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You'll notice that William also leaves  "a jewel worth 4 marks" to a John Wilford.  And "his brother" is named as an executor.  In an appendix, The Register of Edmund Stafford, (A. D. 1395-1419) also includes a will for John Wilford, but it is in Latin (pp. 480-481).  I'm attaching those pages as well.  Here is a quick-and-dirty Google translation of John's will:

In the Name of God, Amen.—On the penultimate day of February, in the Year of the Lord 1417, I, John Wilsford, citizen of the City of Exeter, comp mind, I make my will in this manner. First of all, I read and recommend redeem my soul to the Almighty God Who earns the precious blood of Sao, and my body my sacred burial Also, I give and bequeath to John Melbury and Thomas Montegu, to the guardians of the Church of St. Kyrany, in Exon, one acre of my land with the appurtenances in Velewill, lying outside the Boreal Gate of the aforesaid City of Exon, in the suburbs of the same State, between the land of the late Roger Askerswille, which William Shaplegh holds, on the west side, and land late of John Sleghe on the east side, and land called Starcombe on the north side, and a lane leading towards Starcombe on the south side. Also, I give and bequeath to the same John Melbury and Thomas, to the aforesaid keepers, one of my tufts with a garden adjoining belongings, on the hill of St. David outside the aforesaid Gate, in the suburbs of the same City, between the tenement of Robert Hoigge on the south side, and the land of John Lange on the north side, and the royal road leading towards Coulegh on the east side, to have and hold the aforesaid land, toft, and garden, with all the trees growing in the same ground, the toft, and the garden, together with to each and every one of his belongings and heirs, to his guardians, and theirs to the successors who were for the time, from the day of the making of the presene until to complete the end of the term of ninety-nine years in the next sequence, paying thence annually to the principals of the Lords of those fees, and the services which are due therefrom; under this condition, however, that the aforesaid guardians, and their successors who have been for the time being, shall hold my anniversary in the aforesaid church of St. Kyran every year on the Tuesday next before the Feast Kyrani Bishop, with the Rector of the same Church and with five other presbyters and two clerics: so that the Rector from there has, if he is present at the funeral than at the Mass, iiijd., and any of the said presbyters thus present iiijd. and every one of the clergymen thus present ijd. ; and for the light burning there iiijd., and every keeper of the said Church present there for his work iiid. And after at the end of the aforesaid term of ninety-nine years I will that the aforesaid toft land and garden with its appurtenances be sold by the guardians of the said Church who for in time, and I want the proceeds of the money to be for the use of the said Church be converted Also, I give and bequeath to the undersigned executors all the remainder my messuages, lands and tenements with the appurtenances which I have in the City of Exon and in the suburbs of the same to be sold in perpetuity; and the money from it therefore I desire that all my debts be first and foremost in full paid And of the residue of the same money, after my aforesaid debts have been thus fully paid, I will that Walter Leye shall have thence decern marks of sterling, if so much remained at that time; and this under the following condition, namely that the executors of Thomas Poleworthy, | Baker, for the aforesaid sum decern marks all the debt which the same Walter owes them for the acquisition of that tenement of the late said Thomas Poleworthy, which of the aforesaid executors he recently inquired whether they wished to forgive him completely and relax under thirty days after the sale and settlement of the same messuage of my aforesaid lands and tenements. And if the said executors Thomas Poleworthy if they do not agree to this, I will that my executors below write among other remainders to dispose of the aforesaid decern marks of my goods well and faithfully, as they shall think best expedient. But the remainder of my goods not bequeathed above I bequeath to my executors to find one presbyter celebrating in the aforesaid church for my soul and the souls of those to whom I owe it, as long as it lasts the said residue may last. For the good and faithful execution of this will, I order, make, and appoint my executors, Thomas Cooke, clerk, and Edward Langyuow.

That thread eventually led to Thomas Williford 2nd (1618 - 1676) who died in Northumberland, Virginia.  From that person we have been able to track the American branch to my wife's grandmother (Ruth Williford) who spent most of her life in Texas.

Yes, Captain Thomas (1618-1676) is in my direct line.  You mentioned tracing your line from North Carolina.  I have four generations living in Bertie County, NC, for about 100 years starting with Richard Williford Sr (ca 1701-1776).  My great-great-grandfather Stephen B. Williford (1828-1888) moved his young family and, sadly, "a few slaves" (per his son's two-page history) from Bertie County, NC, to Shelby County, TN, in 1854 and farmed on 80 acres there.  His brothers Solomon Freeman Williford (1813-1864) and Henry Brooks Williford (1818-1880), as well as his mother Sarah Freeman Williford (1780-1863), also moved to Shelby County, but I'm not sure if they all moved at the same time.  I was born and grew up in Shelby County (Memphis), and still have family there.

Would be interested to know where our lines diverge.

Paul Williford

Hi Lovely -

(Don't tell my wife I called you that!)

The Pedigrees of the Families of the County of Kent (1830) is available as scanned microfilm on FamilySearch.  You need to create a free account to access it, but here is the direct link:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSNR-WD4Y?i=367&cat=306626

It's not searchable, but you can page through (and download) two pages at a time. 

