Richard Hoodlesse – 1626 Sundridge, Kent

On the 4th February 1626 the last will and testament of Richard Hoodlesse, yeoman of Sundridge, Kent, went through probate at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.

PROB-Richard-Hoodlesse-4-Feb-1626-Kent

The old form of written English is tricky to read in parts but my amateur translation into modern terms reveals a few facts about Richard’s net worth on his death and his family arrangements. Before the will gets to his loved ones Richard bequeaths

…first and most principally recommend my soul into the hands of almighty God trusting and steadfastly believing to be saved by the piteous death and passion of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ and by no other means

He then asks his executor to distribute two bequests to the poor.

I give and bequeath unto the poor people of Sundridge twenty shillings. And unto the poor people of the parish of  Oxted in the county of Surrey thirteen shillings and forty pence.

This was a time when pious Christians firmly believed that upon death their soul would enter purgatory where it would linger in need of purification before it was fit to enter heaven and eternal life. Therefore good deeds and charitable acts, along with the prayers of the living and commendations of priests and clergy were believed to speed up the transition.

Richard then stipulates how the remainder of his estate be distributed. It is a substantial estate and there is proof of a very loving relationship with his wife Ann

Then I  give and bequeath unto my very loving wife Ann Hoodless two hundred pounds and the enjoyment of one half of all my house hold furniture within doors at my house at Hendon to be paid and delivered unto her within one year next after my death.

Later on in the will he also stipulates that the executor of his will, his eldest son Thomas should allow his mother to stay rent free at the farm in Oxted, so long as she is single.

All the wealth of my goods and chattels before not bequeathed and debts paid and funeral discharged I give and bequeath unto my eldest son Thomas Hoodless conditionally that he performs this my final will and testament and sustain and permit his mother my most dear wife to enjoy and occupy such rooms of my farmhouse at Oxted for her self and such servants as she shall keep and shall be fit and XXXX for her dwelling so long time as she shall keep herself sole and unmarried without paying any rent for the same.

There are bequests to two daughters and two sons that follow:

Then I give to my eldest daughter Louise (?) the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds of lawful English money to be paid unto her at her age of twenty years or date of marrying with shall first happen. Then will and bequeath  unto my younger daughter Ann Hoodless the sum of one hundred and forty pounds of this lawful money of England to be paid to her at the age of twenty years or date of marriage which shall first happen. Then I give and bequeath unto my son Bostock Hoodless the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds of lawful English money to be paid unto him at the age of one and twenty years . Then I give and bequeath unto Francis Hoodless my youngest son the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds of lawful English money to be paid to him at the age of one and twenty years,

Richard then also goes on to give a small sum of five shillings to a couple of his menservants and five shillings to three maidservants Elizabeth Johnson, Agnes Small and Suzan Millborrow (?). The balance of his estate not yet bequeathed goes to his eldest son Thomas on the provision that he carries out the aforementioned wishes. The will is witnessed by William Bloome, Ralph Twigge and Thomas Whitenden.

Richard was described as a yeoman which around this time would be a gentleman farmer, someone who owned farmland and earned his living from that occupation.

Yeoman, in English history, a class intermediate between the gentry and the labourers; a yeoman was usually a landholder but could also be a retainer, guard, attendant, or subordinate official. The word appears in Middle English as yemen, or yoman, and is perhaps a contraction of yeng man or yong man, meaning young man, or attendant. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (late 14th century) depicts a yeoman who is a forester and a retainer. Most yeomen of the later Middle Ages were probably occupied in cultivating the land; Raphael Holinshed, in his Chronicles (1577), described them as having free land worth £6 (originally 40 shillings) annually and as not being entitled to bear arms.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Yeoman”. Encyclopedia Britannica, Invalid Date, https://www.britannica.com/topic/yeoman. Accessed 4 April 2021.

Progeny between 1599 – 1626