Person:James Snelling (3)

James Snelling’s origins have yet to be established. The age given when he died suggests that he was born around 1733, and he also had an older brother called William who was born around 1723.

James’s first confirmed sighting is on 18th October 1764, when he married Sarah Patching at Horsham in Sussex. He was described as being a chandler from the nearby village of Crawley at the time of their marriage. He would later also be described as a tallow chandler (making and selling candles), shopkeeper and yeoman.

James and Sarah settled in Crawley after their marriage. They went on to have two sons: William in 1767 and James in 1775.

James’s elder son married in 1791 and his first known grandchild was born the following year.

In 1808, James’s brother William died. William left a will, in which he described himself as a yeoman of Crawley. The will makes no mention of William having any children, and instead he left his property to various other relatives, including James and his two sons. James acted as one of his brother’s executors.

In October 1813, James wrote his own will. He described himself as both a yeoman and shopkeeper. He owned a house in Crawley, although at the time he wrote his will it was rented out to a tenant called Michael Dancy. James directed that his executors should take possession of the house, spend £10 repairing it, and then allow Sarah to live there for the rest of her life. The executors were also expected to provide an income for Sarah of £50 a year, paid for out of the proceeds from selling the rest of James’s estate, which included three fields in the neighbouring parish of Ifield and some trees standing on the land behind the house in Crawley, which were to be chopped down and sold for timber. After Sarah’s death James directed that the house was to pass to their son William for his lifetime, but with William paying his brother James twenty shillings a year rent. After William’s death the house was to be sold and the proceeds split between William’s and James’s children, with each grandson's share to be £100 more than each granddaughter's share.

James died in 1814, being buried at Crawley on 12th March 1814. He was said to be eighty years old. Sarah survived James by just over two years.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Burials register, in Crawley, Sussex: Parish Registers (West Sussex County Council, Chichester).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Crawley in the County of Sussex in the Year 1814
   No	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   7	James Snelling	Crawley	March 12	80 [1733/4]	S.J. Lewin

2.   Church of England. Province of Canterbury. Prerogative Court. Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Probate Records, 1384-1858
   PROB 11/1557.

