Old english, 1560 will of Thomas Jennings

[kklarson]

I'm looking for help in deciphering this 1560 will of Thomas Jennings of Abingdon, Berkshire.  I used AI which worked reasonably well but I'd like to get a reality check from someone who can read this stuff.  I think I've got the names corrected but those are the most important to verify.  Thanks for any help.

Link to image:  https://i.postimg.cc/fyx4wc3w/Thomas-Jennings-will.png

Thomas Jennynge of Abingdon. In the name of god amen The xviii day of Apriell in the yere of o[ur] Lord god 1560. I Thomas Jennynge of the boroughe of Abingdon in the countie of Berk[shire] draper do ordeine and make this to be my last will and testament in maner and forme folowinge. First and principally I bequeathe my soule unto almighty god my only creator maker and redemer by whose most blessed deathe and passion my faithe is to be saved with all the electe people of god and my body to be buried in the parisshe churche of Saint Elenes in Abingdon aforesaid.

Item I bequeathe unto the mother churche of Sarum [Salisbury] iiii d [4 pence]. Item I bequeathe unto William my son x lb [10 pounds] in redy money. Item I bequeathe unto Richarde my son x lb in redy money. Item I bequeathe unto Jane my daughter x lb in redy money. Item I bequeathe to poore people iiii s [4 shillings]. Item the reste of all my goods moveable and unmoveable unbequeathed and my house that I do now dwell in, my debts paied my funeralls discharged and my legacies fulfilled I do geve and bequeathe unto Thomas my son whome I do make my full and sole executor of this my last will and testam[ent] and further more my will is that the legacies aforesaid shalbe paid unto my said three children ether at the day of marriage or at the age of xxi [21] yeres. And if it happen any of my said three children departe out of this present worlde before the said daye or age then I will that the legacy of him or hir so departed bequeathed shalbe equally devided amonge the other then living and so successively to the longest lyver of them.

Item I do geve and bequeathe to William and Richarde my said sonnes over and above the said legacie to them above bequeathed to eche of them two fetherbedds and all things thereunto belonging or appertayning. Item I put in trust as my overseers to see that this my last will be duly executed accordingly as my mind is my trustie and welbeloved friends and brothers in lawe William Braunche and Thomas Smithe. To whome I give to be paied out of my goods x s [10 shillings] a pece for their paines. In witness whereof I the said Thomas Jennynge have subscribed my name wth myne owne hand the day and yere above written. [Signed] By me Thomas Jennynge

Summa Inventarij [Probate Clause]: Probatum coram... xv die mensis Marcij 1560... [Proved 15 March 1560/1]

[horselydown86]

From the first image (but can do no more tonight):

First line:    Thomas Jening(es)

Second line:   xxvj^th = 26^th

...in the
diocese of Sarum wullen drap(er)...

...fourme folowing
that is to say ffirst...

...redemer by m(er)it(es)
of whose...

[Bookbox]

You are right to have it checked. The AI hasn’t worked well, in my view.

It has inserted text that isn’t in the original, it has misread the date of writing the will (should be 26 April, not 18 April), misconstrued the testator’s occupation (wullen draper), the amounts of bequests to the children (£15, not £10), the name of the daughter (Anne, not Jane), the date of probate (8 March, not 15 March), etc. etc.

Like many of these platforms, where it can’t read something it has resorted to introducing some similar phrase ‘borrowed’ from another will already in its bank of transcriptions. Unacceptable, in my view.

[goldie61]

Interesting comments Bookbox.

Just picking up a few more mis-transcriptions.

'Almighty' is spelt 'Allmightty' here in this will.
'Parisshe' is spelt 'parish'.
He leaves the church 'ijd' = that's 2 pence, not 4.

The abbreviation for the 'pound' sign after the amounts given to his sons and daughter should be 'li', not 'lb'.
They are not pounds (lb) in weight, but pounds of money 'li'.
As Bookbox says, the amounts are xvli = 15 pounds, not 10.

The bequests are to be paid 'at xxij yeres of age'
So that's 22 years old, not 21.

If one dies, then their part is to be shared 'amongest', not 'amonge'....
and 'so successivelie', not 'successively'.

The line about beds reads 'to evrie of them one fetherbed', not 'eche of them two fetherbedds'

In the last paragraph, nearly all the 'my' words are actually spelt 'mie'.
His overseers are to be paid 'vjs viijd a pece', not 'xs'. That's 6 shillings and 8 pence.(This was a third of a pound, and a common amount used for things at this time).

It's unclear if the AI put this into paragraphs. There are none in the original. The transcription should keep to the original layout.

[horselydown86]

Reading Bookbox's post today has prompted dark thoughts concerning AI and this forum.

My experience with AI is next to none - limited to seeing and mostly ignoring the AI section which in the last year has appeared at the top of Google search results.

If it is the case that the transcript posted here has been generated simply by pointing the AI tool at an image from an ancestry website, pressing a button and a second or two later having the transcript to copy and post, then I would find myself reluctant to devote the considerable time and close attention required to correct it.

At best I expect I'd be able to summon enough motivation only to check the basic names and dates.

It's a matter of the disproportion betweeen the effort contributed by the forum poster and that required of me, allied to a general disgust with feeling myself the servant of an excresence of the tech bros.

I'm not having a go at kklarson - to my knowledge this is the first time this has happened here.

[kklarson]

I could have just posted the image and asked for help as is normally done.  The point of posting the AI was to hopefully have a starting framework that might make it easier for someone volunteering their help, and also to gauge how far off AI still is - apparently still quite a bit.  I've tried it on old Danish handwriting before and it was terrible.  I had no experience with old english but the AIs always state how confident they are in their work.  Thanks everyone for your help.