In the Name of God Amen I Thomas Dexter of Bozeat in the County of Northampton Farmer do make and Publish this to be my last Will and Testament in manner and form following this is to say
First I direct that all my just Debts Legacies Funeral and Testamentary Expenses shall be fully paid satisfied and discharged by my Executors hereafter named out of my Personal Estate and Effects
I give and devise unto my Son John Dexter all and every my Messuages Lands Tenements Heraditaments and Real Estate whatsoever whether the same be Freehold or Leasehold with their and every of their Appurtenances situate lying and being in the several parishes of Bozeat aforesaid and Grendon in the said County of Northampton or elsewhere within the Kingdom of Great Britain to hold the same and every part thereof unto and to the use of my said Son John Dexter his Heirs Executors Adm[inistrat]ors and Assigns for ever
But in case my said Son John Dexter shall happen to depart this life under the age of twenty one Years and without leaving issue of his Body then and in such case I do from and immediately after the decease of my said Son John give and devise all and every my said Messuages Lands Tenements Heraditaments and Real Estate unto all and every my Daughters that shall be then living and to their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns for ever to take as Tenants in Common and not as Joint Tenants
I give to my Daughter Catherine the Wife of John Lawton of Grendon aforesaid Farmer the Sum of Five shillings I also give to my Daughter Ann the Wife of Samuel Boddington of Grendon aforesaid Butcher the like Sum of Five shillings to be paid to them respectively at the expiration of one Calendar Month next after my decease
I give and bequeath unto my Daughters Mary Dexter and Elizabeth Dexter the Sum of One hundred and forty pounds a piece to be paid to them respectively when and so soon as my said Son John Dexter shall arrive at his Age of twenty one Years and if both or either of my said Daughters shall happen to depart this life before their or her said Legacys or Legacy shall Become due and payable then and in such case I do give and bequeath the Legacies or Legacy of them or her so dying unto all and every my said Daughters that shall be then living to be equally divided amongst them share and share alike and to be paid and payable at the same time as the said original Legacies or Legacy would have become due and payable
All my Monies and Securities for Money Goods Chattels Stock Crops Personal Estate and Effects whatsoever and wheresoever and of what nature kind or sort soever the same shall or may consist at the time of my decease I give and bequeath the same and every part thereof unto my Friends John Lewis of Bozeat aforesaid Farmer and William Radbourne of Farndish in the County of Bedford Farmer upon Trust nevertheless that the said John Lewis and William Radbourne or the Survivor of them his Executors or Adm[inistrat]ors do & shall improve order and manage the same in the Farm wherein I now live or otherwise in the best manner that they in their discretion shall see proper until my said Son John Dexter shall attain his full age of twenty one Years at which time I do give and bequeath all my said Personal Estate and Effects unto my said Son John Dexter absolutely to and for his own use and benefit and in case my said Son should happen to depart this life before he arrives at his said age of twenty one Years and without leaving Issue of his Body then and in such case I do from and after the decease of my said Son give and bequeath all my said Personal Estate and Effects unto all and every my said Daughters that shall be then living to be equally divided among or between share and share alike and I do desire that my said Son may be brought up in the care assisting and managing the Business under the direction of my said Trustees during his Minority and that my said two Daughters Mary and Elizabeth may reside with my said Son and be supported and maintained out of the Produce of my said Personal Estate and Effects during his Minority or so long thereof as they shall continue Single and Unmarried
And I do make ordain constitute and appoint the said John Lewis and William Radbourne Executors in Trust of this my last Will and Testament and also Guardians as well over the Persons as the Estates of my said daughters Mary and Elizabeth and my said Son John during their respective Minorities and I do hereby declare my mind and Will to be that the said John Lewis and William Radbourne or either of them their or either of their Heirs Executors or Adm[inistrat]ors shall not be charged or chargeable with or accountable for any more of the aforesaid Trust Monies and Premises than he or they respectively shall actually receive by virtue of the Trusts aforesaid nor with or for any loss which shall happen of the same Trust Monies and Premises or any Part thereof so as such loss happen without their wilful default nor the one of them for the other of them or for the Acts Goods Receipts or disbursements the one of the other of them but each of them only for his own Acts Goods Receipts and disbursements and also that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said John Lewis and William Radbourne and each of them their and each of their Heirs Executors and Adm[inistrat]ors in the first place by and out of the said Trust Monies and Premises to deduct and reimburse him and themselves all such loss Costs Charges Damages and Expenses which he they or any of them shall or may sustain bear pay expend or be put unto for or by reason or means of the said several Trusts hereby in them reposed or the management and execution thereof or any other matter or thing in any wise relating thereto
And lastly I do revoke and make Void all former and other Wills by me at any time heretofore made and do declare this and this alone to be and contain my last Will and Testament
In Witness whereof I the said Thomas Dexter the Testator have to this my last Will and Testament contained on this and the three Preceding Sheets of Paper set my Hand and Seal to wit my Hand to the three Preceding Sheets and my Hand and Seal to this the fourth or last Sheet therof the twenty fourth day of February in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety seven

(Signed) Tho. Dexter

Signed, Sealed, Published and Declared by the Testator Thomas Dexter as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who have hereunto subscribed our Names as Witnesses at his request in his presence and in the presence of each other

(Signed) Chas. H. Hodson
(Signed) Gravely Lawton
(Signed) James Morris

This Will was proved at London the twelfth day of September in the Year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and ninety seven before the Worshipful John Lowell Doctor of Laws and Surrogate of the Right Honorable Sir William ......... also Doctor of Laws Master Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully Constituted by the Oath of John Lewis one of the executors named in the said Will to whom Adm[inistrati]on was Granted of all and singular the Goods Chattels and Credits of the said deceased having been first Sworn duly to Administer Power reserved of making the like Grant to William Radbourne the other Executor named in the said Will when he shall apply for the same.

Notes:

1. The primary importance of this will is in its confirmation that the daughter Catherine of Thomas Dexter the Bozeat farmer had married John Lawton (John Cherry Laughton, to give him his full name and the correct spelling) of Grendon.

2. Apart from relatively minor bequests to his four surviving daughters, everything else was left in the first instance to his son John Dexter. John and the two unmarried daughters (Mary, c. 1780 and Elizabeth, b. 1871) had not attained 21 years when the will was made, and provision is made for their maintenance in the meantime. One must presume that Thomas' wife Elizabeth had died by the time the will was made, as she is not mentioned in it.

3. The first son John (c. 1772) seems to have died young, and the second son of that name (c. 1783) would only have been about 16 at the time of his father's death in 1797 — hence the provision for him until he attained his majority.

4. There is no mention in the will of Thomas Dexter Jr., who appears as a son of this family, c. 1774, in the Bozeat parish register. Perhaps he had already been provided for, or perhaps he had died in the meantime. There was certainly a prosperous baker named Thomas Dexter in the succeeding generation (he died in about 1830), though he may have had different parentage.

5. The will makes clear that Thomas Dexter owned real property in both Bozeat and Grendon.

6. The will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, and I downloaded a facsimile of an official copy of it from the website of The National Archives — their catalogue reference for it is PROB 11/1296.