Will of John Coles, 1919

Original held at the Probate Sub-Registry at York

Ref: 09/11

Transcribed by Colin Rosewell

John Coles was born in Washfield, Devon 1833 and died in Kensington 1919 - see John Coles (businessman).

I JOHN COLES of No 4 Kensington Park Gardens in the County of London Esquire hereby revoke all former wills and testamentary dispositions made by me and declare this to be my last Will

1. I appoint my sons Frederick Pinckard Coles and Herbert Edwin Coles and my son in law William Joseph Hutchings Whittall to be the EXECUTORS and TRUSTEES of this my will And I declare that the expression "my trustees" hereinafter used is intended to denote and include (where the context admits thereof) them and the survivors and survivor of them and the executors or administrators of such survivor or other the trustees or trustee for the time being of this my will

2. I bequeath the following specific legacies
(a) To my son George Henry Pinckard the gold watch and chain with its appendages usually worn by me And I declare that I make no other provision for him by this my will as he is already amply provided for by the will of his great uncle George Henry Pinckard Esquire whose name he assumed by Royal License
(b) To my son Frederick Pinckard Coles the casket containing the Certificate of the freedom of the Borough of Tiverton presented to me by the said Borough and also the portrait of myself by Herkomer and I hope that he will hereafter give or leave the said casket to his son
(c) To my son John Howell Coles the silver tray presented to me by the Manchester Assurance Company
(d) To the said William Joseph Hutchings Whittall the inkstand presented to me by the British Law Fire Insurance Company
and (e) To my daughter Caroline Mary Whittall my four large silver stands used for salt and the two with the butterfly upon them

3. I bequeath to my daughter Emily Amelia Coles ten thousand pounds and to my son John Howell Coles (having regard to previous provisions made for him) ten thousand pounds and I declare that if my said son shall predecease me and leave issue living at my death the legacy so bequeathed to him shall be held in trust for and equally between all his children living at my death who attain the age of twenty one years and if no child of his living at my death attains that age such property shall fall into my residuary estate

4. I bequeath to each of them the said Frederick Pinckard Coles Herbert Edwin Coles and William Joseph Hutchings Whittall who shall prove this my will and accept the trusteeship thereof the sum of five hundred pounds

5. I bequeath the following legacies (that is to say) To my brother Walter Tidbou[a]ld Coles the sum of one thousand pounds To the Governors or Trustees of Blundells School Tiverton in the County of Devon one thousand pounds upon trust to apply the income thereof to the upkeep of that part of the said Institution as is known as the "John Coles Laboratory" and To the Poplar Hospital for Accident at Poplar in the County of London one thousand pounds and to the London Hospital one thousand pounds I direct that the two last named legacies and the duty thereon shall be paid exclusively out of such part of my estate as may legally be bequeathed for charitable purposes and that the receipt of the Treasurer or other proper officer shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my executors therefor

6. I authorise my executors to give to any servant of mine (other than my butler Thomas Jackson my housemaid Matilda Baikie and my cook Mrs Stubbington for whom I have already provided) such a sum to be guided by their number of years service but not in any case exceeding the sum of twenty five pounds to any one servant) as they may in their absolute and uncontrolled discretion think fit but this authority shall not cast any obligation on my executors or confer a right upon any such servant to demand any payment whatsoever

7. I bequeath to my daughter Emily Amelia Coles absolutely my leasehold stabling No 3 Kensington Park News (to enable her to keep her Motor Car there) she paying the ground rent and observing and performing the covenants of the lease under which the stabling is held and all such furniture plate linen glass china books statuary articles of vertu wines liquors and consumable stores and any other articles of domestic or household use (except as mentioned in Clause 2 hereof) which may be in or upon the said premises No 4 Kensington Park Gardens or No 3 Kensington Park Mews (or any substituted stabling) at the time of my death as she may select and require for the purpose of furnishing a flat or small house but not exceeding in the whole the value of five hundred pounds 8. I devise to my said daughter Caroline Mary Whittall absolutely my freehold residence No 4 Kensington Park Gardens and all my watches jewels trinkets and wearing apparel and such of my furniture plate linen glass chine wines and consumable stores or any other articles of domestic or household use except such as are mentioned in Clause 2 hereof and also except such as my said daughter Emily Amelia Coles may select pursuant to the gift to her in the last preceding clause

9. I devise and bequeath to my son Herbert Edwin Coles absolutely my freehold property known as Blounts Cottage at West Chiltington in the County of Sussex together with the garden and outhouses and also all the property and land on the north side of Blounts Cottage aforesaid containing about twenty acres which I purchased from Mr Towse and all the furniture and other articles and effects in about belonging to or appropriated for Blounts Cottage aforesaid or the other property devised by this Clause I hope that my said son will hereafter give or leave the said property to his eldest son and I also give to my said son my own Motor Car usually kept by me at No 3 Kensington Park Mews

