Will of Charlotte Senior, Bath, Somerset

Charlotte Senior of 4 Brook St, Bath, being unwell, draws up a provisional note of her wishes pending the preparation of a more formal will. She leaves #20 to her nephew Revd John Raven Senior. She asks to be buried in Bath Abbey in a lead coffin, but with minimal ceremony, and wants Charles Foreman to act as undertaker if he so wishes. Apart from minor bequests to her daughter-in-law Helen Anstey, wife of John Anstey, her grandson Francis Fuller, her granddaughter Emily Fuller, and her servants, she divides her property between her daughter Nevillia Thomas, wife of Major-General William Thomas, and her granddaughter Charlotte Fuller, daughter of her late daughter Charlotte Maria Fuller and Major-General Francis Fuller. She implies that John Raven Senior is to be executor and asks that he set her papers in order if she does not recover to attend to them herself. Only personal property is mentioned and it appears that she lives in rented accommodation and has no land to bequeath. A codicil dated six months later states that her health has not improved and she hopes that 'this paper will answer all purposes and that there will be no disputes'. With codicil dated 19 June 1811, authentication of her will after her decease by Lucy Jekyll and Joseph Brooks, both of Bath, dated 28 Nov 1811, fair copies for probate, which was granted in the prerogative court of Canterbury, 10 Dec 1811, sealed, duty stamps.

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Presented by E.A.B. Barnard, F.S.A., November 1931

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.