This is the Last Will and Testament of me William SPARKS of Dorchester in ye County of Dorset Maltster being of sound & dispossessing mind and understanding made the first day of January 1778 [i.e. 1777/8]:

First I commend my soul into ye hands of Almighty God hoping for remission of my sins through ye merit of Jesus Christ my Saviour

My body I commit to ye Earth to be buried at ye direction of my executor herein after named and as for ye worldly estate & effects whereof I shall die seized or possessed of I give and depose of ye same as follows:-

First I give to my son Isaac SPARKS all that my Lands at Roden [i.e. Rodden⁽¹⁾] in ye Parish of Abbotsbury for ye term of his natural life and after his death I give ye s^d [said] Lands at Roden to my grandson Will^m [William] SPARKS & his heirs for ye term I have upon it.

I give to my grandson Will^m [William] JACOB the reversion rite [right] of that copyhold estate in ye Manor of Piddletown late Andrew LANGFORD's that I bought of Jn^o [John] ALLEN for his son and dafters [i.e. daughters] lives as by ye copy Will appvd [approved] after ye death of my wife.

I give all ye Leasehold estate I have in ye Manor of Piddletown called Bartlets & Woolshams to my son Isaac SPARKS In Trust for my grandson Joseph SPARKS till he shall attain the age of twenty one years but if he should happen to die before he attain that age then In Trust for my grandson Tho: [Thomas] DAVY till he shall attain of age of 21 years.

I further give that house and garden I have in ye parish of St Peters in ye Borrow [Borough] of Dorchester to ^m [William] DAVY and his heirs

I give all my household goods to my wife and my three granddaughters Eliz: [Elizabeth] DAVY; Eliz: [Elizabeth] SPARKS & Eliz: [Elizabeth] JACOB To be equally divied [divided] by my executor as near as possible between them share and share alike

My wearing apparel (linen and woollen) I give to John ELLOT Junior & Nathaniel BURT my sister Mary & Honours⁽²⁾ sons to be equally divided by my executor between them

I give to my son Isaac SPARKS & my son in law John JACOB In Trust, or the survivor of them their executors & administrators, all rite [right] & interest  I have at Forden [i.e. Fordton] in ye parish of Crediton in that house utenses? & buildings that John DAVY now dwells in & occupies to my dafter [daughter] Eliz [Elizabeth] wife of ye said John DAVY for her sole & separate use during the term of her natural life, and after her death to such uses or purposes as she ye sd [said] Eliz DAVY shall appoint

I likewise give to ye said Isaac SPARKS and John JACOB In Trust that copyhold estate I have at Ryme (Ryme Intrinseca) late HILL's and now be in possession of Thomas GILL for my dafter [i.e. daughter] Eliz: [Elizabeth] DAVY sole and separate use for & during her natural life

I likewise Give to ye s^d [said] Isaac SPARKS & John JACOB In Trust that copyhold estate I have at Forthington [Fordington] after ye death of my wife for my dafter [daughter] Eliz [Elizabeth] DAVY sole & separate use for & during her natural life and my will is that ye rent & profits of ye aforesaid dwelling house building at Uten Fell at Fordon [i.e. Fordton] ye copyhold estate Rime & Forthington [Fordington] be paid into ye hands of s^d [said] Isaac SPARKS & John JACOB they paying ye nett produce thereof to ye s^d [said] Eliz: [Elizabeth] DAVY yearly for her life.

[Note:- Large deletion here - illegible]

I give to my son Isaac SPARKS & John JACOB & ye survivor of them the sum of Seven hund [hundred] and fifty pounds In Trust for my five grandchildren Eliz: [Elizabeth], Sarah & John JACOB ye sum of one hund[hundred] & fiveftey [fifty ]pound each & to W^m [William] JACOB ye sum of one hundred pound & to Marth [Martha] JACOB ye sum of two hund [hundred] pounds as they & each of them shall attain ye age of 21 years, if either of ye s^d [said] grandchildren shall happen to die before they attain ye age of 21 years my Will is that his or her share so dieing [dying]  shall be paid to the survivors to share and share alike & my Will is that ye s^d [said] Isaac SPARKS & John JACOB put ye money of all such as shall next attain ye age of 21 years at my death out to interest on ye best security they can get & pay ye produce thereof for ye support of them.

