Administration of Thomas Luce 1767

16. Day of June 1767

On which day appeared personally Hester Luce and alleged that Thomas Luce late of Hill in the County and Diocese of Gloucester yeoman decd died intestate And that she the said Hester Luce is the Lawful Widow and Relict of the said deceased

Wherefore she prayed that Administration of All and Singular the Goods Rights and Credits of the deceased might be granted and committed to her on her giving such good and Sufficient Security as in this Behalf is required and so forth

Let admtion be granted as above prayed

Jas. Benson Chancr.

Know all Men by these Presents That We Hester Luce of the parish of Thornbury in the County of Gloucester Spinster [sic] and Thomas Watmore? of Hill in the County aforesaid Yeoman are held and firmly bound unto William Lord Bishop of the Diocese Gloucester in the Sum of Five Hundred pounds of good and lawful Money of Great-Britain, to be paid unto the said Lord Bishop or his his certain Attorney, his Executors, Administrators, or Assigns. To which Payment, well and truly to be made, We oblige ourselves, and each of us by herself & Themselves for the whole, our and every our Heirs, Executors, and Administrators firmly by these Presents. Sealed with our Seals, Dated the Sixteenth Day of June in the Seventh Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God, of Great-Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Seven.

The Condition of this Obligation is such, That if the above bounden Hester Luce Administratrix of all and singular the Goods, Chattels and Credits of Thomas Luce her late Husband Deceased, do make, or cause to be made, a true and perfect Inventory of all and singular the Goods, Chattels and Credits of the said Deceas'd, which have or shall come to the Hands, Possession, or Knowledge of her the said Hester Luce or into the Hands and Possession of any Person or Persons for her do well and truly administer according to Law; and further, do make, or cause to be made, a true and just Accompt of her said Administration at or before the Last Day of June 1768 and all the Rest and Residue of the said Goods, Chattels, and Credits, which shall be found remaining upon the said Administrator's Accompt, the same being first examined and allowed of, by the Judge or Judges, for the Time being, of the said Court, shall deliver and pay unto such Person or Persons respectively, as the said Judge or Judges, by his or their Decree or Sentence, pursuant to the true Intent and Meaning of a late Act of Parliament, made in the Two and Twentieth and Three and Twentieth Years of the Reign of our late Sovereign Lord King Charles the Second, intitled, An Act for the better settling of Intestates' Estates, shall limit and appoint; and if it shall hereafter appear, that any last Will and Testament was made by the said Deceased, and the Executor or Executors therein named do exhibit the same into the said Court, making Request to have it allowed and approved accordingly if the said Hester Luce above bounden, being thereunto acquired, do render and deliver the said Letters of Administration (Approbation of such Testament being first had and made) in the said Court, then this Obligation to be void, or else to remain in full Force and Virtue.

Signed and Delivered (being first duly Stamped) in the Presence of

Hester Luce
Thos. Watmore? Junr.

Source: Consistory Court of Gloucester; Reference: 252525; Will Number: 127

Source: Ancestry.com. Gloucestershire, England, Wills and Inventories, 1541-1858