Keenlyside Wills

Mentioned as a footnote in A History of Northumberland Volume 4 Hexamshire Part2 (Hexham, Whiteley Chapel, Allendale and St John Lee) by John Crawford Hodgson 1897 are numerous wills.

7th August 1685 the will of Robert Keenlyside of Hawkup proved by Elizabeth his widow and sole executrix; to whom was granted tuition of his children William, Joseph, Robert, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah.

19th January 1699/1700 the will of Gerard Keenlyside of Corry Hill. When my son John Keenlyside shall arrive at the age of 21 he shall pay to his brother, William £30; and to my wife Ann and son William all personal estate, they executors. Proved 3rd October 1700. Inventory: Horse, purse and apparel, £3; six cowes and one bull, £14; three heffers £4 10s; one and twenty sheep £5 14s; household goods £3 10s. Total £30 4s (from which deduct) the testator's funeral expenses £3 10s - £26 14s.

19th February 1715/6 the Will of Thomas Keenlyside of Woodheads. John Keenlyside of Chairheads and his brother William Keenlyside of Swaledale in Yorkshire; Jane, their sister; my nephews Joke and Edward Keenlyside of Middlescott; Ann Keenlyside, widow of my brother John; Mary Dixon, their daughter, and Ann and Elizabeth, their daughters; John son of my brother Gerard Keenlyside, deceased, and William his brother. My nephew John Dawson of Woodhead executor. Proved 25th September 1719. 

25th April 1717 the nuncupative will of John Keenlyside of Wolfcleugh. My wife; my son, Joshua; my daughters Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah. Proved 16th October 1718 by Mary Keenlyside the widow to whom was granted tuition of Joshua, Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah, his children.

25th June 1720 the will of Ann Keenlyside of Wooley, alias Wooly, widow. My son Matthew Keenlyside, late deceased; my nephew Thomas Hutchinson executor. Proved 16th May 1721.

20th February 1726/7. Administration of the personal estate of Thomas Keenlyside of Furnacehouse granted to Jane, the widow.

11th February 1746/7 the will of Edward Keenlyside of Millscott, yeoman. To my daughters Jane and Mary Keenlyside £20 each; my daughter Ann, wife of Robert Hall; my son-in-law Matthew Rowell; residue to my son Edward Keenlyside. Proved 22nd March 1759 by Robert Hall and Mary Keenlyside, the exectors.

27th October 1757 the administration of the personal estate of Robert Keenlyside of the parish of Allendale granted to Margaret, his widow.

25th June 1759 Probate of the will of William Keenlyside of Fosterheads granted to William Keenlyside, the sole executor.

28th September 1765 administration of the personal estate of Reginald Keenlyside of Grasswell granted to Ann, his widow.

23rd September 1767 the will of William Keenlyside of Keenlyside, yeoman, my sons Joseph and William Keenlyside of Grasswell. Proved 11th August 1767 by George and John Green, my executors.

*Reginald Keenlyside is a direct descendant.

Roger Keenlyside is probably the first Keenlyside to be recorded by name in 1547. Some of the Keenlyside families seem to have been quite well-to-do farmers. Gerard Keenlyside of Hawkup owned cattle and sheep and left £26 14s (£2,085) in today's money. Edward Keenlyside is described as a yeoman, he was probably a farmer who cultivated his own land. The fact that these people were making wills is significant, in that they had property to bequeath. This is true of Ann Keenlyside in 1720 for women at that time often had no property to leave behind.

The wills give us the names of the dwellings of these Keenlyside families, useful for tracking them down in the Parish Registers, although they do seem to move around . Hawkup, Corryhill, Woodheads, Chairheads, Middlescott, Wolfcleugh, Furnacehouses, Fosterheads and Grasswell are all mentioned in the Parish Registers although with various and sometimes fantastical spellings.
One William Keenlyside had moved to Swaledale in Yorkshire.

Most importantly we are given an idea of family relationships and that education of children was of concern. 

One will is described as 'nuncupertive' so would have been a deathbed will, verbal but needing two witnesses.