   [Names put in bold]
   This is the last Will and Testament of me James Snelling of Crawley in the County of Sussex Yeoman touching the disposition of the Temporal Estate wherewith it hath please God to bless me as follows First I will order & direct that all my Just debts Funeral Expenses and the Expense of proving this my Will be fully paid and satisfied by my Executors In trust and Trustees herein after named next I give & devise and bequeath unto my good Friends Robert Smith of Crawley aforesaid Surgeon and John Plumer of Horsham in the said County Tallow Chandler all and singular my Estate & Effects whatsoever & wheresoever & of what nature or kind soever both real and personal which I may die possessed of interested in or intitled unto To hold to them the said Robert Smith and John Plumer their heirs Ex[ecut]ors Adm[inistrat]ors and Assigns forever upon this special Trust and confidence nevertheless for my said Trustees or the Survivor of them or the heirs Ex[ecut]ors or Adm[inistrat]ors of such Survivor in the first place to pay out of the Rents Interest dividends and proceed thereof unto my beloved Wife Sarah the Sum of Ten pounds immediately after my decease and the further Sum of fifty pounds a year for & during the term of her natural life payable half yearly to commence from the first quarter day after my decease and to permit & suffer her to have the use & occupation of all that my messuage or Tenement and premises situate lying & being in Crawley aforesaid now in the occupation of Michael Dancy & such part or parts of my household Goods as she shall make choice of together with all my plate and Linen for and during the term of her natural life and I direct that my said Trustees shall lay out and expend ten pounds in repairing the said Messuage or Tenement upon her taking possession thereof provided always nevertheless in case my said Wife shall marry again I do hereby revoke & make void all and every the Gifts and bequests by me hereinbefore made to her and in lieu thereof give and bequeath to her only twenty pounds a year from such second Marriage for life to be paid her in manner before mentioned and from and after my said Wifes decease or second Marriage I do hereby give & bequeath the said plate and Linen to my two Sons William and James to be equally divided between them share and share alike as Tenants in common And direct that my said Son William shall have the use and occupation of the said Messuage or Tenement and premises for & during the term of his natural upon paying twenty Shillings a year rent to my Son James for the same and the remainder of the Rents Interest dividends & proceed of my said real & personal Estate as the same shall become due & payable I do direct my said Trustees or the Survivor of them or the Ex[ecut]ors or Adm[inistrat]ors of such Survivor shall pay one moiety or half part thereof unto my said Son William & the other moiety or half part to my said Son James for and during the term or their natural lives to whom I give & bequeath the same accordingly and from and immediately after their decease Then upon further Trust for my said Trustees or the Survivor of them or the heirs Ex[ecut]ors or Adm[inistrat]ors of such Survivor to sell and dispose of all & singular my said real and personal Estate and personal Effects either by public Auction or private Sale for the best price or prices that can or may be had or gotten for the same and the Monies thereby arising to pay to & equally divide between & amongst all & every the Children of my said Sons William & James who shall be then living by their present wives but no future wife share and share alike except to the boys whose Share I will order and direct shall be One hundred pounds each more than the Girls to whom I give & bequeath the same accordingly and I direct that the receipt or receipts of my said Trustees or the Survivor of them or the heirs Ex[ecut]ors or Adm[inistrat]ors of such Survivor shall be good and sufficient discharge and discharges to the purchase or purchases of all or any part of my said real or personal Estate for the Consideration Money for the same or so much thereof as in such Receipt or Receipts shall be acknowledged or expressed to be received for the same and that such purchaser or purchasers shall not afterwards be compelled or compellable to see to the application thereof or be answerable or accountable for the misapplication or nonapplication of such purchase Money or any part thereof Lastly I do hereby nominate constitute & appoint the said Robert Smith and John Plumer joint Executors & Trustees of this my Will to whom I give and bequeath the Sum of Five pounds each for their trouble over and above their necessary Costs & Charges in Executing the Trusts hereby in the reposed And I do declare that my said Trustees shall not be answerable or accountable for any more Money than they shall actually receive by virtue hereof nor for any monies they may place out at Interest and afterwards be lost provided it be put out upon Government or Land Security or any other act or default without it be done wilfully nor the one for the other of them but each for his own separate Act and Deed only hereby revoking and making void all former & other Will & Wills by me at any time heretofore made and declare this only to be & contain my last Will and Testament In Witness whereof I have to this my Will written and contained in two sheets of paper set my hand and seal at the top of the first Sheet where the same and affixed together my hand at the bottom thereof and my hand and seal to this second sheet the twentieth day of October One thousand eight hundred & thirteen. James Snelling (LS) Signed Sealed published and Declared by the said James Snelling the Testator as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who in his presence at his request and in the presence or each other have hereunto subscribed our names as Witnesses Sarah Elphick – Cha[rle]s Robertson – Cha[rle]s Elphick
   
   Be it known to all Men by these presents That I James Snelling of Crawley in the County of Sussex Shopkeeper have made and declared my last Will and Testament in writing bearing date the twentieth day of October 1813. I the said James Snelling by this present Codicil do ratify and confirm my said last Will and Testament and do give full power and authority unto my Trustees named in my said will to cut down and sell all the Timber now standing on my Land behind my house now in the occupation of Michael Dancy in the parish of Crawley aforesaid and do also give full power & authority unto my said Trustees to sell my Land lying and being in the parish of Ifield known by the name of Turners and Weekers? and likewise I give full power and authority unto my said Trustees to sell that Meadow Field lying at West Green in the said parish of Ifield in a Lot separate from the other and the Money from all thence arising to be placed in the public Funds or on Landed Security for the purposes mentioned in my said Will and my Will and meaning is that this Codicil be adjudged to be a part & parcel of my last Will & Testament in Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of November 1813 James Snelling
   
   Proved at London 27th May 1814 before the worshipful Samuel Rush Meyrick D[octo]r of Laws and Surrogate by the Oaths of Robert Smith and John Plumer the Ex[ecut]ors to whom Adm[inistrati]on was granted being sworn duly to administer.

3.   Sussex Weekly Advertiser (Lewes), in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
   Page 1, Monday 18 Apr 1814.

   Notice to Debtors and Creditors.
   ALL Persons who stand indebted to the estate of the late Mr. JAMES SNELLING, deceased, of Crawley, Sussex, Tallow-Chandler, are desired to pay the same to Mr. Robert Smith, Surgeon, Crawley; or Mr. John Plumer, Auctioneer, Horsham, on or before the first day of June next.
   Also all persons having any claim or demand on the said estate, are desired to deliver their accounts to the above-named Robert Smith, or John Plumer, Executors.
   April 5, 1814.