1697 and married Ann Doughty (112 111 12) on 8^th April 1735 at Stockton by Bridgnorth, and they had several children, including:
         1. Samuel Thomason (112 111 1), who was born around 1742 in Bridgnorth, and married Mary Phillips (112 111 2) on 3^rd May 1764 at Stockton by Bridgnorth; they had issue:
            1. William Thomason (112 111), who was born in 1765 and died on 3^rd Dec 1825. He married (as his second wife) Mary Barber (112 112) on 27^th June 1805 at Quatford. She died on 15^th May 1822. They had issue including:
               1. Henry Thomason (112 11), who was born in 1812 at Kemberton. He died on 29^th December 1887 at Shifnal. He married Sally Haselwood Perks (112 12), daughter of Thomas Woodhouse Perks (112 121) and Sally Haslewood (112 122) on 7^th July 1840 at Sutton Maddock. She died on 13^th April 1893 at Shifnal. They had issue including:
                  1. Edward Edmund Thomason (112 1), born 27^th March 1857 at Shifnal and died 21^st April 1912 at Farrington, Preston, Lancashire. He married Margaret Winstanley Procter (112 2), the daughter of Rev. William George Procter (112 21) and Sarah Jane Winstanley (112 22), on 27^th April 1892 at St Cuthbert’s Darwen, Lancashire. She was born on 4^th April 1866 at Wigan and died on 4^th January 1907 at Mawdesley, Lancashire. They had issue, including:
                     1. Dorothy Winstanley Thomason (112)

This hypothesis makes Sir Edward Thomason the fourth Cousin twice removed of Col. Colin Sinclair Lyon.

Wills

1797 Richard Thomason

11-1291-0621_RichardThomason_1797

This is the last will and testament of me, Richard THOMASON of Houghton in the parish of Worfield in the County of Salop, Gentleman, made the twenty-fifth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one (1791). First, I desire to be decently buried at the discretion of my executrix herein after named, and that my just debts and funeral expenses may be paid and discharged with all convenient speed after my decease, and to that end I do hereby charge all my real and personal estates with the payment thereof also I give and bequeath unto George Timmins of Birmingham in the County of Warwick, Button and Buckle Maker, and John Corbett the younger of Great Sholesley in the County of Worcester, Gentleman, all my ready money and money out upon securities, upon trust to permit my wife, Jane THOMASON and her assigns to receive take and enjoy the interest, dividends and produce thereof during the term of her natural life, and from and after her decease upon trust by and out of the said trust monies to pay the several legacies hereinafter given to the respective persons and at the time hereinafter mentioned (that is to say) to my brother Edward THOMASON the sum of one guinea; to John THOMASON son of the said Edward Thomason the sum of five hundred pounds; to Elizabeth COVEY, a daughter of the said Edward Thomason, the sum of one hundred pounds; to Sarah THOMASON, another daughter of the said Edward Thomason, the sum of one hundred pounds, to Ann THOMASON, another daughter of the said Edward Thomason, the sum of one hundred pounds; to Edward THOMASON the Younger, another son of my said brother Edward Thomason, the sum of one hundred pounds; to James THOMASON, another son of my said brother, the sum of one hundred pounds; to Mary PICKARD, a Granddaughter of my said brother, the sum of one hundred pounds; to the said George Timmins and John Corbett the sum of two hundred pounds apiece; to my wife’s nephew, William Webb LANE of Wordsley in the County of (blank), Baker, the sum of two hundred pounds; to Mary Corbett, the younger sister of the said John Corbett, the sum of one hundred pounds; to Benjamin Bowston, who lives with the aforementioned George Timmins at Birmingham aforesaid, the sum of two hundred pounds; to Sarah Bowston, sister to the said Benjamin Bowston, the sum of four hundred pounds; to John Noxon LANE, son of Mr John Noxon Lane late of Birmingham aforesaid, deceased, the sum of one hundred pounds, and to James LANE, another son of the said John Noxon Lane deceased, the like sum of one hundred pounds; and I do hereby direct that all the before mentioned legacies shall be paid unto the respective legatees aforesaid, at the end of two years after the decease of my said wife with interest for the same respectively after the rate of four pounds per centum per annum to be computed from the death of my said wife until the same shall be paid, and in case all or any of the legatees aforesaid shall happen to die in the lifetime of my said wife, then I do hereby direct that the legacy or legacies of him or her or them so dying shall be considered as lapsed and become a part of the residuum of my personal estate hereinafter bequeathed, and that the respective legacies so given to such of the legatees as shall survive my said wife shall be considered as vested legacies immediately upon her decease although not to be paid till the end of two years afterwards, and subject to the payment of the aforesaid legacies, I give and bequeath all the aforementioned trust monies unto my said wife, Jane Thomason, her executors and administrators absolutely forever, and as concerning all my real estates whatsoever and wheresoever, and all the rest and residue of my personal estate whatsoever, I do hereby give, divide and bequeath the same and every part thereof unto my said wife, Jane Thomason, her heirs, executors and administrators respectively, according to the nature and quality of each respective estate; and whereas the said George Timmins and his co-partner, James Timmins, are indebted to me in several sums of money, and it may be inconvenient to them to draw their money out of trade for the payment of the same at a short notice, now I do hereby declare that the said George Timmins and James Timmins or either of them shall not be called upon or have to pay out such monies as they or either of them are or shall be indebted unto me until the expiration of two years from the decease of my said wife, provided they, the said George Timmins and James Timmins, do regularly keep down and pay the interest thereof unto my said wife during her life, provided always, and I hereby declare, that my said trustees and their respective executors and administrators shall not be answerable or accountable for any more of the said trust monies than what they shall severally and actually receive, nor the one of them for the other of them, nor for the acts, deeds, receipts or defaults of the other of them, but each for his own acts, deeds, receipts and defaults only, and that it shall and may be lawful to and for my said trustees and the survivor of them, and the executors and administrators of such survivor (notwithstanding any legacy given to them by this my will) to deduct and reimburse themselves out of the said trust monies all such costs, charges, damages and expenses as they or either of them shall sustain, expend or be put unto in or about the execution of the trusts hereby in them reposed; and, lastly, I appoint my said wife sole Executrix of this my will, hereby revoking all former wills by me heretofore made. I declare this only to be my last will and testament; in witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand and seal and published and declared this to be my last will and testament the day and year first above written – Rich. Thomason – signed, sealed, published and declared by the said Richard Thomason as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us who, at his request in his presence and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto: Jas. Marshall, Plowden Presland, T. Baker

Proved 12th May 1797 by Jane Thomason, Relict

1804 Jane Thomason

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This is the last will and testament of me, Jane THOMASON of Stourbridge in the County of Worcester, widow. First it is my will and desire that all my just debts, funeral expenses and the expenses of proving this my will shall be paid, satisfied and discharged by my executors hereinafter named [as soon as may conveniently] be after my decease.  ITEM; I do hereby give and bequeath unto Mary TAYLOR of the parish of Tasley in the County of Salop, widow, niece of my late husband, the legacy or sum of one hundred pounds; also I hereby give and bequeath unto my two nieces Sarah HOBSON and Mary CORBETT, my nephew William Webb LANE and my two kinsmen John Noxon LANE and James LANE, sons of my (said) nephew John Noxon Lane the like legacy or sum of (one) hundred pounds only, and all [faded text] and effects of what nature or like so ever and wherever, I hereby give and bequeath unto my said two nieces, Sarah Hobson and Mary Corbett and my said nephew William Webb Lane in equal proportions, share and share alike, and it is my particular desire that my executors hereinafter named shall and lawfully may reimburse and indemnify themselves out of my said personal estate all such costs, charges and expenses which they or either of them shall or may sustain or be put unto in or about the execution of this my will, and that they shall not be answerable or accountable for any loss or diminution in such estate unless such loss or diminution be occasioned by or through their wilful neglect or default, and further that my said executors shall not be answerable the one for the other of them for the acts, deeds or defaults of the other of them, but each of them for himself and his own acts, deeds and defaults only; and lastly, I do hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my two friends, Francis Hobson of Courdsley and George Timmings of Birmingham, executors of this my will, and also hereby declare this to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof, I have to this my last will and testament set my hand and seal the fourteenth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and three – Jane Thomason – signed, sealed, published and declared by the said testatrix, Jane Thomason, as and for her last will and testament in the presence of us who at her request and in her presence and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto: John (@x), Wm Hunt

Proved 14th November 1804 by Francis Hobson and George Timmins

1747 John Noxon

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The seventh day of December one thousand seven hundred and forty four, I John NOXON of Great Shelsley in the County of Worcester, Gentleman, being weak of body but of sound and disposing mind and understanding, do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following. First and most principally, I give and recommend my soul to God that gave it, and my body I commend to the earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my executors I shall hereinafter nominate and appoint; and as for such worldly estate and effects it has pleased God to bestow upon me in this life, I give and dispose the same as follows.  ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my daughters, Ann NOXON, Hannah NOXON, Jane NOXON, Sarah NOXON and Elizabeth NOXON and Mary NOXON and to each and every of them the sum of two hundred pounds.  ITEM; I give unto my dear wife Mary NOXON all that my estate at Bayton in the County of Worcester being twenty pounds a year for and until my son Thomas NOXON shall attain the age of one and twenty years as also out of my estate in Great Shelsley in the said County of Worcester, I give unto my said wife the sum of thirty pounds a year for and in consideration that my said wife Mary Noxon shall resign and relinquish her jointure to my executrix at my decease, and I do give her my said wife to the value of one hundred pounds to Stock Bayton Estate and my will is that all the profits of the said Estate at Great Shelsley except as aforesaid shall be to the use of my five youngest daughters, Hannah, Mary, Jane, Sarah and Elizabeth Noxon until my son Thomas NOXON shall attain the age of four and twenty years, to be equally divided between them my said five daughters as aforesaid, and of this my will I make, ordain, constitute and appoint my daughter Elizabeth Noxon and Margery Webb of Great Shelsley aforesaid, Spinster, joint executrixes and do utterly revoke and make void all former and other will orcwills by me heretofore made. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year first above written – John Noxon – signed, sealed, published and declared by the testator John Noxon in the presence of Charles Hornblower, Paul Jones, John Harbidge

Proved 13th November 1747 by Elizabeth Noxon, Spinster, the daughter of the deceased

1794 Edward Thomason

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In the name of God, Amen. I Edward THOMASON of Birmingham in the County of Warwick, late Buckle Maker, being of sound mind, memory and understanding, praised be Almighty God for it, I do for the settling and disposing of the Estate and Effects which it has pleased God to bestow upon me make this my last will and testament in manner following, that is to say, First, it is my will and desire that all my just debts and funeral charges be punctually paid and discharged, and that my body be decently buried at the discretion of my executors hereafter named. Also, I give and bequeath unto my eldest son John Evans THOMASON whom I had with my former wife the sum of two hundred pounds only to be paid him within one year after my decease, I having already given him the other part of the fortune designed for him which together with what is bequeathed to him by the will of his late Grandfather, John EVANS, makes him a handsome and sufficient fortune. Also, I give and bequeath unto my Grandson Edward PICKARD the sum of fifty pounds. Also, I give and bequeath unto my Granddaughter Mary PICKARD the like sum of fifty pounds. Also, I give and bequeath unto my Grandson James PICKARD the like sum of fifty pounds; as they are all three young to be paid them within one year after the death of my wife Mary THOMASON; and if any one or two of them should happen to die before the above mentioned time for the payment thereof then such share or shares to go unto the survivor or survivors of them; and it is my express will that neither my said son John Evans Thomason nor my said grandchildren Edward, Mary and James Pickard shall not at any time hereafter have the least pretence to have claim or take any part of my real or personal estate or effects of any sort kind or manner whatsoever or wheresoever (they) shall be to all intents and purposes entirely barred and excluded therefrom. Also I give and bequeath unto my said wife Mary Thomason the free use and enjoyment of all and singular my household goods, furniture, plate and linen for and during her natural life; and after her decease then my executors to sell and dispose of all such household goods, furniture, plate and linen, and the monies arising from the sale thereof to be equally divided amongst my five children whom I had by my present wife, namely: Elizabeth COVEY, Sarah THOMASON, Ann THOMASON, Edward THOMASON and James THOMASON, share and share alike. Also, I give and devise unto my said wife, Mary Thomason, all those my three small freehold messuages or dwelling houses, together with the outbuildings, two small farms, land and premises, with the appurtenances thereunto belonging, situate or near Smethwick in the Parish of Harbourne and County of Stafford, and now in the tenure or occupation of Thomas Allen or his under-tenants, together with all ways, waters, watercourses and all privileges and appurtenances whatsoever to the said premises or any part or parts thereof belonging or in any wise appertaining, for and during the term of her natural life, and from and after the decease of my said wife then I give and devise all my said freehold messuages or dwelling houses, outbuildings and appurtenances whatsoever to the said premises or any part or parts thereof belonging in any wise appertaining, and the reversion, residue and remainder thereof unto and among my said five children, namely, Elizabeth Covey, Sarah Thomason, Ann Thomason, Edward Thomason and James Thomason equally, share and share alike, and to their heirs and assigns forever, to have and to hold as tenants in common and not as joint tenants. Also, I give and bequeath to my said wife Mary Thomason my two messuages or dwelling houses which are leasehold, situate and being in Colemore Row in Birmingham; namely, my house which I now live in with the warehouse, shops, stable and outbuildings thereunto belonging; also the house next adjoining, now or late in the tenure or occupation of William Hinchley with the outbuildings thereunto belonging and appertaining for and during her natural life, and from and after the decease of my said wife, then I give and bequeath all the two said leasehold messuages or dwelling houses with the warehouse, shops, stable and other outbuildings thereunto belonging and appertaining, unto and amongst my five children, namely, Elizabeth Covey, Sarah Thomason, Ann Thomason, Edward Thomason and James Thomason equally, share and share alike, to have and to hold to them, their executors, administrators and assigns for the remainder of my term of years, estate and interest therein. Also, I give and devise unto my said five children, namely, Elizabeth Covey, Sarah Thomason, Ann Thomason, Edward Thomason and James Thomason all those my six several freehold messuages, tenements or dwelling houses, situate and being in Newton Street and Lichfield Street in Birmingham, together with the outbuildings and appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging or in any way appertaining, and the reversion, residue and remainder thereof to be equally divided amongst them, share and share alike, and to their heirs and assigns forever, to have to hold as tenants in common and not as joint tenants.  Also, I give and bequeath unto my said five children, namely Elizabeth Covey, Sarah Thomason, Ann Thomason, Edward Thomason and James Thomason all my other leasehold buildings, messuages or dwelling houses with the outbuildings and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining, situate and being in Colmore Row, Church Street and Great Charles Street in Birmingham, for and during the whole term of my lease, estate and interest therein, to be equally divided amongst them, share and share alike, to have to hold to them, their executors, administrators and assigns. Also, I give and bequeath unto my said five children, namely, Elizabeth Covey, Sarah Thomason, Ann Thomason, Edward Thomason and James Thomason, all monies out at interest and all the rest, residue and remainder of my personal estate and effects of any sort, kind or nature whatsoever and wheresoever, to be equally divided amongst them, share and share alike. And, lastly, hereby revoking all former wills by me made, do nominate, constitute and appoint my wife Mary Thomason, my son a Edward Thomason and also my son James Thomason to be executrix and executors of this my last will and testament, in witness whereof I have to each sheet of this my will, the whole contained on two sheets of paper, set my hand and seal the twenty-first day of November (1793) in the thirty fourth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety three. – Edward Thomason – Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said Testator, Edward Thomason, for and as his last will and testament, in he presence of us and in his presence and at his request and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses: John Procter, Christopher Oughton, Samuel Westwood.

