Will of Revd Jeremiah Grice of Hutton Rudby, May 1820

From my research notes - in case it is of use or interest to anybody else.  I think it's all accurate, but obviously I can't guarantee accuracy. 

Jeremiah Grice was the vicar of Hutton Rudby from 1781 until his death in 1820.  His Will can be found at the Borthwick Institute, York.  I will begin with a summary of the contents, go on with a transcription and finish with notes on it.

Grice was the last vicar to be buried within the altar rails of Hutton Rudby church.

One of the witnesses to his Will was Thomas Pulman, the surgeon who died in the cholera outbreak of 1832.

Jeremiah Grice:  Will dated 1 May 1820, died 13 May 1820, age 71

Summary

Executrix:  Elizabeth Nelson of Halifax.  Household contents in his dwellinghouse in the township of Hutton to Mary Baillieur.  The house and lands at Trenholme, occupied by Richard Simpson, to Mary Baillieur for life and on her death as she shall appoint.  The house and lands in the township of Hutton lately bought from Matthew Appleton to Robert & Elizabeth Baillieur for life, subject to an annuity of £10 p.a. to Elizabeth Nelson, and on their deaths to Elizabeth Nelson.  All property in Halifax, and his ready money, to Elizabeth Nelson.

This is the last Will and Testament of me Jeremiah Grice of the Township of Hutton in the Parish of Rudby in Cleveland in the County of York Clerk made the first Day of May in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight hundred and twenty

I Give to Mary Baillieur Daughter of Robert Baillieur of the Township of Hutton aforesaid Yeoman All my Household Goods Plate China Linen and Furniture whatsoever which shall be standing and being in my present Dwellinghouse in the Township of Hutton aforesaid at the time of my decease to be delivered to her immediately after my death notwithstanding Infancy  

and I Give and Devise all my Messuage or Dwellinghouse Stable Orchard and Garths or Parcels of Ground Situate or being at Trenholme in Cleveland aforesaid now in the Occupation of Richard Simpson with the rights and Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto and to the use of the said Mary Baillieur and her Assigns for and during the Term of her natural life and from and after her decease I Give and Devise the same premises unto such person or persons And for such Estate and Estates and in such proportions manner and form as she the said Mary Baillieur shall notwithstanding her Coverture by her last Will and Testament in Writing or any Writing purporting or in the nature of her last Will to be by her signed and published in the presence of three or more credible Witnesses shall direct or appoint 

And I Give and Devise all my messuage or Dwellinghouse Lands and Hereditaments in the Township of Hutton aforesaid which I lately purchased of Mr Matthew Appleton with the rights and appurtenances thereunto belonging unto and to the use of the said Robert Baillieur and Elizabeth his Wife and their Assigns during their joint lives and the life of the survivor of them  

Subject nevertheless to and Charged and chargeable with the payment of the Annuity or Yearly sum of Ten Pounds to my Sister Elizabeth Nelson her heirs and assigns during the joint lives and the life of the Survivor of them the said Robert Baillieur and Elizabeth his Wife free from Taxes and clear of all other deductions whatsoever by equal half yearly payments from the time of my decease and from and after the decease of the Survivor of them the said Robert Baillieur and Elizabeth his Wife  

I Give and Devise the same premises unto and to the use of my said sister Elizabeth Nelson her Heirs and Assigns for ever 

And I Give and Devise all my Messuages Tenements and Hereditaments situate or being at Halifax in the said County with the rights and appurtenances to the same belonging
And all other my Real Estate not hereinbefore devised unto and to the use of my said Sister Elizabeth Nelson her Heirs and Assigns for ever 

And I Give all my Ready Money and Money upon Securities and all other my Personal Estate of what nature soever not hereinbefore specifically disposed of unto my said Sister Elizabeth Nelson her Executors Administrators and Assigns Subject to the payment of my funeral and Testamentary Expences and the Debts which I shall owe at the time of my decease  

And I declare and direct that my said Sister Elizabeth Nelson her Heirs and Assigns shall and may have such Power of Entry and Distress upon my said Messuage or Dwellinghouse Lands and Hereditaments in the Township of Hutton aforesaid for the recovery of the said Annuity or yearly sum of Ten Pounds as Landlords have for the Recovery of their Rents when due and in arrear 

And I Appoint my said Sister Elizabeth Nelson Sole Executrix of this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all my former Wills 

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the Day and Year first within written
Jerem: Grice

