Hi all As some listers know, I co-ordinate the OFHS Wills Library Project. A couple of times lately, ploughing through PCC wills to be added to the Library, I have come across an odd phrase in the official note which is added to the will when it is "proved": This time, it's with the 1670 will of Thomas Allen of Goring. "Probatum ... apud aedes Exonienses scituat' in le Strand in Comitatu' Middlesex..." That's "Proved ... at aedes Exonienses situated in the Strand in the County of Middlesex..." But what's "aedes Exonienses " ?? Well, "aedes" is said to be a temple or a house, and an exonium (or essonium) was in English law an excuse for non-appearance at a Court Baron. While I love the idea of a Temple of Excuses, it doesn't seem to have much to do with granting Probate, which has to be done at a court of some kind, and in this case was at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Where DID the PCC sit? I'd thought maybe at Lambeth, but was it in the Strand, where the Law Courts are today? The tube station nearest to the Law Courts is called Temple Bar, which presumably meant something long before the tube was invented. I'm wondering whether "aedes Exonienses" was the nearest the scribes could think of (in Latin) to "Temple Bar". But please does anyone actually KNOW ? DaveB

There's info on Temple Bar at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Bar,_London Cliff Going off on a sidetrack (as it's Christmas) I worked for an insurance company where the athletic club was at one time called the Temple Bar Athletic Club. We used to enter the Rottingdean Windmill walks and marathon. One year they insisted that we won the largest Pub entry award! -----Original Message----- From: oxfordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:oxfordshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of David Beames Sent: 19 December 2011 15:54 To: OXFORD Subject: [OXF] A smidgin of Latin Hi all As some listers know, I co-ordinate the OFHS Wills Library Project. A couple of times lately, ploughing through PCC wills to be added to the Library, I have come across an odd phrase in the official note which is added to the will when it is "proved": This time, it's with the 1670 will of Thomas Allen of Goring. "Probatum ... apud aedes Exonienses scituat' in le Strand in Comitatu' Middlesex..." That's "Proved ... at aedes Exonienses situated in the Strand in the County of Middlesex..." But what's "aedes Exonienses " ?? Well, "aedes" is said to be a temple or a house, and an exonium (or essonium) was in English law an excuse for non-appearance at a Court Baron. While I love the idea of a Temple of Excuses, it doesn't seem to have much to do with granting Probate, which has to be done at a court of some kind, and in this case was at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Where DID the PCC sit? I'd thought maybe at Lambeth, but was it in the Strand, where the Law Courts are today? The tube station nearest to the Law Courts is called Temple Bar, which presumably meant something long before the tube was invented. I'm wondering whether "aedes Exonienses" was the nearest the scribes could think of (in Latin) to "Temple Bar". But please does anyone actually KNOW ? DaveB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interactive Oxfordshire parish map: http://searches.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk/pardata.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to OXFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message