In the name of God Amen

I John CHRISTOPHERS the Elder ⁽¹⁾ of Woolslap in the parish of Parley in the county of Dorset Yeoman Do this tenth day of May in the twelfth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King George the second ⁽²⁾ over Great Britain and so forth make publish and declare this my Last Will and Testament in manner following hereby revoking and making void all former and other Wills and Wills Testaments by me heretofore made principally

I commend my Soul to Almighty God who gave it and my body to be decently buried at the discretion of my executors herein after named and my Temporal Estate I dispose od as followeth

First I give to my wife Ann CHRISTOPHERS the sum of Thirty pounds of lawful money of Great Britain to be paid to her or her assigns within two months next after my decease and my Will is my said wife shall have the use of my feather bed wherein I lyeth with all the bedding and furniture to the same bed belonging now used therewith all during her natural life to lye on and my Will also is that my said wife shall have the use of my Bed Chamber in my now dwelling house to Dwell or abide therein during her life or else to be paid ten shillings yearly instead thereof during her life by my son John CHRISTOPHERS or his assigns to be at his election

I give devise and bequeath all that my leasehold tenement wherein I now dwell at Woolslap aforesaid with all the lands and appurtenances thereunto belonging together with the lease thereof unto my said son John CHRISTOPHERS to hold to him his executors administrators and assigns Immediately from and after my decease for and during all the Estate and Form of years therein then to come and unexpired more I give to my said son John all my wearing apparel and half my working tools and my horse and cart and my second best iron pot and my great chest and silt and my gun

I give to my daughter Mary the sum of twenty pounds of like lawful money and my dust bed in my inner chamber with all the bedding and furniture now used with the said bed more I give her my brass pot and

I give to my son George CHRISTOPHERS the sum of twenty pounds of like lawful money the said two sums of legacies to be paid within six months next after my decease

I give to my son-in-law John THORN one shilling and

I give to my son-in-law Joseph SYMS ⁽³⁾ one shilling and

I give my grandson William SYMS the sum of ten pounds to be paid by my executors to bind him apprentice to such trade as they and his father shall think proper, but in case my said grandson shall happen to decease before he is bound apprentice Then the said ten pounds shall remain and be paid to all the rest of my grandchildren that shall be living at the time of my decease share equally alike and

I give to all the rest of my grandchildren (except the said William SYMS) as shall be living at the time of my decease the sum of five pounds each to be paid to each of my said grandchildren at his and her respective age of one and twenty years with lawful interest to be accounted from the time of my decease and if any or either shall happen to decease before his or her age of one and twenty years then his or her legacy so dying shall go and be paid to the survivors or survivor equally alike at the time or age aforesaid and my will is that my executors shall give bond to their respective father for the true payment of the said last mentioned lagacies in manner as aforesaid if thereunto required by them respectively for the use of my said grandchildren respectively as aforesaid

Lastly my debts lagacies and funeral expenses being first paid and satisfied I give and bequeath all the rest of my money Goods and Chattels unto my Daughter Jane now wife of Thomas LUCAS ⁽⁴⁾ and I make and appoint my said son-in-law Thomas LUCAS and my daughter Jane executor and executrix of this my Last Will and Testament

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this said tenth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and thirty nine

Signed The mark of John (X) CHRISTOPHERS

Signed Sealed published and declared by the said Testator as and for his Last Will and Testament in our presence who in his presence have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses.

Mary WIGGINS

The mark of Elizabeth (X) AUSTEN

Jno HOBSON

Genealogical Notes:-
(1). John CHRISTOPHERS is the son of George & Barbara [alias Barbary] CHRISTOPHER and a beneficiary under George CHRISTOPHER's will dated 21st June 1694 which is also available on this site. His mother Barbary Christopher was buried at West Parley 6th June 1729. John himself was also buried at West Parley on 20th January 1743 when he was specifically referred to as the son of George & Barbary CHRISTOPHER probably to distinguish him from his own son John referred to in the will above. His wife Ann may have predeceased him 4 days earlier on 16th Jan 1743 perhaps from a common ailment such as smallpox or cholera but there is another death recorded in the parish for the burial of an Ann Christopher on 23rd June 1754 which could be her.
(2). The twelfth year of the reign of George II ran from 11th June 1738 until 10th June 1739
(3). Joseph SYMES married his daughter Elizabeth CHRISTOPHER at West Parley on 9th October 1733
(4). Thomas LUCAS married his daughter Jane CHRISTOPHER at West Parley on 23rd February 1732