Proved at Birmingham, the 20th November 1794, this Commission was duly executed and the said Mary Thomason, Edward Thomason and James Thomason, the executors aforesaid, were duly sworn according to the tenor and form of the above written oath by and before me – John Driscoll

1823 Mary Thomason

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In the name of God, Amen, I Mary THOMASON, widow, of Birmingham in the County of Warwick, being in sound mind and memory, do in the disposing of the little property I am possessed of, which I have saved since I became a widow, do make this my last will and testament in manner following, that is to say: first, I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah THOMASON and my daughter Ann THOMASON all money whatsoever and wheresoever that may be in my possession at the time of my decease; also I give and bequeath to my said daughter Sarah Thomason and my daughter Ann Thomason all money, interest of money, dividends and rents that may be owing and due to me at the time of my decease that is to say, I give to them whatsoever sum of money may be then due to me from (Old) Place for interest of fifteen hundred pounds on mortgages; also I give to them whatsoever sum of money may be then due to me  from Mr Thomas Allen for rent of the farm at Smethwick; also I give to them whatsoever sum of money may be due to me from my son Edward THOMASON for rent of his house and manufactory; also I give to them whatsoever dividends or money that may be then due to me from a share in the Birmingham Fire Office; and I also give and bequeath to them, my said daughters Sarah Thomason and Ann Thomason the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds now in the aforesaid Fire Office, which money I advanced to pay the (rents) on the above mentioned share in the aforesaid Fire Office, namely, a (call) of forty pounds June 3rd 1815, a call of forty pounds November 21st 1815 and a call of forty pounds March 9th 1815, and also should there be any rent due to me at the time aforesaid for the house No. 20, Colmore Row now since let to Messrs Hickman and Hutchinson, I give to them all money owing to me or that may be anywhere in my possession and all money, interest of money, dividends and rents whatsoever or wheresoever that may be owing and due to me at the time of my decease I do freely give and bequeath to my said daughters Sarah Thomason and Ann Thomason to be equally divided (between) them, for I think  it just and right that, as my said daughters live with me, they should receive and have the whole of my income to the day of my death, and also all my other property for my other children do not want it, and I do constitute and appoint my daughter Sarah Thomason and my daughter Ann Thomason executrixes of this my last will. In witness whereunto I have set my hand and seal this twenty-seventh day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two – Mary Thomason – signed, sealed and declared by the said testator Mary Thomason for and as her last will and testament in the presence of us who in her presence and at her request and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses: Elizabeth Gibbs, Sarah Carks

Though I have not mentioned in my will my household linen or the wine & liquors or other things belonging to me that may be in my house at the time of my decease, yet I think right that such things should be theirs; I mean that they should have them – Mary Thomason

My poor dear daughter Sarah Thomason being now dead, the whole of my property whatsoever and wheresoever heretofore mentioned in this my last will I do now give and bequeath to my daughter Ann Thomason; my will now is that my said daughter Ann Thomason should have it all, the whole of my property, all money that may be due to me at the time of my decease or in my possession, and all my other property whatsoever or wheresoever, I do now give and bequeath to my said daughter Ann Thomason. May 26^th 1823. I do here this day set my hand and seal – Mary Thomason – witness Ann Wadsworth

I Mary Thomason, being of sound mind and memory, praised be God for the same, do hereby give and bequeath to my daughter Ann Thomason all my dear departed daughter Sarah’s overclothes and all other property whatsoever and wheresoever that was hers and now belongs to me. July 14th 1823 I set my hand – Mary Thomason – witness Ann Hadsworth, (xxx) here to my will that it should be firmly (xxx) all my share of poor dear Sarah’s property to Ann – Mary Thomason

Appeared Personally Edward Thomason of Birmingham in the County of Warwick, jeweller, and Phillis Bown THOMASON his wife, and made oath that they knew and were well acquainted with Mary Thomason late of Birmingham in the County of Warwick, widow, deceased for twenty years and upwards before and to the time of her death which happened as these deponents have been and believed on the nineteenth day of July last, and these deponents further made oath that they knew and were well acquainted with the said deceased’s manner and character of handwriting and of writing and subscribing her name, having often seen the said deceased write and also write and subscribe her name, and having now with care and affection viewed and perused the paper writing hereunto annexed, being or purporting to be and remain the last will and testament with three codicils thereunto annexed of the said deceased, the said will bearing date the twenty-seventh day of February one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, and the first of the said codicils being without date and thus subscribed – ‘Mary Thomason’ – and the second of the said codicils bearing date the twenty-sixth day of May one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, and the third codicil bearing date July the fourteenth one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, they these documents, do verily and in their consciences believe the said recited will, codicils and subscriptions thereunto to be all of the proper handwriting and subscribing and to have been written and subscribed by the said Mary Thomason, widow, deceased – Sir Edward Thomason – Phillis Bown Thomason – on the twenty-sixth day of August 1823, the above said Edward Thomason and Phillis Bown Thomason were duly sworn to the truth of the above-written affidavit before me, Thomas Chapman, Commissioner

Proved 28th August 1823 by Ann Thomason

1847 Ann Thomason

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In the name of God, Amen. I Ann THOMASON, Spinster, daughter of the late Edward and Mary Thomason of Birmingham, being of sound mind, memory and understanding, praise be Almighty God for it, do, for the settling and disposing of the effects which it has pleased God in his great goodness to bestow upon me, make this my last will and testament in manner following. First it is my will and desire that my body be buried after the same manner and in the same vault as my late beloved sister and my late beloved mother, and that all my just debts and funeral expenses  be punctually paid and discharged, and I give and bequeath the sum of fifty pounds to the poor men and women who go to St Philip’s Church, to be distributed to them in any way that one of the clergymen belonging to the church shall think proper. Also, I give and bequeath to my three cousins, Eliza FORD, Ann Sophia FORD, and Mary Frances FORD, the sum of one hundred pounds to be divided between them in equal shares; also, I give and bequeath to my cousin Ann WRIGHT, wife of William WRIGHT of Kingswinford the sum of [thirty] pounds; also, I give and bequeath to each of my undermentioned nephews and nieces the sum of one hundred pounds, namely to my nephew Edward COVEY one hundred pounds, to my niece Elizabeth WILLIAMS one hundred pounds, to my nephew Charles COVEY one hundred pounds, to my nephew Henry Botfield THOMASON one hundred pounds, to my niece Mary Fredericke THOMASON one hundred pounds, and to my niece Elizabeth Augusta THOMASON one hundred pounds. Also, I give and bequeath to my pious young friend and companion Elizabeth Brown, daughter of William Brown, the sum of five hundred pounds as a testimony of my great regard for her and high appreciation of her conduct she has administered much to my temporal and spiritual comfort, and I do desire that the above mentioned sum of five hundred pounds be paid to her my said friend Elizabeth Brown within three months after my decease. Also I give and bequeath to Ann Wadsworth, widow, of Lichfield Street the sum of ten pounds; also I give and bequeath to Elizabeth Bullock the sum of ten pounds for kindly minding my late dear mother dangerous illness, she living with us at that time as housemaid. Also, I give and bequeath to the servant that shall be living with us at the time of my decease five pounds. Also, I give and bequeath to the Child Sunday School of St Philip’s Birmingham ten pounds. Also, I give and bequeath fifty pounds to each of the undermentioned charitable institutions in Birmingham, namely, to the [ ] hospital fifty pounds, to the Dispensary fifty pounds, and to the eye infirmary fifty pounds. Also, I give and bequeath to each of my executors for their trouble the sum of one hundred pounds. And lastly, I give and bequeath all the residue and remainder of my property of every denomination whatsoever or wheresoever to be equally divided between my sister Elizabeth COVEY, my brother Edward THOMASON and my brother James THOMASON share and share alike. And I do constitute and appoint my brother Edward Thomason and my nephew Edward Covey to be joint executors of this my last will and testament, whereunto I do this day set my hand and seal this third day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight – Ann Thomason – signed, sealed and declared by the said testator, Ann Thomason, for and as her last will and testament in the presence of us who, in her presence and at her request and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnesses: Mary Price, Frances Goodall, Ann Elizabeth Lenwood.

Whereas I have by my last will and testament given and bequeathed to my friend Elizabeth Brown the sum of five hundred pounds to be paid her within three months after my decease, and the said Elizabeth Brown is married to and is now the wife of (Leacroft) Freer of Birmingham, Draper, now I do hereby direct that in case the said Elizabeth, the wife of the said Leacroft Freer shall happen to depart this life in my lifetime, that the said legacy of five hundred pounds shall be paid to the said Leacroft Freer if living within three months after my decease, and if he also shall die in my lifetime, then I direct that the said legacy or sum of five hundred pounds shall be paid to the executors or administrators of the said Leacroft Freer within three months after my death, to be by them equally divided between and among the children of the said Leacroft Freer and Elizabeth his wife at their respective ages of 21 years, and in case any of them shall die under that age and without issue then the survivors to take the share or shares of the party so dying equally between them and, in case there shall be only one child living to attain 21 years or having lawful issue, then I give and bequeath the said legacy of five hundred pounds to such one and only child for his or her own use and benefit, and I do hereby declare this to be a codicil to my last will and testament. As witness I have set my hand the fifteenth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six – Ann Thomason – witness (Ann Hill)

Whereas I Ann Thomason in and by my last will and testament, bearing date the third of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, give and bequeath to my sister Elizabeth Covey, since deceased, one third part of the residue and remainder of my property, I do now will and direct that the same one third part as mentioned in my said will shall now be equally divided betwixt her children Edward COVEY, Elizabeth WILLIAMS and Charles COVEY, in witness whereof, I the said Ann Thomason do to this writing, which I thereby declare to be a second codicil to my last will, set my hand and seal this twenty-Second day of May one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven – Ann Thomason

In the name of God Amen. I Ann Thomason, being of sound mind and understanding, praised be God for it, do hereby this 19th day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty, make this third codicil to my will and testament, that is to say, I revoke the disposal of that part of my will and testament which relates to that portion of my property and interest in a freehold Estate at Smethwick in the County of Stafford now occupied by Jonathan Hasley as Tenant at the yearly rent of fifty pounds, and it is my will, (p…), will, meaning and intent that I hereby give and bequeath the whole of my right and interest in the aforesaid freehold estate to my eldest brother Edward THOMASON, Knight, entirely for his own use and benefit, and in case of his death before me then I bequeath my aforesaid interest in the said Estate entirely to my nephew Henry Botfield THOMASON, and my aforesaid eldest brother Edward Thomason, Knight has faithfully promised me that he will, after my decease, give unto my niece Augusta THOMASON yearly and every year during the term of her natural life the sum of twenty pounds lawful money of a Great Britain – Ann Thomason – witness my hand this 19th day of October one thousand eight hundred and forty, appended to my will by me: Mary Wheeler, William Collins

In my will and testament date the third day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, I gave and bequeathed to my brother James Thomason of Norway, then living or to his executors, administrators and assigns, a certain portion of my property and effects after my decease to be remitted to him by my executors therein by me appointed, but as my said brother James Thomason of Norway has since or recently departed this life leaving behind him one only child, namely his daughter Elizabeth Augusta Thomason, Spinster, I do hereby declare in this my fourth codicil to my aforesaid will and testament, made by me and witnessed this eleventh day of November one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, that I revoke the aforesaid bequest or gift mentioned in my former aforesaid will and testament of all that portion of my property and effects left to my aforesaid brother James Thomason, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, and I do hereby give and bequeath the same portion or part of my property therein mentioned to his only surviving child Elizabeth Augusta Thomason, my niece, after this manner, that is to say, that my executors of my aforesaid will therein appointed shall hold the amount so bequeathed, whatever it may appear to be, at interest for the benefit of my aforesaid niece, Elizabeth Augusta Thomason, during her natural life and that during her natural life the interest that may be (…) therein at a (…) and request that my aforesaid niece Elizabeth Augusta Thomason shall have the power to will away the principal at her decease to whomever she may be disposed to give it; and I do hereby authorise, desire and request that my executors so pay or cause to be paid all such remaining principal at the demise of my aforesaid niece, Elizabeth Augusta Thomason unto the person who may be hereafter named in her own will and testament made and signed by my aforesaid niece Elizabeth Augusta Thomason. In witness of this my fourth codicil I do set my hand and seal only witnessed this eleventh day of November one thousand eight hundred and forty-one – Ann Thomason – witness the signing hereof: Ann Elizabeth Palmer, Mary Wheeler

Whereas I Ann Thomason in my last will and testament bearing date the third day of June one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, did give and bequeath to my niece Mary Fredericka Thomason the sum of one hundred pounds, but since then she has departed this life, therefore as she the aforesaid Mary Fredericka Thomason is dead, it is now my will and desire that her sister, my niece, Elizabeth Augusta Thomason should have that hundred pounds that would have been Mary Fredericka Thomason’s if she had lived. Therefore, I do now give and bequeath to my aforesaid niece Elizabeth Augusta Thomason that hundred pounds as mentioned in my will as there and then bequeathed to my niece Mary Fredericka Thomason as she is dead. I think it quite right that her sister my niece the aforesaid Elizabeth Augusta Thomason should have it in addition to the sum of one hundred pounds left in my will to herself, the said Elizabeth Augusta Thomason, and I do hereby declare this to be a fifth codicil to my last will and testament. As witness my hand this thirteenth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-one – Ann Thomason – witness to the signing and sealing: Mary Wheeler, Elizabeth Plant

As my nephew Edward Covey, whom I had appointed one of my executors to my last will and testament is since dead, I do now hereby nominate and appoint his brother Charles Covey, Clerk, instead of him and do give him full power and authority to act as joint executor with my brother Edward Thomason, Knight, and do likewise give to each of them the sum of one hundred pounds for their troubles as I have before mentioned in my will. Witness my hand this sixth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-five – Ann Thomason – witness: Mary Wheeler, Elizabeth Plant.

