This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Roper, Rooper, Bolt, Bolte, Belt, Winter, Webb, Tumes, Toomes Classification: Will Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kgDBAEB/720 Message Board Post: Will of Arthur ROPER, Of Westminster, Yeoman Dated 09 Aug 1651 Proved 18 Aug 1651 In the name of God Amen I Arthur ROPER of Westminster in the Countie of Middlesex yeoman Doe make and ordaine this my last Will and Testament in manner and forme followinge: first I bequeath my Soule into the hands of Almightie God my Creator And my bodie to the Earth to bee buryed in Christian and decent manner in expectation of the resurrection of the one and salvation of both through the infinite mercie of God in the sole merritts of Jesus Christ my Redeemer, for my temporall Estate I dispose as followeth: Imprimis I give unto my Sonne John ROPER Twentie poundes. Item I give unto my Sonne Samuell ROPER five poundes. And to my Daughter Dorothy WINTER Twentie shillings. Item I give unto my Grandchildren Katherine and Elizabeth ROPER Daughters of my said Sonne John ROPER Tenn Shillinges a peece. Item I give to my Grandchildren Arthur and Katherine ROPER Sonne and Daughter of my said Sonne Samuell ROPER Tenne Shillinges a peece. Item I give unto my Grandchildren John Richard and William WINTER the Three Sonnes of my Sonne-in-Lawe Richard WINTER and my said Daughter Sarah his wife to every of them Tenne Shillings a peece. Item I give unto Sarah WISE my kinswoman five Shillinges And to my Servant Anne GURNEY Two Shillinges and Six pense. All the said Severall legacies and bequests beforementioned to bee paid unto the said Severall persons Legatees aforenamed Within one yeare next after my decease. Item I give unto Paul HEATH and John AULFORDE Whome I appointe Overseers of this my Will Two Shillinges Six pence a peece Desiring them as my lovinge friends to assist my lovinge Wife Katherine ROPER in the Execution of this my Will. All the rest and residue of my goods Chattells and Estate reall and personall Whatsoever I give unto my said deare and lovinge wife Katherine ROPER and ordaine her my sole Executrix of this my last Will. And I renounce and revoke all former and other Wills. Witness my hand and Seale this Nynth daie of August in the yeare of our Lord God One Thousand Six hundred fiftie and one. The marke or name of Arthur ROPER in perfect sence and memory as his last Will and Testament in presence of us The marke of Thomas CHILDE Anthony WILSON. * This above Written Will Was proved at London the Eighteenth daie of August in the yeare of our Lord God One Thousand Six hundred fiftie and one before William CLENKE Surrogate of the right worshippfull Sr. Nathaniell BRENT Knight Doctor of Laws and Master or Keeper of the Prarogative Courte By the oathe of Catherine ROPER Relict of the said deceased and Executrix therein named To Whome Administration of all and Singular the goods Chattells and Debts of the deceased Which anie manner of maie concern the same Will Was granted and committed She being first legally Sworne well and faithfully to administer the Same. * * * Will Reference: British Public Record Office (PRO), The National Archives “Will of Arthur Roper, Yeoman of Westminster, Middlesex “ Proved : 18 August 1651 PRO Catalog Reference: Prob/11/218 PRO Image Reference: 115 See: http://www.documentsonline.pro.gov.uk/power-search.asp?searchType=powersearch Original Images Crown Copyrighted. Transcribed from an image of the original by William Alexander Roper, Jr., on Saturday, 27 Nov 2004. * NOTE 1: This MAY have been Arthur ROPER, son of Arthur ROPER (Chr 10 APR 1586 - Saint Peter, Canterbury, Kent, England) [IGI Batch No. P020591] NOTE 2: The wife Katherine or Catherine may have been the Catherine BOLTE shown to have married an Arthur ROPER: Arthur ROPER m Catherin BOLT on 01 JUN 1620 - Saint Mary Mounthaw, London, London, England [IGI Batch No. M001481] NOTE 3: The family group for this Arthur ROPER would APPEAR likely to be: 1. Thomas ROPER (Chr 28 DEC 1614 Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England), son of Arthur 2. Arthur ROPER (Chr 27 OCT 1616 Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England), son of Arthur 3. William ROPER (Chr 09 OCT 1618 - Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England), son of Arthur 4. Jane ROPER (Chr 09 OCT 1618 Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England), dau of Arthur 5. John ROPER (Chr DEC 1622 Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England), son of Arthur 6. Samuel ROPER (Chr 27 DEC 1624 Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England), son of Arthur 7. Jane