I give unto ye s^d [said] Isaac SPARKS & John Cadlock DAVY & ye survivor of them ye sum of eleven hundred pounds In Trust for eleven grandchildren Will^m [William];  Eliz: [Elizabeth]; Thomas; Samll [Samuel];  James; Mary; Martha;  Sarah; Isaac;  Rebecah;  & Joseph DAVY ye sum of one hundred pounds each as they & each of them attain ye age of 21 years if either of ye s^d [said] grandchildren shall happen to die before they attain the age of 21 years my will is that his or her share so dieing [dying]  before ye age of 21 years shall go ye [i.e. be paid to the] survivors share and share alike. My will is that ye s^d [said] Isaac SPARKS & John DAVY put ye s^d [said] money of all ye s^d [said] grandchildren as doth not attain ye age of 21 years at my death out on ye best security they can get & pay ye pounds? thereof to my dafter [daughter] Eliz: [Elizabeth] DAVY for ye support of ye s^d [said] children

I give to my son Isaac SPARKS ye sum of eight hundred & fifty pounds In Trust for my six grandchildren William, Joseph, Isaac, Sarah, Lucy & Rebeck[a] SPARKS. To Will^m [William], Rebeck[a] & Sarah & Isaac, Lucy ye sum of a hundred & fifty pounds each to Joseph ye sum of one hundred pounds as they and each of them shall attain ye age of 21 years my will is that if either [any of ] my s^d [said] grandchildren shall happen to die before they attain the age of 21 years then his or her share so dieing [dying] shall go to [be] divided equally amongst ye survivors of them

I give to my sister Honor ELLETT [ELLIOT] & Thomas PAULL ye elder the sum of fifety [fifty] two shills [shillings] a year each for & during the term of their natural lives to be paid by my executors ye first payment to be in three months after my death & rest be paid quarterly to each of them

My Will is that my s^d [said] trustees shall not [section torn away] that may be left In ye execution of ye trust [section torn away]should happen that each & every [section and edge of document torn away] left.

All the Rest residue & remainder of my ready money securities for money books debts chattels and personal estate whatsoever I give to my son Isaac SPARKS & his heirs whom I constitute and appoint to be my sole executor of this my last Will

In Witness I the said Wm [William] SPARKS have hereunto set my hand & seal ye day & year above written.

Willm SPARKS

Signed sealed published & declared by ye sd [said] Willm SPARKS
ye within writing on ye other side as for his last Will & Testament
In ye presence of us who subscribed our names as witnesses at his
request & in his presence

John BOWDITCH
Abel EDWARDS
James BESANT

Family Background:-

Information about this family has kindly been provided by descendants Mary Skilton and Robert Barr who are researching the family. I am happy to pass on any additional information to them if contacted by e-mail - see the Dorchester/Fordington parish page for my e-mail address.

1. William SPARKS Junior [1700-1778] the subject of this will is thought to be the grandson of James SPARKS who died 25 July 1685 at the Battle of Sedgemoor. William was the son of William SPARKS [1665c-1741/2] senior of Fordington who also left a will and was buried in Fordington on 10 March 1741/2 aged 76. [Follow link provided for more information about his family]

William became a Maltster by trade and married at St Georges church Fordington on 28 June 1726 to Elizabeth BENNETT [BONNETT]. Like his father he became a member of Fordington Church Vestry, his name, recorded as William SPARKS Junior, first recorded there on 30 Mar 1740/1. This was of course when he his father died and he inherited the leasehold tenement in the manor of Puddletown. He regularly attended vestry meetings after his father death and was elected Overseer of the Poor for Fordington on 15 Apr 1745 serving for the following year. Elizabeth SPARKS nee Bennett (1707-1742) died when she was only 35 years old on 17th and was buried on 20th August 1742 at St Georges churchyard at Fordington. William's name appears a number of times in the Quarter Sessions Records for Dorset:-

From the Quarter Session records held at Shaston on 14th July 1752 - William SPARKES, referred to as a Maltster of Forthington, and John Curtis were both appointed Constables of the Liberty of Fordington for the ensuing year replacing John Morgan and William Gifford.

