On the 4th January, 1680, George Asty signed his last will and testament. John Lincoln, John Bush and Richard Pollards witnessed Asty’s signature. George Asty died between 1680 and 1681.
House of Stuart
It is a time when Charles II is the reigning monarch. Some 20 years earlier in 1660, the House of Stuart was restored to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland following the English Civil War. Accordingly, it is more than possible that George Asty lived through the Commonwealth period.
Great Ellingham
George Asty lived in Great Ellingham with his wife Elizabeth and their daughters, Elizabeth, Susanna and Hannah. The will describes George as a yeoman. He was a modest farmer cultivating his own land.
‘Elizabeth Asty’s House’ in Long Street. Photograph taken November 2024
The Asty family may have lived in the cottage in Long Street which, later in 1724, daughter Elizabeth Asty would bequeath to the Great Ellingham Baptist Church. The cottage once belonged to Elizabeth’s mother, also Elizabeth, before her marriage. However, George Asty owned other property in the village, which may well have been the Asty family home.
The Value of Historical Wills
Historical wills can be enlightening. They can often provide valuable information with regard to the testator’s wealth and possessions, as well as offering an insight into an individual’s personal life and their family relationships. We may also be able to determine what the individual valued, and who they held dear.
Content of George Asty’s Will
George Asty appoints his two daughters, Elizabeth and Hannah, as his executrices. Indeed, they later proved the will in 1681.
Wife receives an Annuity
Elizabeth Asty (the wife of George Asty), received a yearly sum of forty shillings (40s or £2). Elizabeth and Hannah are to pay this sum to their mother in the porch of the parish church in Great Ellingham. I have found reference to the porch of St James being a nominated place for legacies to be paid in other ‘Great Ellingham’ wills.
Today this forty shillings has a ‘buying power’ of around £370.
Daughter Susanna inherits:
- her father’s tenement late Thornback in Great Ellingham
- an acre and a half of land in Great Ellingham in an inclosure called Blakeland
- a pightle by the name Cricket Pightle in Great Ellingham
- three roods of arable land in a field in Great Ellingham “near ye windmill“
- the sum of £50 by two even portions
‘Ye windmill ‘ referred to is likely to be Anthony Beales’ windmill which stood in ‘West Field’.
Daughter Hannah inherits:
- her father’s tenement with appurtenances “now in the tenure or occupation of John Bush” in Great Ellingham
- two closes in Attleborough
- a pightle called Hazell Pightle in Great Ellingham
- two closes of arable land in Great Ellingham “near ye tenement now in the occupation of Stevon Lenevit. One whereof abut upon ye common pasture of ye said town [Great Ellingham] eastwards and the other lying next behind it and next to a pightle in the tenure of Edmond Sharpin called Sallow Pightle ..”
I wonder whether the Bush family occupying George Asty’s tenement in Great Ellingham is that of John and Dinah Bush. Their daughter Dinah was baptised in St James’s Church on the 20th August, 1680.
Robert Brooks
Robert Brooks of Yarmouth, and described as a seaman, is given a wood chalfe? of land in Great Ellingham in a field called Conyers.
Daughter Elizabeth inherits:
George Asty refers to Elizabeth as his eldest daughter. She inherits all her late father’s “other houses lands and tenements and hereditaments whatsoever not before given“.
This includes the cottage and premises in Long Street which Elizabeth later bequeaths to the Great Ellingham Baptist Church.
Sources:
Will of Elizabeth Asty. Norfolk Record Office. ANF will register 1721-1726. fo.344 (1724-1726 no.64) Asty, Elizabeth of Great Elingham, 1724-1726. Microfilm MF 225
Will of George Asty. Norfolk Record Office. ANF will register 1681-1683 fo.17. no.5 Asty, George of Ellingham 1681. Microfilm MF 217.
Great Ellingham Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office PD 609. Also available via www.familysearch.org