Proved 24th December 1847

1849 Sir Edward Thomason Kt

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In the name of God, Amen, I Sir Edward THOMASON, Knight, residing at 50, Pultney Street, Bath and being in tolerable health and sound mind, blessed be God for it, I herewith certify that I make a will dated the twentieth day of March one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, and also that the said Will was witnessed by William Grubb and Edwin Sale, and signed by me on the twenty-fifth day of March one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, and also I subjoined or added a codicil to this said will dated May 16th 1847 say one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, and signed by me and witnessed the nineteenth day of May one thousand eight hundred and forty seven, now I do hereby certify and declare that, for certain weighty and important reasons, and the difficulty I find in bequeathing my property to Institutions and certain individuals, and to give my dear wife as little trouble as possible, and as much power as may be for her comfort, I do thereby appoint and constitute my beloved wife Phillis Bown THOMASON my sole executrix to this my will and testament, and I do hereby further declare that I make null and void and of none effect any aforesaid will and codicil and all other wills and codicils that may be found dated prior to the day of the date of this instrument, and I do hereby solemnly declare that I give and bequeath the whole of my property of every kind and denomination whatsoever and wheresoever discovered, including all freehold estates and leasehold houses or estates, and all monies in the funds or out at interest, and all my (book) credits or debts and stock in divers places on sale and all my shares and interests in institutions as Canal shares, Gas shares, Fire shares, Waterworks shares, Railway shares and Mining shares and my Bank shares, all these together with my furniture, books, plate, jewels, wines, works of art, pictures, potentate and presents, I do hereby give and bequeath to my beloved wife Phillis Bown Thomason for her own interest, use and benefit, knowing as I do that I can place every confidence in her to follow out in her lifetime and by her will my intentions of which she is well acquainted. I hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven – Edward Thomason, Knight – witnessed by us and in the presence of each other to the signing hereof – John Downs, William Grubb

Appeared personally, William Grubb of Jury Street in the Parish of Saint Mary in the town and county of Warwick, Butler, and made oath that he is one of the subscribed witnesses to the last will and testament hereto annexed, bearing date the eleventh day of December one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, of the said Sir Edward Thomason, formerly of Pulteney Street Bath in the County of Somerset, but late of the town and county of Warwick, Knight, deceased; and he further made oath that on the eleventh day of December aforesaid, the testator duly executed his said will by signing his name at the foot or end thereof in the presence of this appearer and of John Downs the other subscribed witness thereto, they being both present at the same time, and the said John Downs and this appearer, then attested and subscribed the said will in the presence of the said testator, and of each other – William Grubb– on the twenty-ninth day of October 1849, the said William Grubb was duly sworn to the truth of this affidavit by virtue of the commission thereto annexed. Before me Henry Donne Hilton, Clerk Commissioner

In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in the Goods of Sir Edward Thomason, Knight, deceased:

Appeared personally, Dame Phillis Bown Thomason of Jury Street in the Parish of Saint Mary in the town and county of Warwick, widow, and made oath that she is the relict and sole executrix named in the last will and testament of the said Sir Edward Thomason formerly of Pulteney Street, Bath in the County of Somerset but late of the town and county of Warwick, Knight, deceased now hereto annexed bearing date the eleventh day of December one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, and with reference to the following clause contained in the said will, to wit: “and I do hereby solemnly declare that I give and bequeath the I give and bequeath the whole of my property of every kind and denomination whatsoever and wheresoever discovered, including all freehold estates and leasehold houses or estates, and all monies in the funds or out at interest, and all my (book) credits or debts and stock in divers places on sale and all my shares and interests in institutions as Canal shares, Gas shares, Fire shares, Waterworks shares, Railway shares and Mining shares and my Bank shares, all these together with my furniture, books, plate, jewels, wines, works of art, pictures, potentate and presents, I do hereby give and bequeath to my beloved wife Phillis Bown Thomason for her own interest, use and benefit, knowing as I do that I can place every confidence in her to follow out in her lifetime and by her will my intentions of which she is well acquainted”, she this appearer further made oath that her acquaintance with the said testator’s intentions therein referred to was derived from verbal communication only – Phillis Bown Thomason – on the twenty-ninth day of October 1849 the said Dame Phillis Bown Thomason, widow, was duly sworn to the truth of this affidavit by virtue of the Commission hereto annexed – before me Henry Donne Hilton, Commissioner

Proved 3rd November 1849 by Dame Phillis Bown Thomason, widow, the relict and sole executrix

1852 Phillis Bown Thomason

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In the name of God, I Phillis Bown THOMASON, widow of Edward THOMASON, Knight, now residing in the Borough of Warwick, and being of sound mind, and blessed be God for it, do hereby make this my last will and testament of me, the said Phillis Bown Thomason, that is to say, I give and bequeath to Henry Richard Yeoville, Architect, of the Borough of Birmingham, and to his brother George Yeoville, Artist, of the Borough of Birmingham, two out of the five natural or reputed natural children of my only son, Henry Botfield THOMASON, and their heirs, executors and administrators, all my freehold messuages and land at Great Malvern, in the County of Worcester, part of them in the occupation of J O Bridges, and other tenants, and my freehold estate at Great Malvern called Hayes Barr, namely, the house, stabling, out offices and land now or late in the occupation of Mr Yeend and Mrs Yeend, late Miss Belcher, and also those my freehold messuages, tenements and manufactory etc., in Church a Street, Birmingham, in the tenancy of George Thomas Whitgraves and George Richmond Collis, and also all that my messuage, warehouse, stable and outbuildings in Colmore Row and Church Street in the occupation of Langstone Parker, Surgeon, and also all that my messuage, tenement and outbuildings in Colmore Row in the occupation of Mr Barney, and also all that my messuage, dwelling house and outbuildings at the corner of Colmore Row and Church Street in the occupation of Mrs Dobson, and also all that my messuage, shopping, etc., in Colmore Row in the occupation of Mrs Granvers, and also all that my messuage and shopping in Great Charles Street in the occupation of Mrs Cobley, and also all that my messuage and shopping adjoining Mrs Cobley’s, now in the occupation of Mr Burgass, and also all that my messuages with the appurtenances at the corner of Caroline Street St.Paul’s now in the occupation of Mr (Duchemin), and also all those warehouses, shopping, etc., in Catherine Street St Paul’s, now in the occupation of Mrs Sarah Pit, and also all that my messuage and outbuildings situate at the corner of Great Charles Street and Newhall Street Birmingham, now in the occupation of Mr Freer, Surgeon, and also all that my other real and personal estate and all monies, securities for money, shares in various companies, goods, chattels and all my other personal property and effects, of which I may be possessed or entitled to at the time of my decease, to hold the same unto the said Henry Richard Yeoville and his brother George Yeoville, their heirs, executors and administrators, upon the trusts following, that is to say: all the dwelling houses or tenements in Birmingham herein named are not to be sold, but kept at rental until the leases expire, and the rents and proceeds after paying the expenses of repairs to be divided into five shares to the five residuary legatees in manner hereinafter named, that is to say, all the other parts of my property in trust, except the houses above named, shall be as soon as conveniently may be after my decease sold if it is desirable so to do, either by auction or by private sale, except such specific articles as I may give or bequeath by my will or by my codicil or codicils to this my will, and the money received from the sales of my property shall, after the executors have paid off all my just debts and funeral expenses and all the trust and probate duty hereby created, shall out of the monies that have been reserved from rents, dividends, shares of companies and proceeds from any of my property which they may have thought proper to have sold, proceed to pay the following legacies, that is to say, to my sister Anne THOMPSON, wife of Benjamin THOMPSON, residing at No. 24, St Nicholas Church Yard, Newcastle on Tyne, the sum if fifty pounds; to my sister Elizabeth GORDON to pay her fifty pounds; also to my sister Emily WHATELEY to pay her the sum of fifty pounds – Benjamin Thompson of Newcastle on Tyne knows the direction to my sisters Mrs Elizabeth Gordon and Mrs Emily Whateley; I also give and bequeath to Sarah Braine, the faithful servant of my dear departed husband, if she be alive at the twelve months after my death, the sum of twenty pounds; I also give and bequeath to my husband’s niece now resident at Copenhagen the sum of three hundred pounds if she be alive at twelve months after my death, to be paid to the Reverend Charles COVEY in trust for her, and his receipt shall be an effectual discharge for the same; I also give and bequeath to the Rev. Charles Covey the sum of one hundred pounds if he shall be alive twelve months after my decease; and I direct and I hereby appoint that Henry Richard Yeoville and his brother George Yeoville shall be executors and shall stand possessed of all my monies and property of every sort and denomination except such articles as I have given away, either by my will or codicils, Henry Richard Yeoville and George Yeoville  to be in trust for the five persons whom I shall hereinafter name, and the said Henry Richard Yeoville and George Yeoville are two out of the five persons to be residuary legatees by my will, that is to say, the five persons whom I have adopted, I believe to be the five children or reputed children of my only child, Henry Botfield THOMASON, and of my dear husband Edward Thomason, and the names of these five children are: Elizabeth St CLAIR, formerly Elizabeth Yeoville, Richard Henry Yeoville (sic), Adelaide YEOVILLE, George Yeoville, and Mary Ann YEOVILLE, and I hereby appoint the two brothers of this family to be my executors, and to stand in trust for one fifth  for each of themselves and one fifth part for each of their three sisters out of what becomes to be the residue of my property after paying my debts, legacies and bequests named in my will or in my codicil that I may make, and these five named persons, and they shall be tenants in common subject nevertheless to one moiety or equal half share of their fifth part to their two older sisters, Elizabeth and Adelaide, and one fifth of the entire share of Mary Ann Yeoville to the trust hereinafter declared concerning the same, and I do hereby direct that the respective shares of the said Henry Richard Yeoville and George Yeoville, and also one undivided moiety or equal half part of the shares of the said Elizabeth St Clair and her sister Adelaide Yeoville shall be paid to them as soon as conveniently may be after my decease, and I direct my said trustees to stand possessed of the remaining moiety or equal half part of the respective shares of the said Elizabeth St Clair and her sister Adelaide Yeoville and for their children in such manner and form and with such accompanying powers, provisions and declarations as they the said trustees in their discretion shall think proper, and I direct that the expense attending every settlement thereby directed or authorised to be made shall be paid and deducted out of the share to which the same persons shall relate, and I direct my trustees to stand possessed of the share of the said Mary Ann Yeoville and of and in the said trust monies in trust to invest the same in their names in the public funds  or government securities of the United Kingdom or on real or leasehold securities in England, and I empower them in their discretion to vary the investment from time to time for any other of the funds described, and I direct them during the minority of the said Mary Ann Yeoville to apply the whole or such part as they shall deem proper of the annual income of Mary Ann Yeoville’s share to be applied for her maintenance and education, and the accumulations of the unemployed income by investing the same in manner aforesaid, and to make the accumulations with the capital of Mary Ann Yeoville’s share due if she shall live to attain the age of twenty one years then the trustees shall pay to her one moiety or half part of her said trust monies and also pay her the accumulations thereof during her minority; and as to the remaining moiety or equal half part of and in the same monies, upon trust, to settle the same in such manner and at the like expense as is hereinbefore declared concerning Mary Ann Yeoville’s money not to be subject to any husband but for her individual use as is in the case with her sisters, Elizabeth St Clair and Adelaide Yeoville’s moiety, but in case the said Mary Ann Yeoville should die under the age of twenty one years without leaving any issues living at her death, for if she does not live but has issue, then her share of her property must go to her issue, but in case of her leaving no issue, then and in that case, that is if no issue of hers living at her death, then I direct her brothers, Henry Richard Yeoville and George Yeoville, my executors, to stand possessed of the share or shares original and accruing of the said Mary Ann Yeoville in trust for the said Henry Richard  Yeoville and George Yeoville, Elizabeth St Clair and Adelaide Yeoville or such of them as shall be living at the time of her, Mary Ann’s decease or (…) in equal proportions as tenants in common and not as joint tenants, and it is proper that I shall name the companies I have shares in, which are alluded to in the former part of my will day at this time in January one thousand eight hundred and fifty, I have shares in the Birmingham and Staffordshire Gas Company, the Birmingham Banking Company, the Worcester Canal Company, the London and North Western Mail and the Birmingham Water Works, I have also a bond of Messrs Whitgrave & Collis which was at first four thousand pounds, two thousand pounds has been paid and two thousands are still owing to me by Messrs Whitgraves & Collis at the date of this my will; I have also a bond from Lady PINCHORN who is the mother of my daughter-in-law, which bond Lady Pinchorn is paying off by instalments of thirty pounds every Christmas, and which I permit her to do so long as I live out, at my death, Lady Pinchorn must pay the remaining part of the bond, whatever is not paid at my death into the hands of my executors by instalments of thirty pounds at each Christmas until the whole bond is paid off, and I do hereby direct that all purchasers of my property shall pay the monies for the same to my trustees and executors, and it shall exempt them from all responsibility by showing them the receipt for the same; in respect to the application thereof, as the receipt of my executors shall be a good and sufficient discharge for the same, and I further declare that my trustees and executors shall be at liberty out of the trust monies to pay all expenses incident to the execution of this my will and testament, written on six sheets of paper, and I also think it right  again to mention that I believe the five children therein named to be the natural children or reputed natural children of my son Henry Botfield Thomason, and therefore I have left to them all the freehold leasehold and personal property of every description and denomination which my dear husband in his will bequeathed to me, or property to which I may be in any ways entitled to, except things which I may have disposed of during my life or may have devised away by this my will or by any codicil or codicils to the above named five children, and I have named Henry Richard Yeoville and George Yeoville as my executors and trustees for themselves and for their three sisters, and I therefore set my signature to this my will and testament this month of January one thousand eight hundred and fifty – Phillis Bown Thomason – signed by me, the said testatrix, and by her published and declared to be her last will and testament in the presence of us who at her request and in her presence, and in the presence of each other, all being present at the same time, have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses – William Grubb, Edwin Gale

I Phillis Bown Thomason, the widow of the late Sir Edward Thomason, Knight, do write this and make it a codicil to my last will and testament, that is to say, I give and bequeath to Henry Richard Yeoville one of my iron chests which now contains the parchments, writings and papers relative to my property, that he may have the custody of the said parchments and papers as he is appointed to act with his brother George Yeoville as one of the executors of my last will, and also one of my residuary legatees, and he must, with his brother George Yeoville also appointed an executor of my last will, Act with him and as he is also one of the residuary legatees and he must with his brother have the care of the monies belonging to the trust, I also bequeath to George Yeoville my other iron chest for the purpose of his having in his custody my (niver) plate and my presents in diamonds, snuff boxes, etc., and all my jewellery of every description which I may not have disposed of during my lifetime by sale or otherwise, as he is appointed to act with his brother Henry Yeoville. I also bequeath to Henry Richard Yeoville my mahogany dining table which was formerly my son’s. I also give and bequeath to George Yeoville my mahogany library table which has two drawers and which was formerly my son’s; I also give and bequeath to Elizabeth St Clair, formerly Elizabeth Yeoville, my mahogany bedstead with the blue hanging and also the feather bed mattress, bolster, two pillows, four blankets and fringe quilt belonging thereto. I also give and bequeath to Mary Ann Yeoville my other brass bed and the (family) hanging, mattress, feather bed, bolster, 4 blankets and quilt belonging thereto. I also give and bequeath to Henry Richard Yeoville my silver tankard (it was formerly my son’s); I also give and bequeath to George Yeoville my silver sugar basin and cover and the silver label belonging to it. I also give to Henry Richard Yeoville my grand pianoforte; my music books must be divided among such of the two brothers and three sisters who practice on a pianoforte. I also give and bequeath to George Yeoville my seven bisque figures and groups with the seven glass covers for them, and the seven black stands for them (these seven were presented to me by the Marquis Genora of Florence. I have two bookcases; one of them is at Warwick and the other bookcase is at Peachfield House, but it must not be removed during the time Mr Budges is my tenant which he gives leave to that effect, I bequeath whichever of the two Henry Richard Yeoville makes choice of to him, and I bequeath the other of the two bookcases to George Yeoville; with respect to my books, I bequeath such part of them to be divided as Henry Richard Yeoville and George Yeoville wish to retain, the brothers taking it in turn to choose one sort and what books the bothers do not wish to retain must be sold to go to residue. I give and bequeath my diamond watch and the gold chain attached to it to Elizabeth St Clair, it was my son’s and she must never sell or part with either the watch or chain. I give and bequeath to Adelaide Yeoville my embossed gold watch and the embossed hook and chain. I also give and bequeath my small repeating watch to George Yeoville and a gold chain to it. I give and bequeath to Mary Ann Yeoville my plain gold watch and gold chain, and I give all my clothes laces and furs, etc., to be divided among Elizabeth St Clair and Adelaide Yeoville and Mary Ann Yeoville to  be divided in as equal shares as circumstances admit, each sister taking in turn to choose first of one article at a time until all are divided among them, and be it noticed and remembered that, although I am particular in mentioning my various property, it is very probable and most likely that I shall give much or most part of them away before my death, although many articles may still remain in my possession at my request by courtesy until I die, and want them no more. If Adelaide prefer the plain watch and a gold chain instead of the embossed watch and hook, she is to have it and then Mary Ann must have the embossed gold watch and gold hook.  The five brothers and sisters named herein I have adopted, they are my only dependants. I also give and bequeath to my sister Anne Thompson the family picture painted in oil of our parents  and five of their children – Anne is the youngest of us in that picture; and I also give her the portraits of our Grandfather and Grandmother, these two pictures are hers for her life only, and at Anne Thompson’s death I bequeath them to Anne’s eldest daughter and to that daughter’s descendants. I also give and bequeath to the Rev. Charles Covey the oil portrait of my ever dear husband as an heirloom to continue in his family; I also give to Charles Covey the likeness of his Grandfather Thomason, I also give to Charles Covey another oil portrait intended for my husband, but it is so bad that, at the particular order of my husband and myself, Charles Covey must have it burnt and destroyed as soon as possible after the decease of my husband and of myself. I also give and bequeath to the Trustees of Queen’s College at Birmingham my shield of faith which was designed and caused to be manufactured by my ever dear husband; it is in a mahogany case wi5 a plate glass before it, and I bequeath it on condition that it shall be placed in the Chapel of Queen’s College over the communion table, and to remain as a fixture at the altar of Queen’s College Chapel. The shield is now in the care of Messrs Whitgraves and Collis in Church a Street, and those gentlemen must give it up and relinquish it to the Trustees of Queen’s College. This is the first codicil to my last will and testament, and to which I will set my handwriting – Phillis Bown Thomason – signed by the within named testatrix and by her published and declared to belong to her will and testament in the presence of us who at her request and in her presence and in the presence of each other all being present at the same time have hereunto subscribed our names – William Grubb, Edwin Gale

