28
Augt 1834
In the Name of God Amen I Eleazer Birch Gillmer
[1]
of Grovefield
[2]
(near Belfast) in the County of Down do make this
my last Will and Testament and do hereby revoke and render null void
and of no effect all and every Will or Wills by me heretofore made
or published Imprimis I desire that my herein afternamed Executors
may pay all my just & lawful debts and they may have my remains
decently interred I Nominate Constitute and Appoint my son James
[3]
and my daughter Eliza
[4]
Guardians of my children who are not of
age and of their fortunes and their education I do hereby nominate
constitute & appoint my son James my son in law Patrick
Adair Black
[5]
my daughter Eliza and my friend James
Baxter
[6]
of Belfast to be my Executors & Executors
to this my Will. – To my daughter Mary Gray
[7]
I leave Will & bequeath the sum of £450
Sterling Which sum is to be placed out at interest in real security
and none other and the interest therefrom arising to be paid
to her for her own use during her life and on her decease the
principal sum to be divided amongst her children as she may by
Will direct – but should she die intestate then it is my
will & desire that it should be divided share and share alike
amongst her children. Any money now due by her husband David
Gray
[8]
to me whether by Bond Note or otherwise
I hereby Cancel. – To my daughter Eliza I leave Will & bequeath
the sum of £600 Sterling this sum to be placed out at interest
on real security and none other and the interest arising therefrom and
thereout to be paid to her year & yearly during her life for
her own use and none other, should she have issue she may by Will
leave the principal to them in such portions as she may think proper,
but should she have no child or children her husband to have and
enjoy the interest during his life and on his decease the principal
to be divided amongst her own brothers and sisters as she may have
by Will directed, should she die intestate then it is to be divided
amongst them share and share alike; the child or children of any
of them that may be dead to have their parents proportion divided
amongst them share and share alike. – To my son James I
leave Will & bequeath the nine acres of land in the Townland
of Kinallen
[9]
(left to us by his Grandfather the late Revd James
Birch
[10]
of Dramara) to him and his heirs forever. – I
also leave and bequeath to him this my house of Grovefield with
lands thereto attached. – Together with the sum of £200
Sterling. – To my daughter Isabella
[11]
I leave and bequeath the sum of £600
Sterling which sum I direct my Executors to place out at interest
on real security and none other and the interest arising therefrom
to be paid to her year & yearly during her life for her own sole
use and benefit and none other; should she have children by her present
or any future marriage she may make or contract, she may by Will
leave the principal to her child or children in such proportions
as she may direct. –
but should she die not leaving issue and having by my decease come
into the possession of the aforesaid sum on her decease the principal
to be divided amongst my other children in such manner as she may have
by Will directed, but should she have died intestate it is to be divided
amongst them share and share alike or should any of them be dead having
issue such child or children to have the proportion their parent would
have been entitled to, divided share and share alike amongst them. – To
my daughter Catherine
[12]
I leave will and bequeath the sum of £1300
Sterling £500 of this sum is to be taken from the £1500
that is in the hands of Mr Waugh
[13]
on Mortgage on Sionhill
[14]
.
– This sum of £1300 now left to her is to be placed out
at interest on real security and none other, and the interest arising
therefrom to be paid to her year & yearly for her maintenance & support
and none other purpose, should she marry, her fortune must remain at
interest, and the interest thereof paid year & yearly to her for
her own use. In case of her having issue by any marriage she may Contract
she may by Will leave the principal amongst them as she may direct,
or should she die intestate her child or children if more than one
to have it divided amongst them share and share alike; but should she
die and not leaving any issue and she by my decease having been put
into possession of said legacy it the principal to be divided amongst
my other children share and share alike but should any of them be dead
having left lawful issue such child or children to have their parents
proportion divided amongst them share and share alike should she die
unmarried it is in her own power to leave it to her brothers & sisters
in such proportions as she may by Will direct, or to the child or children
of any of them. Any Will she may make after attaining the age of eighteen
is to be Considered as good and valid if then in possession of the
bequest; To my son John
[15]
I leave will & bequeath the sum of £1300
Sterling, Five hundred pounds of this sum is to be taken from the
money lent on mortgage to Mr Waugh on Sion hill
property the remainder from other monies. – This sum of £1300
left to him is to be placed out at interest on real security and
none other, and the interest arising therefrom to be appropriated
to his maintenance clothing and education until he attains the age
of 21 when he will be entitled to receive the principal. Should he
die before he attains that age it is to be divided amongst his Brothers & Sisters
share and share alike, but should any of them be dead and having
left lawful issue such issue to be entitled to have their parents
proportion divided amongst them share and share alike But should his Guardians think it right
& prudent to give a part of this money not to exceed £200
as an apprentice fee or to prepare him for business they are hereby
authorized so to do. – To my son Wilson
[16]
I leave will and bequeath the sum of £1300
Sterling £500 of this sum to be taken from the money lent on
Mortgage on Sion hill to Mr Waugh, - the other £800 from my
other monies. – This sum of £1300 so left to him to be
placed out at interest on real security and none other – the
interest arising therefrom and thereout to be paid and go towards
his maintenance clothing and education until he attains the age of
21 when he will be entitled to receive the principal –
Should he die before he attains that age the principal is to be divided
amongst his brothers and Sisters share and share alike, the child or
children of any of them that may be dead to have the proportion that
would have come to their parents divided amongst them share and share
alike. But should his guardians deem it prudent & right to give
a portion or part of the aforesaid £1300 but not to exceed £300
thereof as an apprentice fee or otherwise to fit him for business or
a profession they are most fully hereby empowered so to do. Should
any of my children be so imprudent as to marry before they attain the
age of 21 and die before they arrive at that age, My Will and desire
is that their wife
& children if there be any should have the interest of the money
left them paid annually to the mother & children for their Support
during her life, and so long as she should remain a widow but should
she marry another man then
& in that case the interest to be paid annually to the child or children until they attain the age of twenty
one when each will be entitled to receive their proportion of the principal.