Included on the same reel are

• Abell's History of Kent (1898) - starting on Slide 9
• Some Pedigrees from the Visitation of Kent, 1663-68 (1887) - starting on Slide 216
• May's Charlton: Near Woolwich, Kent (1908) - starting on Slide 642

Ancestry has a searchable version of Pedigrees ... here - https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/28684/ - but you'll have to be a paying member to take full advantage.

I did go ahead and attach the pages from the Pedigrees pertinent to the Wilsford line.  For offspring of the Wilsford daughters and ancestors of the Wilsford wives, you'll have to go to the indicated family names.  I had to reduce the resolution to meet the allowable upload size.  First image is actually two pages (134-135) - click on the image name to download and view both pages.  To go directly to the higher-resolution pages on the film, they are Slide 442 and Slide 623.

Hope this helps!

Paul Williford

Thanks so much, Top!

Quite eye-opening - and such a complex history where things are added onto, torn down, reused - over centuries!  I've gone ahead and attached the image from the 1912 postcard.

I think you can be confident that the present house is the one in which Sir Thomas Wilford lived. Originally timber-framed, it would have been faced in brick at a later date, possibly in the Georgian period.

Interesting, Conan!

There are two other homes in Kent that are tied to the Wilford/Wilsford family - these in the Cranbrook area:

"THE BOROUCH OF FRI[E]ZLEY, as it is now called, corruptly for Freechister, alias Abbots Franchise, is a district situated about a mile eastward from Flishinhurst, and is within the liberty of the royal manor of Wye, which formerly belonged to the abbey of Batteli, whence it has likewise the name of Abbots Franchise. (fn. 3) This borough has a court leet of itself. The principal estate in it formerly belonged to the Wilsfords, of Hartridge, one of whom sold it to the Hovendens, great clothiers here, whose principal mansion it was."

"HARTRID[G]E is a manor, which lies at the northern boundary of this parish, next to Stapelhurst, the mansion of which was formerly a seat of note, being the property and residence of an antient and worthy family of the time name, one of whom, Thomas Hartridge, was a conservator or justice of the peace in this county in the 34th year of Edward III. when there were eight only in the whole shire. In his descendant, who bore for their arms, Or, a chevron between three griffins heads, erased, sable, this seat continued, till it was at length sold by one of them, about the reign of Henry VIII. to Thomas Wilsford, esq. who came and resided here at Hatridge, and by the acts of 31 king Henry VIII. and 2 and 3 Edward VI. had his lands disgavelled. He was descended from William Wilsford, of Devonshire, anno 4 Henry IV. of whose grandson, James was alderman and sheriff of London, anno 15 Henry VII. and Edmund was S. T. P. provost of Oriel college, in Oxford, &c. and died in 1507. They bore for their arms, Gules, a chevron ingrailed, between three leopards heads, or. By his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of Walter Colepeper, of Bedgbury, he had two sons of nine daughters, of the former, Francis, the youngest, was of Nonington, and ancestor of the Wilsfords, of Dover and Yorkshire; and James Wilsford, esq. the eldest, was of Hartridge. By this second wife he had Sir Thomas, who was of Ilden, in kingston, ancestor of those of that place, and of Rochester; and one daughter Cecilia, wife of Edwin Sandys, archbishop of York. James Wilsford, esq. the eldest son by the first marriage, inherited and resided at Hartridge, and was afterwards knighted; from whom this seat at length descended down to James Wilsford, esq. his eldest grandson, who having married Anne, daughter and heir of Thomas Newman, esq. of Quendon, in Essex, removed to the seat of her inheritance there, where he died in 1619, before which he had alienated, this estate of Hartridge to Tindal, of Sutton Valence."

Source: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp90-113

The house at Friezley evidently still stands.  The attached photo showing half-timber construction is Friezley.  More details on it here, dating the earliest surviving construction to the 16th century: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1347912

Less certain is the status of Hartridge.  The 34th year of Edward III's reign would have been 1361, and the 31st year of Henry VIII's reign would have been 1540.  I found a candidate on the Historic England website: Hartridge Manor.  (See attached pic.) The official details date it to the 17th century - too late to have been the Wilsford residence:

"Farmhouse. C17, clad in C19 and extended in mid and later C19. Timber-framed on wide red brick plinth, tile-hung above. Plain tiled roof, half-hipped with brick ridge stack. 2 storeys. Three windows, regular through the central first floor window is blocked. Tripartite glazing bar sashes. Entrance at rear. L-shaped block with mid C18 2 storey block in angle of L to rear with further wing beyond, (to north-east). Triple-span hipped roofed extension to right (south)."

Any chance this is the location - if not the actual building - where the Wilsfords lived for nearly 80 years?

If not, I wonder also if Sissinghurst Park (built in 1916) might be on the location of the Wilsfords' Hartridge Manor, because the name was changed in the Listed Buildings entry from "Hartridge House":

• In the entry for: CRANBROOK Cranbrook Common TQ 73 NE (west side) 3/88 Hartridge House - II -> The entry shall be amended to read: TQ 73 NE CRANBROOK Cranbrook Common (west side) 3/88 Cranbrook Court - II
• In the entry for:- CRANBROOK CRANBROOK COMMON TQ 73 NE (west side) 3/88 Cranbrook Court II -> The entry shall be amended to read:- TQ 73 NE CRANBROOK CRANBROOK COMMON (west side) 3/88 Sissinghurst Park II

Thanks for your thoughts, opinions and expertise!

Paul Williford