Will of Peace Sadler 1723

One of the few Orwell women who left a Will

By David Miller

The contents of the Will are of little interest, but we should note that Peace owned land in Debden, some twenty miles away from Orwell.

As regards the handwriting in the Will, the writer hovers between the archaic 'the,' where the letters 'th' are run together to make the letter known as 'Thorn' followed by an 'e,' and the later form of writing the word 'the' where the thorn has been altered into a letter 'y,' which then makes the word into 'ye.' Copies of the two versions are shown below.

The old form of letter 't' is a very small downstroke, and 'h' has a long tail below the line. Compare these with the modern forms of 't' and 'h' in the line above.

The letter y is more clearly defined here

 There is also the modern form 'the' which is used in the attestation clause.

The Will writer uses the modern 'the' as well!

It looks as if the Will might have been written by James Adames, since his signature resembles the handwriting in the Will. The signature of the first witness is not easy to read, but a Daniel Godfrey died in 1726, so it might have been him.

The Parish Record of her burial says "a dissenter buried in the churchyard the offices not read."

Transcript of the Will of Peace Sadler 1723.

In the name of God Amen I peace Sadler of Orwell in ye County of Cambridge widow being in firme in body but of sound & perfect memory thanks be to God for ye same and Calling to Remembrance ye uncertain state of life heare on earth and being desirous to settle things in order as touching such worldly Goods as ye Lord in mercy hath lent me my mind and will is ye same shall be imployed & bestowed as is hereafter in this my last Will and Testament mentioned & expressed

In Primis I Give and devise unto my daughter Mary Sadler all that freehold cloas of paster ground wherein formerly stood a house situate lueine [lying] and being in Debden in ye County of Essex with appurtenances be the same more or less lying near the highway side and abuting upon the ?dressing? house of William Rust in Debden aforesaid to the only use and behoof of the said Mary Sadler her heiers and assigns for ever

Item I give and bequeath unto my daughter Ann Marshall four score and five pounds of lawfull money of Great Brittaine to be paid her by my Executrix hearafter named Lastly all the rest of my goods and chattels of whatever nature soever they be I wholly give & bequeath unto my aforesaid daughter Mary Sadler whom I make constitute and ordaine to be my Executrix she paying and receiving all my debts & legacies and bringing my body decently to ye ground to be buried in good Christian Like manner and this I doo declare to be my Last will and Testament hereby Revoking and disannulling all former wills bequest by me made In witness whereof I have here unto sett my hand and seal this tenth day of August and in ye year of our Lord One Thousand seaven hundred Twenty and Three                                                                                    

                                Peace Sadler her mark and seale

Signed Sealed Published and declared

In the presence of

?Daniel? Godfrey

James Adames

Thomas X Ivory

Probate granted 25th January 1723