Tools: PROB 11/421/409 Will of John Turner, Merchant of London 05 October 1694
PROB 11/421/409 Will of John Turner, Merchant of London 05 October 1694
Editorial history
11/01/14: @MitchFraas : Transcribed probate record and posted to wiki
14/01/14: CSG: Abstract & context, and Notes, posted to wiki
25/01/14: CSG posted Twitter link to this page on @annotatesources and @marinelivesorg
26/01/14: @MitchFraas identified published John Turner family tree; posted to wiki
Contents
Abstract & context
The Will
The will transcribed below identifies John Turner as "the elder", and as a London merchant. It was made when "weake in body", and dated June 18th, 1694. Probate was granted to John, Elias, and Edward Turner (three of his four sons) four months later. It is the will of a relatively elderly man, given his four sons all appear to be over the age of majority of twenty one. The eldest son is identified as John Turner, also a merchant of London, with further sons William, Elias, and Edward.
The will identifies John Turner the elder's former residence as the "Hamlett of Radcliffe in the parish of Saint Dunstan Stepney in the County of Middlesex", but does not specify his abode at the time of making his will, beyond "London". The John Turner of the will of 1694 is likely to be the same John Turner listed by Hotten in Suffolk Lane, London, in 1677, given that the 1694 will mentions a warehouse in Suffolk Lane.[1] Suffolk lane (or Suffolk-Lane) was a street off Thames Street, relatively near the northern bank of the River Thames.[2]
John Turner the elder retained a warehouse in "Suffolk Lane in London", which was apparently rented out. Other London or near London property mentioned is as property at "Hand Alley alias Newstreete without Bishopsgate, and "seaven Messuages or Tenements and Lands situate in Ratcliffe."
Farmland is mentioned in Prittlewell in Milton, Essex, which was bequeathed to John Turner the elder's son Edward, as well as land in "Chester alias Cheshunt in the County of Hertford[shire]"
John Turner in the English Admiralty Court in the 1650s
A "Mr John Turner", merchant of the City of London, is mentioned in the affidavit of Frederick Ixem, a London notary publique, made in December 1657 in the English Admiralty Court.[3] Since this mention is thirty-seven years prior to the above mentioned will, it is not certain that the will and the deposition match.[4]
The affidavit was made "On the behalfe of Mr Sam: Wilson and Company touching the Vosse", of whom John Turner was evidently a member, though probably junior to Samuel Wilson, who was also described by Ixem as a merchant of London. Ixem's deposition records a bill of sale for the ship the Vosse, dated in Amsterdam on July 23rd (new style), which had been delivered to Ixem in London on December 18th 1657 (old style) to be entered into the records of the English High Court of Admiraty for "perpetual remembrance". Such entering of a foreign bought ship into the Admiralty Court records would have been to fend off future legal disputes, should the Vosse, under English ownership, later be arrested by English privateers, or English men of war, and alleged still to be Dutch owned.
The John Turner and Samuel Wilson of Ixem's 1657 affidavit are likely to have been London merchants engaged in the Spanish and East Indian trade.
- In the late 1640s and early 1650s, a John Turner, was chief factor at Teneriff in the Canary Islands for three London merchants prominent in the Canary wine trade: Rowlamd Wilson senior, his partner Martin Bradgate, and Henry St John. G.F.Steckley, in his analysis of John Paige's Canary wine trade, has suggested that the chief factor, John Turner, shipped over 1,100 pipes of Canary wine annually between 1645 and 1647, and that the three partners supported by their chief factor accounted for 20% of the import of Canary wine to London in the late 1640s.[5]
- The same John Turner as above is mentioned in letters of John Paige from the years 1650, 1651, 1652, 1654 and 1655. [ADD REFERENCE]
- Furthermore, G.F. Steckley has identified a number of commercial letters written by John Turner from the Canaries to various correspondents, together with commercial accounts in English and Spanish.[6]
- A "Samuel Wilson" and a "John Turner" were two of twenty-three petitioners in a "Humble petition of the merchants trading for Spain", dated September 20th 1655. Other merchant signators to this petition included Christopher Boone and John Page [alt. Paige].[7]
- The name of Samuel Wilson (without mention of John Turner) appeared in an English Admiralty Court case in 1657 relating to trade with Spain in 1654 and 1655. He was described as Samuel Wilson the younger in the court depositions of the mariner Richard Hussey[8] and the London merchant Hanniball Allen.[9] These depositions related to a dispute brought by George Margetts and Company, freighters of the Saint Lucar Merchant in the years 1654 and 1655, against its owners. According to their testimony, Samuell Wilson the younger was the owner and proprietor of three sixteenths of the said ship in these years.
