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Will of Richard Rogers, proved 1840

Abstract of will

I Richard Rogers of Old Brentford, bricklayer ...

Son Thomas Rogers of Old Brentford ... and my son in law Thomas VAUGHAN of London Stile Farm near Kew Bridge market gardener all my Real and Personal Estate ...

Dear wife Ann to receive and take the interest dividends rents & profits thereof and to enjoy the use of my household furniture and effects during the term of her natural life ...

after her decease ...

freehold house and premises in the Half Acre Old Brentford No. 2 occupied by (blank) MORRIS and also as to my copyhold house & premises in the High Street Old Brentford occupied by myself upon Trust to convey surrender & confirm the same respectively unto my daughter Mary COXEN the widow of William Coxen ...

freehold house & premises in the Half Acre No. 6 occupied by (blank) SMITH and as to my copyhold house & premises in the Hollows Old Brentford occupied by (blank) POLLICUT and also as to my small copyhold house & premises occupied by MEALE behind the last named house ... to convey ... unto my son in law David WAIGHT and my daughter Elizabeth his wife ...

two copyhold houses & premises in the High Street Old Brentford ... occupied by (blank) PARSON and (H?)OLDBROOK & next or near to a public house known by the sign of the Bull ... to convey ... unto my son Thomas Rogers ...

freehold house & premises in the Half Acre No. 3 occupied by (blank) CRIGHTON and also as to my copyhold house & premises in the Hollows ... occupied by (blank) WHEELER and also as to my small copyhold house & premises ... occupied by (blank) PITHERS behind the last named house & premises ... unto my son in law Thomas Vaughan & my daughter Ann his wife

freehold house & premises no. 4 in the Half Acre ... occupied by (blank) EARLE and also as to my copyhold house & premises in the Hollows ... occupied by (blank) DEAR ... unto my son in law Edward KILSBY & my daughter Susannah his wife ...

freehold house in the Half Acre No. 5 occupied by Miss EARLE and also as to two small copyhold houses & premises in the Town Wharf Isleworth .. to pay or to allow my daughter Martha the wife of George RUNACRES to receive the rents and profits ...

freehold property house & premises in the Half Acre No. 1 occupied by (blank) SLAUGHTER and also as to my copyhold house & premises in the High Street Old Brentford occupied by my son George Rogers

Appoint Thomas Rogers and Thomas Vaughan Executors

Dated 19 July 1836

Witnesses C FLETCHER Brentford Butts; M THOMPSON Brentford Butts; Robt Thos FLETCHER Solr Brentford

Proved at London 29 Oct 1840 ... by the oath of Thomas Vaughan one of the Executors to whom Admon. was granted ... like grant to Thomas Rogers the son ... when he shall apply for the same.

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Summary

The will is rich in family and property details, and was prepared in 1836, close to the timing of the Poor Rate, and was proved in 1840, when the tithe apportionment for Ealing was finalised, months before the 1841 census. This offers an opportunity to review the will alongside three other documents.

The will suggests Richard was mature in age as he mentions several married children and the death registration confirms this: his death was registered at Brentford in the third quarter of 1840, he was 77 years old. He was buried in plot D 15 of St George's churchyard on 21 Aug 1840.

His wife Ann Rogers was buried at St George, Old Brentford in the same burial plot, 12 Aug 1850. She was 84 years old.

By chance I came across the burial of John Rogers in the same burial plot, 22 Mar 1829; he was 42 years old.

There are some notes about working as a bricklayer here.

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Property

The following Old Brentford properties were mentioned in the will:

• Half Acre: 6 freehold houses and premises
• Hollows: 5 copyhold houses, two described as small and backing on to two others, plus a fifth
• High Street: 4 copyhold houses and premises, one occupied by the testator, one by his son George; two were near the Bull (350 High Street)

The property held by Richard Rogers' executors was spread across Old Brentford, as the annotated tithe map shows: stars indicate the location, the numbers in red are the plot numbers. The map stops abruptly at the left edge, Half Acre, the border with New Brentford.

The list below shows each tithe plot by number (unrelated to house numbers allocated in the 1870s), the description, any occupier names and a note of location from examining the tithe map.

75, a house, occupier the executors of Richard Rogers, around two doors west of Royal Hotel. This was Rogers' own residence.

119, a house, occupied by Ann Hipson; this lay on the south side of plot 120 and backed on to another property; it was on the west side of the Hollows.

120, two houses, occupied by John Daly and Jane Moles; plot 120 was on the west side of The Hollows and the southern house of the two backed on to another property.

233, three houses, shed & premises, occupied by Thomas Summer, James Parsons & George Rogers; this block of three houses was was sandwiched between the Bull (350 High Street) and Running Horses (346 High Street) with a small gap either side. Later they were numbered 347, 348 and 349 High Street. George Rogers must be the son of Richard Rogers, mentioned in the will.

457, four houses occupied by John Slaughter, George Morris, Penticost and William Earl; these were a few doors south of The Seven Stars public house, Half Acre

458, a yard; a small area on the northern and eastern side of plot 457

459, two houses and yard, occupied by Charles Greenwood & Benjamin Smith; these were north of plot 457

There is good correlation between the will of 1836 and tithe record prepared four years later; some occupants' names match too.

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1836 Poor Rate

Richard Rogers was noted as owning a house, 3 small houses near the Bull, 7 small houses Half Acre and 4 small houses in the Hollows: a good match to his will. The section of the Poor Rate that includes Richard is here.

Richard's son, George Rogers, was recorded next to the Bull: he lived in one of the '3 small houses near the Bull' and the sequence of recording suggests it was no. 349 High Street.

1841 Census

In 1841 the head of household of was Ann Rogers '15', followed by Thomas Rogers, 44, bricklayer, Martha Runacres 30 and William Runacres age 4. It seems likely Ann was the widow of Richard Rogers and that her age should have been noted as 75, not '15'; this would fit her age at death in 1850: 84. Martha Runacres is mentioned in the will as a widowed daughter. In the 1851 census Thomas Rogers and Martha Runacres were recorded across the High Street next to the Bull.

In 1841 their brother George Rogers was in number 347 High Street: another of the '3 small houses near the Bull'.

How to see this will in full

A copy of the original will can be downl oaded from The National Archives Documents (TNA) Online service (£). TNA also offer a watermarked version that can be viewed for free.

Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills can also be viewed and downloaded from Ancestry (£). It is also possible to view wills online by visiting TNA at Kew (check opening hours) and they offer a printing facility.

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Published January 2022