In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in the part of Dame Phillis Bown Thomason, widow, deceased

Appeared Personally: William Grubb of the Parish of Malvern in the County of Worcester and made oath that he is one of the subscribed witnesses to the papers writing thereunto annexed purporting to be and contain the last will and testament with a codicil thereto of Dame Phillis Bown Thomason, late of Warwick in the County of Warwick, widow, deceased, and referring to the said will and codicil, and observing the date of the said will, the same being as follows, to wit, ‘this month of January one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and the said codicil being without date, he the appearer further made oath that at the periods at which the said will and codicil were respectively executed, he the appearer was in the service of the said testatrix, but that the appearer cannot from any circumstance depose either from recollection or belief on what day in the said month of January one thousand eight hundred and fifty the said Will was executed by the said testatrix nor at what period the said codicil was executed by her save that the said codicil was executed by the said testatrix in the present year one thousand eight hundred and fifty one during the time she was resident at the residence in Warwick, and before she went in the month of April now last past to Malvern in the County of Worcester, where she died – William Grubb – on the first day of December one thousand eight hundred and fifty one, the said William Grubb was duly sworn to the truth hereof by virtue of the annexed Commission – before me: George Jenkins, Commissioner

In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in the part of Dame Phillis Bown Thomason, widow, deceased

Appeared personally: Henry Richard Yeoville of All Saints Birmingham in the County of Warwick, Architect, George Yeoville of the same place, Architect, and Edwin Gale of the Parish of Budbrook near Warwick, in the County of Warwick, Coachman to Lord (…) and (…) to the paper writing thereunto annexed, purporting to be and contain the last will and testament and codicil thereto of Dame Phillis Bown Thomason of Warwick in the County of Warwick deceased, the said will being dated the month of January one thousand eight hundred and fifty and the said codicil being without date partly and severally made oath, and first the said Edwin Gale for himself made oath that he is one of the subscribed witnesses to the said will and codicil, and that at the periods when the said will and codicil were respectively executed by the testatrix in the said month of January one thousand eight hundred and fifty but the particular day of such month this appearer cannot remember, and the said Edwin Gale further made oath that he is unable from any circumstances to depose at what particular time the said codicil was executed by the said testatrix, save that the same was executed by her some time in the latter end of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty residents in the early part of the present year one thousand eight hundred and fifty one prior to the time when she the said testatrix went from her residence at Warwick, to wit in the month of April last to Malvern, and this  appearer Edwin Gale further made oath that he was, the time of the execution of the said codicil to have been in the latter end of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty or the early part of one thousand eight hundred and fifty one from the fact that Henry Richard Yeoville and George Yeoville came on a visit to the said Phillis Bown Thomason at Warwick very shortly after she had executed the said codicil which was the last visit they made to the said Phillis Bown Thomason while she resided at Warwick, and the said Edwin Gale further made oath that there was not any other person present when the same testatrix executed the said will and codicil the appearer and William Grubb the other subscribed witness thereto, and the appearers, the said Henry Richard Yeoville and George Yeoville for themselves made oath that they are the executors named in the said will and codicil, and that they visited the said Phillis Bown Thomason at Warwick as deposed to by the said appearer Edwin Gale and that the date of such visit was on the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth day of January one thousand eight hundred and fifty one, and she then informed those deponents that she had been making a codicil to her will, allowing to the circumstances as changes it had very recently taken place and that after the  death of the said testatrix they found the said will and codicil in a (Bu..an) in the house of the testatrix at Malvern aforesaid, in which she kept her papers of moment and concern and that they have made and caused to be made diligent search and enquiry for any other will, codicil or testamentary instrument made and executed by the testatrix but have not discovered any such and they verily believe that the said testatrix did not leave behind any papers of a testamentary character other than the said will and codicil, and the said Henry Richard Yeoville and George Yeoville further made oath that they have made and caused to be made diligent enquiry for the purpose of ascertaining the exact date at which the said will and codicil were respectively executed, but they have not been able to obtain any information whatever and they are ignorant of any circumstance by which the date of the execution of the said will and codicil can be more particularly fixed than that the said Will was executed sometime in the month of January one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and the said codicil sometime in the latter end of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty or in the early part of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty one, prior to the month of April last past, and the said Henry Richard Yeoville and George Yeoville made oath that the whole body, series and contents of the said will and codicil are in the handwriting of the said testatrix with which they are well acquainted having several times seen her write – Edwin Gale, Henry Richard Yeoville, George Yeoville – on the tenth day of December one thousand eight hundred and fifty one the said Henry Richard Yeoville, George Yeoville and Edwin Gale were sworn to the truth hereof by virtue of the annexed Commission – before me Henry Gales, Commissioner

Proved 1st January 1852

1844 Henry Botfield Thomason

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This is the last will and testament of me, Henry Botfield THOMASON of Mathon Lodge in the County of Worcester. I give and devise to Jane THOMASON such property as she brought to me on my marriage to her, her heirs, administrators and assigns. I give to Ephraim Clarke and Joseph White, formerly in my employ but now in the parish of Harborne, Staffordshire (   ) pounds… leave Sarah Clarke sole executrix of my will. The residue and remainder of my estate, both personal and real, I give and bequeath to Sarah Clarke of Harborne Staffordshire of whatever nature or sort so ever that may belong or come to me hereafter for life and then to return to my next of kin as heir at Law. Signed by the said testator in the presence of us present at the same time who in his presence have subscribed our names as witnesses – Henry Botfield Thomason – April 10 1839 – John Davis, James Dean

Proved 15th March 1844 by Sir Edward THOMASON Knight and lawful father and next of kin of the said deceased

1837 Elizabeth Covey

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I, Elizabeth COVEY, widow, do make this my last will and testament. I give and bequeath to my daughter Elizabeth WILLIAMS, wife of James WILIAMS of Limehouse, Middlesex, the sum of three thousand pounds, which said three thousand shall be taken and received by her instead of an annuity of one hundred pounds charged on my estate by the will of my late husband which said annuity is to cease at my death. I also give and bequeath to my youngest son Charles COVEY the sum of three thousand five hundred pounds, which said sum of three thousand five hundred pounds shall be taken by him instead of an annuity of two hundred pounds charged on my estate by the forenames will, which annuity is to cease at my death. And after the payment of my just debts and funeral expenses then I give and bequeath all the residue and remainder of my estate of every description whatsoever and wheresoever to my eldest son, Edward COVEY to him and his heirs for ever, and I do hereby nominate and appoint my said two sons, Edward and Charles Covey and likewise my son in law James WILLIAMS executors of this my last will and testament.  In witness whereof I the said Elizabeth Covey have set and subscribed my hand and seal this twenty-ninth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty six (1836) – Elizabeth Covey – signed, sealed, published and declared by the said testatrix as and for her last will and testament in the presence of us as witnesses thereto – Ann (Hill), Ann THOMASON

Proved 13th May 1837 by Rev. Edward Covey, Rev. Charles Covey, the sons and Rev. James Williams, the executors

1834 William Covey

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I William COVEY of the Parish of Knockholt in the County of Kent, Surgeon, do hereby publish and declare this my last will and testament. I give and devise to my eldest son, Edward COVEY, Clerk, for his own use and benefit, all my share or interest in a certain estate situate at Smethwick in the Parish of Harborne in the County of Stafford with the rights and appurtenances thereto belonging. I also give and devise to my said elder son for his own use and benefit all the freehold messuage, lands and premises belonging to me in the Parish of Knockholt aforesaid with the rights and appurtenances thereto belonging. I likewise give and devise to my dear wife Elizabeth COVEY for her own use and benefit, subject only to payment of one thousand pounds at my decease and also of one hundred pounds yearly to my daughter Elizabeth WILLIAMS, wife of James Williams, Clerk, and furthermore subject to the payment of two hundred pounds yearly to my youngest son, Charles COVEY, Clerk, all the estates which are or shall be vested in me upon any trusts or by way of mortgage of which I have the power to dispose of them, my will with their rights and appurtenances. I also give and bequeath unto my said wife for her own use and benefit all my ready money, goods and personal effects, subject only to the payment of my just debts, funeral expenses and the charges of proving this my will in short with the overplus of my interest in the Smethwick Estate and my Estate at Knockholt both before devised. I give and bequeath to my said wife all my property of every kind, character and description, to which I am or may be entitled at my decease. And lastly, I do hereby appoint my said dear wife sole executrix of this my will.  In witness whereof, I the said William Covey have set my hand and seal this twenty-eighth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty – William Covey – signed, sealed, published and declared by the said William Covey as his last will and testament in the presence of us who at his request in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses: J Wilton, Thomas Franks, William Harrison

Proved 22nd February 1834 by Elizabeth Covey, the relict

1769 RichardBotfield

In the name of God, Amen. I Richard BOTFIELD of Dawley in the County of Salop, being weak in body but of perfect mind and memory, thanks be given unto God, therefore calling into mind the mortality of my body, and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make, publish and declare this my will and testament in manner and form following:

Viz., principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God that gave it, and my body I recommend to the earth to be buried in  decent Christian burial at the discretion of my executors, nothing doubting but at the general resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God. And, as touching such worldly estate wherewith it has pleased God to bless me in this life, I give, demise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form:

First of all [deleted: I give and bequeath unto Job BEARD the sum of ten pounds to be paid to him by my executors as soon as  I am buried] [inserted: paid Job Beard this sum in my lifetime so he is not to have any more by virtue of this will].

Also, I give and bequeath unto John BARRAT the sum of ten pounds to be paid to him by my executors as soon as I am buried.

Also, I give and bequeath unto Richard BARRAT the sum of ten pounds and my best suit of clothes to be given and paid unto him by my executors as soon as I am buried.

Also, I give and bequeath unto William BARRAT the sum of ten pounds to be paid to him by my executors as soon as I am buried.

Also, I give and bequeath unto Edward THOMASON the sum of five pounds and to his elder son the sum of five pounds, both sums to be paid to them by my executors as soon as I am buried.

Also, I give and bequeath unto Richard THOMASON the sum of ten pounds to be paid to him by my executors as soon as I am buried.

Also, I give and bequeath unto Abigail BOYCOTT two pounds in money and my clock and clock case, to be given and paid to her by my executors as soon as I am buried.

Also, I give and bequeath unto Elizabeth MAREDDY the sum of two pounds to be paid to her by my executors as soon as I am buried.

Also, I give and bequeath unto Dorothy RODEN the sum of one pound to be paid to her by my executors as soon as I am buried.

Also, I give and bequeath unto Thomas BARRAT the sum of ten pounds to be paid to him by my executors as soon as I am buried.

Also, I give and bequeath unto the poor of the parish of Dawley the sum of five pounds to be distributed amongst them at the discretion of my executors and Thomas BOTFIELD as soon as may be after my burial, and also, I give to the poor of the parish of Dawley the further sum of two pounds to be distributed in like manner, provided that when all funeral charges, debts and legacies are paid, that there remains in my executors’ hands the sum of forty pounds.

Also, I do order that my executors do give directions and that a grave stone be erected upon me as soon as may be after my burial in the same manner that my late wife is, and that my executors do pay for the same as well as all burial charges whatsoever.

And all that rest, residue and remainder of my worldly goods and effects whatsoever I give, devise and bequeath to Richard HEWLIT and Abigail his wife, and I hereby nominate and appoint them my sole executors of this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former will and wills by me heretofore made. In witness whereof I have hereunder set my hand and seal this 17^th day of October 1767 – Richard Botfield

Signed, sealed, published and declared by the within named Richard Botfield as and for his last will and testament, in the presence of us who have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses thereto, in the presence of the said testator and in the presence of each other – Anne Baker, Margaret Botfield, Thomas Botfield

Received July 19^th 1769 of Richard Hewlitt in full for our legacies left us pour Uncle Richard Botfield by virtue of this will and all demands as witness our hands:

The marks of:

Abigail Boycott

Elizabeth Mareddy

John Barrat

Richard Barrat

William Barrat’s widow

Thomas Roden

Thomas Barrat

at Watling Street, 26^th October 1769. Let a probate be granted to Richard Hewlett one of the executors named therein, a power being reserved for the other to act at pleasure, he being sworn before me – Thomas White Snr.

Others

Thomas Botfield (1801)

Margaret Botfield, widow (1803)

Beriah Botfield (1813)

Charlotte Botfield (1829)

Thomas Botfield (1843)

Lucy Botfield, widow (1856)

Extracts from Stemmata Botvilliana

No. 90. Family Recollections by Sir EDWARD THOMASON, Knight.

My father and mother always told their children that their grandfather, Edward Thomason, of Dawley, married a widow of the name of Beard, about the year 1722, and the maiden name of this widow was Botfield ; a sister to the grandfather of the present Mr. Botfield and Mr. William Botfield, and consequently great-aunt to them.

By this widow my grandfather had two children, viz., Richard, baptised at Dawley, June 20th, 1723, who died without issue, and Edward (our father), baptised at Dawley April 11th 1725.