My Household furniture plate books horse Car Gig &c &c I desire
may be sold unless my children or the majority of them agree amongst
themselves to divide them amongst them, or give them up to any one
of them they may chuse he or she paying to each of the others such
sum as they may agree upon, but if the majority that may be of age
on my decease agree to have them sold it must be done but not otherwise,
These things or the amount for which they may sell together with any
other money or monies not before appropriated of which I may die possessed
or am entitled unto, after deducting therefrom the sum of £100
which I leave will & bequeath to my brother John Gillmer
[17]
and which my Executors may give to him by
annual instalments as they may judge prudent and should any part
of it be left, to be given to his children at his decease. I also
wish the poor of the parish of Dramara to get £10 and all my
servants decent mourning. In case my sons John or Wilson on
their Coming of age should shew great symptoms of extravagance or
folly I do authorize and empower my Executors to withhold their fortunes
or any part thereof they think proper but to pay them the interest
regularly. Signed Sealed and executed this 27 day of August In the
year of our Lord 1831 in the presence of the undersigned witnesses
and who have in my presence and in the presence of each other subscribed & signed
their names hereto (signed) E. B Gillmer (L.S.) We
the undersigned witnesses saw the Testator sign his name & affix
his Seal to this Instrument ackowledging
& declaring it to be his Last Will and Testament and he did in
the presence of us and we in his presence and each in the presence
of the others signed our respective names thereto this 27th day
of August 1831 (one) (signed) John Young Wm Coats Robert Davison - Codicil This
Codicil I deem it prudent & necessary to add to this my Will, That
is to say that it is my will and desire that after the legacies bequeathed
in this my Will to my children and that of £100 to my brother John & that
to the poor of Dramara &c are paid & provided for, whatever
surplus of property may remain unappropriated is to be divided amongst
my children share and share alike But should it so happen by any unforeseen
accident that the assets may not prove equal to the payment in full
of the sum or sums herein left to them then and in that case a deduction
of one seventh of the deficiency is to be deducted from the amount
that is left to each child. – this I consider just as the four
eldest have each of them received already from me £500 and is
the reason why I have left them less than the three youngest. – Signed
Sealed &
declared by me to be a Codicil to this my Will this 24th day
of April 1832 in presence of the undersigned witnesses each of whom
have in my presence signed their respective names hereto and each in
presence of each other (signed) E. B. Gillmer (L.S.) Signed
Sealed and declared by the Testator to be a Codicil to his Will in
presence of us this 24 day of April 1832 and signed by each of us in
his presence and that of each other as subscribing witnesses thereto
(sigd) Wm Coats John Young Rt Davison
180 West Regent Street Glasgow April 10th 1834
– As I propose going over to Belfast early in the ensuing week,
I think it prudent to leave the following Statement of my affairs,
and these my directions for the guidance of my Executors, and to which
they are to attend as if they were inserted in the body of my Will
which I made on the 27tth of Augt 1831 and Codicil
added thereto bearing date 24 April 1832. –
Since the making said Will & Codicil it has pleased God to remove
my daughter Isabella and my son Wilson Consequently the
money left to them becomes lapse and remains now at my own disposal As I have left in my said Will Grovefield
to James and as that place has since been sold, I do not mean
to call upon him (or that he should be called upon) for any money I
may have given him to Complete his education He is to have Kinnallen
and the two hundred pounds as left to him in my Will and to have his
full proportion of all money &c left after paying the legacies
stated in my Will and other expences – Mary Gray is also
to have what is left to her As I hereby Cancel all debts due to me
by David And she is to receive her full proportion of the money
that may be left after paying the sums in my Will stated and providing
for and paying the expences that must be incurred in the Settlement
of my affairs Funeral Expences &c by my Executors
But as my expences will exceed my annual income,
I will so long as I live require at least £200 a year to support
me and must be taken from the above Sum My watch chain & Seals,
my Sword and Rifle and writing Desk I leave to John – My
Plate furniture &c &c to be divided amongst all my children
or sold as they may agree upon share &
share alike (signed)
E. B. Gillmer
[1]
Captain Eliezer Birch GILLMER (GILMORE,
GILMER) Born 11 Sep 1762. Died 29 Jul 1834. HE was an officer in
East India Company and fought at Seringapatam. H.E.I.C.S (Honourable
East India Company Service). His wife was Rachel BIRCH, daughter
of James Jackson BIRCH of Dromore, County Down and Mary KING. Rachael
predeceased Eliezer by three years. I don’t know which regiment
he served in, but The King’s Roayl Irish would be a place to
start.
