This is the last Will and Testament of me Sir Thomas John Tyrwhitt Jones of Stanley Hall in the County of Salop Baronet. First my will and desire is if I happen to die in London that I may be buried in the Family vault in Windsor. If at Stanley I desire to be buried in St. Alkmonds in Shrewsbury in the Family vault there but if I should die anywhere else then I desire to be buried at the nearest of the said places from which I shall then happen to be. I direct that my funeral may be private and with no more expense than decency requires. I give and bequeath to my wife absolutely all my Goods Chattels and personal Estate whatsoever or wheresoever and of what nature or kind soever. I charge all my Real Estate situate lying and being in the Counties of Denbigh and Salop with the payment of all my funeral and testamentary expenses and all such debts as may be due or owing from me at the time of my decease and I hereby exempt as far as I am able my Personal Estate from the payment of the same or any part thereof. I give devise and bequeath to my natural son Charles Tyrwhitt Jones the sum of twenty thousand pounds and to my natural daughter Eliza Jones the sum of five thousand pounds and I hereby charge all my Real Estate with the payment of the said several sums and my will is that the said sum of £20,000 shall be paid to my said son upon his attaining the age of 25 years and that the said sum of £5,000 shall be paid to my said daughter upon her attaining the age of 25 years or day of marriage whichever shall first happen and that in the meantime (in case my wife shall die during the minority of the said two children but not otherwise) the Trustees of this my will their heirs and assigns do and shall levy or raise from and out of the rents issues and profits of my said Estates or by any other means they may deem expedient such annual sums for the maintenance education and support of my said Son and Daughter as shall not exceed 4 per cent per annum upon the respective provisions hereby intended to be made forthwith and do and shall pay and apply such sums accordingly. I give and devise all and singular my freehold manors messuages lands tenements rights members and appurtenances (subject nevertheless as to such portions thereof as are situated in the Counties of Denbigh and Salop to the charges hereinbefore mentioned and subject also to the charges to which they are at present liable) to my wife for the term of her natural life without impeachment of waste and after her decease unto and to the use of the Trustees of this my will and their heirs and assigns to the several uses upon and for the Trusts interests and purposes hereinafter expressed and declared of and concerning the same that is to say to the use of my Son Henry Thomas for the term of his natural life and from and after the determination of that Estate by forfeiture and otherwise during his lifetime to the use of the Trustees and their heirs during the life of the said Henry Thomas upon Trust by the usual means to preserve the contingent remainder hereinafter limited from being destroyed but nevertheless to permit and suffer my said Son Henry Thomas and his assigns during his life to take the rents issues and profits of the same premises for his and their use and from immediately after the decease of my said Son Henry Thomas to the use of the first Son of my said Son Henry Thomas lawfully to be begotten and of the Heirs male of the body of such Son lawfully issuing and for default of such issue then to the use of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and all and every other Son and Sons of my Son Henry Thomas lawfully to be begotten severally successively and in remainder one after the other as they shall be in seniority of age and priority of birth and for default of such Issue then to the use of my son Edmund for and during the term of his natural life and from and after the determination of that estate by forfeiture or otherwise during his lifetime to the use of the said Trustees and their heirs during the life of the said Edmund upon Trust by the usual ways and means to preserve the contingent remainders hereinafter limited from being destroyed but nevertheless to permit and suffer my said Son Edmund and his assigns during his life to take the rents issues and profits of the same premises for his and their use and from immediately after the decease of my said Son Edmund to the use of the first Son of my said Son Edmund lawfully to be begotten and of the Heirs male of the body of such Son lawfully issuing and for default of such issue then to the use of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and all and every other Son and Sons of my Son Edmund lawfully to be begotten severally successively and in remainder one after the other as they shall be in seniority of age and priority of birth and for default of such Issue then to the use of my natural Son called or known by the name of Charles Jones for and during the term of his natural life and from and after the determination of that estate by forfeiture or otherwise during his lifetime to the use of the said Trustees and their heirs during the life of the said Charles Jones upon Trust by the usual ways and means to preserve the contingent remainders hereinafter limited from being destroyed but nevertheless to permit and suffer my said natural Son Charles Jones and his assigns during his life to take the rents issues and profits of the same premises for his and their use and from immediately after the decease of my said natural Son Charles Jones to the use of the first Son of my said natural Son Charles Jones lawfully to be begotten and of the Heirs male of the body of such Son lawfully issuing and for default of such issue then to the use of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and all and every other Son and Sons of my natural Son Charles Jones lawfully to be begotten severally successively and in remainder one after the other as they shall be in seniority of age and priority of birth and for default of such issue then to the use of my now right heirs. I hereby appoint Onesiphorus Tyndall of ? Jun. Esquire the Reverend John Sanford of New Norfolk Street London and John Poulett of Abbington House in the County of Bucks Esquire Executors and Trustees of this my will and I hereby revoke all other wills made by me and make this my only true will and testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this seventeenth day of February 1826. Thomas John Tyrwhitt Jones. Witnesses — George Pugh, William Jeffreys, Alice Meek.
Proved at London 26th December 1839 before the Worshipful John Danbury Doctor of Laws and Surrogate by the Oath of John Poulett Esquire one of the Ex(ecut)ors to whom Adm(inistrati)on was granted having been first sworn duly to administer Power reserved of making the like Grant to Onesiphorus Tyndall Bruce (heretofore Onesiphorus Tyndall) Esquire and the Reverend John Sanford Clerk the other Ex(ecut)ors when they shall apply for the same.
Proved at London 16th January 1840 before the Judge by the Oath of Onesiphorus Tyndall Bruce (heretofore Onesiphorus Tyndall) Esquire one of the Ex(ecut)ors to whom Adm(inistrati)on was granted having been first sworn duly to administer Power reserved of making the like Grant to the Reverend John Sanford Clerk the other Ex(ecut)or when he shall apply for the same. The said Reverend John Sanford renounced the Probate and Execution of the said will in the Month of April 1840 (as by Acts of Court appears).
© Crown copyright 2014
The will of Sir Thomas John Tyrwhitt Jones was made in 1826, some thirteen years before he died, and before the births of his three youngest children, Harriet Anne, Charlotte and George. He left his entire personal estate to his wife, and the use of his property during her lifetime.
The legacies given by Sir Thomas to his two children born to him and Eliza before their marriage — £20,000 1 to Charles and £5,000 2 to Eliza (in later life she used the name Leila) — clearly indicate remorse about their status — although Charles was his eldest son he could not inherit the baronetcy and estates, and Leila’s chances of marriage would have been blighted without some prospect of an inheritance. The baronetcy went to Charles’ younger brother, Henry, as the eldest son of the marriage, and the estates were put into the hands of trustees, to be passed to Henry when he came of age and after him, to his legitimate male children in order of seniority, and failing any such children, to his younger brothers and their children in turn. Charles Tyrwhitt had to come at the very end of the list of all possible heirs because he was born before the marriage took place.
By passing the estate down in trust, it meant that it could not be broken up and sold, because the actual owner at any one time had no power over it — that remained in the hands of the trustees, who were charged with passing it on intact to the next heir, in the next generation. This was the way that English landowners preserved and built up their estates through the years — in contrast to the French aristocracy, whose estates were broken up in every generation by their custom of dividing them up amongst their children to give everyone a share. In England, younger brothers like Edmund and George only inherited the main part of an estate if their elder brother had no children — so most of them had to seek another source of income by going into the army or the church, or some other profession. In many cases, younger brothers, spurred on by the need to prove themselves, did very well in their professions and sometimes eventually surpassed their elder brothers in terms of wealth and/or status.