The
Will of Richard Chambre
Proved
February 1532, Swaffham Prior
Consistory
Court of Ely
Return
to Swaffham Prior Wills
VC
7:119, Microfilm in Cambridge County Record Office
In
fifth day of February in the year of our Lord God 1532 I Richard Chambre of
Swaffham Prior of St. Maryes parish in the diocese of Ely of a solid mind and
perfect memory make this my last will and testament in manner and form
following. First I bequeath my soul to Almighty God my creator and to all the
company in heaven my body to buried in the church yard of St Marye aforesaid.
ITEM I bequeath to the olter in ? ? of my tythes(?) and oblations XId ITEM I
bequeath to John my son XXd ITEM To Agnes my daughter XXd ITEM to Margery my
mother-in-law IIIIs IIIId. The [remainder] of my goods I give and beqeath to
Maryon my wife and I will she fulfill my legacyes pay my debt and ? my ?in good
deeds of ? and she shall ? ? This my ? made before Doyle ? of St Coris John
Manninge and Willm Gallis.
PROBATUM
- Proved 20th February 1532
Beyond
the obvious listed family relationships, this will actually has little to say
about its author. With have little further knowledge regarding Richard's family
although it is likely that his son John does turn up in further property records
and that he had a son named Matthew.
Although
not badly written, there are still a number of words which have eluded
transcription. I expect that these will be resolved with further study and the
use of a good dictionary.
The
John Manning listed in the witnesses came from another established Swaffham
Prior farming family although their presence in the parish only seems to stem
from the mid-15th century. There was much intermarriage between the Chambers and
the Mannings and it is by no means unlikely that Richard's mother-in-law Margery
was a Manning but there is no evidence to back this up.
Richard
himself is likely to have been the son of John
Chambye whose 1486 mentions a younger son Richard. If so, then Richard is
liable to have been born sometime in the 1470s; his mother would have been
Johanna and he would have held an elder brother John and a sister Margaret.
paulmchambers@paulmchambers.co.uk