National Probate Calendar for 1859

[helvissa]

I've now got William's death certificate: the informant was C J Pinching, who appears on the 1861 census as Charles John Pinching, a surgeon - he was present at the death.

The cause of death is:
"Disease of the brain of long standing. Bronchitis 5 days."

Poor bloke!

Obviously this is one of those fabulously flabby Victorian causes of death (at least it wasn't phthysis...) - I suppose it could be brain cancer? I'm also wondering if it euphemistic for a mental illness, as in all those people in Victorian novels suffering from "brain fever".

The thing is, if this disease was of long standing, why hadn't he done his will? Or bearing in mind the above court summons, do we suppose there was a will but his sons felt that their stepmother had influenced it and been prejudicial to them?

The certificate is a typed one rather than a copy of the actual handwritten one - not really sure why, other than that there's an error because he was initially registered as William Clements aged 52, which has been corrected to 51. So there's addenda down the side.

[Daisy Loo]

"PURSUANT to an Order of the High Court of Chancery,
made in the matter of the estate of William
Clement, late of Rosherville, in the parish of Northfleet,
in the county of Kent, Esquire, deceased, and in a cause
between William Charles Clement and Thomas Samuel
Clement, plaintiffs, against Charlotte Augusta Clement
defendant, the creditors of William Clement, formerly of
Eastland House, Dulwich, in the county of Surrey, then of
Cavendish-villa, Ramsgate, in the county of Kent, and late
of Rosherville, aforesaid, who died on or about the 6th day
of February, 1859, are, by their Solicitors, on or before
the 26th day of July, 1859, to come in and prove their
debts at the chambers of the Vice-Chancellor Sir John
Stuart, No. 12, Old-square, Lincoln's-inn, Middlesex, or in
default thereof they will be peremptorily excluded from the
benefit of the said Order. Tuesday, the 2nd day of
August, 1859, at twelve o'clock at noon, at the said chambers,
is appointed for hearing and adjudicating upon the
claims.—Dated this 21st day of June, 1859."

This is William's sons William and Thomas, going to court against their stepmother, Charlotte Augusta, née Ehn.

I'm not entirely sure what this means - but at the mention of creditors, does this mean that William died in debt?

Is there some way of finding out the outcome? I've looked and there's no further mention of it in the London Gazette.

Edit to add: this is Chancery, I think, having googled the name of this fella: Vice-Chancellor Sir John Stuart. Google books have got some Chancery cases - they have Clement v Maddick when William's brothers took some publishers to court. But nothing on the case here.

Hi...

Could it be that the sons were the "creditors" or at least claiming to be, and they were being invited, by this ad in the paper, to go and prove their "debt" ie, they were saying that their father owed them money, and were therefore going after the widow?