In the Will of Agnes WHITE a widow, she makes bequests to five of her surviving children these being Ambrose, John, Elizabeth, Elynor, and Agnes. This looks like being their order of birth. She also makes bequests to 2 children of her son Ambrose, being Elizabeth and Lawrence.

Agnes leaves a total of 9 acres of land distributed between her children which are all situated in Fordington Fields situated close to well known landmarks ⁽¹⁾ of the time. Her son Ambrose WHITE was probably the eldest being appointed executor and first mentioned beneficiary under her will. His spinster sister Elynor WHITE wrote her own Will on 7th April 1576 and refers to her siblings Ambrose, John and Agnes. Her will pre-dates the legacy made here by her mother in her will dated 8th May 1576 when Elynor was presumably still alive. Elynor's Will is proved on the same day as her mother's so they died between the 8th and 21st May.

In the name of God Amen the 8th day of May Anno Dmi [Domini] 1576, I Agnes WHITE of Fordington, in the County of Dorset widow do make my last Will and Testament in manner and form following:

First: I give & bequeath my soul into the hands Almighty God my creator and redeemer & my body to be buried within the churchyard of the parish of Fordington aforesaid.

Item: I give unto my son Ambrose WHITE one acre of wheat lying at the west end of Long Barrow Waye ⁽¹⁾. Also I give unto the said Ambrose the one half of acre of barley that lies at Collyns [Collins] Stone.

Item: I give unto the same Ambrose all such iron as I have belonging to the plough.

Item: I give unto my son John WHITE one acre of wheat lying in [blank space - Fonnse? in draft image below] the half acre of barley with Ambrose [i.e. the other half of an acre at Collyns Stone]. Also I give unto my son John one pair of iron trayses [tresses]

Item: I give unto my daughter Elizabeth one acre of wheat which doth sit out against Long Barrow ⁽¹⁾ & half of the acre of barley that lies west of Two Barrows.

Item: I give Elyne my daughter one acre and a half of wheat lying by East Gowel? stone ⁽²⁾ and the other half of the acre of barley with Elizabeth [i.e. at Long Barrow]

Item: I give unto Agnes my daughter one acre of wheat lying at Rops? Style? and half an acre of barley upon Shylnes?

Item: I give unto Laurence [Lawrence] WHITE the son of Ambrose WHITE one acre of wheat lying at Mambury

Item: I give unto the poor people of Fordington 20 pence.

Item: to the poor House of Madlen? at Borpott? ⁽³⁾ 12 pence

Item: to the poor of Chedyocke [Chideock] 20 pence

Item: My will is that the closes called lyme? and brocke land? [Brookland?] parcels of my lands in the pish [parish] of Chideock shall be deployed to this use following that is to say three years to be in the tenure and occupation of one Richard COLSOE? , and five years following to be employed to this use following that is to say to pay unto my daughter Elizabeth 40 shillings and to my daughter Elyner [Eleanor] £3 and to my daughter Agnes 40 shillings and to my son John 40 shillings And to my Elizabeth WHITE the daughter of Ambrose WHITE 20 shillings.

My Debts legacies paid the rest of my goods movable and unmovable my debts and legacies paid I give and bequeath unto Ambrose WHITE my son whom I do make my executor of this my last Will and Testament. Also I do ordain to be Overseers of this my last Will and Testament Ambrose //

HUNT and Thomas WINSOR Senior. Witnesses Thomas TAPP Clerke [curate of St Georges Church]; Ambrose HUNT; Thomas WINSOR Senior; and Richard COLSOE

PROBATE of this written testament of Agnes WHITE deceased of the parish of Fordington in the peculiar of the Dean of Sarum ---- 21st day of May Anno Domini 1576

An earlier Draft of the Will with Inventory

Genealogical Notes:-

(1). Regarding Barrows : Extract from an article by Jo Draper published 14th July 2014 in Dorset Life regarding the origin of Borough Boundaries. "Fordington still had open fields, as in medieval times, with no fixed boundaries. The ‘series of remarkable objects’ were mostly barrows, often used in Saxon times to fix parish boundaries, but rarely needed in the 19th century when almost all the open fields had been enclosed and cut up into farms. Even in 1857, Fordington’s open fields had not been enclosed. The southern boundary headed west from Max Gate for Two Barrows, nipped to Maumbury Rings, and then angled north to Laurence Barrow. The only one of these markers to survive the expansion of the town is Conquer Barrow at Mount Pleasant, on the eastern boundary". The location of Two Barrows in Fordington fields can be clearly seen at the foot of the 1886 OS Map of Fordington.

(2) There are two versions of this Will with place names appearing slightly differently in the original. This is probably a reference to Gaol Lane which changed its name several times. It originally came from the old gaol and High East St right down into Fordington Fields, possibly to a boundary stone. In the 1771 Map for example it is referred to as Jail St and then Gallows Hill and in the 1886 Map as Bell St and Icen Way down to Fordington House and by then King Street.

(3) Some caution needs to be exercised over the transcription of some of these place names as the text is not clear. This might be a reference to 'the House of Mawdling Bridport' as the next bequests are to nearby Chideock where she held lands and there is a will of a John HODDER probate 15 May 1587 Yeoman of Chideock which gives a bequest to "the poor people in the House of Mawdling"

(4) Agnes WHITE (d.1576) In her above Will she names five children Ambrose, John, Elizabeth, Eleanor, and Agnes. I think that from all the evidence available it seems highly lightly that Agnes also had an elder son Robert WHITE (d.1576) who had already inherited part of her husbands estate (including fields of wheat and barley close to hers) and had a family of 4 children living in January 1576 when he died. This was 4 months before Agnes and her daughter Eleanor died in May 1576, and as he had already died is not mentioned in her will.. When Agnes died Roberts Will had still not been probated and I think this was because they are all one family and more concerned with spring planting and helping Robert's son John cope with his new responsibility in running the farm with his younger brother William who inherits part of it and looking after his under age sisters. If Robert died of one of the infectious diseases present during the 16th Century Agnes and Eleanor may well have caught it from him. Their Wills are both probated on the 21st May and Roberts Will on the 22nd May after the Court is happy with the bond and sponsors put forward by his son John.