The Writing contained in this and the preceding Page was Signed and Sealed by Jeremiah Grice of the Township of Hutton in the Parish of Rudby in Cleveland in the County of York Clerk and by him published and Declared as and for his Last Will and Testament in the presence of us who as Witnesses thereof have hereunto subscribed our names in his presence at his request and in the presence of each other

    The mark of
Elizabeth  X Atkinson
Thos C Pulman
Jno Appleton

I do hereby certify that on the second day of January in the year of our Lord 1821 Elizabeth Nelson of Huddersfield in the County of York, Widow, the Sister, sole Executrix named in this the last Will and Testament of The Reverend Jeremiah Grice late of the Township of Hutton in the Parish of Rudby in Cleveland in the Province of York, Clerk, deceased, was sworn well and truly to execute and perform the same; and that the whole of the goods, chattels, and credits of the said deceased within the Province of York, do not amount in value to the sum of one hundred pounds.
Witness my hand,
Robert Wilkinson, Surrogate
Sworn under £100
Prerogative
Died 13th May 1820
Pass’d 20th January 1821 under 100 l

Notes:

Jeremiah Grice was born in Halifax.  According to Clergymen of Cleveland: All Saints', Hutton Rudby by Alan & Josephine Marchant, he was the son of John Grice.  The IGI gives his father’s name as Henry Grice, and Jeremiah’s date of baptism as 2 Apr 1749, and his sister Elizabeth’s baptism as taking place on 30 Apr 1747.  His degree was from Cambridge.

He was the last vicar to be buried within the altar rails.

In 1819 Mr Grice bought a house and six closes, part of a farm called Hutton Moor or Hutton Fields, from Matthew Appleton, who at the same time sold nine fields of the farm to augment the vicarage of Hutton Rudby.

EK 48 [NYCRO, Northallerton Deeds Registry]: Lease and Release dated 18 & 19 Jun 1819

Matthew Appleton the elder of Hutton gentleman (1) Jeremiah Grice clerk (2)
•    all that messuage dwellinghouse or tenement with the barn stable and other outbuildings thereto and being contiguous
•    and all those several closes:  Homestead (1a 1r 19p); a close adjoining it on the west (4a 3r 36p); Cow Pasture (6a 2r 18p); Oxgang (5a 2r 26p) (one rood part thereof being Tithe free); one narrow stripe of land adjoining Oxgang to west (2r 11p); Bent Hill (5a 9p) (3 roods thereof being Tithe free); Little Bent Hill (1a 2r)
the said closes adjoin upon each other and are bounded on N by land lately conveyed by sd Matthew Appleton for augmenting the vicarage of Hutton Rudby – on E by lane leading to Hutton – on S by lands belonging to curacies of Middleton and East Rounton – to W by a certain Ditch called Trenholm Stell and the said lands lately conveyed by Matthew Appleton for augmenting the vicarage of Hutton Rudby
•    and are part of a farm lately called Hutton Moor House or Field Farm heretofore the estate of Matthew Appleton father of sd Matthew Appleton and occupied by sd Matthew Appleton

[with plan on original deed] 

Part of the farm – two fields and a brick house – was bought to augment the curacy of Middleton, and fields here were also bought for the curacy of East Rounton.  In due course the brick house became known as White House Farm.

The Balier family
 
Jeremiah Grice married “Robert Balier of the parish of Rudby and the chapelry of East Rounton in the said parish” on 7 Apr 1806 at East Rounton by licence to Elizabeth Passman of Rudby parish.  Elizabeth signed the register with her mark, Robert with his name.  Their witnesses were Wm Wood, Matthew Appleton, Eliza Kay, and Hary Passman. [Parish Registers]
Their daughter Mary was born and baptised on 14 Mar 1807.  Elizabeth was born and baptised on 21 Oct 1809, Ann on 19 Jul 1812. Helen was baptised on 26 Oct 1816, and Charles on 11 Nov 1821. [PRs]  In the case of Mary, Elizabeth and Ann, Mr Grice noted their dates of birth – he baptised them the day they were born. [PRs]

A baptism entry for Elizabeth Passman cannot be found in Hutton Rudby’s register.  There were Passman families, mainly in Sexhow, during the C18.  A John Passman, labourer of Rudby parish, married Arabella Cust of Rudby parish at East Rounton on 31 Aug 1806; witnesses Wm Passman, Michael Reed and William Hildreth. [PRs]

It is not clear how many Baillieurs lived in Hutton Rudby.  An Elizabeth Baillieur, who may have been his wife, was described as being of Trenholme on her death aged 45 in June 1827, and Eleanor Balljeur was of Sexhow at her death in Feb 1828 at the age of 11.

