n 



AS SHEWN BY THE WlLLS PRESERVED IN THE 

 BOROUGH ARCHIVES. 



By the Rev. R. GROSVENOR BARTELOT, M.A 



(Read Feb. 19th, 1907.) 



[Y the kindness of the Mayor of Bridport I three years 

 ago made copies of the ancient wills preserved 

 amongst the records of that historic Borough. 

 They are exceedingly interesting locally, and 

 would be a valuable contribution to Dorset lore if 

 printed. As the majority of these documents 

 viz., forty-nine out of sixty-five are dated in the 

 fourteenth century I have chosen the above, title 

 for my paper. Needless to say they are written in 

 old Latin of the most canine type, very much abbreviated, and 

 as they have suffered much from the ravages of time I thought it 

 best to make a complete copy translated, which I am annotating 

 in case at any time they may be thought worthy of publication. 

 When it is remembered that the Wills of the Province of 



