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[In Left Margin]: Decret. Attorney General contra Exton.
Whereas heretofore (that is to say) in or about the Terme of St. Michael the Archangel, [text missing; page torn] was in the Year of our Lord according to the Computation of the Church of England One Thousand Seven [text missing; page torn] and Eight {Sir} James Mountague {Knight} Attorney General of Her Most Excellent Magesty our Sovereigne [text missing; page torn] Queen Anne at the Relation of the Corporation for Propagation of the Gospel in New England and parts adj[?] [text missing; page torn] in America Complainant Exhibitted his Bill of Complaint or Information into this Honourable Court against Everard Exton George Knighton and Rebecca his Wife, Patience Fitch, Philippa Coleman and Judith Page - {Defendants} Thereby setting forth that Edward Hopkins on or about the Seventh day of March in the Yeare One Thousand Six hundred and fifty Seven made his Will in Writing and thereby (inter al) and after several Bequests gave the Residue of his Estate in New England to Theophilus Eaton John Davenport John [Cullock?] and {William} Goodwin In Trust and full assurance of their Fidelity in disposing of it according to the Testators Will which was to give some Encouragement in those foreign plantations for breeding up of Youth in the way of Learning for the publick Service of ye Country in future times and Dyed possessed of a Considerable real and personal Estate there amounting to Twenty Thousand pounds And also out of his Estate in England meaning Great Britain he gave five hundred pounds to be remitted ~ into New England within Six Months after the Death of Anne his Wife according to the advice of Major Robert Thompson and Francis Willoughby into the hands of the aforementioned Trustees in further Prosecution of the said Publick Ends which he declared in the Simplicity of his heart were for upholding and propagating the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus in those parts of the Earth And he by his said Will gave to Henry Dally his Lands and Mannor of Thickoe in Essex for payment of all his Debts Dues and Legacyes and made him the said Dally sole Executor & Residuary Legatee and the said Henry Dally proved the said Will and possessed himself of all the said Hopkins's Estate (Except a farm at Farrington in New England devised to Mrs Sarah Wilson) to the value of five Thousand pounds and thereby became Lyable to the payment of the said five hundred pounds for the aforesaid Charitable use and the said Attorney - General at the relation aforesaid further Informed the Court that the said Henry Dally did make his Will in Writing Dat. the thirty first of July One Thousand Six Hundred Sixty and five (and the {Defendant} Exton Sole Executor thereof) to whom he gave one hundred pounds and his Will was that after his debts and Legacys paid the Remainder of his Estate as it should be received should be settled on some real Estate, whether Land, Houses, or Leases of that Value for the maintenance of his two Sisters Elizabeth Nowell and Patience Fitch and their children and that the rents and profitts thereof should be equally divided between his said Sisters during their Joynt Lives and as either of them Dyed between the Survivor and the deceased child or children Which purchase was to be Lyable to the payment of the Legacyes ~ Charged by the said Hopkins's Will on the said Dally and were Demandable in Six Months after the death of his Widow and Relict and the said Henry Dally afixed a Schedule to his Will which contained a Particular of his {personal} Estate and was under his hand and Seal all wrote with his own hand as was also his Will soon af[ter] the making of which Will the said Dally Dyed and the {Defendant} Exton proved the Will and accepted the one hundred pounds ~ Legacy and gott into his possession the said Dally's Estate over and above Sufficient to Discharge all his Debts and ~ purchased several Estates in his own Name And the said Attorney General did by his said Information further Set forth That Anne Hopkins the Relict of the said Edward Dyed about the Tenth of December One Thousand Six hundred Ninety [In Left Margin] Number 1. 2. and Eight and the five hundred pounds Legacy became due the Tenth of May June one Thousand Six hundred & ninety nine and ~ ought to have been remitted accordingly But the overseers Thompson and Willoughby were dead and there was a Combination between all the Defendants to defeat the said pious and Charitable use and to Convert the five hundred pounds to their own use pretending no demand had been made thereof Therefore to discover the Will of Edward Hopkins and the Evidences and papers which Evidence his Estate and the account Dally made concerning the same and what they
