>None of Roberts descendants benefited from Benjamins will, although a >fair proportion of his estate had been left to him by Robert, & he'd >been entrusted with the upbringing of the boys & the support of Roberts >widow. Sounds very close to the case I mentioned. Grandfather was a rich man, but, not approving of the family he deceased eldest son had married into, he left most of his estate in the hands of two friends and trustees, who snaffled the lot. Thos fiddle was a way of getting at least the inheritance from the maternal side back for the grandson (whose descendants never looked back). >I wonder what happened to the assets supposed to be inherited by >the boys when they reached 21? As far as I can see Benjamin kept it all. >He was described as "Gent." at his death, although the family had never >been more than "Yeoman" before, as far as I've found. Buying social >advancement with his nephews stolen inheritance? sopunds likely. There wasa lot of it about. > >>And one local schoolmaster, 1810ish, was responsible for a very >>complicated legal fiddle/scheme which regained the ownership for a >>friend and cousin of his of a property which had been legally and >>properly sold by his maternal aunt when he was a small boy. >> >> > > -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society