The Blaby Cufflins
The earliest we have traced of our Cufflin ancestors are Raph and Margaret Cufflin of Blaby in the County of Leicester.
Most of the following information has been gleaned from the contents of Raph's will, dated the 4th December 1623 and Margaret's will, of the 20th of January 1624 these have been transcribed from copies of the original, by Janette Shepherd of the Leicestershire Records Office, to whom we are indebted, and are reproduced below.
The Will of Raph Cufflin
In the name of God Amen. The 4th day of December at night in the yeare of our Lord God 1623 I Raph Cuflin of Blaby in the Countie of Leicester wheelwright, being of good rembrance thankes be unto God, doe make my laste will and testament in manner following. first I bequeath my soule to the mercifull p(ro)tection of allmighty God and my body to be buried in the churchyard of Blaby, when as it shall please God to call me out of this present world, trusting to be saved by the mercies of Christ Jesus my blessed saviour and by none other means. And for those goods w(hi)ch God has blessed me w(it)h shall I give and bequeath in manner and forme following; first I give to Zachary my eldest sonne xiid. Item I give to John my second sonne seven acres lying in Thorpe old fielde and the close lying in the west end of those lands. Ite(m) I give to my sonne John fowre more lands *and (heads)* lying at the northside of the aforesaide lands moreover I give to John my second sonne the close in broodegreenes and the ley of furzes in high leyes, but he shall not enter upon the fowre lands lying at the northside of the close in oldfielde neither shall he enter upon the close in broodegreenes until the discease of my wife but shall plow and dresse the foure lands in oldfield and the close in Broodegreenes *for her* and my sonne John shall have but halfe the furze ley until the discease of my wife but then he shall have it all. Moreover I give to John my second sonne my teame, timber, calfes, plows, cakes, steaves and all other things belonging to his husbandry and his trade. Item I give to William my third sonne xiid. Item I give to Henry my fourth sonne xiid. Item to my eldest daughter xiid. Item to Mary my second daughter xiid. Item to Anne my third daughter xiid. Item to Francis my fourth daughter xiid. And last of all I make my wife full ececutor and give her all other goods moveable and immoveable w(hi)ch are not heretofore named.
Raph Cuflin + his marke
Sealed and delivered
in the presence of us
vid.-William Smith
Thomas Brooks
Thomas [Varnham?]
14 January iux(t)a etc. 1623 (1624) probatu(m)
fuit priori test(ament)um per relict. etc.
de bene etc. Jurat. etc.
The Will of Margaret Cufflin
In the name of God Amen. The xxth (20th) daie of Januarie in the yeare of our Lord God 1623 (ie.1624) I Margaret Cuflyn of Blabie in the countie of Leic. widdow being sicke in bodie but whole in mynd and in good and perfect remembrance praise be to Almighty God, do make this my last will and testament in manner as followeth viz. I bequeath my soule unto Almightie God my maker and redeemer & my bodie to be buried in the p(ar)ish churchyard of Blabie aforesaid.
Ite(m) I give and bequeath unto my daughter Marie *Cuflin* three pounds
Ite(m) I bequeath unto my daughter Ann Cuflyn three pounds
Ite(m) I bequeath unto my daughter Frances *Cuflin* three pounds
Ite(m) I bequeath unto my sone Henrie Cuflyn the some of three pounds
Ite(m) my will is that alle the rest of my goods unbequeathed *my funerall discharged, my detts p(ai)d, shall I ordayne to John Cowp(er) of Thorpe lancton the whom I Make my full and sole executor etc. to be equally divided amongst my said foure (children)* hereafter mentioned viz. Mary, Ann, Francis & Henry. Soe soone as they shall accomplish their sev(er)al ages of one and twentie yeares. And if it fort(u)ne any of them to dep(ar)te this life before they accomplish theire said ages of xxi yeares then their po(r)tion to rem(ain) to the residue of them then livinge
(the next three lines have been deleted) And I do ordayne John Cowper of Thorpe Lanckton in the Count(y) aforesaid husbandman my full executor of this my last will and testament.
And I will that the said John Cowper my broth(e)r for his assignes shall have the keeping or bringing upp of these my saide fowre children last mentioned untyll they shall accomplish theire said severall ages of xxi yeares afores(ai)d And I will that hee the said John Cowp(er) execut(or) shall have the benefitt of all my said goods *towards the bringing (up) of my said fower children* duringe the tyme of their severall nonages (the next thirteen words have been deleted) of my saide fowre children after my debts be p(ai)d & fun(er)all expences p(er)formed.
It(em) my will is that my brother Henry Cuflyn of Whetston in the count(y) of Leic(ester) wheelwright and John Graunt of the same towne and count(y) *miller* shalbee overseers of this my said will & testament. And I *do herby revoke* utterly revoke and anull & Anull all and every other former testament wills legacies and bequeaths, executors and ove(r)seers by me in any wise before this tyme made, named, willed or bequeathed. Theas *being* witnesses *pres(ent)* whose names are heere under wrytten.
James [------] the m(ar)ke + of John Grant
the m(ar)ke + of Henry Cuflyn Henry Tillye
et me Robertu(s) Chrispe [------] etc.
Probatum 21 Feb: 1623
Burial records contained in the document 'Families of Blaby' refer to the following Cufflins:
| 21.10.1590 | Henry | 17.2.1623 | Ralph | 4.3.1600 | Margaret Wife of Ralph | 25.1.1624 | Margaret | 20.1.1607 | Anthony Son of Ralph | 10.1.1667 | Ann Widow | 9.5.1617 | Ralph Son of Ralph |
It is possible that Henry, who was buried in 1590, is the father of Ralph and Henry, which would of course take us back a further generation but equally, Margaret (buried 1600) and Ralph her husband, could be the parents.
By Sandra J. Smith Your last Review contained an interesting article about reasons for a certain bequest in wills. Here in England one often finds in old wills that a child or children are given just a shilling, whereas younger siblings receive far greater amounts and a share of the personal estate. At first reading it would appear that parental displeasure was the cause for the miserly amount--and it is almost always a shilling. However, the truth is that the receivers of the shilling had already received their inheritance, but the parent wanted to ensure that these children were acknowledged as theirs. To be "cut off without a shilling" is/was a very common expression here in England and it reflects the shame of NOT being recognised as a child of the testator--the ultimate insult. To read the comments from last week's Bottomless Mailbag on reasons for receiving a scanty inheritance, visit: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0502.txt Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 09 May 2007, Vol. 10, No. 19. |
| The family of Raph Cufflin & Margaret Cowper | ||||||||
| Raph Cufflin | = | Margaret Cowper |
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| of Blaby | of Blaby |
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| 1565-1623 | 1565-1624 |
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| _________________________________|_________________________________ | ||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Zachary | John | William | Ellen | Mary | Ann | Frances | Henry | |
| 1590- | 1594- | 1597- | 1604- | 1607- | 1610-1660 | 1614- | 1617- | |
John Cufflin 1594-
The second son of Raph and Margaret was born on 11 August 1594. He married Isabell Hames at Blaby on the 28 October 1624. Under the terms of his fathers will he received the bulk of the estate to hold in trust during the lifetime of his mother after which it was to revert fully to himself.
Henry Cufflin 1617-
Henry was the youngest of the family born on 18 March 1617 at Blaby, he married Margaret Plum at Blaby on 18 March 1640.