My father always informed his children to recollect that they were of the Botfield blood, because his mother was a Miss Botfield.

My father informed his children, that his father and mother died whilst he was a boy; and after their death his uncle, Mr. Botfield, the present Mr. Botfield’s grandfather, took him into his house, and had him educated until he was fourteen years of age, when he put him out an apprentice to a Mr. Boden, a toy and buckle manufacturer, in Edgbaston Street, Birmingham. The late Mrs. Botfield always called us cousins, such as Cousin Sarah, Cousin Edward, &c.

The Pedigree confirmed by the Descendants of Edward Beard.

Edward Beard, born at Worsley, Salop, 1690. Married Miss Botfield of Dawley, 1714. Had one child, christened Job, born 7th October 1715.

Edward Beard, the father of Job, died suddenly at Bridgnorth 1720, leaving the before-mentioned widow Mrs. Beard with one child, christened Job, about five or six years old.

The widow Mrs. Beard married my grandfather, Edward Thomason, of Dawley, in 1722, and at this time it was supposed that the infant Job was taken to by the Beard family. By this marriage with the widow Mrs. Beard my grandfather had two children, Richard Thomason, born 1723, and who died without issue, and my father Edward Thomason, born April 11th, 1725; consequently Mrs. Beard, and afterwards Mrs. Thomason, had in all three children, all sons, viz., Job Beard, Richard Thomason, and Edward Thomason.

Job Beard kept the Half-Way House near Bridgnorth, a small inn, and he married a Miss Littleford, by whom he had one child, a daughter, who married a grazier, a Mr. Taylor of Worfield, by whom he has one son and two daughters living. The father and mother are dead, but the son Richard is married and resides at Stubbleford, near Badger, and the daughters reside as farmers at Nainc, near Cleobury.

1st Generation. Miss Botfield; her first husband Edward Beard, and her second husband Edward Thomason.

2nd Generation. Job Beard, Richard Thomason, and Edward Thomason.

3rd Generation. Richard Taylor, only child and descendant of Job Beard, dead.

Edward Thomason, Ann Thomason, and James Thomason, of Norway, the only ones alive of the 3rd Generation.

Richard Taylor, dead, Edward Thomason, Ann Thomason, James Thomason, now living.

Consequently, my grandmother must have been sister to the present Mr. Botfield’s grandfather, and my father and the late Mr. Botfield first cousins.

Ludlow, 6th April, 1841.

My dear Sir,

When we had the pleasure of seeing you last time at Ludlow, you mentioned to me, that your Agent had been searching the Church Register at Great Dawley, relative to the Pedigree of the Botfield family, and you observed to me, that you could not find that you had any relations living except your two uncles. I replied, that, as you had mooted the subject, it became proper in me to mention, that I had every reason to believe from my father and mother’s account, that our family, although very distantly connected, were the nearest of kin now living to the Botfield family, because I always understood that my grandfather Edward Thomason of Dawley married a Mrs. Beard, a widow, whose maiden name was Botfield ; and I promised you that I would make investigation, and you requested me to inform you what I might discover on the subject. I have had the following Registers examined to discover the marriage of Edward Beard with Miss Botfield, and also his burial; and also the marriage of the widow Beard with my grandfather Edward Thomason of Dawley, viz. :

Dawley, by the Reverend Mr. Wood,

Shiffnal ,, Mr. Brooke,

Madeley George Edmonds,

Bridgenorth Geo. Billett,

Wellington J. Roden,

Broseley ,, ,, Wm. Harris,

Stirchley ,, ,, H. Phillips,

Roughton, through Mr. Stokes;

but, strange to say, without discovering what I was in search of. The Reverend Mr. Wood, of Dawley, says, that the entries in the registry of his church are so much obliterated, 120 years ago, that he cannot decipher, in many instances, the writing of the entries. This is somewhat extraordinary; for my grandfather could never have been so fortunate as Enoch, Moses, or Elias. Both the marriage and burial must be entered, according to law and custom, in a church register somewhere, and I make no doubt in the Dawley Register. As I did not succeed in obtaining the required particulars from this data, I wrote to my sister and my two nephews, the Reverend Edward Covey of Omley, and the Reverend Charles Covey, Rector of Alderton, all of whose answers correspond with my memory, and confirmatory of what I told you, and of the statement in the enclosed writing. Also, I recollected that upwards of fifty years since, when I was at Mr. Botfield’s at Dawley, with my father, that we all rode over one morning to see a Mr. Job Beard, whose residence was at a small Inn, not far from Bridgnorth, and I was told that he was a relation; and it also occurred to me, that my uncle Richard Thomason resided until his death at Roughton, near Devonport house, and that his landlord, Mr. Stokes, was his close neighbour and friend, and that possibly through him or his descendants I might obtain a knowledge with regard to the Beard family. I therefore wrote Mr. Stokes of Roughton, who replied, that it was his father who was the intimate friend of my uncle ; but he should be happy to render me any assistance, and that in the inquiries he had already made, that Edward Beard married Miss Botfield of Dawley, by whom he had one child, christened Job, and that Job Beard married a Miss Littleford, at or near Dawley, by whom he had only one child, a daughter, who married Richard Taylor, a respectable farmer, residing on his own estate at Worfield ; and that both him and his wife have long since been dead, having, however, two sons and two daughters. The sons were Richard and Robert. Richard, who inherited his father’s estate, is dead, but Robert and his two sisters are still living. Robert, a married man, with his wife and family, resided, until this Spring, on a farm of about 400 annual rent, belonging to Mr. Whitmore, of Apley, and removed at Lady Day to the neighbourhood of Shifnal ; and as Mrs. Robert Taylor was coming over to Ludlow, to pay a visit to her first cousin, Mrs Turner, who formerly lived at Ditton, she called on me last Saturday, in consequence of the inquiries made to her husband by Mr. Stokes, respecting the family connections of the Beards, Botfields, and Thomasons, from whose statement I am enabled to write down the pedigree written down in the enclosed paper, all of which I verily believe to be correct.

Yours, very faithfully,

Beriah Botfield, Esquire, M.P.

The Will of THOMAS BOTFIELD, of Hopton Court

The Will of THOMAS BOTFIELD, of Hopton Court, in the county of Salop, esquire, is dated 30th April, 1836, and, with seven codicils thereto, bearing various dates from 15th November, 1838, to 10th January, 1843, was duly proved by his executor, William Botfield, esquire. The result of the devises and bequests of these several instruments may be thus stated :

All his just debts and funeral expenses, &c. to be paid. To his wife, Lucy Botfield, he bequeaths the sum of 500/. to be paid to her within one week after his decease. He also bequeaths to her the furniture and all other effects (except two pictures hereafter mentioned) at Hopton Court, for her life, the same to be held afterwards with the mansion by the party entitled to the possession of the same.

To his brother William Botfield, and to his nephew Beriah Botfield, he bequeaths 200/. each; and to his brother William Botfield, he also gives any gig he might have at his death, and the horse he usually rode when hunting, also two pictures that he may select among those at Hopton Court. To Lucy, the wife of his brother William Botfield, 5001. for her separate use. To William Woodward an annuity of 200/. and the same to Augustin Woodward, Alexander Woodward, Sarah Woodward, and Lucy Golightly. To Augustin Woodward, Thomas Woodward the younger, Alexander Woodward and Sarah Woodward, and to Mrs. Ann Baker, of Field House, near Bridgnorth, and to Henry Botfield Thomason (son of Sir Edward Thomason), 10001. each. To Sir Edward and Lady Thomason 1001. to buy rings.

To Ann, the wife of the Kev. Thomas Woodward, and to Elizabeth, the wife of Augustin Woodward, 100/. each. To John Owen and Hannah Hill (late Hannah Owen) an annuity of 50/. a-year each; and to the two last-named the sum of 200/. each. To Mrs. Ann Baker an annuity of 100/. during her life for her separate use, the said annuity to be continued after her death until her youngest child shall have attained the age of 21, and then he gives the sum of 1000/. to be equally divided among such children. To the Rev. George Lavington Yate 1000/. to be divided by him between himself and such of his brothers and sisters as should be living at the testator’s decease. To his godson Arthur Childe WOOL if he should attain the age of 21, and the interest thereof to be paid to him during his minority. To his godson Charles Walcot an annuity of 501. until he shall attain the age of 21. And to every one of his god-children to whom he had not bequeathed a larger legacy, the sum of 200/. To his wife’s niece Lucy Skelhorne, a clear annuity of 225/. per annum.

To each of the children of the Rev. Thomas Woodward by his present wife 2501. stock in the 3 per cent. Consols. The sum of 300/. to be invested in the funds for Frederick Edward Lucien Botfield Collett, and to accumulate until he should attain the age of 2 1 , and then the whole to be paid over to him ; but if he should die a minor, then the interest to Augusta Thomason, second daughter of James Thomason, for her life, and after her decease to the said James Thomason, if he should survive her, and afterwards to Sir Edward Thomason, if alive, absolutely, but if not, then to his son, the said Henry Botfield Thomason, absolutely. To Thomas Woodward the younger, and the said Henry Botfield Thomason, an annuity of 100/. each during the life of testator’s wife, if they shall respectively so long live. To his servant John Lucas an annuity of 101. and the sum of 2001.; to his servant Thomas Green 50Z. ; and the sum of 200/. to be divided, as his wife should think fit, among his other servants who should be living with him at his decease. The sum of 800/. to be invested, and the income thereof paid to the incumbent of the chapelry of Farlow so long as Divine Service shall be performed twice every Sunday in Farlow Chapel. The sum of 150/. to the trustees of Ludlow Charities, the income thereof to be applied in the same way as the rent of their estates;

also to the same trustees 201. a-year for the five years next ensuing his death, to be expended at each Christmas in supplying the poor of Ludlow with coals at half-price. Gives to the following Societies (in case he should not become a life member of them respectively) such a sum as would have been payable by way of donation if he had been made a life member of them respectively, viz. the Royal Society, the Royal Institution, the Geological Society, the Society of Arts, and the Horticultural Society, of each of which he was then a member, but not a life member. Bequeaths the sum of 1000/. for the education of poor boys and girls in the parishes of Hopton Wafers, Farlow, and Coreley, the interest thereof to be applied in certain specified proportions. Directs that if the said Thomas Woodward the younger, or his sons, or remoter issue, should come into possession of testator’s freehold estates, then that Augustin Woodward should be paid 5001. a-year for life, and Alexander Woodward and Sarah Woodward 2501. a-year each for life, instead of the respective annuities of 2001. left them by his will. Also, in the event last aforesaid, that the sum of 1000/. each should be paid to Augustin Woodward, Alexander Woodward, and Sarah Woodward.  And further directs that the legacy duty shall be paid by his executors upon all the bequests and annuities above given (except contingent annuities) out of his residuary estate. Subject to the payments and directions aforesaid, he bequeaths the whole of his personal estate to be realised by his executors and trustee, and the surplus to be invested in the purchase of estates within twelve miles of Hopton Court, if possible: if not, to be invested in the purchase of estates elsewhere in the county of Salop. The whole of his present estates in the counties of Salop, Hereford, Worcester, or Brecon, with the estates so to be purchased, and the whole of his personal estate until the surplus thereof shall be invested as aforesaid, and subject to the payments and directions aforesaid, to be held in trust by his brother William Botfield, who, as such trustee, is directed to pay the whole income thereof to the testator’s widow, Lucy Botficld, for life. And subject to this devise, and with a power for the said trustee to appoint his successor, and in failure of such appointment the trust to devolve to testator’s widow, and to his nephew Beriah Botfield, the whole of the testator’s estates so devised are, after the death of his wife, to be held in trust for his brother William Botfield during his life, remainder in trust for the first and other sons of the said William Botfield, severally and successively, according to                                                                        seniority in tail; remainder in trust for his nephew Beriah Botfield, for life; remainder in trust for the second and every other son of the said Beriah Botfield (except an eldest son) severally and successively according to seniority in tail; remainder in trust for the first or eldest or only son of the said Beriah Botfield, in tail ; remainder in trust for all the daughters of his said brother, in equal shares, as tenants in common in tail, with cross remainders between or among them in tail; remainder in trust for all the daughters of the said Beriah Botfield, in like manner ; remainder in trust for the Kev. Thomas Woodward the younger, of Hopton Wafers aforesaid, for his life ; remainder in trust for the first and every other son of the said Thomas Woodward the younger, severally and successively, according to seniority in tail ; remainder in trust for Henry Botfield Thomason for life ; remainder in trust for the first and every other son of the said Henry Botfield Thomason severally and successively, according to seniority in tail ; remainder in trust for the first and every other son of Thomas Woodward the elder, severally and successively, according to seniority in tail ; remainder in trust for Lucy Golightly, Sarah Woodward, and all other the daughters of Thomas Woodward the elder, and all the daughters of Thomas Woodward the younger, and of Henry Botfield Thomason, and of James Baker deceased, as tenants in common in tail, with cross remainders between or among them in tail; remainder in trust for testator’s own right heirs. With a proviso that leasehold hereditaments should not vest absolutely in any tenant in tail till he should attain 21, but that such tenant in tail should be entitled to the rents during his minority. And a proviso that if the second or any other younger son, or the issue of such second or other younger son of his nephew Beriah Botfield, should come into possession of the manor and mansion-house of Norton, in the county of Northampton, and any other younger son of his said nephew should be then living, then the interest of such son in the said devised hereditaments should cease, but on failure of issue of such younger children it should revert to such son. And a proviso, that if the said Thomas Woodward the younger or his sons or more remote issue should come into possession of the said devised premises, then the testator’s trustees should pay to the said Henry Botfield Thomason a yearly sum of 600/. during his life. The testator’s brother William Botfield is appointed sole executor of this will during his life ; and after his death the testator appoints his wife and his nephew Beriah Botfield the executrix and executor thereof.

No. 132. Notes upon Family Recollections by SIR EDWARD THOMASON.

It has been asserted that Beriah Botfield had another sister Alice Botfield, who was twice married, first to Edward Beard, who was born at Worsley, co. Salop, in 1690, and resided at Quatford, by whom she had a son Job, born 7th October 1715.  This Edward dying suddenly at Bridgnorth in 1720, was buried at Cleobury Mortimer. His widow, it is contended, subsequently married Edward Thomason, of Dawley Green, in 1722, by whom she had two children: Richard, baptised at Dawley, January 20, 1723, who resided at Roughton, near Bridgnorth, who died without issue, and Edward, baptised at Dawley, April 11th 1725.

Job Beard married Mary Littleford, by whom he had issue two daughters: Sarah, who died April 1768, and Mary, who married William Taylor of Tasley and Stapleford, by whom she had several children. Mary Beard died January 5th, 1800. Job Beard died September 18, 1785, and was buried at Quatford, aged 80. Edward Thomason married Katern Evans, by whom he had four children : John Thomason, born March 4, 1749; Sir Edward Thomason, Knight; Anne Thomason, of Bingham; and James Thomason, of Norway; and being left an orphan, was brought up in the house of Beriah Botfield, at Dawley, till he was fourteen years of age, when he was sent an apprentice to Birmingham, in which town he died in 1795. Thomas Botfield, the son of Beriah, appears as a witness to a bond dated 16 May, 1759, from Alice Thomason, widow of Edward Thomason, of Dawley Green, deceased, to her son Job Beard, of Quatford, for payment of rent, and keeping a house and premises at Dawley Green in repair, which Mr. Beard had let to her from year to year at a nominal rent of II. This document is endorsed 23 October, 1763. She produced a promise under Beard’s handwriting dated 1st May, to be permitted to be and live in the within cottage for life. But all that it proves is, that Alice Beard survived her second husband Thomason, and that Thomas Botfield was present at the execution of the deed.