- Twenty months later the name of Samuel Wilson is again mentioned in the English Admiralty court, this time in the company of a Thomas Plampian and John Turner (all merchants of London), regarding the seizure of the ship the ffrancis and John by the Dutch East India Company near Bantam in the East Indies.[10] Interestingly, a number of London merchants engaged in the Spanish trade in the 1650s became active in trade with the East Indies. Known examples include John Page [alt. Paige], who collaborated with the prominent London merchant Maurice Thompson, in a private venture to Bantam; Christopher Boone, who was a friend and relation of the merchant George Oxenden (a private trader in Surat in the late 1650s and President of the East India Company in Surat in the 1660s); and Arthur (later Sir Arthur) Ingram.[11]
Likelihood of match between John Turner of Admiralty Court in 1650s and John Turner of 1694 will
It is reasonably likely that John Turner the chief factor for Rowland Wilson senior, et al. in the 1640s and early 1650s, the John Turner of the HCA depositions in 1657 and 1659, and the John Turner of the 1694 will are the same man.
Key to making this identification are:
1. Evidence that John Turner of the 1694 will was a vintner. He is described as such in the 1670 marriage allegations of his daughter Elizabeth and her future husband the merchant Samuel Dawes, both of whom are clearly identifiable in the 1694 will
2. The link in the 1694 will between a warehouse in John Turner's possession in Suffolk Lane, off Thames Street, and the business address of a John Turner in Suffolk Lane in 1677 London directory of merchants and bankers
Of possible relevance is that Rowland Watson senior was an employer of the John Turner of Teneriff in the Canaries in the 1640s and early 1650s. Speculatively, Rowland Watson may be related to Samuel Watson (alias Samuel Watson the younger) with whom John Turner of the HCA records of 1657 and 1659 is commercially connected in Spanish and other trade.
There is a will of a Samuel Wilson, Merchant of London, proven in December 1681, thirteen years prior to the will of John Turner. Should transcription of Wilson's will (not yet tackled) name a John Turner linked to the hamlet of Ratcliff in Stepney, this will strengthen the linkage of the above mentioned will of John Turner to the Admiralty court deposition made by Frederick Ixem.
John Turner family tree in Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica (London, 1880)
Digital Image
Suggested links
MarineLives-Tools
MarineLives-Tools Probate Records
Probate Record template
Annotate HCA 13/71
Annotate HCA 13/72
Annotate HCA 13/73
To do
(1) Test Abstract and context arguments with wider public of genealogists and historians
Transcription
Johannis Turner [LH Margin]
In the Name of God Amen
I John Turner the elder of London merchant being weake in body but
praisedly bee God of good minde and memory and being mindful of my
Mortallity doe publish and declare this my last Will and Testament as
followeth (vizt) ffirst and principally I remmand my Soule to God my
Creator. my body I commit to the Earth to bee decently interred att the
discretion of my Executors herein after named and as touching the
disposition of my worldly estate that noe contention may arise concerning
the same after my decease I give and dispose of the same as followeth
(vizt) Imprimis I give and bequeath unto the poore Inhabitants of the
Hamlett of Radcliffe in the parish of St. Dunstan Stepney in the County
of Middsx wherein I formerly dwelt the summe of twenty pounds to bee
distributed to and amongst such of them as my Executors shall thinke
fit Item I give and bequeath unto my sonn John Turner of London -
Merchant the summer of ffifty pounds for mourning Item I give and
bequeath unto my sonn William Turner the summe of twenty pounds
for mourning Item I and bequeath unto my sonn Elias Turner
the summer of two hundred pounds whereof fifty pounds for mourning
Item I give and bequeath unto my sonn Edward Turner his Executors
Administrators and Assignes All that my Lease Terme and Estate
of in and to my Warehouse situate and being in Suffolk Lane in
London which shall bee to rent at the time of my decease Item I
give and bequeath unto my sonn in Lawe Charles Atherstone the
