Nicholas Leveson's Will: Land and Property

Description:Nicholas Leveson’s will also indicates that he made extensive purchases of land and property throughout England. Nicholas states in his will that his son John was also to receive land and property ‘whiche I have bought and perchased lying in the said countie of Stafford, and…in the Counties of Essex Middlesex Huntingdon and Hertfordshire’. Nicholas’s will reflects the growing wealth of the Leveson family, even in these early generations.

In addition, Nicholas left his wife ‘Dennys’ [Dionysia, or Denise Bodley] property in London, declaring ‘I wille that Dennys my wife shall have my messuage or house…wherin I now dwell with the garden belonging unto the same sett lying and beinge in Lymestreete in the parrish of Sainte Andrew…of London’. Nicholas also left Denise land and property in Kent, including land in Gillingham and Halling. The will also states that She was to receive a house ‘in the Countie of Essex’ owned by Nicholas, ‘with all the stocke of cattall’. The will indicates that this house also had ‘tenements and land accompanying it’.

In addition to the property bequeathed to his wife Denise, Nicholas also leaves her ‘all the rest of my plate and implements of housholde stuffe that is now in my dwelling house in London’. Nicholas also states that his ‘housholde servantes’ were to receive twenty shillings.

The amount of property, including land and housing, which is listed in Nicholas Leveson’s will indicates the wealth of the Leveson family. The document reflects the value of wills in providing details about a person’s wealth, status and family. Nicholas Leveson’s will tells us that the Leveson family owned land in Staffordshire and accumulated their fortune based on mercantile trade in the wool industry. The will also reflects the importance of
inheritance and lineage, particularly with reference to the family’s original estates in
Staffordshire.

Attachments

Transcription of Nicholas Leveson's Will, 1539 (63 KB)