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Wills and testamentary papers

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Letters papers, cases with opinion of Counsel as to the distribution of the estate of Richard Wooten the elder Richard Wooten, brandy merchant of Bishopsgate, London, by his will, dated 24 November 1812, left his 7 brothers and sisters residuary legatees after the death of his wife Dorothy. The will was proved in 1812 and his widow died in 1835. Testator's brother Charles died in his lifetime whereby his share lapsed into the residue of undisposed property. John Wootten of Stratford-upon-Avon, cook, another brother, died in 1813 leaving a widow, Lydia (néeWilkinson) and 7 children. Lydia did not attempt to prove her husband's will until 1835 after the death of Dorothy Wooten, stating that her husband's only property at the time of his death was his reversionary interest in his brother's estate. After the death of Dorothy, the residuary legatees wished to sell the real estate in Bath and Battersea and therefore the will of John Wooten had to be proved in order to establish his children's claim. The papers include extracts from the registers of Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, of the marriage in 1799 of John Wooten and Lydia Wilkinson and the baptisms of their children John, Jane, Sarah Anne, Lydia, Francis and Thomas between 1800 and 1813.