In message <[email protected]>, Norman Lee <[email protected]> writes >Would it not be to make sure that he was considered before any offspring of >his dead brothers, i.e. if his dead elder brother's children may have been >on the list of heirs. X is making sure that his claim as next heir is >recognised before any grandchildren produced by his brothers. In that case, he would not be heir at law. It would have been rash to claim when there were obvious alternatives. He could have tried 'edlest surviving son' but this would have done him not good at all if their were male heirs of an older sibling. -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society