From the Quarter Sessions held at Sherborne on 4th April 1758 - On 10th Feb 1758 William SPARKS a Maltster of Dorchester had shipped 450 bushels of malt out of the port of Weymouth on board the ship 'Industrious Bee' , George Daffety being Master. The ship was a new privateer of 200 tons with a crew of 40 and armed with 16 carriage guns. It was only commissioned on 27th Jan 1758 out for the port of Cork in Ireland. Unfortunately on its passage to Portsmouth from Weymouth it hit a rock near Lulworth and sank with all his malt lost. The parish Registers for Wyke Regis in Dorset record the burials of the following 4 people as 'having drowned off Lulworth'. George Daffety, William Goodwin, Anne Hardey and Edith Bezant. The reason William appears in the Sessions records is that he had already paid a tax of £11. 5 shillings on the cargo and given the circumstances the Court ordered the County Treasurer to repay him that amount.

At another Quarter Sessions held by adjournment at the Antelope Inn in Dorchester on 11th Sep 1788 the Court approved the deputation entered into the court on 25th Aug 1788 by William SPARKS of Fordington in Dorset Gentleman and also Lord of the Manor of Langton Herring who nominated Joseph Rose of Langton Herring a yeoman to be his Game Keeper of and for the Manor with licence to kill and preserve the game of the Manor.

(1.1) Isaac SPARKS (c1727-1788) would have been baptised at the Presbyterian Chapel in Pease Lane in Dorchester c1727 (church registers only survive from 1750): He married twice, 1st to Martha STUCKEY of Langport Somerset under a marriage settlement dated 11 Sep 1754. Martha died as she returned to her home parish of Langport where she was interred on 30th Nov 1757. Isaac remarried a year later to Miriam MANUEL at Bere Regis Dorset on 13 Dec 1758 and they had children baptised in the Presbyterian church in Pease Lane Dorchester. Isaac was buried at Fordington on 21 Jan 1787/8 followed by Miriam his 2nd wife on 2 May 1811. Follow link provided for more information about this family

(1.2) Rebecca SPARKS (c1729-1766) like her brother bap at the Presbyterian Chapel c1729 she married John JACOBS Junior (c1722-1797) a mercer by trade in Stinsford on 8 Nov 1750. John was the son of John JACOB The Elder (1686-1759) a mercer by his wife Sarah nee COAD (d.1771). He was the grandson of William JACOB (d.1724) who had married Elizabeth nee MARTIN at Charminster on 16th Oct 1683. This was another non-conformist family who attended the Presbyterian chapel in Pease Lane in Dorchester where unfortunately the original baptism registers between 1719 and 1750 were lost many years ago. When his grandfather died in 1724 he left the family home in trust with the Minister of the chapel and this descended to his father in 1733 when his grandmother died. John JACOB, along with his sister-in-law Elizabeth SPARKS, were the witnesses at the wedding of his brother Isaac when he married Martha STUCKEY in 1754

When his father died in 1759 John and his wife Rebecca were left 1 guinea each in his Will and made residual legatee after his brother Samuel to the rest of his fathers estate. They had the following children baptised in the Presbyterian church in Dorchester before Rebecca died and was buried at St Georges Church in Fordington on 6th July 1766. We know that after her death John moved to live in the tiny parish of Arne which lies just 4 miles east of Wareham. Children with Rebecca:-

(1.2.1) John JACOB (1759-1760) bap Presbyterian Chapel Pease Lane 27th March 1759. He died an infant and as the Chapel had no burial ground he was buried at St Peters Church in Dorchester on 17th Oct 1760.
(1.2.2) John JACOB bap Presbyterian Chapel 14th June 1761
(1.2.3) William JACOB bap Presbyterian Chapel 4th May 1763
(1.2.4) Martha JACOB bap Presbyterian Chapel 23rd Sep 1764

John JACOB then remarried by licence at St Mary's church in Wareham to Mary CHISMAN on 16th Feb 1772. Some nine years after the death of his 1st wife he was granted a Letter of Administration to administer Rebecca's her estate. The Letter of Administration is dated 28th Jan 1775 and was granted, after his swearing on oath that Rebecca JACOB wrote no will before she died. It was issued to John JACOB of Arne, Gentleman the lawful husband of Rebecca JACOB late of Dorchester. As can be seen in the above will in 1778 he was one of his father-in-laws trustees with the reversion rights of the Manor of Piddletown for example going to his son. John's 2nd wife Mary was buried at FStG Church on 30th Oct 1789 after which John moved to live in Dorchester. He was buried at St Georges Church in Fordington however on 6th Dec 1797.

