NLW Ref: LL/1781/44
In the name of God Amen I William Lewis of the parish of Goytre in the County of Monmouth yeoman being weak in body but of sound & perfect mind & memory, blessed be almighty God for the same, do make & publish this my last Will & Testament in manner & form following (that is to say) Imprimis I commend my precious never dying soul into the hands of God that gave it, through the all prevailing mediation & intercession of Jesus Christ his dear & only begotten son & the saviour of lost and miserable sinners and my body to the ground to be buried with a decent burial at the discretion of my executors hereinafter named.
As to what worldly substance divine providence has endowed me with I dispose of the same as follows, vizt.
First I give devise & bequeath to my well beloved wife Susanna Lewis (after my just debts and funeral expences are fully paid & satisfied) all that my messuage or tenement & lands called by the name of Dyffryn-y-Gwartheg with the appurtenances being my freehold estate situate lying & being in the aforesaid parish of Goytre to hold to her my said wife from and immediately after my decease for & during the term of her natural life without impeachment of waste from any person whatsoever excepting only the felling of timber trees (exclusive of coppice woods) which I do’n’t permit her to do but such as are absolutely necessary for keeping the above mentioned premisses in good & sufficient reparation, and if she should happen to die before my daughter Martha by her shall have arrived at the full age of twenty one years, in that case I give devise & bequeath the said premisses with all their appurtenances together with all my personal estate goods & chattels whatsoever according to a true & proper appraisement to be made of the same immediately or within three months after my decease (reasonable wear & tear only excepted) to Joshua Davies, Clerk & William Morgan freeholder, both of the parish of Goytre aforesaid their heirs executors administrators and assigns upon trust nevertheless for the sole use benefit & advantage of my said daughter Martha Lewis until she shall have arrived at the full age of twenty one years, at which period of time the said Joshua Davies & William Morgan & each of them respectively their heirs executors administrators & assigns & each of them are hereby required to deliver up their respective trusts unto my said daughter Martha and afterwards I give devise & bequeath the same in as full & ample a manner as is above specify’d to hold to her my said daughter Martha her heirs and assigns for ever, but if my said wife Susanna should not die before my said daughter Martha shall have arrived at the full age of twenty one years then & in that case my will is that my said daughter Martha shall have occupy & enjoy the whole of the aforesaid premisses in manner above specified from and immediately after my said wife’s decease without any trustees whatsoever.
From & immediately after my said wife & daughter’s decease or the longest liver them (i.e. if my said daughter should happen to die before she shall have arrived at the age of twenty one years & also dies without legal issue) I give & devise my freehold estate aforesaid to my right heirs for ever subject to the payment of as much money as I or my said wife after my decease must be obliged to pay my first wife’s relations in consequence of a marriage settlement between us & a Will made by her in her life time to be paid by my said heirs at the disposal of my present wife in a Will by her to be made for that purpose. & lastly if my said daughter Martha should happen to die before my said wife then I give and bequeath every thing I may die possessed of or entitled to at my death or afterwards unto my said wife fully & completely excepting my freehold estate above mentioned which I leave her in the above specify’d limited manner.
I do hereby nominate and appoint the said Joshua Davies, William Morgan and my said wife Susanna Lewis to be joint executors of this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former wills by me heretofore made.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the seventeenth day of August in the twentieth year of the reign of our sovereign Lord George of Great Britain France and Ireland, King, defender of the faith and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty. The mark of William (W) Lewis
Signed sealed published and declared by the named William Lewis to be his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses in the presence of the testator. William Mathew; William Hatfield; Thomas Prosser
May 1st 1781. Susanna Lewis widow the relict, the Revd Joshua Davies and William Morgan the executors in this Will named were sworn to the truth thereof and to the faithful performance of the same and that the goods chattles and credits of the dec’d do not amount in value to the sum of one hundred pounds. Before me Benj Hall, Surrogate
Proved at Abergavenny on the first day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty one before the Reverend Benjamin Hall, Clerk, BD the Chancellor’s Surrogate by Susanna Lewis widow the relict, the Revd Joshua Davies, Clerk and William Morgan the executors in this Will named who were first on the holy Evangelists personally sworn well and faithfully to execute the same, to exhibit an inventory &c and to render a just account of their administration of the same when thereunto lawfully required.