George Reid's Will 1819-1822

Owner of the Friendship sugar and rum plantation in Trelawney, Jamaica [National Archives PROB 11/1673/448]

Added by Pat Marsden

An impression of a Jamaican plantation
Jamaica Planters/Plantations Portal

This is the last Will and Testament of me George Reid formerly of the parish of Trelawney in the County of Cornwall in the island of Jamaica but now of Wivenhoe in the County of Essex in Great Britain Esquire

I will and direct that all my just debts funeral expenses and the charges of proving this my will be paid by my Executors hereinafter named

I give and bequeath to my daughter Mary Reid the sum of three hundred pounds to be paid to her by my Executors hereinafter named within one month after my decease 

I give and bequeath to my said daughter Mary Reid or her assigns during her natural life an annuity or yearly sum of five hundred pounds of lawful money of Great Britain clear of all charges of remittance premiums or bills of exchange and other deductions and abatements whatsoever to be paid by my said daughter or her assigns to be paid by even or equal half yearly payments on the twenty fourth day of June and the twenty first day of December in each and every year the first half years payment thereof to be made on such of the said days as shall first happen after my decease together with a proportion of the said annuity up to the day of her decease to be calculated from the last day of payment proceeding the same And in case my said daughter Mary Reid shall depart this life having been married and leaving a husband her surviving then

I give and bequeath unto such husband a life annuity or yearly sum of five hundred pounds to commence from the decease of my said daughter and to be paid and payable to such husband for and during the term of his natural life by half yearly payments with a like proportion of the said annuity up to the time of his death

And I charge the said two several annuities upon my estate called Friendship in the Parish of Trelawney in the island of Jamaica and on the Slaves and effects thereon and do give to the said respective annuitants such powers of outcry and distress for recovering the said annuities and all arrears thereof and all charges and expenses attending the recovery thereof and the raising and committing the same as are by Law given to landlords for recovering rent in arrear

And in case my said daur [daughter] shall leave any issue I do hereby declare that upon the decease of the survivor of my said daughter and of her husband my Executor and Executrixes hereinafter named do and shall out of the rents and profits of my said plantation called Friendship and the shares thereof or by mortgage thereof raise and levy the sum of ten thousand pounds sterling with interest at five per cent from the day of my decease and do and shall lay out and invest the same sum of ten thousand pounds in the public funds of Great Britain or upon some good and sufficient real security in England in the names of themselves or of some other proper persons to be appointed by their trustees for that purpose

And I do hereby direct my said Executor and Executrixes or such trustee or trustees as aforesaid shall stand possessed of the said sum of ten thousand pounds and the securities on which the same shall be invested in trust for all and every the child or children of my said daughter in equal shares and proportions the share or shares of such of them shall be a son or sons to be paid and transferred to him or them at his or their age or ages of twenty one years and the share or shares of such of them as shall be a daughter or daughters to be transferred to her or them at her or their age or ages of twenty one years or on the day or days of her or their marriage or respective marriages which shall first happen and I desire that the interest and dividends of the said ten thousand pounds be in the meantime laid out and expended in the education and maintenance of such child or children but in case of the death of all and every such child or children of my said daughter before the whole or any part of the said sum of ten thousand shall have become payable under the trusts aforesaid then I direct that so much as shall then remain unpaid shall fall into and become part of my residuary estate

And I do hereby expressly charge and make chargeable all that my plantation or estate called Friendship with the lands Slaves cattle stock and effects thereto belonging with the payment of the said sum of ten thousand pounds and all charges and expenses attending the raising recovering and remitting the same to Great Britain and subject and charged as aforesaid 

I give devise and bequeath my estate called Friendship with the Slaves cattle stock and appurtenances thereunto belonging And also all the rest residue and remainder of my estate and effects both real and personal wheresoever situate lying or being unto my son George Reid his heirs executors administrators and assigns respectively for ever

And I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint my said son George Reid my wife Elizabeth Lydia Reed and my sister Mary Reid Executor and Executrixes of this my Will

And I do hereby revoke and make void all former will and wills by me at any time heretofore made and I do declare this to be my last will and testament 

In witness whereof I the said George Reid the testator have to this my last will and testament written and contained on three sheets of paper set my hand and to this third and last sheetl my hand and seal this twenty eighth day of July one thousand eight hundred and nineteen

George Reid (LS)

Signed sealed published and declared by the said George Reid as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us who at his request in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses 

Will Le Blanc New Bridge Street

Thos. Orbell John Grady his Clerks

Codicil Dated 9th October 1822

This is a Codicil to the last will and testament of me George Reid of Sawley? in the County of Suffolk Esquire

I give and bequeath all and singular the household furniture plate linen china and effects whatsoever which shall be in my house at the time of decease unto my wife Elizabeth Lydia Reid for her use during her life and from and after her decease I give and bequeath the same unto my daughter Mary Reid for her own use and disposal

And whereas by my said will I have nominated and appointed my son George Reid my said wife Elizabeth Lydia Reid and my sister Mary Reid to be Executor and Executrixes thereof recited I do by this my Codicil thereto nominate and appoint the Reverend George Capper of Wherstead [his son in law] in the said County of Clare [Suffolk] to be an executor of my said will And of this my Codicil thereto And my Will is that the said George Capper shall act in the Trusts of my said will in the same manner as if he had been originally named as an Executor thereof hereby in all other respects confirming my said will 

I declare this to be a Codicil thereto

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal this ninth day of October one thousand eight hundred and twenty two

George Reid (LS)

Signed sealed published and declared by the said George Reid as and for a  Codicil to his last will and testament in the presence of us who at his request in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses 

Will Rodwell

Samuel Keble

John Gage

Proved at London with a Codicil 31 July 1823 before the Worshipful John Danbury Doctor of Laws and Surrogate by the oaths of George Reid Esquire the son one of the Executors named in the Will and the Reverend George Capper the Executor named in the Codicil to whom Administration was granted being first sworn duly to administer powers reserved of making the like grant to Elizabeth Lydia Reid the relict and Mary Reid Spinster the sister the other Executors named in the said will

Note

For further information about George Reid and the Friendship Estate and details of the crop (mainly sugar and rum) and number of enslaved people (reported as 224 in 1820) visit the UCL ‘Legacies of British Slave-Ownership’ at:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/estate/view/37

[Transcribed by Pat Marsden, January 2021]

This page was added on 26/01/2021.

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