Sherlock Holmes wrote: > singhals wrote: > >> >> The year is 1709. The place is the NA Colonies, Province of >> Maryland. X signs a will as witness; the estate is probated in 1710. >> >> Am I on safe ground if I assume that means X was between the ages of >> 14 and dead? Or did he have to be 16? >> >> I'm looking to establish a Born-Before date here to narrow down the >> number of parish registers I need to look at. >> >> Cheryl > > Hi Cheryl, > If X signed the will as a witness then X would be alive at the time of > signing the will as a witness and could be alive long after the will was > probated as X was a Witness and was not the person who the will was for > as they are a witness to the person whom the will was for and that > person would have signed the will as well. > X the witness to the will could have been the Law firms clerk. > > So do not Ass U Me anything. I think you misread what was written. Not that X was the signer of the will, but that X was between the ages of 14 and old enough to be dead when X witnessed the will. Cathy

In message <3mttj.1559$f8.574@newsfe23.lga> Huntersglenn <huntersglenn@cox.net> wrote: > > > Sherlock Holmes wrote: > > singhals wrote: > > > >> > >> The year is 1709. The place is the NA Colonies, Province of > >> Maryland. X signs a will as witness; the estate is probated in 1710. > >> > >> Am I on safe ground if I assume that means X was between the ages of > >> 14 and dead? Or did he have to be 16? > >> > >> I'm looking to establish a Born-Before date here to narrow down the > >> number of parish registers I need to look at. > >> > >> Cheryl > > > > Hi Cheryl, > > If X signed the will as a witness then X would be alive at the time of > > signing the will as a witness and could be alive long after the will was > > probated as X was a Witness and was not the person who the will was for > > as they are a witness to the person whom the will was for and that > > person would have signed the will as well. > > X the witness to the will could have been the Law firms clerk. > > > > So do not Ass U Me anything. > > I think you misread what was written. Not that X was the signer of the > will, but that X was between the ages of 14 and old enough to be dead > when X witnessed the will. > The normal criteria is that the witness is old enough to understand what he/she is signing. In 1709 a 14 year old would have been regarded as virtually an adult. -- Graeme Wall My genealogy website <www.greywall.demon.co.uk/genealogy>