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So that, as William Blatcher put it in 1613 "those transitory goods which god hath blessed me with may be peaceably enjoyed after my decease by those I so decree".
When was a will written?
Generally when the testator was "impotent and aged" or thought to be dying from ill health. The will of William, above, was written on 11th November and he was buried on 4th December at the age of only forty-nine. But the man who was impotent and aged in January 1585 lived for another year. Younger testators might live for many years after writing their will and sometimes alterations were made to the original rather than have a new will written. Sometimes a testator revokes all previous wills, implying that this was not the first will they had written.


Wills simply explained - Peter Fox's web site - master ...
Which Courts proved wills from West Kent up to 1650? Most ... Sometimes wills were proved locally as, for example, John Blatcher's will in 1582 "in Shipbourne ...
vulpeculox.net/history/willgen.htm - Cached

Blatcher Agnes Tonbridge 1623p |R 21.16 26 |(JF) widow;
Blatcher Joan (Bleacher) Shipbourne 1627p |R 21.297 27 |(JF) widow; ; 26 Dec 1625d
Blatcher Johan (Blacher) Seal 1545d |R 10.144 |(JF) widow; ; 26 Dec 1545d;
Blatcher John Seal 1478 |R 3.206 |(JF) m;
Blatcher John Shipbourne 1582p |R 16.202 13 |(JF) shingler; ;
Blatcher John Shipbourne 1623p |R 21.15 26 |(JF) yeoman;
Blatcher Richard Seal; Shipbourne 1545d |R 10.141 3 |(JF) yeoman; ; 28 Apr 1545d;
Blatcher Richard Shipbourne 1623p |R 21.12 26 |(JF) m;
Blatcher Richard (Blacher) Seal 1480c |R 3.269 |(JF) m;
Blatcher Richard (Blacher) Seal 1481d |R 3.286 |(JF) m;
Blatcher Robert Seal; Shipbourne; 1563pd |R 13.75 7 |(JF) m; ; will dated 3 May 1563, buried 9th May 1563; land in Shipbourne, Sevenoaks, Gravesend
Blatcher Thomas (Blacher) Seal 1476d |R 3.230 |(JF) m; ; 2 May 1476d;
Blatcher Thomas (Blacher) Shipbourne 1531p |R 8.290(2) |(JF) m; 1517d;
Blatcher Thomas (Bletcher) Shipbourne; Smarden 1611/2 |R 20.313 21 |(JF) m;
Blatcher William Tonbridge 1613p |R 20.448 22 |(JF) yeoman;
Blatcher William Tonbridge 1640p |R 22.370 30 |(JF) yeoman;


Index of Kent wills: Surnames starting with B
... and Chevening; large number of parishes in Kent in ... R 3.206 | (JF) m; Blatcher John Shipbourne ...
vulpeculox.net/history/willsb.htm - Cached

Cemetery grave monument details
... list of grave monuments in St Giles Cemetery, Shipbourne , Kent ... Harry John Fermor: grand son of Ann Axtell: 1899: 1899 ... father of Ann Blatcher: 287167: Martha Blatcher: mother of ...
www.gravestonephotos.com/public/?cemetery.php?cemetery=2156 - Cached

Surname Forename Place Occupation Year Appointment Replacing Sessions Folio



Blatcher William Shipborne Farmer 1767 Borsholder William Edlow Jan 15 256
Blatcher William Shipbourne Farmer 1772 Borsholder Thomas Obee Oct 6 539



Appointments
July 1758 - July 1788
This is an index of 1226 appointments registered at the West Kent Quarter Sessions. Most were for the post of Constable, (usually to a Half Hundred or a town) or Borsholder (usually to a parish). "The Parish Chest" by W. E. Tate gives descriptions of these posts.
These records are particularly useful because they usually give occupations.
I have also included persons who took an oath to become a Justice of the Peace.
There are 9 columns but not all will be visible at once.
If you find someone in the index on this page, or if the search facility leads you to this page but the name isn't found on the index, try using Find to search the seventh column labelled 'Replacing'. Note that the name may not be spelled the same way on both the appointment and the discharge.

West Kent Quarter Sessions - Appointments - RootsWeb: Freepages
Return to West Kent Quarter Sessions ... Jan 15 256 Blatcher William Shipbourne Farmer ... Oct 5 252 Simmonds John Shipbourne ...
freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com?/~mrawson... - Cached

Ann, I am very grateful for your brilliant information. Many thanks. It is wonderful that the Shipbourne records go back that far. I shall happily add this huge amount of information to my family tree and share with other Blatchers.
I wish you well with your own family researches. :-)

a pleasure Dorothy, I enjoyed digging around the archives :-D

I'm still trying to link my Blatcher family tree back from JB 1667. I am now looking for evidence that John Blatcher born 1617 had a son John in1630 - he was only 13 years old?? I can find no record of this in the Shipborne parish register, which goes up to 1658. I need to check the Parish records at Maidstone archives for Burmarsh and Hunton (John Blatcher 1630 baptised Burmarsh and married Johne Bishoppe 1640 at Hunton, Kent) and also Woodchurch (John Blatcher 1667 baptised Woodchurch Kent, married Elizabeth 1674 Woodchurch). If anyone has access to these Parish records and can check for me, I'd be grateful.

Start a new thread specifically asking for parish registers access, or similar.
Mention, or link, to this thread, but say you are looking for anyone who goes to Maidstone archives, or what you think is necessary.
It is unlikely that anyone will notice your request at the end of these 2 pages who lives in the Maidstone area.

Thanks for this advice. I've decided to visit Maidstone archives myself.