Sir Edward Thomason states that he has searched in vain for any record of the marriage of Alice Botfield with Edward Beard, or with Edward Thomason, in the parish registers of Dawley, ShifFnall, Madeley, Bridgnorth, Wellington, Broseley, Stirchley, and Roughton. He nevertheless believes that his parents would not have assumed a relationship unless they had themselves believed it.

Mr, Robert Taylor of Evelith, near Shiffnall, put his belief in the form of an affidavit, as follows: The best commentary upon the above statement will be found in a letter from Mr. William Hardwickc named therein, who says that he has searched the registers of Great Dawley, Wellington, Stirchley, Worfield, Kemberton, Madeley, Little Wenlock, Little Hereford, Ludford, Bridgnorth, Ludlow, &c. and ” if put upon my oath,” he says, ” I could safely swear that I never saw the certificate of the marriage of Edward Beard and Miss Botfield, or William Beard and Miss Botfield, as I have great reason to think that Job Beard’s father’s name was William.” Whatever secondary evidence may exist as to this marriage, there is none whatever of the identity of the widow Beard with Miss Botfield, or of either with the sister of Beriah Botfield.

” I, Robert Taylor, of Evelith, in the parish of Shiflnal, in the county of Salop, gentleman, do hereby certify that my grandfather’s name was Job Beard, that he resided at the Halfway House, in the township of Eardington, in the parish of Quatford, in the county of Salop, and made his will, dated 21 July, 1773, and died there 18 Sept. 1785, aged 70, and was buried at Quatford. That he married Mary Littleford, who died there 5 January, 1800, aged 80, and was buried at Quatford. That he had an only child, Mary Beard, my mother, who was born 22nd March, 1748, and married my father, William Taylor, of Tasley, gentleman, and died at Tasley in 1815, aged 67, and was buried there. That he (Job Beard, my grandfather), was born 7 October, 1715, and was the only child of Edward Beard and Alice Botfield. That Alice Beard, widow, (late Alice Botfield, spinster) married for her second husband Mr. Edward Thomason, of Dawley Green. That she was the widow of Edward Thomason, of Dawley Green, in 1759, and had by Edward Thomason two sons, Richard Thomason, of Roughton, in the parish of Worfield, in the county of Salop, and Edward Thomason, of Birmingham, (the father of Sir Edward Thomason, of Bath, Knight,) my two great-uncles. That my father and mother, William and Mary Taylor, late Mary Beard, spinster, had several children, namely, Richard Taylor, my elder brother, who died at his estate at Stapleford, in the parish of Worfield, having married Elizabeth James, of Willersley, co. Hereford, who is dead, leaving three children now living, Richard James Taylor, Elizabeth, and Susan. That my father purchased an estate at Stapleford, in the parish of Worfield, and an estate at Danford, in the parish of Saint Mary Magdalene, near the town of Bridgenorth, and died in 1788, aged 49, without making a will. That I married my wife Ann Powel, at Culmington, co. Salop, and have two sons and five daughters living, namely, Robert Taylor, a draper in Birmingham, aged 29; William Taylor, now residing with Mr Evelith, in Shiffnal parish, in the county of Salop, aged 13, my youngest child; Mary Ann, Petronella, Fanny Longmore, Mary, and Eliza. That my eldest sister, Sarah Taylor, married John Bell Hardwicke, of Burcote, in the parish of Worfield, in the county of Salop, gentleman, who is dead, leaving six children: John Bell Hardwicke, of Burcote, gentleman, his eldest son; William Hardwicke, of Tasley; Kichard Hardwicke, of Burcote ; Thomas Bell Hardwicke, of Burcote, now under articles of clerkskip for the law ; Mary ; and Sarah. That my sister Sarah is still living with her eldest son on his paternal estate at Burcote. That my youngest sister, Petronella Taylor, married Mr. William Morris, of Neen Sellers, near Cleobury Mortimer, county of Salop, who is dead, leaving 3 children now living, William Morris, Eichard Morris, and Mary; all living with their mother Petronella Morris at Neen Sellers, in the county of Salop.

” ROBT. TAYLOE, 10th AUGUST 1847.”

No. 145. Extracts from Letters of William John Hardwick, Esq. of Bridgnorth.

Evelith near Shiflhal, 14th July, 1847.

DEAR SIR,

The short detail of your family which appears in a published account of the Sheriffs of Shropshire, owing to your two uncles having rilled that high and responsible office, was written by my father, with my assistance, and presented to our mutual friend the Reverend W. G. Rowland, of Shrewsbury, who completed Blakeway’s History of the Sheriffs of Shropshire to a certain period, and published it several years ago. Mr. Robert Taylor, of Evelith, is the great-grandson of Miss Alice Botfield, who married, first, Mr. Edward Beard, and, secondly, Mr. Edward Thomason of Dawley Green, the grandfather of Sir Edward Thomason, Knt.

Sir Edward Thomason, in a letter addressed to Mrs. Robert Taylor of Evelith near Shiffnal, writes thus: ” Ludlow, July 30, 1842. From the memoranda or words which my only sister living, viz., Ann Thomason, aged 71, gives me information of, it appears that my grandfather Edward Thomason married the widow Beard in 1720 or 1721, and that this widow Beard was a Miss Botfield. My sister says, that Job Beard of the Halfway-House was my father’s brother-in-law ; hence the cause of my uncle Richard leaving in his will 1001. legacy to the Taylor family. All proofs are at present obtained, except the marriage of Edward Beard with Miss Botfield. I yesterday sent the accustomed fee of 6a. to the officiating clergyman at Quatford, (finding in the list I had omitted that place,) in consequence of Mr. Stokes sending me word that he found on a gravestone in Quatford churchyard : ‘ Job Beard died September 18th, 1785, aged 70, and Mary the wife of Job Beard died Jan. 5th, 1800, aged 80.’ ” To better explain this relationship of Botfield, Taylor, and Thomason, I will state it thus: Miss Alice Botfield was twice married, first, to Mr. Edward Beard, who was buried at Cleobury Mortimer in 1718, and, secondly, to Mr. Edward Thomason of Dawley Green. She had a brother, Beriah Botfield, your great-grandfather, who left a son, Thomas Botfield, your grandfather, who is a witness to a bond dated 16 May, 1759, from Mrs. Alice Thomason of Dawley Green, widow of Mr. Edward Thomason of Dawley Green, deceased, to her son Mr. Job Beard of Quatford, co. Salop, for payment of rent and keeping a house and premises at Dawley Green in repair, which Mr. Beard has let to her from year to year at a nominal rent of U. Mr. Botfield signs his name ” Thos. Botfield.” On the back of the bond is an endorsement, thus: “23 Oct. 1763, she produced a promise under Beard’s handwriting, dated 1st May, to be permitted to be and live in the within cottage for life.”

Thomas Botfield, your grandfather, married a Miss Baker of Bromley, in the parish of Worfield, co Salop, a relation of the late Sir Edward Baker Littlehales, Bart, who was created a baronet, and took the name and arms of Baker on the death of his Cousin, Peter William Baker, Esquire, who was possessed of an old paternal estate at Bromley, which is inherited by his son Sir Edward Baker Baker, Bart. 1847. The genealogy of the Bakers of Bromley was drawn out by my late father for Peter William Baker, Esquire, of London, and enrolled in the Heralds’ College, and I think in that genealogy your grandfather’s marriage with Miss Baker of Bromley is recorded. I need not touch further on this line, as you must be well acquainted with it. Miss Alice Botfield, the sister of Beriah Botfield, who was your great-grandfather, by her second husband, Edward Thomason of Dawley Green, had issue two sons, Edward Thomason of Birmingham, christened in Oct. 1723, the father of Sir Edward Thomason, Knt., and Richard Thomason of Roughton in the parish of Worfield, co. Salop, who left a legacy by his will of 1001. to Mrs. Mary Taylor, daughter of Mr. Job Beard, and wife of Mr. William Taylor. Alice Botfield, by her first husband, Edward Beard, who was buried at Cleobury Mortimer in 1718, had issue Job Beard of the Halfway-House in the parish of Quatford, co. Salop, where he died in 1785, and was buried at Quatford. He married Mary Littleford, who died there and was buried at Quatford, by whom he had an only child, Mary Beard, the wife and widow of William Taylor of Tasley and Stableford, gentleman, deceased, by whom she had several children: Richard Taylor of Stableford, gentleman, her eldest son, resided on his paternal estate at Stableford, where he died, having married a Miss James of Willersley, co. Hereford, who is dead, leaving three children, one son and two daughters, now living. Robert Taylor, the only brother of Richard, resides at Evelith in the parish of Shiffnal, and is married, and has seven children living, two sons and five daughters. Sarah Taylor, the sister of Richard, married John Bell Hardwicke of Burcote in the parish of Worfield, co. Salop, gentleman, who is dead, leaving six children living, four sons and two daughters. She resides with her eldest son, John Bell Hardwicke, gentleman, on his paternal estate at Burcote.

Petronella Taylor, the sister of Richard, married Mr. William Morris of Neen Sollars near Cleobury Mortimer, who is dead, leaving three children, two sons and one aughter. She is still living there with her three children. Now, I believe, I have enumerated the only offsprings of Mr. Edward Beard and Miss Alice Botfield the sister of Mr. Beriah Botfield.

Evelith, near Shiflhal, 12th August, 1847.

DEAR SIR,

Since the receipt of your last letter, 23rd July, I have been favoured with some information from Sir Edward Thomason, addressed to Mr. Robert Taylor, Jun. in Birmingham, and to his mother Mrs. Taylor, at Evelith, where I am still residing, and also to myself, respecting the connection between the families of Botfield, Beard, Thomason, and Taylor. That a Miss Alice Botfield of Dawley Green, born about 1690, was twice married, there can be no doubt about, first to a Mr. Edward Beard, who was buried at Cleobury Mortimer 26 April, 1718, and secondly in 1720 or 21 to Mr. Edward Thomason of Dawley Green in the parish of Dawley, both in the county of Salop, who died prior to 1759, she being then described as his widow. By Edward Beard she had an only child, Job Beard, born 7th Oct. 1715, and died 18 Sept. 1785, aged 70, having married a Miss Mary Littleford, who died 5th Jan. 1800, aged 80, leaving an only child, Mary Beard, born 22nd March, 1748, the wife of William Taylor of Tasley and Stableford, gentleman, who were the parents of the late Richard Taylor of Stableford, gentleman; the present Mr. Robert Taylor of Evelith, 1847; Mrs. Sarah Hardwicke of Burcote, 1847, the widow of John Bell Hardwicke, late of Burcote in the parish of Worfield, co. Salop, gentleman; and Mrs. Petronella Morris of Neen Sollars, co. Salop, the widow in 1847 of the late Mr. William Morris of Neen Sollars.

By Mr. Edward Thomason, who died prior to 1759, she was mother of Richard Thomason, formerly of Birmingham, who was christened at Dawley in Oct. 1723, but late of Roughton in the parish of Worfield, gentleman, deceased; and Edward Thomason, late of Birmingham, gentleman, who was christened at Dawley in April 1725, and who died in Birmingham in 1795, who was the father of Sir Edward Thomason of Bath, Knight, 1847. This I verily believe to be quite correct. Sir Edward does not state as sufficiently clear how this Miss Alice Botfield was related to your grandfather Mr. Thomas Botfield, who is a witness to a family document between her and her son Mr. Job Beard, although from a variety of circumstances I am well satisfied she was a near relation, and which circumstances are well known to Sir Edward Thomason, now about 80 years of age, and to Mrs. Hardwicke of Burcote, who is 70 years of age. I am inclined to think the relationship must arise in one of these two ways, either as aunt or great-aunt to your grandfather, Mr. Thomas Botfield, or as his first cousin. When Mr. Thomas Botfield, your grandfather, witnesses the document which bears date 1759, (Mr. Thomason, Alice Thomason’s husband, being then dead,) he evidently must be about 30 years of age.

My late father several years ago, on hearing his sister-in-law (Mrs. Hardwicke of Burcote, who was a Miss Taylor of Stableford) frequently speak of her being related to Sir Edward Thomason and the two Mr. Botfields, questioned her very closely on the subject of that relationship, which induced him to draw out a pedigree of the family from oral testimony and make further inquiries respecting the connection.

He obtained from the Heralds’ College a copy of the pedigree of Botvylle of Botvylle, in Church Stretton parish, co. Salop, as entered there in 1666 or 1623, and was at much further expense in searching registers of almost all the parishes in Shropshire and other documents to show descendants from the Botevylles of Botevylle, entered in that visitation. Mr. Robert Taylor’s (the executor of his mother) papers were searched, and there was found the connection between the Beards, Thomasons, and Miss Alice Botfield which Mrs. Hardwicke of Burcote had spoken of, and to that family document your grandfather ” Thos. Botfield,” for so he writes his name, is a witness. He is supposed to have been either her first cousin or her nephew. It is a bond dated 1759 from Alice Thomason of Dawley Green, widow of Edward Thomason, then deceased, to her son Mr. Job Beard of Quatford, for payment of a nominal rent of II. per year during her occupation of a house and premises at Dawley Green, under her son Mr. Job Beard.

Sir Edward informed Mrs. Taylor when they had an interview at Ludlow, that your grandfather Mr. Thomas Botfield had the care of his (Sir Edward’s) uncle, who was a retired gentleman, and died at Roughton near Bridgnorth, and of his father Mr. Edward Thomason of Birmingham, the two sons of Mr. Edward Thomason and Miss Alice Botfield the widow of Mr. Edward Beard, when they were young, and the settling them in life in the town of Birmingham. This shews something like a relationship, and that they were both born at Dawley, and christened there; Richard Thomason, who afterwards resided at Roughton in Oct. 1723, and Edward Thomason, who afterwards resided at Birmingham in April, 1725. Mr. Robert Taylor says, that he (Robert Taylor) and his elder brother Richard were placed day-boarders at Worfield School, and that they lodged with their relation Mr. Richard Thomason, the uncle of Sir Edward, at Roughton in that parish, and that he well recollects hearing his mother say that she once dined at Mr. Richard Thomason’s at Roughton, when Mr. Beriah Botfield was there in his boyhood on a visit, and that Mrs. Thomason had occasion to give Mr. Beriah some gentle correction during dinner. Beriah, which is a very uncommon name, made a great impression on his mind. The late Mr. Richard Taylor of Stableford has left three children living; Mr. Robert Taylor has seven children living ; Mrs. Hardwicke of Burcote has six children living ; and Mrs. Morris has three children living.

I remain, Dear Sir,

Very faithfully yours,

WILLIAM JOHN HARDWICK.

---

[1] Stemmata Botevilliana. : Memorials of the families of De Boteville, Thynne and Botfield in the counties of Salop and Wilts. With an appendix of illustrative documents. BERIAH BOTFIELD, Westminster (1858)

Excerpts from Stemmata Botvilliana – APPENDIX.

No. 90. Family Recollections by Sir EDWARD THOMASON, Knight.