ROPER (Chr NOV 1626 Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England), dau of Arthur 8. Elizabeth ROPER (Chr 13 AUG 1628 Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England), dau of Arthur 9. Arthur ROPER (Chr APR 1630 Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England), son of Arthur [IGI Batch No. P001601] Sara ROPER is conspicuously MISSING from this lineup and it would seem that VERY FEW of the children survived to 1651, if this is the correct Arthur ROPER family. One possibility is that the first daughter named “Jane” was subsequently renamed “Sarah” to honor some other family member and that another child was subsequently named “Jane” instead. Jane ROPER (Chr 1618) would appear to be precisely the correct age to wed Richard WINTER in 1634 (see below). NOTE 4: The relevant marriages of the children would appear to be: SARA ROPER m RICHARD WINTER on 17 APR 1634 - Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England SAMUELL ROPER m HELLEN TUMES on 06 JAN 1649 - Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England JOHN ROPER m ELIZABETH WEBB on 04 FEB 1646 - Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England [IGI Batch No. M001601] One secondary record shows: RICHARD WINTER m Dorothy BARTLET on 11 FEB 1642 - S Mildreds, Canterbury, Kent, England My original reading of this Will was that the named Winter children are children of Richard and Sarah Roper WINTER, but that there is a daughter, probably actually a daughter-in-law named “Dorothy”. As you will see below, the Baptismal records for the children suggests otherwise. NOTE 5: Daughters of John ROPER are identified as Katherine and Elizabeth. These would appear to be: 1. ELIZABETH ROPER (Chr 26 DEC 1646 - St Nicholas Acons, London, London, England) 2. KATHERNE ROPER (Chr 15 AUG 1648 - St Nicholas Acons, London, London, England) 3. ELIZABETH ROPER (Chr 03 APR 1651 - St Nicholas Acons, London, London, England) [IGI Batch No. P001671] Each of these is identified as a daughter of a John and Elizabeth ROPER NOTE 6: Children of Samuel ROPER seem surely to be: 1. ARTHUR ROPER (Chr 04 OCT 1649 - Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England) 2. KATHERINE ROPER (Chr 08 APR 1651 - Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England) 3. JOHN ROPER (Chr 07 OCT 1652 - Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England) 4. SARAH ROPER (Chr 25 AUG 1653 - Saint Margaret, Westminster, London, England) [IGI Batch No. P001601] Note that these are in the SAME parish where Arthur ROPER’s children were born and where Samuel ROPER and Helen TUMES were wed. And of these, only Arthur and Katherine, were born prior to the writing of Arthur ROPER’s Will on 09 Aug 1651. NOTE 7: Possible children of Richard and Sarah Roper WINTER are: 1. AMIE WINTER (Chr 23 AUG 1635 - Saint Gregory By Saint Paul, London, London, England, 01 SEP 1636), dau of Richard 2. RICHARD WINTER (Chr 09 JUL 1637 - Saint Gregory By Saint Paul, London, London, England, d 11 JUL 1637), son of Richard and Sara [IGI Batch No. C054261] 3. RICHARD WINTER (Chr 25 OCT 1640 - St Martin Ludgate, London, London, England), son of Richard and Sarah 4. SARAH WINTER (Chr 20 NOV 1642 - St Martin Ludgate, London, London, England, d 18 MAR 1643), dau of Richard and Sarah 5. THOMAS WINTER (Chr 30 MAR 1645 - St Martin Ludgate, London, London, England, d 13 NOV 1648), son of Richard and Sarah 6. ARTHUR WINTER (Chr 21 FEB 1646 - St Martin Ludgate, London, London, England, d 14 MAR 1647), son of Richard and Sarah 7. WILLIAM WINTER (Chr 14 JUN 1649 - St Martin Ludgate, London, London, England), son of Richard and Sarah 8. SARAH WINTER (Chr 03 OCT 1651 - St Martin Ludgate, London, London, England), dau of Richard and Sarah 9. AMY WINTER (Chr 06 NOV 1652 - St Martin Ludgate, London, London, England), dau of Richard and Sarah [IGI Batch No. C021602] ALL of these seem to fit very nicely with the Arthur ROPER Will EXCEPT that John WINTER is absent. Note that Richard and William would have been the only living children amongst this group at the date of the writing of Arthur ROPER’s Will. It is probably noteworthy that John WINTER is listed first in the enumeration of the WINTER grandchildren. He is probably the eldest and may have been born in the interval between 09 JUL 1637 and 25 OCT 1640, when this WINTER family may have been between these two parishes. But you will ALSO note that these records reflect children of a Richard and Sarah ROPER, leaving the reference to a daughter Dorothy ROPER rather perplexing. It is certainly POSSIBLE that another Daughter Dorothy married a WINTER. * * * Copyright William Alexander Roper, Jr., 2004.