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had received of the same and how it had been applyed and might Settforth the said Dallys Will and whether Dall over p[text missing; page torn] said five hundred pounds Legacy or if the same be in the Defendant Exton's hands that he might admitt Assetts Sufficien[text missing; page torn] the same with Interest since the said Anne Hopkins's Death or else he might Exhibitt an Inventory of the said Dally's [text missing; page torn] and that the said pious Intention of the Donor might be perform'd in all things and that Trustees might be ap[text missing; page torn] carrying on the said {Christian} Design for the promoting and Supporting of the Kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of [text missing; page torn] Earth as this Court should direct was the Scope of the said Bill. And for relief in the said [premissee?] the said Attorney General prayed the ayd and assistance of this Honourable Court and that process of [Spa?] might be awarded against the said Defendants which being granted and the said Defendants therewithall served they appeared accordingly and putt in their Joynt and several Answers to the said Bill and first the said {Defendant} Everard Exton {Esquire} by his answer said that he admitted the said Edward Hopkins's Will and that he Dyed possessed of the said Farm of Thickoe in Essex and that he made such Devises and Bequests as in the said Information and the said Mr. Dally his Executor and further said that the said Dally proved the said Will and possessed himself of Thickoe Farm but could not tell how the said Dally became Lyable to pay the five hundred pounds otherwise than by the said Edward Hopkins's Will and the said Defendant also admitted the said Dally's Will whereby he was made Executor and had a Legacy of one hundred pounds given him provided he undertook the Execution thereof and admitted that the said Dally Willed that after his Debts and Legacys were paid, the Remainder of his Estate ~ Should be laid out as in the said Information and referr'd himself to the said Will and did also admitt the Schedule but said it was not annexed to the Will and the Defendant Confessed the said Lands to be purchased as in the said Information were by the said Dallys Will to be Lyable to pay the said five hundred pounds and other Legacys charged on the said Dally by the said Hopkins's Will and the Defendant Exton further answered and sayd that the said Dally dyed about two yeares and four Months after the making his Will and that he accepted of his one hundred pounds Legacy and duly proved the Will and further by his answer did set forth a Suit in the Exchequer between him and the Testators Sisters and the ~ residuary Legatees of the said Dally which had been there depending Twenty five Yeares without a Desired Effect and ~~~ referr'd to the account of the said Dallys Estate in the said Court of Exchequer unless the Attorney General will Accept Copys thereof and the Defendant further sayd that Thickoe Farm was by the said Dally devised to Mrs Eve to secure the payment of fifty pounds {per} Annum during her life according to the said Hopkins's Will and after her Decease to Henry Fitch in fee who after her death entered into the said Farm and Dyed Seized thereof in fee after whose Death the same came to Judith Cape the Wife of Nicholas Page who respectively Conveyed their several Moyeties of the said farm to Exton for a Valuable Consideration bonâ fide paid out of Dallys Estate Which farm was then lett at Thirty Six pounds and the Defendant Denyed he ever purchased with Dallys money any other Estate w'soever and the {Defendant} for answer further said that Anne Hopkins Dyed and the Legacy of five hundred pounds became due about [in left margin] X the time in the said Information and that the other Defendants Fitch and Knighton had Insisted that the said five hundred pounds and Interest was theirs because the Trustees Nominated by the said Hopkins's Will were all dead and the {Defendant} beleived he had paid the Claimants by order of the Court of Exchequer more than would be due to them at the Determination of the said Suites and that all Just allowances being made him the said Defendant he had not Sufficient left to pay the said five hundred pounds Legacy and was ready to produce any Writings in his Custody relating to the said Dallys Estate as the Court should Direct and the said Defendant Denyed he ever took ~ Advantage of the death of the said Overseers and sayd no Demand was ever before the Exhibitting of the Information of the said five hundred pounds and further sayd that he was willing to Account but hop'd he should have an Allowance of what appeared due to the said Dallys Estate from the said Hopkins's Estate and was ready to pay what should appear to rest in the Defendants hands after a deduction of his Costs being Inde[?p?fyed] and the {Defendant} Denyed Combination and concluded with the General Traverse ~ And the {Defendants} George Knighton & Rebecca his Wife by their answer sayd they beleived there came Assetts to the said Dallys hands sufficient to Satisfy the said five hundred pounds Legacy and that the said Estate of Edward Hopkins in New England was {Doctor} to the said ~ Dally for fifty Six Tun of Salt for which Dally paid in London besides freight and Seamens Wages and for seven