[2]
Grovefield, Parish of Knockbreda.
I don’t yet know the townland. It was a small farm 1 km. SE
of Ballymacarret I am
guessing this means that now it would be in south east Belfast.
[3] James BIRCH (1808-1877) m Mary DOAK (1809-1882) NOTE: Mayfield was a farm 5km SE of Dromore which was the residence of James Gillmar Birch in 1846 [SOURCE: Ros Divies site] [4] Elizabeth Jane BIRCH daughter of Eliezer Birch GILLMER [5] Patrick Adair BLACK (1801-1876) husband of Eliza Jane GILMORE [6] James BAXTER. NOTE: A Jane BAXTER married a John BIRCH before the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth BIRCH in 1733. There may be something of a familial connection here as well as the connection of friendship. [7] Mary GRAY née GILLMER married David GRAY August 20, 1822 at Dromara Presbyterian Church. [8] David GRAY husband of Mary GILLMER.
[9]
Kinallen is a townland of
660 acres in the Parish of Dromore, County Down. SOURCE: Ros Davies: a
village & townland ;4km W of Dromara;660 acres; means ' the beautiful
headland'; part of the ancient district of Kilwarlin; hill 628 ft
here ; mill in 1836 ; river Lagan runs through: slander & poison
7 Dec 1844; Kinallen Hill Head Farm here
[10]
James Jackson BIRCH (1740-1820) He
was the minister at Ballynahinch Presbyterian church in 1776. He
married a Mary KING, daughter of Rev John King . She died 22nd December
1796 aged 49. He was known as a Clergyman and Physician. He resigned
from age and infirmity in favour of his Grandson the Revd James Birch
Black . d. 29 October 1820, aged 80.buried in the Meetinghouse Graveyard.
[at Ballycloghan.] He bought his brother's (Rev. Thomas Ledley BIRCH)
farm in 1798 when his brother had to flee the country. SOURCE:
Ros Davies.
[11] Isabella GILLMER daughter of Eliezer Birch GILLMER who died with a couple of years of the making of this will. [12] Catherine Sarah GILLMER born at Moira, Co. Down in 1815. She married John ROCHE and had two children.
[13]
NOTE: A G. WAUGH is shown to be living
at Sion Hill in 1886. Also in the Breakey Memoirs, “Henrietta
[BREAKEY]was married some years ago to a counselor, George Waugh,
who inherits the estate of his ancestors at Drummara, County Down.” I
don’t have their dates, but going from the dates of her father,
they are the right generation for George WAUGH to be the son of the
WAUGH who held the mortgage on Sion Hill.
[14]
Sion Hill is one km. west of Hillsborough,
County Down - just off the main road that runs between Lisburn and
Bainbridge. 19th century spelling for Scion Hill; residence of Capt.
E. B. GILMOUR in 1824 & G. WAUGH J.P. in 1886. SOURCE: Place
Names of Northern Ireland- 4 volumes. Queens University, Belfast.
1996. Also Ros Davies site: Post Office Directory
[15] John BIRCH youngest son of Eliezer Birch GILLMER [16] Wilson Mills GILMORE b. Oct 13, 1823. Died between 1832-34 aged nine or ten. [17] John GILLMER b Sept 26, 1764. He had a son, Samuel GILMORE who would marry Jane COULTER whose son Eliezer would marry Sarah JACKSON and live at Liscalgot, Co. Armagh. The name of the wife of John GILLMER is not known to me. [18] Mr. WALLACE. [19] Mr. MILLS . The connection may be familial as a the middle name of a son of E/B/ GILLMER was MILLS (Wilson Mills GILLMER) [20] Mr. GODDARD [21] Wm GAMBLE
|
Site Map | Legal Disclaimer | Copyright
© 2006-2023 Sharon Oddie Brown