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Reference Number705:134 BA1531/76/35
Hierarchy Browser NumberP1531/1/76/35
TitleContemporary copy of the will of Simon Hanley
DescriptionTranscription: In nomine patris altissimi et filii misericordissimi et spiritus sancti gratissimi omnia consequenter comparantur in bona. Amen. [In the name of the most high Father and the most merciful Son and the most gracious Holy Spirit all is consequently ordered for the best]. I, Symond' Hanley, beyng in my ryght mynde dyspose and ordeyne with my hoole entent that my lyfelode in Sokeley [Suckley] and Lollesley [Lulsley] hoolly aftyr my desess remayne un to Kateryn my wyfe duryng the terme of hyr [life] only, and aftyr the dyssese of the seyd Kateryn to remayne holy un to John Hanley my son and to the eyres of ys body lawfely begeten, and in defaut of eyres of the seyd John lawfely geten I wyl that the seyd lyfelode of Sokeley and Lollesley hoolly remayne un to Margaret my dowghter and to the eyres of hyr body lawfely geten, and in defaut of eyres of the seyd Margaret lawfely geten I wyl that the hoole seyd lyfelode of Sokeley and Lollesley remayne un to the next kynde of me seyd Symond' Hanley. Moreover I wyl that my sessers John Ruddyg, William Frewyn and Rychard Barne aftyr my dyssese delyver un to my wyfe Kateryn my place in Le Chyrchend' wyth all ys a portynance to have and to hold duryng hyr lyfe tyme only onswarying lord and kyng as longeth un to that tenement, and aftyr the dyssese of my seyd wyfe Kateryn I wyl that my seyd sessers ordeyne the seyd howse with ys hole a portynance un to the prest that syngeth or schall syng in the chapell of Seynt Clementin the chyrche of Hanley for to pray specyesaly for me and my wyfes [souls] with all my predessesers and successores and for all crysten sowles; and yf yt so befall that there be no prest syngyng in the seyd chapell I wyll that the seyd sessers have power to make what other . . . duryng all wey and so dyspose the rent and valour that they [shall] make yerely of the seyd place and tenement in Le Chyrchent' as is most best for my sowle in the [manner] afore rehersyd, as they schal onsware afore the hey juge of heven at the Day of Dome, with moreover that yt be never sold in fee bot contynewe in the seyd in peyne of acorsyng and dampnacyon of their sowles withowte ende.

1. Simon Hanley is first seen in 1432, at about the time that he inherited the forestership and the submanor of Hanley Hall from Thomas, and he appears in the Hanley documents for the last time (as a witness) in 1462. The date of the will might therefore be in the early 1460s.
2. Simon Hanley held one quarter of a knight's fee in Suckley and Lulsley in 1431 (VCH Worcs, vol 4, 358); the Hanleys were tenants there of the Beauchamps of Elmley Castle.
3. The chantry of St Clement may have been located in the north chancel aisle of the church, the site of the later Lechmere chapel. In 1290 bishop Giffard dedicated the high altar at Hanley (Reg Giffard, 373), a statement which might imply side altars, and the north aisle had probably been added or rebuilt about this time (Introduction, p xiii).

[Ref. 160 in J. P. Toomey, Records of Hanley Castle (Worcs. Hist. Soc. 2001) [q.v. for additional details])]
Datec. 1462
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