Bizarre Requests on wills

[stonechat]

Has anyone had any unusual requests on wills?

I have seen one where the testator wanted someone to be paid to watch his grave and see it filled in!

Any others like this?

Bob

[madammagician]

There is a well known fella from my neck of the woods name of Henry Trigg who put in his will that he did not under any circumstances wanted to be buried! supposedly he had had an encounter in the local church yard with a grave robber.So when Henry dies he is put in the rafters of his barn!And there he stays until someone refurbishes the barn and finds his coffin!The irony is that when the bones where looked at they were of a dog so poor henry had been snatched after all!

[KathMc]

I am not sure how unusual this is, but I had never seen it: my gg grandmother's (Sarah) stepmother had in her will that Sarah, the daughter of her husband by his first marraige, was not now or ever to get anything. I thought that a tad wicked. Although there are reasons for this happening, Sarah was also sent at the age of about 14 to live with an aunt and uncle 400 miles away, so I have dubbed the lovely 2nd wife the wicked stepmonster.

Kath

[coralc]

One of my Weatherup ancestors left instructions in his will for the sharing out of his manure pit amongst family members, and also for the sharing of his PERSONAL manure pit !! Wondering about that !
   Regards, Coral

[madammagician]

coralc, just what you want to inherit! a MANURE PIT!

[KathMc]

And a personal one to boot. 

Kath

[Welsh Jules]

I have an ancestor who left someone "her second best stays" no idea who had the best ones maybe she wore them herself 

[PaulaToo]

And I've got John Grace, leaving someone his muck cart with 2payre of lugg wheles...(handy if you've got a manure pit to shift)
Also...it looks like someone had a favourite daughter, because John Coker leaves
'my daughter Frances my worst cow and one paire of the worst sheets...
my daughter Sara my best cow and the best paire of sheets...'

[Galium]

I have a will written by a chap who asks that if his brother's wife (he was unmarried himself) should happen to die before him, then his wish is to be buried as close to her as possible.   I sometimes wonder what the  brother and sister-in-law thought of that.

He didn't get his wish though, because she died 20 years later, and was buried in another county.