278 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814.. 



towards the executor, the Court 

 gave no costs. 



Prerogative Court, Doctors' 

 Commons. — Nicholls and NichoUs, 

 by their Guardian, against Nicholls. 

 — This was a proteeding relative 

 to the validity of the will of Mr. 

 Thomas Nicholls, deceased, an at- 

 torney, at Southampton, which 

 was propounded ou the part of his 

 two children, who were the uni- 

 versal legatees named in it, and 

 opposed by Mrs. Elizabeth Sarah 

 Nicholls, the deceased's widow. 



It appeared that Mr. Nicholls 

 died in January, 1813, leaving the 

 parties in the cause the only per- 

 sons entitled to his property in 

 case of his intestacy. The will in 

 question was made under the fol- 

 lowing: rather sinjiular circum- 

 stances : — Mr, Nicholls was upon 

 terms of intimacy with a Mr. 

 King, of Southampton, they hav- 

 ing frequent occasion to transact 

 business together, the former as 

 the solicitor, and the latter as the 

 steward, of Sir Charles Mills. 

 Upon these occasions they were 

 in the habit of ridiculing the ge- 

 neral prolixity of members of the 

 legal profession, and drawing leases, 

 and other instruments, as speci- 

 mens of the brevity with which it 

 was possible to draw them. On 

 the 30th July, 180:i, (the date of 

 the will in question), they dined 

 tsgethcr, and after dinner a con- 

 versation taking place on the old 

 subject, Mr. King handed a paper 

 to Mr. Nicholls, which he said 

 was his will, and asked him if it 

 was not a valid one, as much as if 

 it had been spun out by a lawyer. 

 It contained a general bequest of 

 all his property to his wife and 

 clijldren, yi\\\\ an admonitjqn rela- 



tive to their conduct in life. 

 Nicholls replied, '• It was not 

 only a valid one, but a devilish 

 good one." He then took a sheet 

 of paper, and wrote the will in 

 question in these terms : " I leave 

 my property between my two 

 children ; I hope that they will be 

 virtuous and independent, and 

 that they will worship God, and 

 not black coats." He then signed 

 it, and handing it over to King, 

 said, " There, there is as good a 

 will as I shall probably ever make." 

 After he was gone, King signed 

 his name as a witness, endorsed it, 

 and deposited it among some pa- 

 pers of his own. Mr. Nicholls 

 was at this time a widower, but 

 afterwards married the present de- 

 fendant. In his last illness, Mr. 

 King, who had, as he said, for- 

 gotten the transaction in question, 

 urged him to make his will, to 

 which he replied " he did not 

 know but that the law would make 

 as good a disposal of his property 

 as he should ; but when he got 

 better, he would, in compliance 

 with his friends' wishes, make his 

 will." This be never did ; after 

 his death Mrs. Nicholls applied to 

 Mr. King, sayins:, she could find 

 uo will amongst the deceased's 

 papers, but if t^ere was one, she 

 thought it was most likely to be 

 in his (King's) possession, from 

 his intimacy with her husband. 

 He accordingly searched, but found 

 only the paper in question, which 

 he delivered to Mrs. Nicholls, 

 telling her it was of no conse- 

 quence, qnd she might put it in 

 the fire if ?he pleased. Mr. King 

 concluded his deposition by stating 

 \% as his opinio)!, that the deceased 

 never meant the paper tp operate 

 as his wjll, Ipjut merely 9S one of 