My father and mother always told their children that their grandfather, Edward Thomason, of Dawley, married a widow of the name of Beard, about the year 1722, and the maiden name of this widow was Botfield ; a sister to the grandfather of the present Mr. Botfield and Mr. William Botfield, and consequently great-aunt to them.

By this widow my grandfather had two children, viz., Richard, baptised at Dawley, June 20th, 1723, who died without issue, and Edward (our father), baptised at Dawley April 11^th 1725.

My father always informed his children to recollect that they were of the Botfield blood, because his mother was a Miss Botfield.

My father informed his children, that his father and mother died whilst he was a boy; and after their death his uncle, Mr. Botfield, the present Mr. Botfield’s grandfather, took him into his house, and had him educated until he was fourteen years of age, when he put him out an apprentice to a Mr. Boden, a toy and buckle manufacturer, in Edgbaston Street, Birmingham. The late Mrs. Botfield always called us cousins, such as Cousin Sarah, Cousin Edward, &c.

The Pedigree confirmed by the Descendants of Edward Beard.

Edward Beard, born at Worsley, Salop, 1690. Married Miss Botfield of Dawley, 1714. Had one child, christened Job, born 7^th October 1715.

Edward Beard, the father of Job, died suddenly at Bridgnorth 1720, leaving the before-mentioned widow Mrs. Beard with one child, christened Job, about five or six years old.

The widow Mrs. Beard married my grandfather, Edward Thomason, of Dawley, in 1722, and at this time it was supposed that the infant Job was taken to by the Beard family. By this marriage with the widow Mrs. Beard my grandfather had two children, Richard Thomason, born 1723, and who died without issue, and my father Edward Thomason, born April 11^th, 1725; consequently Mrs. Beard, and afterwards Mrs. Thomason, had in all three children, all sons, viz., Job Beard, Richard Thomason, and Edward Thomason.

Job Beard kept the Half-Way House near Bridgnorth, a small inn, and he married a Miss Littleford, by whom he had one child, a daughter, who married a grazier, a Mr. Taylor of Worfield, by whom he has one son and two daughters living. The father and mother are dead, but the son Richard is married and resides at Stubbleford, near Badger, and the daughters reside as farmers at Nainc, near Cleobury.

1st Generation. Miss Botfield; her first husband Edward Beard, and her second husband Edward Thomason.

2nd Generation. Job Beard, Richard Thomason, and Edward Thomason.

3rd Generation. Richard Taylor, only child and descendant of Job Beard, dead.

Edward Thomason, Ann Thomason, and James Thomason, of Norway, the only ones alive of the 3rd Generation.

Richard Taylor, dead, Edward Thomason, Ann Thomason, James Thomason, now living.

Consequently, my grandmother must have been sister to the present Mr. Botfield’s grandfather, and my father and the late Mr. Botfield first cousins.

Ludlow, 6th April, 1841.

My dear Sir,

When we had the pleasure of seeing you last time at Ludlow, you mentioned to me, that your Agent had been searching the Church Register at Great Dawley, relative to the Pedigree of the Botfield family, and you observed to me, that you could not find that you had any relations living except your two uncles. I replied, that, as you had mooted the subject, it became proper in me to mention, that I had every reason to believe from my father and mother’s account, that our family, although very distantly connected, were the nearest of kin now living to the Botfield family, because I always understood that my grandfather Edward Thomason of Dawley married a Mrs. Beard, a widow, whose maiden name was Botfield ; and I promised you that I would make investigation, and you requested me to inform you what I might discover on the subject. I have had the following Registers examined to discover the marriage of Edward Beard with Miss Botfield, and also his burial; and also the marriage of the widow Beard with my grandfather Edward Thomason of Dawley, viz. :

• Dawley, by the Reverend Mr. Wood,
• Shiffnal ,, Mr. Brooke,
• Madeley George Edmonds,
• Bridgenorth Geo. Billett,
• Wellington J. Roden,
• Broseley ,, ,, Wm. Harris,
• Stirchley ,, ,, H. Phillips,
• Roughton, through Mr. Stokes;

but, strange to say, without discovering what I was in search of. The Reverend Mr. Wood, of Dawley, says, that the entries in the registry of his church are so much obliterated, 120 years ago, that he cannot decipher, in many instances, the writing of the entries. This is somewhat extraordinary; for my grandfather could never have been so fortunate as Enoch, Moses, or Elias. Both the marriage and burial must be entered, according to law and custom, in a church register somewhere, and I make no doubt in the Dawley Register. As I did not succeed in obtaining the required particulars from this data, I wrote to my sister and my two nephews, the Reverend Edward Covey of Omley, and the Reverend Charles Covey, Rector of Alderton, all of whose answers correspond with my memory, and confirmatory of what I told you, and of the statement in the enclosed writing. Also, I recollected that upwards of fifty years since, when I was at Mr. Botfield’s at Dawley, with my father, that we all rode over one morning to see a Mr. Job Beard, whose residence was at a small Inn, not far from Bridgnorth, and I was told that he was a relation; and it also occurred to me, that my uncle Richard Thomason resided until his death at Roughton, near Devonport house, and that his landlord, Mr. Stokes, was his close neighbour and friend, and that possibly through him or his descendants I might obtain a knowledge with regard to the Beard family. I therefore wrote Mr. Stokes of Roughton, who replied, that it was his father who was the intimate friend of my uncle ; but he should be happy to render me any assistance, and that in the inquiries he had already made, that Edward Beard married Miss Botfield of Dawley, by whom he had one child, christened Job, and that Job Beard married a Miss Littleford, at or near Dawley, by whom he had only one child, a daughter, who married Richard Taylor, a respectable farmer, residing on his own estate at Worfield ; and that both him and his wife have long since been dead, having, however, two sons and two daughters. The sons were Richard and Robert. Richard, who inherited his father’s estate, is dead, but Robert and his two sisters are still living. Robert, a married man, with his wife and family, resided, until this Spring, on a farm of about 400 annual rent, belonging to Mr. Whitmore, of Apley, and removed at Lady Day to the neighbourhood of Shifnal ; and as Mrs. Robert Taylor was coming over to Ludlow, to pay a visit to her first cousin, Mrs Turner, who formerly lived at Ditton, she called on me last Saturday, in consequence of the inquiries made to her husband by Mr. Stokes, respecting the family connections of the Beards, Botfields, and Thomasons, from whose statement I am enabled to write down the pedigree written down in the enclosed paper, all of which I verily believe to be correct.

Yours, very faithfully,

Beriah Botfield, Esquire, M.P.

The Will of THOMAS BOTFIELD, of Hopton Court

The Will of THOMAS BOTFIELD, of Hopton Court, in the county of Salop, esquire, is dated 30th April, 1836, and, with seven codicils thereto, bearing various dates from 15th November, 1838, to 10^th January, 1843, was duly proved by his executor, William Botfield, esquire. The result of the devises and bequests of these several instruments may be thus stated :

All his just debts and funeral expenses, &c. to be paid. To his wife, Lucy Botfield, he bequeaths the sum of 500/. to be paid to her within one week after his decease. He also bequeaths to her the furniture and all other effects (except two pictures hereafter mentioned) at Hopton Court, for her life, the same to be held afterwards with the mansion by the party entitled to the possession of the same.

To his brother William Botfield, and to his nephew Beriah Botfield, he bequeaths 200/. each; and to his brother William Botfield, he also gives any gig he might have at his death, and the horse he usually rode when hunting, also two pictures that he may select among those at Hopton Court. To Lucy, the wife of his brother William Botfield, 5001. for her separate use. To William Woodward an annuity of 200/. and the same to Augustin Woodward, Alexander Woodward, Sarah Woodward, and Lucy Golightly. To Augustin Woodward, Thomas Woodward the younger, Alexander Woodward and Sarah Woodward, and to Mrs. Ann Baker, of Field House, near Bridgnorth, and to Henry Botfield Thomason (son of Sir Edward Thomason), 10001. each. To Sir Edward and Lady Thomason 1001. to buy rings.

To Ann, the wife of the Kev. Thomas Woodward, and to Elizabeth, the wife of Augustin Woodward, 100/. each. To John Owen and Hannah Hill (late Hannah Owen) an annuity of 50/. a-year each; and to the two last-named the sum of 200/. each. To Mrs. Ann Baker an annuity of 100/. during her life for her separate use, the said annuity to be continued after her death until her youngest child shall have attained the age of 21, and then he gives the sum of 1000/. to be equally divided among such children. To the Rev. George Lavington Yate 1000/. to be divided by him between himself and such of his brothers and sisters as should be living at the testator’s decease. To his godson Arthur Childe WOOL if he should attain the age of 21, and the interest thereof to be paid to him during his minority. To his godson Charles Walcot an annuity of 501. until he shall attain the age of 21. And to every one of his god-children to whom he had not bequeathed a larger legacy, the sum of 200/. To his wife’s niece Lucy Skelhorne, a clear annuity of 225/. per annum.

To each of the children of the Rev. Thomas Woodward by his present wife 2501. stock in the 3 per cent. Consols. The sum of 300/. to be invested in the funds for Frederick Edward Lucien Botfield Collett, and to accumulate until he should attain the age of 2 1 , and then the whole to be paid over to him ; but if he should die a minor, then the interest to Augusta Thomason, second daughter of James Thomason, for her life, and after her decease to the said James Thomason, if he should survive her, and afterwards to Sir Edward Thomason, if alive, absolutely, but if not, then to his son, the said Henry Botfield Thomason, absolutely. To Thomas Woodward the younger, and the said Henry Botfield Thomason, an annuity of 100/. each during the life of testator’s wife, if they shall respectively so long live. To his servant John Lucas an annuity of 101. and the sum of 2001.; to his servant Thomas Green 50Z. ; and the sum of 200/. to be divided, as his wife should think fit, among his other servants who should be living with him at his decease. The sum of 800/. to be invested, and the income thereof paid to the incumbent of the chapelry of Farlow so long as Divine Service shall be performed twice every Sunday in Farlow Chapel. The sum of 150/. to the trustees of Ludlow Charities, the income thereof to be applied in the same way as the rent of their estates;

also to the same trustees 201. a-year for the five years next ensuing his death, to be expended at each Christmas in supplying the poor of Ludlow with coals at half-price. Gives to the following Societies (in case he should not become a life member of them respectively) such a sum as would have been payable by way of donation if he had been made a life member of them respectively, viz. the Royal Society, the Royal Institution, the Geological Society, the Society of Arts, and the Horticultural Society, of each of which he was then a member, but not a life member. Bequeaths the sum of 1000/. for the education of poor boys and girls in the parishes of Hopton Wafers, Farlow, and Coreley, the interest thereof to be applied in certain specified proportions. Directs that if the said Thomas Woodward the younger, or his sons, or remoter issue, should come into possession of testator’s freehold estates, then that Augustin Woodward should be paid 5001. a-year for life, and Alexander Woodward and Sarah Woodward 2501. a-year each for life, instead of the respective annuities of 2001. left them by his will. Also, in the event last aforesaid, that the sum of 1000/. each should be paid to Augustin Woodward, Alexander Woodward, and Sarah Woodward.  And further directs that the legacy duty shall be paid by his executors upon all the bequests and annuities above given (except contingent annuities) out of his residuary estate. Subject to the payments and directions aforesaid, he bequeaths the whole of his personal estate to be realised by his executors and trustee, and the surplus to be invested in the purchase of estates within twelve miles of Hopton Court, if possible: if not, to be invested in the purchase of estates elsewhere in the county of Salop. The whole of his present estates in the counties of Salop, Hereford, Worcester, or Brecon, with the estates so to be purchased, and the whole of his personal estate until the surplus thereof shall be invested as aforesaid, and subject to the payments and directions aforesaid, to be held in trust by his brother William Botfield, who, as such trustee, is directed to pay the whole income thereof to the testator’s widow, Lucy Botficld, for life. And subject to this devise, and with a power for the said trustee to appoint his successor, and in failure of such appointment the trust to devolve to testator’s widow, and to his nephew Beriah Botfield, the whole of the testator’s estates so devised are, after the death of his wife, to be held in trust for his brother William Botfield during his life, remainder in trust for the first and other sons of the said William Botfield, severally and successively, according to                                                                        seniority in tail; remainder in trust for his nephew Beriah Botfield, for life; remainder in trust for the second and every other son of the said Beriah Botfield (except an eldest son) severally and successively according to seniority in tail; remainder in trust for the first or eldest or only son of the said Beriah Botfield, in tail ; remainder in trust for all the daughters of his said brother, in equal shares, as tenants in common in tail, with cross remainders between or among them in tail; remainder in trust for all the daughters of the said Beriah Botfield, in like manner ; remainder in trust for the Kev. Thomas Woodward the younger, of Hopton Wafers aforesaid, for his life ; remainder in trust for the first and every other son of the said Thomas Woodward the younger, severally and successively, according to seniority in tail ; remainder in trust for Henry Botfield Thomason for life ; remainder in trust for the first and every other son of the said Henry Botfield Thomason severally and successively, according to seniority in tail ; remainder in trust for the first and every other son of Thomas Woodward the elder, severally and successively, according to seniority in tail ; remainder in trust for Lucy Golightly, Sarah Woodward, and all other the daughters of Thomas Woodward the elder, and all the daughters of Thomas Woodward the younger, and of Henry Botfield Thomason, and of James Baker deceased, as tenants in common in tail, with cross remainders between or among them in tail; remainder in trust for testator’s own right heirs. With a proviso that leasehold hereditaments should not vest absolutely in any tenant in tail till he should attain 21, but that such tenant in tail should be entitled to the rents during his minority. And a proviso that if the second or any other younger son, or the issue of such second or other younger son of his nephew Beriah Botfield, should come into possession of the manor and mansion-house of Norton, in the county of Northampton, and any other younger son of his said nephew should be then living, then the interest of such son in the said devised hereditaments should cease, but on failure of issue of such younger children it should revert to such son. And a proviso, that if the said Thomas Woodward the younger or his sons or more remote issue should come into possession of the said devised premises, then the testator’s trustees should pay to the said Henry Botfield Thomason a yearly sum of 600/. during his life. The testator’s brother William Botfield is appointed sole executor of this will during his life ; and after his death the testator appoints his wife and his nephew Beriah Botfield the executrix and executor thereof.

No. 132. Notes upon Family Recollections by SIR EDWARD THOMASON.

It has been asserted that Beriah Botfield had another sister Alice Botfield, who was twice married, first to Edward Beard, who was born at Worsley, co. Salop, in 1690, and resided at Quatford, by whom she had a son Job, born 7th October 1715.  This Edward dying suddenly at Bridgnorth in 1720, was buried at Cleobury Mortimer. His widow, it is contended, subsequently married Edward Thomason, of Dawley Green, in 1722, by whom she had two children: Richard, baptised at Dawley, January 20, 1723, who resided at Roughton, near Bridgnorth, who died without issue, and Edward, baptised at Dawley, April 11^th 1725.

