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I am hoping to decipher a word in this text from a 1720's will. I have attached some of the original text and the words I can read are these:

First of all I give and commend my soul into the hands of God that gave it and for my body I commend it to the earth to be buried in a Christian like and decent manner and when it shall please God to call me to himself I desire to have six men belonging to the Westminster Chest? to support the pall? I am to be buried from each of them to have a cloke? hatband? and gloves at the charge of my executrix nothing doubting but at the general ? I shall receive the same again by the Almighty power of God and as touching such worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this life...

I wonder if the men were to come from something called the Westminster Chest? Perhaps possibly Choir? I would be grateful if anyone can shed some light on this. I wonder if it was an organisation of some sort which could could be a clue to help me track down an ancestor.
Many thanks for any insights.

This is great to see. Thank you for posting it. Ernest completed his training in 1932 so may have left the farm - but it's tantalising to wonder if he became E G Gerrard and married daughter Bernice (who I didn't know about). I wouldn't be surprised if he did change his surname, as I have drawn such a blank looking for Fliege. I will look into this.
I've been surprised to see how speedily Ernest's mother was buried. She died at 12.45am in the General Hospital, Winnipeg; the notice was in the paper that same morning, and the funeral was in the afternoon, at 4pm. I wonder if that if usual for Canada in 1933? The grave doesn't have an owner listed but there are records missing.

Hi,
I haven't tried that but I get the impression Canadian privacy laws wouldn't let me see it just because I'm interested. Is there a place I might find it? I do think she might be in a pauper's grave, and she was living in the hostel - her £100 must have run out :-( It would be lovely if she did leave a will. I lose both of her sons - Ernest in Canada after he passed his farming training, and William in England after 1936 - I wonder if he changed his name, as sadly it was probably not a great time to have a German name. I will keep looking!

Hello, Thank you so much for this - I was sure there hadn't been a marriage! Elizabeth did end up at 130 Austin Street, the Canadian Women's Hostel, and it seems she never left/found work. The Depression I guess, not a good time to be arriving. That was her address when she died 3 years later. I have been trying to find her cause of death (she was young!) but the authorities in Winnipeg tell me they can't release that information without a doctor's certificate (or a couple of other much better reasons than family research) I see there was a funeral the day after she died in hospital, so I guess there was no inquest or suspicious circumstances. There is no owner for her grave plot, so possibly a pauper's grave. I think I've probably reached the end of the line on that one. When she died there was a notice published for claims against her estate (I guess she had some money?). She had a son in Harding, who had been placed in a farm when he came over with the Church Army in 1929. I guess he didn't know about her death. If anything suggests anything else to you, rather than what I am guessing, could you let me know? Thank you so much for the information you have given.