This is the last Will and testament of me William Pitt of Dorchester in the County of Dorset gent made and published this twenty sixth day of June in the yeare of our Lord One thousand six hundred Eighty Five .

I Commend my soule into the hands of Almighty God trusting and believing by and through the merits death and passion of Jesus Christ my only saviour and Redeemer to have full and free pardon of all my sins and to enjoy enternall happiness.

My body I commit to the earth to be decently buryed in expectation of a glorious resurrection And as for and concerning my worldly estate which God hath been pleased of his goodness to bestow upon me I dispose thereof in manner following that is to say

Impremis: I give to my dearly beloved Wife one thousand pounds.

Item: I give to my daughter CHAPELL, one hundred pounds to be paid her in three months after my decease.

Item: I will that my executrix shall pay to my Overseers, or such of them as will accept the trust, five hundred nobles within six months after my decease and five hundred nobles more within twelve months next after my decease and five hundred nobles more within eighteen months after my decease which I desire may be put out at interest in their names or the names of such of them as will accept of the trust. And I will that the interest therof shall be paid to my Daughter DEANE during the life of her husband for her separate use and a receipt by her under her hands shall be a sufficient discharge for the same and in case she shall outlive her husband Then the principall and interest to be paid to her and if she shall dye lieving her husband that the principall and so much of the interest as shall be unpaid to her shall be disposed of for the benefit of such of her children as she shall appoint And for want of such appointment Then for the benefit of such child or children of hers as she shall leave equally to be divided betweene them Provided always, and my will is, if my said daughter shall by any instrumentin writing under her hand subscribed in the presence of foure or more credible witnesses appoint or authorise my said Overseers or either of them to pay all or any parte of the principall money before her death to or for the benefit of any her child or children or to any such use that my said Overseers or such of them as shall accept of the said trust shall pay the same accordingly and shall be discharged of soe much thereof as they shall pay by such her appointment And that they now either of them shall not suffer by the insolvency of any person to whom they shall dispose of the same at interest nor be answerable one for the acts or defaults of the other and that they shall allow themselves all such costs and charges as they shall be att or putt unto in the execution of the said trust.

Item: I give unto my daughter GOULD foure hundred poundes to be paid by three equall payments, that is to say Four hundred nobles within six months after my decease, foure hundred nobles more within twelve months and four hundred more within eighteen months after my decease.

Item: I give unto my Grandsonne William CHAPPELL four hundred pounds to be paid within two years after my decease which I will shall disposed of by my Overseers either at interest or otherwise for his benefit as they shall think fit and their receipt for the same shall be a discharge to my executrix.

Item: I give to the towne of Blandford the place of my Nativity, fifty pounds to be paid within two yeares after my decease to the Bayliffe and his Brethren to be put out at interest or laid out in land and that the yearly income therof shall be disposed of for the putting out yearly at Easter one poore child of that Towne as apprenctice. And my desire is that every yeare at Easter another poore child be pitched [picked] on to be bound out the next yeare and that if the parents caim of that the towne will raise such child to be taught to write and read if it be a boy if a girl to read sew or spin.

Item: I give to the Towne of Dorchester fifty pounds to be paid in two years after my decease to the Mayor and Capitall Bugasses of the said Towne to be put out at interest or paid out in lands and that the yearly income thereof shall be disposed for the putting out yearly at Easter one poore child of the parishes of the said Towne an Apprentice.And my desire is that every yeare at Easter another poore child be pitched [picked] upon to be bound out the next yeare and that if his parents cannot, that the parish out of which the child is chose[n] the Overseers of such parish will cause such child to be taught to write and read if it be a boy if a girl to read sew knit or spin.

Item: I give to my three grandchildren, John CHAPPELL David and Jane DEANE each of them five pounds apiece to be paid in a yeare.

Item: I give to my old servant Elizabeth MANING twenty shillings And to the servant that liveth with me at time of my decease tenne shillings over and above her wages.

Item: I give twenty shillings to each of the parishes of Dorchester to be distributed to the poore And of this my last Will I make my loveing wife executrix and doe desire my Brother Mr Rober PITT my kinsman Mr James GOULD and my sonne in law Mr George GOULD to be Overseers of this my Will and to each of them do give twenty shillings apiece for a Ring.

Will: Pitt. Signed sealed and published in the presence us Joseph PRIDE, Daniel ARDEN, William HAYWARD

Whereas I have in this my Will written on the other side given fifty poundes to the towne of Dorchester for the putting out of a poore child yearly, I doe hereby revoke the saide legacie and Will that the same be null and void Witness my hand this seaventh day of May One thousand six hundred eighty one Will: Pitt. signed in the presence of us William Hayward Jos Pride Daniel Arden

Probate of this written Testament with Codicil was granted at London before Richard Caines White Doctor of Law and keeper of Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on 10th day in the month of February in the year of our Lord 1687 to Jane Pitt relict of the deceased and executrix to duly administer etc. There is a side lined note against this will dated 4th day of June 1692 which refers to Maria GOULD rest indistinct

Genealogical Notes:-

(1) William PITTS pedigree is given in the 1677 Visitation of Dorset showing that his grandparents were John PITT of Blandford & Joane the daughter of Richard Swayne of Tarrent Gunville - his parents were Thomas PITT of Blandford & Priscilla SEARLE of Hayle in Devon. He was Govenor of the Co of Freemen in Dorchester in 1655; elected a Capital Burgess of Dorchester on 14th April 1662 and an Alderman on 22nd Jan 1672/3. He was Mayor in 1667, the same year he was appointed Overseer of his friend Richard Davidge's Will. He was elected Mayor for 2nd time in 1684. William's widow Jane PITT was buried in All Saints on 6th Feb 1690/1.

(2) His brother John PITT (1611 - died 25 Apr 1672) is recorded in the Oxford Alumni as another son of Thomas of Blandford and that he matriculated at Trinity College Oxford on 20th June 1628 aged 17. BA 22nd Nov 1631; MA from Hart Hall 11th June 1634; incorporated at Cambridge 1640, Rector of Blandford St Mary in Dorset 1641 until sequestered by the Westminster Assembly of Divines in 1645; Ancestor of Lord Chatham. He married Sarah the daughter of John JAY of Witchampton in Dorset.

(3) William's daughter Priscilla Pitt (a beneficiary in his will) married Mr John CHAPPEL at St Peters Church in Dorchester on 18th Aug 1674.

(4) William's daughter Mary Pitt of Dorchester (a beneficiary in his will) married George GOULD of Dorchester at Blandford St Marys 30th May 1678. The marriage was also solemnized at St Peters Church in Dorchester on the same day.]

(5) Note: A Jane PITT married a Thomas DEAN at West Stafford 27th Apr 1675 which might be his third daughter but marriage gives no indication as to whether she came from Dorchester but West Stafford only situated 2 miles east of Dorchester so likely. Also has a granddaughter called Jane Dean.