No other Bailleurs appear in this area, but a Robert Balier is baptised on 13 Dec 1818 at Ebberston in the Vale of Pickering to Thomas & Jane.
 
Mary Bailleur was 13 when she inherited the contents of Mr Grice’s “Dwellinghouse in the Township of Hutton”, and a life interest in his house and lands at Trenholme, which were occupied by Richard Simpson and were to pass on her death according to her Will.  Her parents inherited life interests in the house and lands at Hutton Moor or Hutton Field farm, which Mr Grice had recently bought from Matthew Appleton, subject to an annuity to his sister, who inherited after their death.  She inherited his property in Halifax and any other property he held, and also his personalty.

Robert Bailleur was a farmer, sometimes described as a yeoman.  In 1818 he bought a house and a small piece of land behind it on East Side; Jeremiah Grice acted as his mortgagee.  In 1821, when his son Charles was baptised, Robert was described of “Moor Farm, Hutton” but in March 1825 at the baptism of John Rymer his parents were described as of “Hutton Moore House”, which suggests that the Baillieurs had moved on.  When Robert sold the East Side house in 1830 he had already left Hutton and moved to Yarm.  He seems to have had complicated financial dealings, and to have taken out several loans and mortgages.

An Indenture of Mortgage dated 22 Feb 1828 [NRDeeds Regy] between Robert Baillieur and Robert Nelson Wilson, shows that by 1828 Baillieur had left Yarm and was now an innkeeper in the Castle of York area.  He mortgaged:

•    all that messuage dwellinghouse or tenement with orchard garth stable barn outbuildings hereditaments in Hutton field in the parish of Hutton [sic]
now occupied by Richard Rymer
•    5 several closes adjoining the said dwellinghouse at Hutton field containing in the whole 26a and called Cow Pasture, little Benthill, Great Benthill, Barnfield, and Buckfield
adjoining land occupied by Richard Shepherd to North and south – by John Rickarby on East – by lands now occupied by Christopher Oxendale on West
and also all the estate right title and interest of said Robert Baillieur under the Will of Jeremiah Grice.

By the time of the Tithe Map, Cow Pasture (no 420), Little Benthill (no 419), Great Benthill (no 418), Barnfield (no 426) and Buckfield are owned and occupied, amongst several others, by John Harker.

Hutton Moor

It is clear that there was an area of the village known as Hutton Moor, but its extent is not entirely clear.  Indentures of Lease and Release dated 12 & 13 Sep 1823 (Sidgwick & others to Sidgwick & Trees) shows that a four acre close in Hutton Moor was bounded by the Hutton to Rounton road to the north, and it seems to lie in the area to the east of Belle Vue farm.  It seems likely that this south eastern corner of the parish, in which there are a number of small fields owned by small freeholders was called Hutton Moor.

The parish in Grice's time as vicar

The list of churchwardens in Grice’s time shows a long list of names of the principal inhabitants of the time.  Many of these names are not found after 1820 – Nodding, Galilee, Lamb, Gowland, Kelsey, Appleton, Morrell, Humble, Story, Muster etc.

Further points of interest

•    he had “my present dwellinghouse” in Hutton, the contents of which he left to Mary.  This is probably the house at Hutton Moor/Field, but if so, where was he living before 1819?

•    he had a house and land at Trenholm, also left to Mary

•    he had bought a house in Hutton from Matthew Appleton, probably the same house at Hutton Moor/Field, the contents of which were left to Mary.  Matthew Appleton married Ann Robinson on 21 July 1810 at East Rounton; witnesses, Ann Scarlet, Wm Elders, Robt Story and Jacob Allison.  Matthew Appleton of Carlton was buried 25 Dec 1822 aged 92.  Thomas Appleton of Carlton was buried 20 Jun 1849.  This house he left to Robert & Elizabeth for life

•    Parsons Lane/Parsons Back Lane and the tradition of the vicar living there probably dates from this time

•    John Appleton witnessed his Will – he had been a churchwarden

•    the doctor, Thomas C Pulman, witnessed his Will 

•    Elizabeth Atkinson, who signed with her mark, was perhaps a servant, or looked after Mr Grice

•    it is not clear as yet what happened to the Bailleur family