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I am also surprised. I have often seen legacies to the poor, which (I think) were distributed to poor persons attending the funeral. One also sees small legacies to quite distant relatives (but usually token sums only). However, I never recall seeing one to the Lord of the manor as such. A heriot was normally the best beast and would be due to the lord himself, not his wife or children. This would be worth a pound or two, which is not that small. I can only assume that the lord and his family were for some reason held in particular affection by their community, or that there was a local practise of accepting legacies in lieu of heriots. The payment of a heriot was clearly a due that was widely resented, but I can only see payment of a legacy in lieu being an effective if the legacy was of a similar amount and expressed to be in satisfaction of the heriot. Peter King -----Original Message----- From: From: Local-History list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Lyn Boothman Sent: 27 September 2004 22:49 To: Peter Wickham King Subject: Re: Bequests in 17thC wills Carol I have never come across such bequests but what it does remind me of is the pre Reformation bequests to the high alter, and equally to the local friars of various sorts, plus those to the poor, which later died out. So possibly this place had a particularly well liked lord of the manor or for some reason the tradition of small bequests moved itself post Reformation to that family. Personally I would have thought the former is most likely ... another motive might relate to the manorial court - is there any correspondence between the donations and people not being charged heriots etc in the manor court ??? Lyn B