In the name of God Amen I William Outridge of Walsworth in the Parish of Hitchin in the County of Hertford being in health of Body and of sound mind and memory and understanding for which I praise Almighty God Do make and Ordain this my last Will and testament in manner and form following Which is to Say First I commend my Soul into the hands of Almighty God And my Body I commit to the Earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executor hereafter named And as to that Worldly Estate Almighty God hath blessed me with I Dispose thereof as follows Imprimis I Give and Devise unto Mary my loveing Wife for and dureing the term of her natural life all that my ['Cottage' crossed out] Messuage or tenement with the appurtenance scituate standing and being in Ickleford in the said County of Hertford and now in the poss[ess]ion of W[illia]m Outridge my Son or his assigns which I purchased of one Robert Hurst amongst other things And also all those my Eight acres more or less of arable land with the appurtenances lying dispersedly in the Com[m]on Fields of Ickleford aforesaid and Pirton in the County of Hertford aforesaid now also in the possession of the same William Outridge my Son or his assigns and from and after her Decease then I Give and Devise the same Eight acres of arable land messuage or tenement unto the same William Outridge my Son for and dureing the term of his natural life and from and after his Decease then I Give and Devise the same messuage or tenement and Eight acres of Arable land unto the heirs of his body lawfully begotten or to be begotten and for want of such Issue then to the right heirs of me the said William Outridge and their assigns for ever Item I Give and Devise unto the said Mary my loveing wife for and dureing the term of her natural life all those my fifteen acres of arable Land more or less with the appurtenances lying and being dispersedly in the Com[m]on Fields of Hitchin in the said County of Hertford now in the occupa[t]ion of me the said William Outridge and the said William Outridge my Son and holden of the Manor of Hitchin Portman and Foreign in the County of Hertford afores[ai]d And from and after her Decease then I Give and Devise the same Fifteen acres of Land with the appurtenances unto John Outridge my Eldest son and to his heirs and assigns for ever Provided always and upon this Condi[t]ion nevertheless that the said John Outridge my Son & his heirs Do and shall well and truly pay or cause to be paid out of my said fifteen acres of land within one year next after the decease of my Said Wife unto Richard Outridge my Son the Sum of forty pounds of lawful money of Great Britain And also therefrom the Sum of forty pounds of like money unto William and Richard Outridge my Sons in trust for Elizabeth my Daughter the wife of Ralph Walker of Baldock in the County of Hertford And my will and meaning is that the same sum of forty pounds shall be put and placed forth by them at Interest upon such security or securities that they the said William and Richard Outridge or the survivor of them or the Exeuctors or administrators of such survivor shall approve of and from time to time pay the Interest profit and proceed thereof unto my said daughter dureing her natural life for her own use separate and apart from her present or any other Husband and to the intent that the same may not be subject or liable to the debts controul forfeitures of her present or any other husband my will being that the receipt and receipts in writeing of my said Daughter shall be a good discharge & discharges to him her or them to whom the same shall be given for such & so much of the Interest as shall be therein expressed to be received her Coverture notwithstanding and from & after the Decease of my said Daughter I give and Devise the same Sum of forty pounds unto Such of her Children as shall be liveing at the time of her Decease Equally to be divided between them share and share alike And my will & meaning is that if the said John Outridge shall refuse or neglect to pay the said Several Sums of forty pounds and forty pounds as above in this my Will is appointed for payment thereof then and in such case I Give and Devise the Same fifteen acres of land with the appurt[enance]s unto the said Richard Outridge my Son and to his heirs & assigns To have and to hold the Same fifteen acres of Land until the said Several Legacies of forty pounds and forty pounds with the charges incident to the getting the same shall be fully paid and Satisfied Item all the rest and residue of my personal Estate of what nature or kind so ever my Debts being thereout first paid and discharged I Give and Devise unto Mary my loveing wife Whom I constitute and make sole Executrix of this my last will and testament hereby revoking all other Wills by me heretofore made In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this four and twentieth Day of December in the fourth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith & Anno D[omi]ni 1730
Mark of William Outridge
Signed sealed published and declared by the testator to be his last Will and Testament contained in three sheets of paper in the presence of us who attested the same as witnesses in the presence of the same Testator & the word (Messuage) & Eight acres of Land of my said wife being first interlined
John Morgan / Thomas Love / Richard Miller
Proved at Hitchin 19th Jan[uar]y 1738 [i.e. 19 Jan 1738/9]