summe of ffifty pounds for mourning and to his wife Mary Atherston
[NEW MANUSCRIPT PAGE]
the summe of two hundred pounds to and for her seperate
use and benefitt and to bee att her owne disposal and to bee paid unto
her within twelve months next after my decease Item I give and bequeath
unto my sonn in Lawe Captain Abraham Dawes Esq. the summe of ffifty
pounds for mourning and to his wife Elizabeth Dawes the summe of two
hundred pounds to and for her sole and seperate use and benefit and
to bee at her owne disposal and to bee paid unto her within twelve months
next after my decease Item I give and bequeath unto my said sonns John
Turner Elias Turner and Edward Turner and to the Survivors and Survivor
of them, and the Executors or Administrators of such Survivor the sume
of ffour hundred pounds upon trust and confidence that they or some of
them doe and shall well and truly pay the interest thereof att the rate
off five pounds for a hundred pounds yearly unto my said sonn William
Turner for and during his naturall life And further trust and -
confident that they or some of them after the decease of my said sonn
William doe and shall hold and keep the said [*] ffour hundred pounds att [RH margin "summe of"]
interest at ffour pounds for a hundred pounds to and for the use of such
child or children as my said sonn William shall have and leave att the
time of his decease untill hee thee or they shall attaine the age of one and
twenty yeares and then doe and shall well and truely pay the same with
the interest thereof after the rate aforesaid unto such child or children as
my said sonn William shall get have and leave And my will and mind
is that if any of them happen to dye before theire attainment to the said
age of one and twenty yeares as aforesaid the parte and share of him
her or them soe dyeing shall goe to and bee paid to the Survivors
and Survivor of them Item I give devise and bequeath unto my said
sonn Edward Turner his heyres and Assignes for ever All that my -
Coppyhold or Customary ffarme with the Land Tenemts hereditaments
and appurtences whatsoever thereunto belonging now in the occupaton
of Thomas Pigg his Undertennants or Assignes which are situate and
being in Pristlewell in Milton in the County of Essex and the rents issues
and proffites thereof. Item I give devise and bequeath unto my said sonn
Edward Turner [*] of my Lands Messuages Tenements and Buildings in Hand [RH margin "all those rents issues and beneffits whatsoever"]
Alley ate Newstreete without Bishopsgate London which are not already
by mee settled by a Release and Conveyance thereof under my hand
and seale bearing date the twelfth day of June instant last past to the
severall uses therein mentioned To have and to hold the same unto my
said sonn Edward Turner and the heyres of his body lawfully begotten
or to bee begotten and for want of such issue to my said sonn sonn [*] William [RH margin "That Turner and the heires of
Turner and the heyres of his body lawfully begotten or to bee begotten [his body lawfully begotten or to bee begotten and for want of such Issue to my said Son"]
and for want of of such issue to the right heyres of mee the said John
Turner the elder for ever Item I give devise and bequeath unto my said
sonns Elias Turner and Edward Turner theire Heyres and Assignes
for ever All those my Lands Messuages & Tenements and hereditamts
with the appurtences and the Rights Issues and proffitts thereof which
are situate and being in Chester ate Cheshant in the County of Hertford
which I purchased of George Snowden and Elizabeth his wife to the intents
and purposes following (vizt) That they the said Elias and Edward and
theire Heyres and Assignes doe and shall stand seized of one Moyety
or halfe parte of the said Lands Messuages Tenements and hereditamts
and the rents issues and proffitts thereof To and for the use of my said
sonn William Turner and - the heyres of his body lawfully begotten
[NEW MANUSCRIPT PAGE]
or to bee begotten and also doe and and shall stand seized of the other
Moyety or halfe parte thereof to and for the sole and separate use
of my said daughter Elizabeth Dawes for and during the terme of her
naturall life, and from and after her decease to and for the use and uses
maintenance educating and bringing upp of such ffemale child or children
