Alice Halke is, I believe, a step-13 x great grandmother, i.e. the 2nd wife of John Halke, my 13 x great grandfather.

Line breaks are as in the register copy.

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Draft transcription – not checked for typos and other errors – and not yet linked to tree (underlining should be / will be changed to overlining, indicating an abbreviation; red is just to help me add and will be removed)

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In dei noie Amen The x day of the moneth of aprile

In the yere of oure lorde god m^l v^co and xii^d [1512] I Alice

Halke of the p[ar]ishe of Wy Widowe hoole of mynde and

of gostely remembrance make my testament in this

wisse First I bequeith my soule to god almyghty to

oure blessed lady seint Mary and to all the holy seints

of heven my body to be buried in the churche of

Wy byside John Halke my last husbonde Itm I

bequeith to the high auter of the sayed churche for

my tithes and oblations necligently forgoten viiid

Itm to the Crosse lyght xiid Itm to oure lady lyght

viii d Itm to oure lady lyght stondyng ov[er] the pelare [pillar]

iiiid Itm to the lyght of oure lady of pety iiiid Itm

to the lyght of the byrth of oure lords iiiid

Itm to seint John lyght vid Itm to the lyght of seint

Xpofer seint petre and to seint Clement iche of theim

iiiid Itm to the rep[ar]ation of the said churche and for

my laystale[1] xs Itm I bequeith to bye with ii candelstyks

of laten [2] xx s whiche candelstiks I wubt one of them

to stonde before the ymage of oure lady that other

before seint John Baptiste and before all women att the

churcheyng [3] and also at all obets [4] done in the said church

Itm I bequeith to be done for me at my forthfare [5] to

preests clarks powre people sexten with all other chargs

at the churche and at home xxiii s iiii d Itm

at my moneth day in like man[er] xxvi s viii d Itm at

my yers mynde in like man[er] xx s Itm I bequeith to

ev[er]y house of freyers within the Cite of Canntbury [6]

xxd to pray for the helth of my soule and all cristen

soules Itm I bequeith to the high aut of the

churche of Sellyinge next Horton [place?] viii d Itm to the

Crosse lyght ther viiid Itm to the lyght of the

trinitie ther viiid Itm to the light of oure Lady ther viiid

Itm I bequeith to the high aut of Bonyngton [place?] viiid Itm

to the crosse light there xiid Itm to the rep[ar]ations

of the churche of Bonyngton xld Itm I bequeith

to ev[er]y eche of my godchildren that wull aske it iiii d

Itm I bequethe to Alice the eldest dowghter of peter

Knyght to here mariage xl s And as moche of my best

howsowold stuffe to the valeu of other xl s Itm I bequeth

to Maister Willm Knyght my son the best peur of my

shets It I bequeth to Richard Knyght my son my gretest

[p.2]

ketill and a laten [2] bason Itm I bequeith to have an Obyte [4]

kept in the said churche of Wy by the space of v yeris

next aft the yere before written for the [?he]lth of my

soule and all casten soules in all chargs yerely as

is before rehersyd vi s viii d The Residue of all

my goods above not bequethyd my detts and bequests

paied I gyve and bequeith theim to petre and

Willm knyght my younger sonne whiche Petre Knyght

and the said Willm I make myn executars of this

my pr[e]sent testament In Witnesse herof S[ir] [7] Thomas

Penycoke p[ar]ishe prest John Bates John Ben[s]ley

wryt herof and other ?

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Probatum fuit suprascrutu testm xxvi die mensis

Junii Anno dm millmis Qunqentesimo duodecimo

Ac approbatu &c …

[26 June 1512 – William Knyght and Peter Knyght both named, but in separate sentences, I’m not sure if both became executors]

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[1] Laystale [Laystall] – obsolete word for a burial place (OED entry)

[2] Laten [Latten] – OED entry, Wikipedia entry

(more explanations to be added)

[3] Churching of women –

[4] Obets / Obyte –

[5] Forthfare – an obsolete word which can mean death, the passing bell rung then or a funeral. (OED entry). Here it would appear to mean the latter, the funeral.

[6] Friars in Canterbury –

[7] Sir – a title accorded to priests at the time, just as ‘Father’ may be today, not an indication that Thomas Penycoke was a knight etc.

I’m not sure how Peter Knyght was related to Alice – was he a son but she forgot to mention it? It seems most likely, or maybe he was a brother. I suspect he may be the Peter Knight of Wye who died in 1518 leaving a will; this may clarify his relationship.

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The will was proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury and is viewable on microfilm at the CCA or KHLC.

CCA ref: PRC/17/12/123a (register copy; more details about source will be on Alice’s page)

The original will appears not to have survived.