In the Name of God Amen: The Ninth Day of December in the 11th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord James, by the grace of God King of England France and Ireland and [King James VI] of Scotland defender of the faith 1613: ⁽¹⁾

I Thomas DAVIDGE of Dorchester ⁽²⁾ in the County of Dorset merchant being sick and weak of body, but of good and prefect memory thanks be given unto Almighty God, therefore I do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament in writing in the following manner:

In the First Place I give and bequeath my soul unto Almighty God my maker and redeemer And my body to be buried in the church of St Peters in Dorchester aforesaid,

Item: I give to the poor people of the town of Dorchester aforesaid ten shillings, And to the poor people of Bridport ten shillings,

Item: I give and bequeath unto my daughter Alice one hundred pounds for her lively hood and maintenance during her life And after her decease my will is that fourscore and ten pounds thereof shall remain to such of my children as shall then be living, to be equally divided amongst them and that my nephew Thomas DAVAGE shall then have the ten pounds residue thereof,

Item: I give unto my son Richard DAVAGE one hundred marks And I give unto my daughter Sara one hundred marks And more I give unto my daughter Johane one hundred marks,

Item: I give unto my wife's brother Gilles GREEN in token of my love unto him my large gelding, saddle and bridle,

Item: I give unto my nephew Richard DAVIDGE my cloak trimmed with lace which my Brother Richard DAVIDGE gave to me by his last will,

More I give unto my nephew Thomas DAVIDGE one gold ring with a red and blue stone, engraved with the heart in prose,

Item: I give unto my uncle Thomas BYSHOPP my best cloak,

And I give unto Richard PENNY Servant unto my father-in-law John GREENE five marks in money, my cloak with blue buttons, my jerkin and breeches that I had last made for me, my best doublet and worsted breeches, my best hat, two shirts, four bands, and all my stockings and shoes,

Item: I give unto my kinswoman Edith TIGGINS, now my servant, five pounds which is owing unto me from her mother Elizabeth TIGGINS widow,

Item: my will is that my wife Sara shall, after my decease, have, hold and enjoy my burgage and house with the appurtenances wherein I now dwell in Dorchester, and my houses and burgages with their appurtenances in Bridport in the said County of Dorset, for so long a time as she shall keep her self sole and unmarried,

And after such time as my said wife shall happen after my decease to marry adjoin or die, then my will is that from and after such of the said days or times as shall after my decease first happen to come to passe the same burgages and houses with their appurtenances and all other my lands in Dorchester and Bridport aforesaid, or elsewhere in England, shall remain and come, and I give the same to my son Richard DAVAGE and to the issue of his body lawfully begotten and to be begotten,

And for want of such issue the remainder thereof to my said two daughters Sara and Johane and to the issues of either of their two bodies lawfully begotten and to be begotten And for want of issue of either or any of their two bodies lawfully begotten, the remainder thereof to my said nephew Thomas DAVAGE and the issue male of his body lawfully begotten and to be begotten

And for want of first issue male, the remainder thereof to my said Nephew Richard DAVIDGE and to the issue of his body lawfully begotten and to be begotten.

And for want of such issue the remainder thereof to my right heirs for ever,

Item: I give unto Henry BANDALL my sisters son the featherbed which was my mothers,

And I give unto my aunt Elizabeth TIGGENS twenty shillings

And unto my aunt Marie HODDER twenty shillings.

Item: I give unto my kinsman Elliott JOHNSON of Dorchester aforesaid one gold ring with a posie marked with the letter ' T ' and ' D ' and I heartedly pray that my wife faithfully deliver the same ring to him within one month after my decease,

Item: I give unto my sister Johane in token of my good will toward her fifteen shillings to make her a ring,

Item: I give unto Mr Humfrey BUYSHOP and unto John ELRINGTON fifteen shillings a piece to buy each of them a ring,

Item: I give unto my little cousin Gilles HARDEY son of John HARDEY of Dorchester aforesaid ten shillings to buy him a silver spoon,

All the residue of my goods and chattels whatsoever, both moveable and unmovable, my debts paid and funeral discharged and legacies likewise, I give and bequeath unto my said wife Sara whom I make my sole executrix of this my last will and testament.

And I make and ordain my beloved uncles Humphrey BYSHOP and Thomas BYSHOP ,and likewise my good friends John ELRINGTON and Giles GREENE, all four of them my overseers of this my last will and testament whom I do heartedly pray and desire to see this my will to be instantly and faithfully fulfilled in all points according to my true intent and meaning hereof,

In Witness I have hereunto subscribed my name and set to my seal the day and year first above written in the presence of Edmond DASHWOOD, John HARDEY of Dorchester and John HARDEY the younger of Beaminster and Elliott JOHNSON which likewise have hereunto subscribed there names as witnesses, which likewise do witness that these words within written (and tenet) were interlined before then sealing hereof T: me Jo: HARDEY Senior Tho: DAVIDGE, Witnesses Edmund DASHWOOD, Elliot JOHNSON, John HARDEY Junior.

This testament was approved at London before the venerable Johanne Benet Doctor of Law at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on 23rd February in the year of Our Lord 1614 --to Sara DAVIDGE relict and executrix appointed in the testament.

Genealogical Notes:-

(1). The 11th regnal year of James I started on 24th March 1602/3 and ran to 23 Mar 1603/4.
(2). His pedigree is given in the Visitation of Kent 1663/8 (page 46) completed by his son Richard DAVIDGE mentioned in this will and who by that date was living in Greenwich. The Pedigree shows Thomas's father to have been Thomas DAVIDGE of Bridport. The widow of this Thomas DAVIDGE was Sarah (the daughter of John Green - this link is to his will dated 1613) and after her husbands demise she remarried to John Hill (1589-1657) of Dorchester - See Dorset Visitation of 1623 -page 55 - The pedigree of William Hill of Poundsford in Somerset.
(3). The Giles Green referred to as the brother of his wife Sarah was an Investor in the Dorchester Company and is recorded in the biographical notes attached to William Whiteways diary.