as shee the said Elizabeth Dawes shall have and leave att the time of
her decease and to and for the use and uses of the heyres of such
ffemale child or children for ever But my will and minde is that my
said sonn Elias and Edward and their heyres and assignes doe and
shall yearly and every year reserve and deduct out of the rents and
proffits of the said estate att Cheshunt the summe of twenty shillings a
yeare [] for theire care and trouble concerning the said trust in them
reposed Item I give devise and bequeath unto my said sonn Edward -
Turner his heyres and Assignes for ever All those my seaven Messuages
or Tenements and Lands situate in Ratcliffe with their appurtences
and the rents issued and proffits of the same To have and to hold the
same immediately from and after my decease unto my said Edward
Turner his Heyres and Assignes for ever Item I give and bequeath unto
Thomas Hewett the Cooper the summe of ffive pounds Item I give and
bequeath towards the releife and comfort of the poore distressed ffrench
Protestants the summe of twenty pounds to bee paid to and amongst
such of them as my Executors shall thinke fitt Item all the rest residue
and remainder of my goods chattels wares merchandizes ready money
bonds specialties plate jewells rings household stuffe and all other my -
estate whatsoever after my debts legacies and funerall charges are
paid and defrayed I give devise and bequeath unto my said sonn
Edward Turner his Heyres Executors Administrators and Assignes
for ever And I doe make and ordain my said sonns John Turner
Elias Turner and Edward Turner Executors of this my last Will But
my further will and minde is that such of my said Legatees as shall
not hold him her them [*] contended with theire respective legacies before [LH margin: "selves"]
by mee given but contrary thereunto shall treate any suit trouble or
demand in Lawe of or for any other part of my estate goods and
chattells than according to the true meaning of this my will shall clearly
loose all such legacies and other benefitts as they or any of them
might or ought to have had by vertue of this my will which as to every such
of them shall be clearly void as if the same had never been except only
the summe of ffive pounds which I nevertheless give unto every of them
and will and appoint my Executors to pay the same but noe further
or other summe bequest devise or legacy whatsoever And lastly I revoke
all former wills In witness whereof I the said John Turner the elder
have to this my last Will and Testament contained in three whole -
sheets besides this sett my hand and seale to every one of the said sheets
and likewise to this the Eighteenth day of June Anno Domini 1694
And in the Sixth yeare of the Reigne of King William and Queene
Mary over England [] John Turner Sealed and delivered published
and declared by the said John Turner the elder as and for his last
Will and Testament in the presence of Robt Thompson George Campion
Eliezer Ashley Str.
Probatum apud London fuit [] Testamentum
[NEW MANUSCRIPT PAGE]
coram venabli vire Georgio Bramston legum doctore Surrogato -
venerabilis et Egregij [?veri] Ricardi Raines Militus legum etiam Diocis
Curia Prerogativa Cantuaruensis magri Custodio sive [] constitut Quinto
die mensis Ottobris Anno Dmni Millesimo Septenemo nonagenio Quarto
Juramento Johannis Turner Eliae Turner et Edwardi Turner ffiliorum dei
testi et Executorum in ditto testamento nominator Quibus commissa fuit
Administrato omnium et singulorum benorum jur et creditor dei dicti defuncti de bene et fideliter
Administrando eadem ad [] de Evangelia Jurat Ex.
Notes
People
People mentioned in John Turner's will:
Captain Abraham Dawes
Husband of John Turner's daughter, Elizabeth Turner. Described in John Turner's will as "my sonn in Lawe Captain Abraham Dawes Esq."
Elizabeth appears to have married twenty-seven year old Abraham Dawes, a citizen and salter of London, resident in Stepney, when she was just fifteen years of age. The marriage record describes her father, John Turner, as a Vintner, with the marriage recorded taking place at Saint Dunstans in the West, London on February 14th, 1669/70.[12]
Elizabeth Dawes
Daughter of John Turner senior. See above.
Elias Turner
One of four sons of John Turner senior.
John Turner (senior)
[born ?c.1622; married ?; died. c.?1694]
The testator.
