THIS IS THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT of me Edmund Dumville of Olney in the County of Bucks Lacemerchant which I make in the following manner (that is to say) I direct that all my Debts and funeral Expences which shall be fully paid and discharged by my Executrixes hereinafter named and subject thereto I give devise and bequeth unto my dear wife Pattee Dumville all and singular my real and personal Estates and Effects Whatsoever and whersoever TO HOLD the same unto my said wife and her assigns for and during the term of her Natural life with full power and authority (which I hereby give to her) during her life to convert and apply any part of my personalty to and for her own use or to and for the use of either of my children at her discretion and from and immediately after her decease I give devise and bequeath my said real and personal Estates and Effects (subject to such conversion and application of personalty by my said wife if any) to and amongst my children in the following manner (that is to say) I give and devise unto my Son Benjamin Dumville his heirs and assigns for ever All those my four freehold messuages situate and being in Olney aforesaid in the several occupations of Ann Boys Hannah Amos Thomas Bryant and Susannah Knight Together with the Barn now in my occupation with their and every of their appurtenances and I also give to my said son Benjamin the full benefit and advantage of my recipe for curing the green sickness To my son Thomas Dumville and his heirs and assigns for ever I give and devise all those my five freehold messuages or Tenements situate and being in Olney aforesaid now in several occupations of Ann Kitchener George Downing Elizabeth Reynolds William Hadlands and Thomas Morgan with the barns and appurtenances thereto belonging Also to my said son Thomas his heirs and assigns for ever all that piece of ground adjoining the premises above devised and to him lately in exchange by me from Thomas Aspray Also after the decease of my said wife I give and devise unto my said two sons Benjamin and Thomas Dumville All that my messuages or Tenements wherein I now dwell together with the garden and appurtenances thereto belonging TO HOLD to them my said sons Benjamin and Thomas Dumville and their respective heirs and assigns for ever as Tenants in Common not as jointenants and to my Daughter Sarah Dumville after the Decease of her mother I give and bequeath a Legacy of five hundred pounds with all my household furniture Linen China and plate absolutely for her own use and if my personalty shall not be sufficient to pay that sum I then charge all the Deficiency on the Estates devised to my said sons Benjamin and Thomas Dumville in equal moneties But if on the other hand there shall be more personalty than sufficient to discharge the said personalty equally to and amongst my three children Benjamin Thomas and Sarah share and share alike and I do hereby appoint my said wife and Daughter Pattee and Sarah Dumville joint Executrixes of this my last Will and Testament IN WITNESS whereof I the said Edmund Dumville the Testator have to this my last will and Testament contained in two sheets of paper fixed together at the Top with a seal set my hand and seal (that is to say) to the first sheet hereof my hand only and to this second and last sheet my hand and seal the twenty fifth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and Ten
Edm Dumville
Signed sealed published and declared by the said Edmund Dumville the Testator
as and for his last will and Testament in the presence of us who at his request
and in his presence have attended the same in the presence of each other
Thos Humphreys
Thos Humphreys
George Cook
Proved the 15th day of May 1812 by virtue of a Commission
before the Reverend Thomas Fry Clerk Surrogate by the Oaths of
Pattee Dumville Widow the Relict and Sarah Dumville, spinster
the natural and lawful daughter and joint Executrixes to Whom
Adcon was committed they being first sworn duly to administer
messuage: old English word now synonomous with dwelling-house, but with a much wider meaning
Widow the Relict: left over from the marriage
Adcon: Administracion (sic)
The Last Will and Testament and the Probate Declaration were transcribed by Dr. James C. Dumville, Ph.D.
The will of Edmund Dumville 1811 is also reasonably standard, drawn up by a lawyer for him. The words were probably closely supervised by him, though, since his wife was given her pet name of Patty instead of her Sunday name of Martha. She got the personal estate plus the real estate for life, with no limitation on her remarriage, probably because she was considered too old at around sixty-five to do such a thing. After her death, the very considerable property he owned in Olney was to be divided among the two sons, fairly from the sound of it and the unmarried daughter was to have the then huge sum of £500 and all the furniture and household goods. She was probably well into her thirties so could hardly be expected to marry though this money would give her the chance, to buy a husband or to live in very comfortable style as a spinster after her mother's death.
It is obvious that the younger Edmund must have started well probably with some of those houses from his father, and that he had prospered as a lace merchant, then a highly profitable trade. From the total lack of mention of stock or business premises, it seems likely that this Edmund had made over his business to his son already, retaining a life interest only, so that he did not need to specify what happened to the lace and the shop fittings. The 'shop' could of course have been the downstairs front room of the house where he lived ('the messuage and tenement where I now dwell', singular, not plural)