1752 English Diocese Hereford Registry Extract Will & Testament Rev Thomas Baker For Sale

18th century 1746 English Diocese of Hereford Registry Extract — Last Will & Testament of Rev. Thomas Baker, Salop County — 18th Century British Probate Ephemera

8\" by 12.5\".

• An Exceptional 19th-Century British Ecclesiastical Probate Document — Diocese of Hereford, County of Salop, 1746

  Offered here is a remarkable piece of English legal and ecclesiastical history: an official registry extract drawn from the Diocese of Hereford, pertaining to the last will and testament of the Reverend Thomas Baker, late of Wall under Heywood (also rendered Eye Wood) in the County of Salop (Shropshire), England.

  DOCUMENT DETAILS

  • Document type: Official probate registry extract, Diocese of Hereford
  • Decedent: Rev. Thomas Baker, Wall under Heywood, County of Salop
  • Will dated: December 13, 1746
  • Proved: August 3, 1752, upon the oaths of the named executrices
  • Executrices named: Frances Baker (widow), Frances Baker (spinster, daughter), and Martha Baker (spinster, daughter)
  • Condition: Very good for age — clean, legible script, minor toning consistent with nearly 280 years of age; folded as issued
  • Endorsement (verso): \"B. Dec. 1746 — Office Extract from the Will of the Revd. Thomas Baker\"

  CONTENT & SIGNIFICANCE

  The document is headed \"Extracted out of the Registry of the Diocese of Hereford\" and records the essential probate particulars of Reverend Baker\'s estate. The will itself bears date of December 13, 1746, and was proved before diocesan authorities on August 3, 1752 — a gap of nearly six years between signing and proving, suggesting Baker may have lingered in declining health or that the probate process faced delay.

  The extract quotes directly from the will\'s executrix clause, in Baker\'s own words:

  \"Frances Baker my Wife and Frances Baker and Martha Baker my daughters I do make and appoint joint Executrices of this my last Will and Testament.\"

  This appointment of three female co-executrices — wife and two daughters — was a meaningful act of trust and legal empowerment in Georgian England, when women\'s legal standing was sharply constrained. The document is authenticated by the signature of the diocesan registrar, Theo. Lane, N.P. (Notary Public), adding further official weight.

  Wall under Heywood is a small settlement in the parish of Rushbury, south Shropshire — deep in the Welsh Marches, a region steeped in medieval ecclesiastical history. The Diocese of Hereford, one of England\'s oldest, exercised probate jurisdiction over much of Shropshire and Herefordshire in this period. That a clergyman\'s will passed through its registry adds a layer of ecclesiastical resonance to an already significant piece.

  FOR THE COLLECTOR

  This document appeals to collectors of:

  • 18th-century British legal and ecclesiastical ephemera
  • Georgian-era probate and genealogical records
  • Shropshire / Salop county history
  • Diocese of Hereford records
  • Women\'s legal history — female executrices in Georgian England
  • Antique handwritten manuscript documents