John Turner is a relatively common name, though there are few John Turners identified as merchants in Prerogative Court of Canterbury records in the 1640-1699 period.
There is circumstantial evidence of a John Turner in London in 1651 with connections to the vintner trade. However, it is unclear whether this is the John Turner of Tenriff in the Canaries in the 1650s:
- "9 October. [1660] Thomas Butler, citizen and vintner of London aged 28, and Samuel Rowse, citizen and grocer of London aged 30, depose that John Turner of London, merchant, on 26 February 1651 signed a financial obligation to Daniel Butler, citizen and haberdasher of London, on 21 March 1653. (MCD 10).[13]
Mary Turner (nee Cartwright)
Genealogical source suggest that John Turner [senior] married Mary Cartwright, who was dead by 16XX, and that John Turner himself was the son of Edward Turner and Joice Chamberlain (daughter of a mayor of Leicester). John Turner's birth date is given in these genealogical sources as October 13th, 1622.
These sources suggest tht Edward Turner, John Turner's father, lived both at Barmcote, Blukington in Warwickshire, and at Leicester in Leicestershipe. Purportedly, John Turner was the youngest of four sons.
SEE 'Edward Tyrner, M, #372170, d. circa September 1628 [1]
Places
Places mentioned in John Turner's will:
Chester alias Cheshunt in the County of Hertford[shire]
Hamlett of Radcliffe in the parish of Saint Dunstan Stepney in the County of Middlesex
Hand Alley alias Newstreete without Bishopsgate
The Royal Mint rented premises in "New Street without Bishopsgate" in the late C17th.[14]
A tract titled "Proposals for a million-fund and a true expedient for advancing the woollen manufacture: Humbly offered to the consideration of the honourable House of Commons. By John Williams, mercht [sic] and trader in wooll." was printed by George Larkin, Junior "at the Half-Moon in New-Street, without Bishopsgate, 1697".[15]
Hand Alley is specifically mentioned in the address of another London printer of a different tract, also dated 1697: "Printed and sold by J. Bradford, in New-street, without Bishopsgate near Hand-Alley, 1697"[16]
"New Street without Bishopsgate" is mentioned in the will of Henry Harrison, proven in June 1777.[17]
Pristlewell in Milton, Essex
Suffolk Lane in London
The so-called "Little London Directory of 1677" lists a "John Turner Suffolk lane[18]
Possible primary sources
TNA
Chancery
C 5/9/74 Short title: Turner v Best. Plaintiffs: Thomas Turner. Defendants: Richard Best and another. Subject: money matters, London or Middlesex. Document type: bill, answer. 1647
C 5/443/90 Short title: Best v Turner. Plaintiffs: Philip Best. Defendants: John Turner and others. Subject: money matters, Middlesex. Document type: Bill, answer, three schedules. 1667
C 9/8/19 Best v. Turner. 1651 29 May 1660 - 06 February 1685
C 108/6 Chancery: Master Farrer's Exhibits. UNKNOWN CAUSE: Cash book, journal, ledger and invoice book of Gabriel Smith, Jerome Salter, Samuel Turner and John Glover, wine merchants of London. 1685
C 110/151 Chancery: Master Horne's Exhibits. BEST v TURNER: Copy of Chancery decree (FOSTER v FOSTER): Cumb.
