<<And how about the cloaks and gowns to be given to the poor to pray for him? Was this customary?>> It was very common to leave bequests to the poor, but it certainly wouldn't have been customary to ask for prayers in return - that marks him out as almost certainly a member of the Catholic minority. In 1620 no Protestant will would have asked for prayers to be said - in the anti-Catholic atmosphere of the times it was the equivalent of standing up in Congress and calling for 3 cheers for Osama bin Laden. The fact that he lived in Lancashire is significant - it was one of the few areas in Britain to have a substantial Catholic minority at that time. Matt Tompkins Blaston, Leics