Richard Biddlecombe of Merrytown

Richard Biddlecomb's Will

The primary source of information about Richard Biddlecomb of Merrytown and Hampreston is again his Last Will and Testament

Last Will and Testament of Richard Biddlecomb of Merrytown, Hampshire and Hampreston, Dorset

 Slightly more legible, the will in three parts below.

Together with the side cast turned 90^o for ease of reading.

My initial transcription of the above will.

In the name of God Amen:
I Richard Biddlecombe of Marrietown within the parish of Christchurch in the County of South Yeoman being ???? aged, and ????? in body, but of Sound and perfect memory thanks be to God I do make this my last will and testament in manner and form following

First of all I bequeath my soul unto Almighty God and my body to Christian burial And as ????? ??? such worldly estate as God hath lent me, my will ?? ??? same shall be employed an bestowed as hereafter by this my will ?? ??????

And first I do ???? renounce and make void all wills by me formerly made and ??????? and appoint this my last will and testament? 

Item I give to the parish Church of Christchurch ten Shillings and to the poor of the same parish twenty Shillings

Item I give to the Parish Church of Hampreston ten Shillings, and to the poor of the same parish twenty Shillings

Item I give to my Son Thomas Biddlecombe my ??? and Land at Hampreston

Item I give him one hundred pounds to be paid within the space of two years after my Decease

Item I give him ???? ??? half the rent or profit of my ??? at Avon ???? the two ????

Item I give to my Daughter Clare Watkins one hundred pounds to be unto her ??? within three years after my Decease

Item I give to my grandchild Martin Biddlecombe fifty pounds

Item I give to my grandchild Mary Watkins fifty pounds to be paid within the space of two years after my Decease

Item I give to my grandchild Elizabeth Watkins fifty pounds to be paid within three years after my Decease and if she happen to die Before the age of sixteen years then her said portion to ??? to her Sister Mary

All the rest of my goods and Chattels I leave to the Dispose??? Of my Son John Biddlecombe whom I make my full and lawful Executor of this my last will and testament

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal the Eighteenth Day of June in the One and twentieth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles he Second now King of England Anno Dom 1670

                                                                                                                                                                                                          Richard X ^{his mark} Biddlecomb

   In the presence of

   Thomas Lush

   Margaret M ^{her mark} Spencer

Side Cast

Item I give to my grandchild Martin Biddlcombe my land at Wimborn Minster but if ??? ??? ??? got ??? to ??? its before ?? ?? 21 years of age my will ?? ?? go ?? it ??? ??? the money for it.

Item I give to my ??? ???? two Daughters Elizabeth and Mary ??? ??? ??? fifty pounds ???

??? what money I ??? given in this my will ??? to the poor my will is ??? it be distributed ???? to the ??? of my Executor

Date of will; 'Eighteenth Day of June in the Ano and twentieth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles he Second now King of England Anno Dom 1670.'

So the date of the Will is 18^th June 1670. However, I went through the below calculation for John Biddlecombe of Merrytown Will, and as this is an adjusted copy and paste form John, I will go through the process again.

Charles II became king of England on 29^th May 1660. For a clear Ano and twentieth year of reign, this would equate to a date of the will being, well the length of reign is not clear, so I will use a work around by using the AD date of 18^th June 1670, or using a date calculator, 10 years, 21 days including the end date, after accession.

From the calculation in John's Will this is not correct.

However, apparently after 1660, all legal documents stating a regnal year did so as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649, following his father's, Charles I, execution.

The new calculation would be starting from Charles I's execution at Whitehall on 30^th January 1649. The new result would for 18^th June 1670, or after 21 years, 4 months, 20 days including the end date.

I will change the transcription from Ano to One/

Using a regnal year calculator the result is 1669, so one year out.

I will use the date of the Will as 18^th June 1670.

All dates Julian calendar.

Probate date was ??

It was only ?? from the date of Will to the date of probate, end date included.

