THE WILL OF SIR RICHARD HAWKINS 

AND THAT OF HIS STEP - MOTHER, DAME MARGARET HAWKINS

by Geoff Ledden

(The original spelling has been retained)

IN the name of God Amen the 16 day of April 1622 in the twentieth yeare of the raigne of our Sovraigne Lord James by the Grace of God Kinge of England Fraunce and Ireland Defender of the Faith and of Scotland the fyve and fyftith I Sir Richard Hawkins of Slapton in the Countye of Devon Knight beinge sicke and weake in bodye but of pfect mynde and memory blessed be God therefore doe hereby make ordayne and declare this to be my last Will and Testament in manner and forme followinge. First and principalle I commend my soule unto Almightie God my Maker Redeemer and Sanctifier hoping and beleeving assuredly that through the only merritts death and resurrection of Jesus Christ I shall obtayne full and free remission and pardon of all my sinnes and be made partaker of eternall life and happiness in the kingdome of heaven with God's elect for ever. And I comitt my body to the earthe from whence it came and after my bodye buried my will and minde is that all suche debts as I shall owe to any p'son or p'sons at the tyme of my decease be first well and trulie satisfied

And touching the orderinge and disposinge of all such lands grounds tenements goods and chattells as it hathe pleased Almightie God to blesse mee with in this life I give and bequeathe the same in manner and forme following Item I give unto Judith my well beloved wife (for and duringe the terme of her natural life) all that my Mannor or Lordshipp of Poole in the Parishe of Slapton in the County of Devon with all mills lands grounds messuages cottages tenements and hereditaments with their and every of their appurtennes to the said Mannor or Lordshipp of Poole now belonging or in any wise app'teyninge And likewise I give and bequeath unto the said Judith my wife (for and duringe the tearme of her naturall life) all other my lands and tenements cottages and hereditaments with the appertennes situate lyeinge and being in or about Plymouth in the Countye of Devon

Neverthelesse and uppon this condition followeinge that she shall yearelye duringe soe longe tyme as my sonne John Hawkins shall remaine and dwell with his said mother allowe and paie unto my said sonne twentie pounds per annum of lawfull money of England And if it shall happen that he shall hereafter be minded to lyve from her and betake himself to some other place of aboade or otherwise to travaile or to betake himself to lyve either at the Innes of Courte or at the universities of Oxford or Cambridge then to paie unto my said sonne John and his assignes during all such time as hee shall live from her as aforesaid the yearlie some of fortie pounds of lawfull money of England at fower of the most usual feests or termes in the yeare by even and equall por'cons Item I give and bequeath ymediatlie from and after the decease of my said wife Judith all the said Mannor howse or Lordship called Poole with all mills lands grounds messuages cottages tenements and hereditaments with the ire and every of theire appurten'ces in the Parish of Slapton and all other my said lands tenements cottages and hereditaments with th`app'tences lyeinge and being in or about Plymouth in the County of Devon af-resaid with the reverc'on and rever`cons thereof unto my said sonne John Hawkins with all and singular my goods chattells utensils and household stuffe whatsoever

Provided always that my said wife may have and enjoy use occupie and possesse the same goods and chattells during her life without any interup'con or lett of my said sonne John or of any others by his pcurement Item I give and bequeathe to my sonne Richard Hawkins and to his heires for ever all that messuage or tenement with th'app'tences called Pryvitt scituate lyeinge and being in Alverstoke in the Countye of Southt with all lands and grounds thereunto belonginge or in any wise apperteyninge