Job Beard married Mary Littleford, by whom he had issue two daughters: Sarah, who died April 1768, and Mary, who married William Taylor of Tasley and Stapleford, by whom she had several children. Mary Beard died January 5th, 1800. Job Beard died September 18, 1785, and was buried at Quatford, aged 80. Edward Thomason married Katern Evans, by whom he had four children : John Thomason, born March 4, 1749; Sir Edward Thomason, Knight; Anne Thomason, of Bingham; and James Thomason, of Norway; and being left an orphan, was brought up in the house of Beriah Botfield, at Dawley, till he was fourteen years of age, when he was sent an apprentice to Birmingham, in which town he died in 1795. Thomas Botfield, the son of Beriah, appears as a witness to a bond dated 16 May, 1759, from Alice Thomason, widow of Edward Thomason, of Dawley Green, deceased, to her son Job Beard, of Quatford, for payment of rent, and keeping a house and premises at Dawley Green in repair, which Mr. Beard had let to her from year to year at a nominal rent of II. This document is endorsed 23 October, 1763. She produced a promise under Beard’s handwriting dated 1st May, to be permitted to be and live in the within cottage for life. But all that it proves is, that Alice Beard survived her second husband Thomason, and that Thomas Botfield was present at the execution of the deed.

Sir Edward Thomason states that he has searched in vain for any record of the marriage of Alice Botfield with Edward Beard, or with Edward Thomason, in the parish registers of Dawley, ShifFnall, Madeley, Bridgnorth, Wellington, Broseley, Stirchley, and Roughton. He nevertheless believes that his parents would not have assumed a relationship unless they had themselves believed it.

Mr, Robert Taylor of Evelith, near Shiffnall, put his belief in the form of an affidavit, as follows: The best commentary upon the above statement will be found in a letter from Mr. William Hardwickc named therein, who says that he has searched the registers of Great Dawley, Wellington, Stirchley, Worfield, Kemberton, Madeley, Little Wenlock, Little Hereford, Ludford, Bridgnorth, Ludlow, &c. and ” if put upon my oath,” he says, ” I could safely swear that I never saw the certificate of the marriage of Edward Beard and Miss Botfield, or William Beard and Miss Botfield, as I have great reason to think that Job Beard’s father’s name was William.” Whatever secondary evidence may exist as to this marriage, there is none whatever of the identity of the widow Beard with Miss Botfield, or of either with the sister of Beriah Botfield.

” I, Robert Taylor, of Evelith, in the parish of Shiflnal, in the county of Salop, gentleman, do hereby certify that my grandfather’s name was Job Beard, that he resided at the Halfway House, in the township of Eardington, in the parish of Quatford, in the county of Salop, and made his will, dated 21 July, 1773, and died there 18 Sept. 1785, aged 70, and was buried at Quatford. That he married Mary Littleford, who died there 5 January, 1800, aged 80, and was buried at Quatford. That he had an only child, Mary Beard, my mother, who was born 22nd March, 1748, and married my father, William Taylor, of Tasley, gentleman, and died at Tasley in 1815, aged 67, and was buried there. That he (Job Beard, my grandfather), was born 7 October, 1715, and was the only child of Edward Beard and Alice Botfield. That Alice Beard, widow, (late Alice Botfield, spinster) married for her second husband Mr. Edward Thomason, of Dawley Green. That she was the widow of Edward Thomason, of Dawley Green, in 1759, and had by Edward Thomason two sons, Richard Thomason, of Roughton, in the parish of Worfield, in the county of Salop, and Edward Thomason, of Birmingham, (the father of Sir Edward Thomason, of Bath, Knight,) my two great-uncles. That my father and mother, William and Mary Taylor, late Mary Beard, spinster, had several children, namely, Richard Taylor, my elder brother, who died at his estate at Stapleford, in the parish of Worfield, having married Elizabeth James, of Willersley, co. Hereford, who is dead, leaving three children now living, Richard James Taylor, Elizabeth, and Susan. That my father purchased an estate at Stapleford, in the parish of Worfield, and an estate at Danford, in the parish of Saint Mary Magdalene, near the town of Bridgenorth, and died in 1788, aged 49, without making a will. That I married my wife Ann Powel, at Culmington, co. Salop, and have two sons and five daughters living, namely, Robert Taylor, a draper in Birmingham, aged 29; William Taylor, now residing with Mr Evelith, in Shiffnal parish, in the county of Salop, aged 13, my youngest child; Mary Ann, Petronella, Fanny Longmore, Mary, and Eliza. That my eldest sister, Sarah Taylor, married John Bell Hardwicke, of Burcote, in the parish of Worfield, in the county of Salop, gentleman, who is dead, leaving six children: John Bell Hardwicke, of Burcote, gentleman, his eldest son; William Hardwicke, of Tasley; Kichard Hardwicke, of Burcote ; Thomas Bell Hardwicke, of Burcote, now under articles of clerkskip for the law ; Mary ; and Sarah. That my sister Sarah is still living with her eldest son on his paternal estate at Burcote. That my youngest sister, Petronella Taylor, married Mr. William Morris, of Neen Sellers, near Cleobury Mortimer, county of Salop, who is dead, leaving 3 children now living, William Morris, Eichard Morris, and Mary; all living with their mother Petronella Morris at Neen Sellers, in the county of Salop.

” ROBT. TAYLOE, 10^th AUGUST 1847.”

No. 145. Extracts from Letters of William John Hardwick, Esq. of Bridgnorth.

Evelith near Shiflhal, 14^th July, 1847.

DEAR SIR,

The short detail of your family which appears in a published account of the Sheriffs of Shropshire, owing to your two uncles having rilled that high and responsible office, was written by my father, with my assistance, and presented to our mutual friend the Reverend W. G. Rowland, of Shrewsbury, who completed Blakeway’s History of the Sheriffs of Shropshire to a certain period, and published it several years ago. Mr. Robert Taylor, of Evelith, is the great-grandson of Miss Alice Botfield, who married, first, Mr. Edward Beard, and, secondly, Mr. Edward Thomason of Dawley Green, the grandfather of Sir Edward Thomason, Knt.

Sir Edward Thomason, in a letter addressed to Mrs. Robert Taylor of Evelith near Shiffnal, writes thus: ” Ludlow, July 30, 1842. From the memoranda or words which my only sister living, viz., Ann Thomason, aged 71, gives me information of, it appears that my grandfather Edward Thomason married the widow Beard in 1720 or 1721, and that this widow Beard was a Miss Botfield. My sister says, that Job Beard of the Halfway-House was my father’s brother-in-law ; hence the cause of my uncle Richard leaving in his will 1001. legacy to the Taylor family. All proofs are at present obtained, except the marriage of Edward Beard with Miss Botfield. I yesterday sent the accustomed fee of 6a. to the officiating clergyman at Quatford, (finding in the list I had omitted that place,) in consequence of Mr. Stokes sending me word that he found on a gravestone in Quatford churchyard : ‘ Job Beard died September 18th, 1785, aged 70, and Mary the wife of Job Beard died Jan. 5th, 1800, aged 80.’ ” To better explain this relationship of Botfield, Taylor, and Thomason, I will state it thus: Miss Alice Botfield was twice married, first, to Mr. Edward Beard, who was buried at Cleobury Mortimer in 1718, and, secondly, to Mr. Edward Thomason of Dawley Green. She had a brother, Beriah Botfield, your great-grandfather, who left a son, Thomas Botfield, your grandfather, who is a witness to a bond dated 16 May, 1759, from Mrs. Alice Thomason of Dawley Green, widow of Mr. Edward Thomason of Dawley Green, deceased, to her son Mr. Job Beard of Quatford, co. Salop, for payment of rent and keeping a house and premises at Dawley Green in repair, which Mr. Beard has let to her from year to year at a nominal rent of U. Mr. Botfield signs his name ” Thos. Botfield.” On the back of the bond is an endorsement, thus: “23 Oct. 1763, she produced a promise under Beard’s handwriting, dated 1st May, to be permitted to be and live in the within cottage for life.”

Thomas Botfield, your grandfather, married a Miss Baker of Bromley, in the parish of Worfield, co Salop, a relation of the late Sir Edward Baker Littlehales, Bart, who was created a baronet, and took the name and arms of Baker on the death of his Cousin, Peter William Baker, Esquire, who was possessed of an old paternal estate at Bromley, which is inherited by his son Sir Edward Baker Baker, Bart. 1847. The genealogy of the Bakers of Bromley was drawn out by my late father for Peter William Baker, Esquire, of London, and enrolled in the Heralds’ College, and I think in that genealogy your grandfather’s marriage with Miss Baker of Bromley is recorded. I need not touch further on this line, as you must be well acquainted with it. Miss Alice Botfield, the sister of Beriah Botfield, who was your great-grandfather, by her second husband, Edward Thomason of Dawley Green, had issue two sons, Edward Thomason of Birmingham, christened in Oct. 1723, the father of Sir Edward Thomason, Knt., and Richard Thomason of Roughton in the parish of Worfield, co. Salop, who left a legacy by his will of 1001. to Mrs. Mary Taylor, daughter of Mr. Job Beard, and wife of Mr. William Taylor. Alice Botfield, by her first husband, Edward Beard, who was buried at Cleobury Mortimer in 1718, had issue Job Beard of the Halfway-House in the parish of Quatford, co. Salop, where he died in 1785, and was buried at Quatford. He married Mary Littleford, who died there and was buried at Quatford, by whom he had an only child, Mary Beard, the wife and widow of William Taylor of Tasley and Stableford, gentleman, deceased, by whom she had several children: Richard Taylor of Stableford, gentleman, her eldest son, resided on his paternal estate at Stableford, where he died, having married a Miss James of Willersley, co. Hereford, who is dead, leaving three children, one son and two daughters, now living. Robert Taylor, the only brother of Richard, resides at Evelith in the parish of Shiffnal, and is married, and has seven children living, two sons and five daughters. Sarah Taylor, the sister of Richard, married John Bell Hardwicke of Burcote in the parish of Worfield, co. Salop, gentleman, who is dead, leaving six children living, four sons and two daughters. She resides with her eldest son, John Bell Hardwicke, gentleman, on his paternal estate at Burcote.

Petronella Taylor, the sister of Richard, married Mr. William Morris of Neen Sollars near Cleobury Mortimer, who is dead, leaving three children, two sons and one aughter. She is still living there with her three children. Now, I believe, I have enumerated the only offsprings of Mr. Edward Beard and Miss Alice Botfield the sister of Mr. Beriah Botfield.

Evelith, near Shiflhal, 12th August, 1847.

DEAR SIR,

Since the receipt of your last letter, 23rd July, I have been favoured with some information from Sir Edward Thomason, addressed to Mr. Robert Taylor, Jun. in Birmingham, and to his mother Mrs. Taylor, at Evelith, where I am still residing, and also to myself, respecting the connection between the families of Botfield, Beard, Thomason, and Taylor. That a Miss Alice Botfield of Dawley Green, born about 1690, was twice married, there can be no doubt about, first to a Mr. Edward Beard, who was buried at Cleobury Mortimer 26 April, 1718, and secondly in 1720 or 21 to Mr. Edward Thomason of Dawley Green in the parish of Dawley, both in the county of Salop, who died prior to 1759, she being then described as his widow. By Edward Beard she had an only child, Job Beard, born 7th Oct. 1715, and died 18 Sept. 1785, aged 70, having married a Miss Mary Littleford, who died 5th Jan. 1800, aged 80, leaving an only child, Mary Beard, born 22nd March, 1748, the wife of William Taylor of Tasley and Stableford, gentleman, who were the parents of the late Richard Taylor of Stableford, gentleman; the present Mr. Robert Taylor of Evelith, 1847; Mrs. Sarah Hardwicke of Burcote, 1847, the widow of John Bell Hardwicke, late of Burcote in the parish of Worfield, co. Salop, gentleman; and Mrs. Petronella Morris of Neen Sollars, co. Salop, the widow in 1847 of the late Mr. William Morris of Neen Sollars.

By Mr. Edward Thomason, who died prior to 1759, she was mother of Richard Thomason, formerly of Birmingham, who was christened at Dawley in Oct. 1723, but late of Roughton in the parish of Worfield, gentleman, deceased; and Edward Thomason, late of Birmingham, gentleman, who was christened at Dawley in April 1725, and who died in Birmingham in 1795, who was the father of Sir Edward Thomason of Bath, Knight, 1847. This I verily believe to be quite correct. Sir Edward does not state as sufficiently clear how this Miss Alice Botfield was related to your grandfather Mr. Thomas Botfield, who is a witness to a family document between her and her son Mr. Job Beard, although from a variety of circumstances I am well satisfied she was a near relation, and which circumstances are well known to Sir Edward Thomason, now about 80 years of age, and to Mrs. Hardwicke of Burcote, who is 70 years of age. I am inclined to think the relationship must arise in one of these two ways, either as aunt or great-aunt to your grandfather, Mr. Thomas Botfield, or as his first cousin. When Mr. Thomas Botfield, your grandfather, witnesses the document which bears date 1759, (Mr. Thomason, Alice Thomason’s husband, being then dead,) he evidently must be about 30 years of age.

My late father several years ago, on hearing his sister-in-law (Mrs. Hardwicke of Burcote, who was a Miss Taylor of Stableford) frequently speak of her being related to Sir Edward Thomason and the two Mr. Botfields, questioned her very closely on the subject of that relationship, which induced him to draw out a pedigree of the family from oral testimony and make further inquiries respecting the connection.

He obtained from the Heralds’ College a copy of the pedigree of Botvylle of Botvylle, in Church Stretton parish, co. Salop, as entered there in 1666 or 1623, and was at much further expense in searching registers of almost all the parishes in Shropshire and other documents to show descendants from the Botevylles of Botevylle, entered in that visitation. Mr. Robert Taylor’s (the executor of his mother) papers were searched, and there was found the connection between the Beards, Thomasons, and Miss Alice Botfield which Mrs. Hardwicke of Burcote had spoken of, and to that family document your grandfather ” Thos. Botfield,” for so he writes his name, is a witness. He is supposed to have been either her first cousin or her nephew. It is a bond dated 1759 from Alice Thomason of Dawley Green, widow of Edward Thomason, then deceased, to her son Mr. Job Beard of Quatford, for payment of a nominal rent of II. per year during her occupation of a house and premises at Dawley Green, under her son Mr. Job Beard.

Sir Edward informed Mrs. Taylor when they had an interview at Ludlow, that your grandfather Mr. Thomas Botfield had the care of his (Sir Edward’s) uncle, who was a retired gentleman, and died at Roughton near Bridgnorth, and of his father Mr. Edward Thomason of Birmingham, the two sons of Mr. Edward Thomason and Miss Alice Botfield the widow of Mr. Edward Beard, when they were young, and the settling them in life in the town of Birmingham. This shews something like a relationship, and that they were both born at Dawley, and christened there; Richard Thomason, who afterwards resided at Roughton in Oct. 1723, and Edward Thomason, who afterwards resided at Birmingham in April, 1725. Mr. Robert Taylor says, that he (Robert Taylor) and his elder brother Richard were placed day-boarders at Worfield School, and that they lodged with their relation Mr. Richard Thomason, the uncle of Sir Edward, at Roughton in that parish, and that he well recollects hearing his mother say that she once dined at Mr. Richard Thomason’s at Roughton, when Mr. Beriah Botfield was there in his boyhood on a visit, and that Mrs. Thomason had occasion to give Mr. Beriah some gentle correction during dinner. Beriah, which is a very uncommon name, made a great impression on his mind. The late Mr. Richard Taylor of Stableford has left three children living; Mr. Robert Taylor has seven children living ; Mrs. Hardwicke of Burcote has six children living ; and Mrs. Morris has three children living.

I remain, Dear Sir,

Very faithfully yours,

WILLIAM JOHN HARDWICK.