Scope and Content
Parties:
(i) Rev John Alington of Letchworth [Hertfordshire], clerk;
(ii) William Alington of Letchworth, esquire (eldest surviving son of (i));
(iii) Henry Alington of Letchworth, esquire (second surviving son of (i));
(iv) John Hawkins of Hitchin [Hertfordshire], esquire
Reciting:
- will of John Williamson of Baldock [Hertfordshire] of 21 January 1827 devising his manors of Stotfold and Letchworth to the use of his son-in-law William Alington and William’s brother Marmaduke (both now dead) in trust for his grandson (i) for his life then in trust for the testator’s great grandson (ii) for his life, remainder in trust in tail male, in default for successive sons of (i) in tail male provided that if (ii) became entitled to actual possession or receipt of rents and profits of the Manor of Little Barford then the estates in Letchworth, Willian, Great Wymondley, Graveley, Stevenage, Norton, Weston, Clothall, Stotfold and Arlesey should be held in trust for the next beneficiary [i.e. (iii)]; the testator authorised sale of any estates and purchase of other land with the money;
- codicil to the will of John Williamson of 27 June 1830 reciting agreement with Lord Spencer for purchase of freehold estate in Marston Moretaine, Lidlington, Cranfield and Wootton and directing that if he did not live to complete the purchase it should be completed by his executors and devising the estates in the same manner as those in Letchworth and Stotfold;
- John Williamson died on 4 July 1830 and his will and codicil were proved on 26 July 1830 in PCC;
- lease and release of 23 and 24 March 1831 between (1) George John, 2nd Earl Spencer (2) William Alington (son-in-law of John Alington the testator); (3) William Alington and Marmaduke Alington in which estates in Lidlington, Marston Moretaine, Cranfield and Wootton were conveyed to (3);
- Marmaduke Alington died on 7 August 1840;
- there were five sons of (i) and Eliza Francis Alington - John who died 23 December 1845 an infant and bachelor; (ii) born 6 April 1826; (iii) born 23 July 1831; Charles born 22 April 1833 and Julius born 6 December 1837;
- on the death of John Alington junior (ii) became entitled to the Manor of Little Barford on the death of (i);
- (ii) was a bachelor;
- William Alington, trustee of John Williamson in 1847 with the consent of (i) sold part of the Marston Moretaine estate containing 2 roods, 14 perches to John Morris receiving £535/16/- and in the same year sold 14 acres, 2 roods, 34 perches to London and North Western Railway Company for £3,525 making a total of £4,060/16-;
- in 1848 William Alington the trustee and (i) bought from Thomas Davis and James Davis copyhold lands Norton [Hertfordshire] for £2,225/7/- out of the Marston Moretaine purchase money leaving them with £1,835/9/-;
- will of William Alington the trustee of 15 March 1849 devised and bequeathed the residue of his estate to his son (i) and appointed him sole executor;
- William Alington the trustee died on 13 December 1849 and his will was proved in PCC on 14 January 1850;
- (i), having become sole trustee of the will of John Williamson, in 1850 sold pieces of freehold land containing 14 acres, 36 perches in Letchworth to Royston and Hitchin Railway Company receiving £1,852/17/6;
- in 1851 (i) sold sold 2 acres, 34 perches in Arlesey to Great Northern Railway Company receiving £450;
- indenture of 9 March 1857 between (1) (i), (2) Committee of Visitors of the Asylum for Pauper Lunatics for the United Counties of Bedford, Hertford and Huntingdon under Lunatic Asylums Act 1853 and (3) James Brownlow William Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury, William Henry Whitbread, Thomas Charles Higgins, Marlborough Pryor and John Moyer Heathcote, trustees of the asylum in which 31 acres, 2 roods, 25 perches in Stotfold, copyhold of the Manor of Stotfold, were conveyed to (3) for £326/7/-;
- the trustees of the will of John Williamson from time to time pay divers sums of money for the benefit of the manors and estates amounting to £1,379/15/6 as broken down in schedule below and (i) as surviving trustee now had £3,084/18/- in hand;
- (iii) was now entitled, under the will of John Williamson, to the inheritance of the £3,084/18/- on the death of (i)
Operative Part:
- to bar all estates tail in the sum of £3,084/18/- and any land purchased with it, (i), (ii) and (iii) assigned it to (iv) in trust for (i) and (iii)
Schedule:
- receipts as noted above;
- deductions: £118/6/6 paid in December 1842 as share of commutation of tithes for Marston Moretaine; £716/7/- paid January to November 1849 for share of expenses of the inclosure of Stotfold; £443/17/- paid 1849 for expenses fencing allotments in Stotfold; £28/3/- paid 1849 for Hawkins and Company’s bill for commutation of tithes at Marston Moretaine; £15/23/8 paid in 1849 for Hawkins and Company’s bill for commutation of tithes at Letchworth; £57/8/4 paid 1849 for Hawkins and Company’s bill for commutation of tithes at Stotfold
Witnesses:
- William Hawkins of Hitchin;
- Mary Alington of 2 Regency Square, Brighton [Sussex]