Item I give and bequeathe to Margaret Hawkins my daughter (over and above a hundred pounds legacie given her by her grandmother and a jewell of twentye pound value) the some of one hundred pounds of lawfull money of England Item I give and bequeathe to my daughter Joane Hawkins one hundred and twenty pounds and to my youngest daughter Mary the like some of one hundred and twentye pounds All which said three severall legacies of somes of money by me given unto my said three daughters as afforesaide 1 will shal be paid them at sixteene  yeares of age or daye of marriage which shall first happen and to be receaved and had out of my owne entertaynmt due to me from the King’s Ma`tie for my last service and imployment don by me at Argeire And if any of my said daughters shall happen to decease or depte this transitorie lyfe before they shall happen to come or attayne to their severall ages of sixteene yeares or daye of marriage as aforesaid then 1 will that the parte and porc'on of any of them so dyeinge or deceasinge as aforesaide shall remayne and come unto the others surviving and overlyving p'te and p'te alike by even and equall por`cons also for the further advancement and encrease of my said daughters porcons as aforesaide I doe equallie give to amongst my said daughters the some of one hundred and fiftie pounds due to me by Sir Henry Thynn Knight to be paid them when and so soone as my Executrix hereafter named shall happen to recover and receave the same And I make and ordayne the said Judith my lovinge wife sole and only Executrix of this my last Will and Testament and I renounce and revoke all former Wills by me formerly made In witness whereof I the said Sir Richard Hawkins have here unto sett my hand and seale the said sixteenth day of Aprill 1622 in the twentieth yeare of the raigne of our said Soveraigne Lord King James over England France and Ireland RICHARD HAWKINS

Seales and delivered in the presence of us Thos Button Jo Gifford Josias Shute and Robert Holyland Sr

Proved June 13th 1622, by Dame Judith Hawkins

Let’s just go back to his stepmother’s role in Richard’s release by the Spaniards, as she has been strongly criticised by Williamson*, and start with her Will:

*The Observations of Sir Richard Hawkins. Edited from the Text of 1622 by JAMES A. WILLIAMSON. London: The Argonaut Press I933.

THE WILL OF DAME MARGARET HAWKINS

23 APRIL 1619 I Dame Margaret Hawkins of London, widow. My body to be buried in the middle Chancel of St. Dunstans in the East in London near the monument there erected for my late beloved husband Sir John Hawkins Knt.

Funeral Charges not to exceed £700

My meaning is not to have any mourning given to any of my kindred or friends unto whom by this my last will there is any legacy bequeathed save only to my brothers, sisters Executors & such as shall be my household servants at the time of my decease.

I bequeath the sum of £800 for the purchasing of Lands or Tenements of the yearly value of £40 towards the maintenance of a learned preaching divine to keep a free school in Keinton in Herefordshire & of a learned & discreet Usher under him for the instructing of youths & children in literature & good education, & the said Schoolmaster shall upon every Wednesday morning or some other convenient day in the week preach a Sermon in Keinton parish Church for the instruction of the parishioners. The lands aforesaid not to be purchased for 4 years, & in the meantime any profit arising therefrom to be used for the building of a convenient free School near Keinton Church. £30 out of the said £40 to be paid to the Schoolmaster and £10 to the Usher After the death of my Executors the nomination of the said School­master & Usher to be by 5 several voices or the more part of them viz. The Owner of Hergest Court in Keinton, 2 voices; The Owner of the Manor of West Hergest als Overhergest in Keinton, 1 voice; The Bishop of the diocese wherein Keinton is, 1 voice; and the Lord or Owner of Earsley in Co. Hereford for the time being, 1 voice

To the poor of the parish of Keinton where 1 was born £50.

To the poor of Amelly in Co. Hereford where 1 was nursed. £10.

To the poor of the parish of Debtford where I have dwelt £10.

To the poor of the parish of Woodford in Essex where I have lived £10.

To the poor of the parish of St. Dunstans in the East in London where I do dwell & have lived for a long time £50.

To the poor of the parish of Chigwell in Essex where 1 also dwell £20.

1 give my dwelling house in Mincing Lane London to my brother Charles Vaughan for life, after his decease to his daughters Margaret & Elizabeth & to their heirs for ever. All the writings of the said house to be delivered by my Executors to my said brother & his daughters.

I devise all my other 6 messuages situate in Mincing Lane; my lease of the Cranemead & Broomfield in Deptford or elsewhere in Kent & Surrey, and my lease or term of the messuages, tenements & stables on or near the Tower Hill Co. Middx unto my Executors to be by them sold for the performance of this my will.

