Probate Records

Before details of individuals were recorded in the 1841 census, probate records provided one of the most important sources of information about those who lived in a particular area.

Probate is the legal process of confirming a will and giving the executor the authority to distribute the assets of a testator to beneficiaries. Probate was a matter for church courts until the Probate Act of 1857 transferred responsibility to the civil courts.

The probate records for Mortlake and East Sheen from 1623 to 1841 are indexed in the publication of the British Record Society covering the Deaneries of Croydon and Shoreham. These deaneries had probate jurisdiction for certain areas in Middlesex, Surrey and Kent which were held by the Archbishop of Canterbury. As such probate matters could not be conducted in the ordinary Episcopal or Archidiaconal Courts.

Mortlake parish lies within the Deanery of Croydon and is one of the areas covered by the Croydon and Shoreham volume. The records for Mortlake and East Sheen are listed in the attached spreadsheet which covers almost 220 years (with the exception of a few years during the Commonwealth). They provide an indication of life in Mortlake over that period. It must also be remembered that the persons listed were not the very poor but those who had assets and thus needed to make a will.

From the 261 records there are 30 widows and four spinsters listed. 28 persons were from East Sheen.

Many occupations are represented in the records, revealing that the village of Mortlake was self-sufficient in most of its needs. There is, for example, a shoemaker and a cordwainer, three butchers, a newsman, a glazier, three carpenters, a surgeon and a baker. But more specifically there are several residents connected with alcohol – a publican, a tapster, two maltsters, a brewer, a vintner and four victuallers.

Travel by river would have been an important form of transport and so it is not surprising that the river is represented by seven watermen, and there is a fisherman too. Horses would also have been in demand; a farrier and two blacksmiths feature in the records.

Market gardens were a dominant local industry in Mortlake reflected by the three husbandmen as well as nine gardeners who are listed. Two gardeners from the Penley family worked the land on what had been the Mortlake Manor House site. Seven yeomen also appear in the records; they owned and cultivated their own relatively small areas of land.

The four men who described themselves as gentlemen, give no further clue as to their professions. John Barnard BA and Nicholas North BA were both deacons who in the 1630s were licenced to officiate in Mortlake parish church (St Mary the Virgin), and to keep a school or teach boys in Mortlake. At the same time, Elidad Blackwell MA was a clerk who was licenced to serve Mortlake chapel (probably the Independent Chapel).

From 1619 Flemish weavers arrived in Mortlake and created world famous tapestries. The father and son John Van Wyck were both associated with the tapestry works, describing themselves as battle painters. They are listed along with Philip De Maecht who was a well-renowned tapestry weaver.

Deaths at sea were also reported: Henry Keene died on HMS Trident; Thomas Pulley died on HMS Association and Edward Siniger died on The Northumberland. Charles Hayes was unfortunate enough to have died in Fleet prison.

These probate records do not represent all of Mortlake's residents – only those with sufficient assets to merit a will. However, it is a useful social document, covering almost 220 years, as the occupations and professions of the persons listed in these probate records reflect both Mortlake's industries and give an indication as to the way of life of its residents.