Thomas Burch wrote his Will on 1 March 1775 and he died in Petersfield at the end of May 1777, age 59. He had lived his entire life in Petersfield and his father, Henry Burch, had been a Petersfield Inn Keeper. Thomas Burch married Jane Willmer of Farnham in 1746 and was a part-time schoolmaster affiliated with Churcher’s College. “Besides his school, at which many of the sons of the gentry of the neighbourhood were educated, Mr. Burch carried on the business of ironmonger, printer, and auctioneer in premises nearly opposite to those afterwards occupied by Thomas Willmer. His schoolroom afterwards being turned into stables. Bye-the-bye, he had a wooden leg” (Pocock Family History). In his Will, Thomas styled himself as a ‘Book Seller of the Borough of Petersfield’ but the Petersfield Vicar recorded him as ‘Ironmonger’ in the burial records. Clearly, a man with diverse business interests!
A Summary of Thomas Burch’s Will
| My property in Farnham to my wife Jane Burch for ever. |
| To friend Richard Figg of Petersfield, Schoolmaster: my household goods, furniture, stock in trade, bills, bonds, mortgages, ready money and all other personal estate in trust. (See footnote on Richard Figg and Churcher’s College). |
| Richard Figg to permit wife Jane to have use of household goods and stock in trade, and to receive the interest and proceeds for her support and maintenance during her life time. If this be not sufficient, the Jane take such part of the principal as she shall have occasion for. |
| After the decease of Jane: my tools and eqipment belonging to the bookbinding and cutlery trade together with the letters used for printing and the electrical machine to nephew Thomas Willmer who now lives with me. |
| After the death of my wife, Richard Figg such divide the residue of my estate as follows: One half to go to such persons as named in my wife’s will. If she does not make such instructions, then Richard Figg to divide this half equally among my wife’s relatives or their survivors: her sister Mary Myles, her nephews Richard and Thomas Willmer, Marmaduke John Daintrey, Thomas and Richard Turner, and nieces Mary Hawke and Ann Willmer. |
| The other half of my estate to be divided into six equal parts and distributed among my relatives as follows: 1/6th to my brother Henry Burch if he shall be living; if not, then to his daughter Elizabeth Sheyer, 1/6th to my brother Edward Burch, 1/6th to my nephew Henry Burch, son of Edward, 1/6th to my sister Ann Barnes, 1/6th to my sister Martha Buris, 1/6th to my nephew Thomas Richardson of Petersfield, Peruke Maker, |
| Should my wife not wish to carry on my businesses, then I recommend to her and to my trustee, Richard Figg, to permit my nephew Thomas Willmer to take my stock in trade at a moderate appraisement. |
| Codicil 12 September 1776: to my wife Jane: all household goods, furniture, china, plate, wearing apparel and so on for her sole use or disposal. To my nephew Thomas Willmer: all my tools and machines belonging to the bookbinding and cutlery trade, letters used for printing, and my electrical machine immediately after my decease as long as he is working for the benefit of my wife. I revoke the limitations placed on all the above items in my will. |
| Administration granted to Jane Burch, 8 August 1777 |
Notes
- Thomas and Jane Burch had four children who all died right after birth so Thomas had to look elsewhere to distribute his estate.
- After making sure that his wife Jane was provided for, Thomas designated his wife’s nephew, Thomas Willmer, as his primary heir. Thomas and Jane had taken on the care of Jane’s brother’s children: Richard Willmer, Woolcomber of Hartley Wintney, died in 1754 leaving a wife and three young children to be taken under the wing of his family. These children were all named in his Will – Thomas, Richard, and Ann Willmer.
- Notice the property in Dogfludd, Farnham which he left to his wife Jane. This was actually Jane’s property to begin with! It had belonged to her father, Richard Willmer of Farnham, who had designated that it should come to Jane, but as a married woman, it immediately became the property of her husband, Thomas.
- Thomas’s brothers: 1) Edward Burch was a tailor who lived and had a shop on the south side of the market place. He supplied Churcher’s College with suits for the pupils. 2) Henry Burch, a butcher by trade, taught at Churcher’s College from time to time.
- ‘Electrical Machine’ – in 1770 this would have been a novelty item and clearly Thomas was proud of it. A device such as this would not have had any practical use at this stage in the Industrial Revolution; perhaps Thomas kept it in his bookshop to entertain his customers.
Willmer House ~ the home of the Farnham Museum ~ is named after the Willmer Family.
Jane Burch had been born Jane Willmer, daughter of Richard and Mary, in Farnham in 1715, growing up in her father’s worsted making business in the Dogfludd area of the town. After her marriage to Thomas Burch, Jane had to endure the disappointment of one baby after another dying soon after birth. After her husband Thomas died in 1777, Jane continued in widowhood in Petersfield for a further seventeen years. She was supported through the income derived from her Farnham property and from her husband’s businesses that were now being run by her nephew, Thomas Willmer. Jane wrote her Will in 1790 and died at age 79 in 1794. Amazingly, her status was recorded in the Petersfield Parish Register as ‘the widow of Thomas Burch’ seventeen years after his death!
A Summary of the Will of Jane Burch
| Jane specified that she wanted to be buried in Petersfield Churchyard by daylight next to her late husband and that the two graves were to be bricked over under an arch. The present headstone was to be replaced with one in memory of the two of them. |
| Jane wanted it to be known that her nephew, Thomas Willmer, had fulfilled the terms of her husband’s will by continuing his businesses to her benefit and that she particularly bequeathed the printing letters, tools and electrical machine to her nephew. |
| The Willmer property in Farnham went to Thomas Willmer as well as Jane’s household goods and furniture. |
| Wearing apparel, rings, buckles, family books and private papers went to Jane’s great niece, Maria Lockerbie of Farnham, and Fanny Willmer (wife of Thomas), ‘share and share alike’. Jane left her watch to her nephew, Richard Turner |
| The residue of Jane’s estate was to be divided into shares, with Thomas Willmer receiving the larger portion, but also a share to Jane’s nephew, Marmaduke John Daintrey (an attorney), as well as an annuity for her niece, Ann, identified as ‘sister of Thomas’ so no last name given. |
| Executors: Thomas Willmer and Marmaduke John Daintrey. Administration granted to them 24 March 1794. |
Footnote on Richard Figg and Churcher’s College
In the early 1800’s, Petersfield must have been agog by an investigation into Churcher’s College by Britain’s Attorney-General ~ the finances, administration, quality of education, and adherence to the Will of Richard Churcher. Richard Figg was long gone by the time of the investigation and ensuing court case, but his time as Master of the College was severely criticized.
Select Sources
- Many thanks to the Paul Mellon Centre of London for providing us with a copy of the Blackmansbury Quarterly Vol 9
- ancestry.com (by subscription)
- The History of Churcher’s College, Petersfield, Hants (available on Google Books)
- Google images