If my nephew Stephen Price of Gray's Inn Esq. shall pay to my Exec. within 6 months after my decease the sum of £600 towards the performan of my will that then the said Stephen his heirs & assigns shall have my house called the Dolphin in Tower Street & the Rectory & parsonage of North Shobery in Essex, if he do not pay the said sum, then the premises to go to my Executors to be sold towards the performance of my will, they to pay to my said nephew £300.

To Mary Davies widow a yearly rent charge of £10 issuing out of my lands etc. in St. Pancras & St. Andrew's Holborn.

All my household stuff in both my houses (excepting my plate jewells apparel etc, cattle, fuel, coachs & furniture, implements of husbandry etc.) to be sold by my Executors to the uttermost worth by the help of my sister Elizabeth Pemberton my nephew John Vaughan of Hergest and my newphew Charles Price, & the money that shall be made thereof I give as follows:- To my said sister Eliz. Pemberton one 3rd part & to my two nephews aforesaid one 3rd part each.

To my niece Maud Leonard my best pair of Spanish borders enamelled black and trimmed with pearl, the upper border containing nineteen pieces & the nether border containing twenty seven pieces

To my niece the Lady St. John a pair of borders enamelled green, blue & red trimmed with pearle the upper border containing 23 pieces, the nether border 29 pieces.

To my niece Mary Wilkinson my diamond ring which my niece Trevor did upon her death bed give me.

To James Vaughan eldest son of my nephew John Vaughan of Hergest all my furniture of my red chamber at Luxborowe

To my honorable Lady the Countess of Leicester wife to the Earle of Leicester my pointed Diamond ring which the Countess of Warwick gave me.

To my honorable Lady Mary Wroth a " guilded boule " of the price of £20.

To my goddaughter Margaret Hawkins daughter of Sir Richard Hawkins Knt. one Carcanett enamilled black & blue containing 11 pieces with 66 pearls having a 'Tortis’ pendant set with a blue sapphire

To my goddaughter Margaret Ireland 2 Carcanetts of gold, the one weighing "two ounces & half lacke pennie waight" containing 23 Pieces, set with pearls with a jewell pendant of 5 Diamonds, the other containing 11 buttons being "Massy Spanish worke" enamelled & set with pearls with a jewell pendant having in it 3 diamonds, 3 rubies and one very fair pearl.

To my loving friend Sr William Killigrewe Knt. a guilded bowl of the price of £20, and to the Lady Killigrew his wife my Persian carpet.

Legacies to friends.

Legacies in money:-To my niece Anne Vaughan wife of John Vaughan ,£100. To my godson James Vaughan eldest son of above £400

[Mention made of late brother Walter Vaughan.]

To my nephew Thomas Vaughan £100, to my nephew Richard Wood £10. To my niece Ann Wood £100, to my goddaughter Margaret Wood, £100, to my godson Baynham Vaughan £200, to my brother Ric. Llellin £10, to my sister Sibell Llellin £100, to my niece Maud Leonard £200, to my niece Ann Scandrett £100; to my niece Margaret Stephens £100. To every of the 6 sons of my sister Sibell £100; to my nephew Francis Eades £10, to my goddaughter Margaret Edes £100; to my sister Ellinor Price £100, and legacies to her children (specially named)

[A long list of legacies to cousins, friends, servants, etc.]

I constitute my worthy friends Sr Michael Stanhope Knt (to whom I leave £100), my kinsman.Sir John Vaughan Knt (£100), my nephew Thomas Trevor Esq. (£100) & my servant Anthony Lewes my executors.

Signed & sealed by me MARGARET HAWKINS in the presence of Barnard Hide, Robt. Bateman, Wm Bateman, Robt. Sunderland & Ric. Davis.

Proved in London on the 4th of Jan. 1620, by Anthony Lewes.

SEE ALSO

AN ARTICLE ON SIR RICHARD HAWKINS

(Dame Margaret Hawkins was his step-mother)

AN ARTICLE ON ADMIRAL SIR JOHN HAWKINS

(Dame Margaret Hawkins was his second wife)