(1.3) Elizabeth SPARKS (c1731-1824) like her sister she was baptised at the Presbyterian Chapel in Dorchester about the year 1731. As stated above she was present at her brother Isaac's wedding at Langport in 1754 acting as a witness. She married in All Saints Church Dorchester to John Cadlick DAVY on 27 Apr 1756. After marriage John and Elizabeth lived in one of her father's properties at Fordton in the parish of Crediton in Devon. When her father died he left the house in her name in a trust for her natural life and after her death to such uses or purposes as she wished to appoint. John Cadlick Davy wrote his will (PRO 11/1110) on 1st March 1782 naming all 11 of his children and appointing Elizabeth his sole executrix. Elizabeth is said to have died on 6th June 1824 at Crediton.

Genealogical Notes:-

(1) Rodden is a small hamlet within the parish of Abbotsbury

(2) William Sparks [1700-1778] sisters 'Mary & Honur SPARKS' are referred to in the Will above when he left 2 of their children a share of his wearing apparel. .Links to more information about Mary SPARKS (c1712-aft 1766) and Honour SPARKS (c1710-1801)

(3) William's above Will also makes another bequest :- 'I give to my sister Honor ELLETT [ELLIOT] & Thomas PAULL ye elder the sum of fifety [fifty] two shills [shillings] a year each for & during the term of their natural lives --etc'. Clearly Thomas Paul is being treated the same as his sister Honour. Research suggests that this is because Thomas PAUL, who was baptised at St Peters Church on 29th Nov 1700, is probably his brother-in-law. Follow link provided for comments on his ancestry. Thomas Paul married Elizabeth SPARKS at All Saints Church on 26th May 1726.

(4) Many documents on this family are held at the Somerset Archives & Record Service and indexed on the A2A website where the following description is given for one such entry:- Ref DD\SB/7/2  1778-1887 Personal documents., including wills of William Sparks of Dorchester, Maltster (dat.1778, prov.1778), Isaac Sparks of Forthington, Dorset, gent. (DAT. and prov.1788), William Sparks of Langton Herring, Dorset, gent.(dat.1828, prov.1831), Isaac Sparks of Crewkerne, esq. (dat.1837, prov.1841), Loveday Laurey Sparks of Crewkerne, wid. (dat.1854, prov.1866). Marriage settlement, William Sparks and Mary Ann Trenow (1887), settlements by Susan Grace Curle(nee Sparks)on her husband John Curle (1853-58), and his indictment, etc., for bigamy (1847). Grant of burial plot, Crewkerne, to Isaac Sparks(1828)

(5) More documents are held at the Dorset History Center: For example Ref D/SBS/E4 1796-1830 Papers concerning Isaac Sparks' malthouse and house at Dorchester, including disbursements for house in Dorchester, 1801-1830, malthouse accounts, 1796-1812, agreement of John Green to pay rent of house and malthouse at Dorchester, 1803. Or:- PE/FOR(SG)/OV 7/1/3  23 Aug 1754 Elizabeth Sparks, widow and Erasmus Cox of Dorchester, innholder, Elizabeth Sparks, widow PE/FOR(SG)/OV 5/3/4  7 Sep 1757 Elizabeth Sparks, widow, from Dorchester All Saints. D/SBS/F11  1754 Marriage settlement of Isaac Sparks and Martha Stuckey: Messuage belonging to Wm. Sparks in Fordington. (Sparks, Stuckey, Jacob). Bond to keep articles of agreement. (Sparks, Jacob, Jolliffe).D/SBS/F15  1788-1789 Inventory of household goods of Isaac Sparks at Fordington, 1788; catalogue of books belonging to I. Sparks deceased, 1788; valuation of goods of executors of I. Sparks made by Mr Hodder, the carpenter, 1788; promissory note to pay Wm. and Isaac Sparks by Giles Boame, 1789. And many more