C 110/151 Chancery: Master Horne's Exhibits. BEST v TURNER: Deeds relating to London. 1610 - 1670
C 110/151 Chancery: Master Horne's Exhibits. BEST v TURNER: Mercantile correspondence and accounts. Some in Spanish. 1643 - 1652
Exchequer
E 134/33Chas2/East20 Charles Mountney and his wife Elizabeth. v. Abraham Dawes, merchant.: Money entrusted to defendant for the benefit of plaintiff Elizth., to be"adventured or improved" by him for her in the way of trade or merchandize for raising a portion for Elizabeth,&c., &c.: Gloucester 33 Chas 2
PROB
PROB 5/3894 Miscellaneous Inventories, Accounts, and Associated Documents. TURNER, William, of London, merchant. 1673
PROB 11/223/93 Will of William Turner, Vintner of Saint Magnus, City of London 08 July 1652 SEE: Ancestry digital image
- Nine line verbal will gave all possessions to his wife, Judith Turner. Seems unrelated to John Turner [senior]
PROB 11/243/39 Will of Dominick Turner, Vintner of London 24 November 1654
PROB 11/302/57 Will of George Turner, Merchant of London 07 November 1660
PROB 11/332/211 Will of William Turner, Merchant of Stratford Le Bowe, Middlesex 09 February 1670 SEE: Ancestry digital image
- Will made when sick
- Mentions wife Mary Turner, and daughter Mary Turner
- Menions "my kinsman John Turner of Worcester"
- Mentions brother Mathew Turner, to whom all his adventure and principall in the [English] East India Company is given
- Mathew Turner, his brother, is made overseer of the will
PROB 11/336/453 Will of Andrew Turner, Merchant of London 17 July 1671
PROB 11/368/469 Will of Samuel Wilson, Merchant of London 17 December 1681 SEE Ancestry Digital Image
PROB 11/366/265 Will of Thomas Turner, Vintner of London 09 May 1681
PROB 11/404/391 Will of John Turner, Merchant of City of Dantzig 15 May 1691
PROB 11/421/409 Will of John Turner, Merchant of London 05 October 1694
PROB 11/433/432 Will of Abraham Dawes, Merchant trading in the Levant Seas of Stepney, Middlesex 20 August 1696 SEE: Ancestry digital image
Possible secondary sources
- ↑ John Camden Hotten (ed.), The little London directory of 1677 (London, 1863), no pagination, viewed 14/01/14
- ↑ John Lockie, Topography of London: Giving a Concise Local Description Of, and Accurate Direction To, Every Square, Street, Lane, Court, Dock, Wharf, Inn, Public Office, &c. in the Metropolis and Its Environs (London, 1810), no pagination, viewed 14/01/14
- ↑ HCA 13/72 f.202v
- ↑ The only other PRC will made by a John Turner, identified in the PRC metadata as a merchant between 1657 and 1700, is that of John Turner, merchant of Danzig. Inspection of the digital image of this will shows that it concerns a merchant with strong Scottish, rather than London, connections: Ancestry Digital Image: PROB 11/404/391 Will of John Turner, Merchant of City of Dantzig 15 May 1691
- ↑ G.F.Steckley (ed.), 'Introduction', The letters of John Paige, London merchant, 1648-58: London Record Society 21 (1984), pp. IX-XXXIX, viewed 14/01/14
- ↑ For example, C. 110/151, J. Turner to R. Wilson, Sr and M. Bradgate, 25 Feb. 1646. SEE fn. 1, G.F. Steckley (ed.), 'Letters: 1655', The letters of John Paige, London merchant, 1648-58: London Record Society 21 (1984), pp. 119-137 viewed 14/01/14
- ↑ Thomas Birch (ed.), 'State Papers, 1655: September (3 of 4)', A collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe, volume 4: Sept 1655 - May 1656 (1742), pp. 31-47, viewed 14/01/14
- ↑ HCA 13/72 f.6v
- ↑ HCA 13/72 f.7v
- ↑ Deposition of Captaine Lawrence Browning of Ratcliffe in the parish of Stepney, Mariner Master or Comander of the ship the ffrancis and John, aged 52 years, HCA 13/73 f.16v
- ↑ ADD REFERENCES
- ↑ Marriage allegations in the registry of the vicar-general of the Archbishop of Canterbury (XXX, XXXX), p.28, viewed 14/01/14
- ↑ Peter Wilson Coldham, The complete book of emigrats: 1607-1660 (XXX, 1987), p.473, viewed 15/01/14
- ↑ Christopher Edgar Challis (ed.), A New History of the Royal Mint (Cambridge, 1992), p.372, viewed 14/01/14
- ↑ Metadata, Early English Books Online, viewed 14/01/14
- ↑ Metadata, Early English Books Online, viewed 14/01/14
- ↑ PROB 11/1032/91 Will of Henry Harrison of New Street without Bishopsgate , City of London 06 June 1777
- ↑ John Camden Hotten (ed.), The little London directory of 1677 (London, 1863), no pagination, viewed 14/01/14