From the above it appears that Richard Biddlecomb made provision for the following family, in addition to the poor people of Christchurch and Hampreston.

People in the Will of Richard Biddlecombe of Merrytown, Hampshire

Below is a similar table brought forward from the Will of  John Biddlecombe. I transcribed John's Will before Richard's but have added the table here to aid you seeing the corelations of names from grand child to child which brought me to the thought that Richard is the father of John Biddlecombe. Accordingly I have added this section about Richard Biddlecombe above John Biddlecombe, for ease of reference, despite the fact that I wrote them up in the reverse order.

People in the Will of John Biddlecombe of Merrytown, Hampshire

 People mentioned in the Will

 Apart from the witnesses

Richard Biddlecomb of Merrytown

Birth and baptism

Marriage

Death and Burial

Death would have been between writing the will and any codicil and the date of proving the will. If the rule of proving within is applied his death would have been close to the proving date. 

 Looking at the Hampshire Genealogy Society Burial Records;

Parish of ALL

I have not found any record of burial for Richard.

From the Parish Records of Hampreston, Dorset

 Richards's parents are not yet known.

There is a son called Richard Biddlecombe, and a grandson of the same name, both mentioned in the Will of Christopher Biddlecomb of Hightown, the first Will and Testament in this article. Could this be the link between the two areas of Hampshire?

It would make this Richard Biddlecombe about 83 years of age at death, if he died in 1676, and 76 when he wrote the will.

Records about baptisms shortly after Christopher Biddlecomb of Hightown married on 27 January 1591 in Ringwood, Hampshire, England have yet to be found.

The following records could be for a grand children, especially as the fathers are Richard and John respectively.

Name: Richard Biddlecombe
Gender: Male
Baptism Date: 29 Sep 1660
Baptism Place: Ringwood, Hampshire, England
Father:
Richard Biddlecombe

And,

Name: Richard Biddlecombe
Gender: Male
Baptism Date: 25 Nov 1656
Baptism Place: Ringwood, Hampshire, England
Father:
John Biddlecombe

I have found a Will for a Richard Biddlecombe with a Proving date of 1617, with a location of Throop, Holdenhurst, Hampshire, England. That is about a four mile walk from Merrytown, near Hurn, Hampshire, England.

It appears to be in Latin so I have not been able to transcribe it.

So I need to make some guesses to see if he is in contention.

Let us consider that he possibly lived 60 to 80 years of age. That would result in a year of birth 1537 to 1557, Say married at 25, between 1560 to 1580. Given 20 years of child bearning age for his wife, assuming she is approximately the same age as him, and that they were 'good' people the first child could have been born between 1561 to 1581 and the last born between 1581 and 1601. If this Richard was born say 1571 and wrote a will in 1670 he would have been just short of his hundreth birthday. If he was further along, toward the last child born, it may be less likely that he would have so much land to give in his will.

Perhaps there is another generation between the Richard Biddlecombe of Throop and the Richard Biddlecombe of Merrytown.

Time to have another look at baptism records to see if we can get any closer to the father's identity.

Richards's wife is not yet known. She was not a recipient in the Will and is therefore presumed to have predeceased him

 Richards's known children are recipients in the Will and are therefore researched and recorded in that section.

Jane Biddlecom

However, flicking through the pages of the parish register of Hampreston I came across the following entry.

'John Corbin & Jane Bidlcom were married the 12th May 1653' in the parish of Hampreston. 

The date of Richard's will was 18 June 1670 which is obviously after the marriage of Jane and John Corbin, but they are not mentioned in the will.

Thinking through the dates. Married in 1653, so born about 1630.

Using information about Mary Watkins, mentioned in the Will, Not of full age in 1670, so born after 1649 and after 1661, latter from John's will. Mary was a grandchild so take another 20-25 years off for another generation, which results in Mary's Mother, a daughter of Richard being born about 1636 - 1641, which correlates well with Jane, a sister perhaps, being born in 1630.

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