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horses at fourteen pounds per horse and Insisted to have a Moiety of the value of the said Salt and horses either ou[text missing; page torn] said Hopkins's Estate or out of the said five hundred pounds and Interest or otherwise as this Court should think [text missing; page torn] the said Defendants Confessed that the said Anne Hopkins Dyed as the Bill did Set forth and that the five hun[text missing; page torn] [in left margin] Number 3. pounds became due the Tenth of day of June May one Thousand Six hundred Ninety and Nine and beleived the sa[text missing; page torn] still in the said Defendant Exton's hands and that the said farm of Thickoe was Conveyed to Mr. Exton as he had [text missing; page torn] by his said Answer and the said {Defendants} Denyed Combination and Submitted to the Court in all things and concluded their Answer with the General Traverse - and the said Defendants Patience Fitch and Philippa Coleman by their answer said that they had heard that the said Edward Hopkins was Seized in fee of a real Estate in Great Britain and New England, and that he was Entitaled to some {personal} Estate in Great Britain but did not know where the same Lay or the Value thereof and had also heard that the said Edward made a Will but could not Set forth ye date or Contents thereof But referrd to the same when produced and had heard that the said Dally was made Executor thereof and that he possessed himself of some part of the said Edward Hopkins's real and personal Estate but Denyed they knew any further relating thereto Admitted that the said Dally Dyed Seized of Thickoe Farm and of a Considerable {personal} Estate but were ignorant of the particulars or Values thereof otherwise than by the Schedule affixed to the said Dally's Will and the Discovery the said other {Defendant} Exton had made in the Court of {Exchequer} in a suite there depending and that he the said Dally made his Will bearing date as the said Information did Set forth and the said Exton sole {Executor} thereof who proved that same in December One Thousand Six hundred Sixty Seven and made such Devises and gave such directions therein as by the Information was charged and the said Defendants admitted that the said Exton possed himself of ye said Dallys Estate but could not Set forth to what Value and the {Defendants} further sayd they knew not that the said Exton ~ {possessed} himself of the said Edward Hopkins Estate or made any purchase therewith But admitted that Anne Hopkins Dyed about the time in the Information mentioned and that the said Exton purchased of the {Defendant} Philippa Coleman the Moiety of the Mannor of Thickoe for three hundred Seventy and five pounds which was then lett at Thirty Six pounds {per} annum and the Defendants believed the deed and Writing which made out the real and personal Estate of the said Edward ~ [in left margin] X Hopkins or his Title thereto were in the said Mr. Exton's hands or power, and that he had not paid the said five hundred pounds for the charitable use and the {Defendants} insisted to have the Debts Due to them for fifty Tun of Salt and Seventeen horses at fourteen pounds {per} horse and all other debts due from the Estate of the said Edward Hopkins allow'd prior to the said Charitable Legacys and that all Interest that should Appear to be in the said Executors hands after payment of the said Hopkins's just Debts should not be paid to the said Relators but deemed part of the said Dally's {personal} Estate which the said Exton should be charged withall and Insisted to have the same paid to them the said {Defendants} according to their {respective} Interests therein and the Defendants Denyed Combination and Submitted to the Judgement of the Court and Concluded their answer with the General Traverse To which Answers of the said {Defendants} the said Attorney General replyed and Issue being Joyned diverse Witnesses were Examined in the said Cause and their Depositions duly taken and published according to the ancient and Laudible Rules of this Court as in and by the said proceedings of Bill Answers Replication and Depositions of Witnesses remaining fyled as of Record in this Honourable Court relation being thereunto had doth and may more fully [Oat?] large appeare and the said Cause thus standing ready for a Bearing - Saturday the Ninth day of July in the Eighth Yeare of Her present {Majestye's} reigne was appointed for the hearing thereof On which day the said Cause coming on to be heard and Debated between the said {partyes} in the presence of Council Learned on both sides The Substance of the {Complainants} Bill and the {Defendants} answers being to the Effect aforesaid Whereupon and upon long Debate of the matter and upon reading the several Wills of Edward Hopkins and Henry Dally and hearing what was alledged on both sides This Court did think fitt and so Order'd & Decreed That it should be referr'd to Thomas Gery {Esquire} and of the {Masters} of this Court to take an Account of the assetts of the said Edward Hopkins (Lyable to the said five hundred pounds) which any ways came to the hands or possession of ye said Henry Dally {Deceased} or to the hands or {possession} of any other {person} or {persons} to or for his use and likewise to take an {Account} of such Debts as were remaining due from the said Hopkins to the said Dallys Estate and this Court declared that the said [in left margin] 4. Edward Hopkins's Farm in Essex call'd Thickoe Farm was not by his Will subjected to the Payment of the said five hundred pounds
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