his landed estate for her life only. This made a pretty
kettle of fish, but Morris evidently decided that it was not worth a
family squabble. In any event, he himself had not long to live and would
probably have felt too old or ill to embark on litigation. What he did do
was to make a new will in which he put matters right for Frances, so far
as he could by providing that she should have from his residuary estate
the difference between the value of her life interest in her husband’s
lands and the value of what ‘her said husband should have given unto her
by way of the true meaning’ of the agreement. In this there was some
element of robbing Peter to pay Paul, since the balance remaining was to
be divided equally between Frances and her two children. Frances being
made sole executrix, hers was the responsibility for implementing the
mathematical niceties, but she was not left to plough a lonely furrow; the
rector appointed as overseers of the will ‘my worthy nephew John |
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Brewster Esquire and my good freind George Petty
Gentleman they being the Executors of the Will of him the said John
Collinvell’.
George Petty was in fact one of the witnesses of Thomas
Morris’ will, the others being George Gifford of Pennis and Everard
Clement. If Mr Clement knew of its content, he would have been interested;
he was about to receive from the rector, in so far as they were at the
rector’s disposal, the hand of Frances Collinvell in marriage and, with
necessary assistance from Ash Place, the living of Ash.
Morris was still apparently in office when he made a codicil
to his will on 17 June 1674, but not on 30 June, when there took place the
marriage of’ ‘Mr Euerard Clement, Clerke & Rector of this Parish
& Frances Collinvell Widdow of the same Parish’. Morris died in
November of the same year. By his will he had |