When We Were English, Part LIV

by Glenn N. Holliman

A Final Look at the Will of Thomas Hollyman, 1558

This is the last part of the Will of the person whom I believe to be my 10th great grandfather, Thomas Hollyman of Cuddington, Buckinghamshire, England.  My 10th great grandmother was Dorothy Clark.  Let's study this section for the secrets it might reveal to a family historian.  Click on the Will text twice and it should enlarge.

Above the village lane in Cuddington leading to the Holyman farm house and estate. November 2012

 

Line 36, 37, 42 and 45 - Thomas revealed he had lands in locations other than the village of Cuddington.  This is a remarkable acquisition of property since his father died in 1533.  Hadham and Hartwell are a few miles of Cuddington, but Rousham is in another county.

While Thomas made additional arrangements for most of his children, he did not further mention son Christopher, who is my 9th great grandfather (so evidence indicates).  Hmmm...rather than believing Christopher was an unfavored child, perhaps Thomas was a minor.  However, Christopher's later marriage to another leading Buckinghamshire family, the Lee's of Dinton, would ease his way in the world.

Above the interior of St. Nicolas Church in Cuddington.  Although the chairs are 20th Century, the pillars and baptismal font are 13th Century.  Below the floor may lie the remains of 16th Century Holymans.

Line 54 - It was common to name one's sons after their father and grandfathers.  We note one child named John and the son, Christopher, a name that continues in the family to this day.  Where did that name come from?  My belief  is the name is from Dorothy Clark's father, Christopher, who is identified as Thomas' father-in-law in the Will!

My continuing thanks to genealogist Anne Holmes for her work in translating these 16th Century wills.

Next Holyman's in the first Elizabethan age....



Have questions about Holliman family history? You are invited to join the Hollyman Email List at Hollyman-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com and the Hollyman Family Facebook Page located on Facebook at "Hollyman Family". Post your questions and perhaps one of the dozens Holyman cousins on the list will have an answer. For more information contact Tina Peddie at desabla1@yahoo.com, the list and Facebook manager for Hollyman (and all our various spellings!).

Since early 2010, I have been publishing research and stories on the broad spectrum of Holliman (Holyman) family history at http://hollimanfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/ . For stories on my more immediate family since the early 20th Century, I have been posting articles since early 2011 at http://ulyssholliman.blogspot.com/ .

Let's save the past for the future! If you have photographs, letters, memorabilia or research you wish to share, please contact me directly at glennhistory@gmail.com. Several of us have an on-going program of scanning and preserving Holyman and related family records. Don't just let your aunt or uncle's genealogical work languish unread and deteriorating in an attic.Write us please and tell us of your items.Thanks to the Internet, we are able to scan, upload to the web (with your permission) and return the materials to you. - GNH