10. I direct that all specific legacies bequeathed by this my will shall be handed over to the respective legatees and that all pecuniary legacies hereby bequeathed shall be paid as soon as conveniently may be after my decease

11. I declare that all estate succession legacy or other death duties payable in respect of any real or personal estate specifically devised or bequeathed by this my will or any codicil hereto or in respect of any legacies (whether specific or general or of any gift or disposition made by me in my lifetime) shall be paid out of my residuary estate in exoneration of every devisee legatee or donee taking under such devise bequest or gift

12. I devise and bequeath all the residue of my real and personal estate and effects whatsoever and wheresoever not hereby or by any codicil hereto otherwise disposed of (including as well real as personal estate over which I shall at my death have any general power of appointment or disposition by will) unto and to the use of my trustees their heirs executors and administrators respectively according to the nature thereof Upon trust that my trustees shall sell call in and convert into money the said premises at such times (whether within one year from my death or afterwards) and in such manner as they shall in their absolute discretion think fit (but as to reversionary property not until it falls into possession unless it shall appear to my trustees that an earlier realisation would be beneficial) and so that they shall have the fullest power and discretion to postpone the sale calling in and conversion of the whole or any part or parts of the said premises including leaseholds or other property of a terminable or wearing out nature and including also shares on which there is an uncalled liability during such period as they shall think proper without being responsible for loss

13. I declare that all the nett rents profits and income arising from my said residuary estate (real or personal) until the sale calling in and conversion thereof in whatsoever condition or state of investment the same may be and whether consisting of investments of an authorised character or not (including leaseholds or other property of a terminable or wearing out nature) shall for all purposes of this my will and as between all persons entitled hereunder and as well during the first year after my death as afterwards be applied as if the same were income arising from the proceeds of such sale calling in and conversion no part thereof being liable to be retained as capital but that no reversion or other property not actually producing income shall be treated as producing income for the purposes of this my Will

14. I direct my trustees out of any ready money at my decease and out of the moneys to arise from the sale calling in and conversion of my residuary real and personal estate to pay or provide for my funeral and testamentary expenses and debts and the legacies bequeathed by this my will or any codicil hereto and the death duties hereinbefore mentioned and to stand possessed of the residue of the said moneys In trust for my three daughters Caroline Mary Whittall Agnes Lermitte Hanks and Ethel Sophia Yeldham and my three sons Frederick Pinckard Coles Herbert Edwin Coles and Edgar Lermitte Coles or such of them as shall survive me in equal shares but subject to the provisions hereinafter contained and I request each daughter of mine taking a share under the preceding trust forthwith to make a Will (if she has not already done so) disposing of such share or the greater part thereof for the benefit of her husband and children if any

15. Provided always and I hereby declare that if any of my said three daughters shall predecease me and leave a husband and issue or issue alone or a husband alone living at my death then the following provisions shall apply to the share which such daughter would have taken under the preceding Clause if she had survived me (that is to say) (a) If any daughter of mine shall leave a husband and issue living at my death one equal fourth part of her share in the said trust premises shall be held In trust for her husband absolutely and the remaining three equal fourth parts shall be held In trust for and equally between all her children living at my death who being male attain the age of twenty one years or being female attain that age or marry (b) If any daughter of mine shall leave issue but no husband living at my death the whole of her share in the trust premises shall be held In trust for and equally between all her children living at my death who being male attain the age of twenty one years or being female attain that age or marry (c) So long as under proviso (a) or (b) any infant shall be contingently entitled to a share in the trust premises my trustees shall apply and dispose of the income of such share in the manner directed by Section 43 of The Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1881 save and except that if and while the father of such infant is living my trustees shall pay the whole of such income to him he taking the same for his own benefit subject to the obligation of maintaining and educating such infant but without any liability to account so long as such infant is properly maintained and educated (d) If in any case coming within provision (a) or (b) no child of a daughter of mine shall live to attain a vested interest in the capital of the property subject to such provision then from and after the death of the last surviving child of such my daughter the same property and every addition made thereto by virtue of this provision shall go and accrue by way of addition to the shares of those my other daughters who or any issue of whom shall then be living in equal proportions and so that the proportion which shall so accrue to the share of any daughter of mine shall be held upon the trusts and subject to the provisions herein declared and contained concerning her original share or as near thereto as circumstances will admit (e) If any daughter of mine shall leave a husband but no issue living at my death one equal fourth part of her share in the said trust premises shall be held in trust for her said husband absolutely and the remaining three equal fourth parts shall devolve and be disposed of as if she had left no husband or issue living at my death Provided also that if any of my said three sons shall predecease me leaving a child or children him surviving such child or children shall take and if more than one equally between them the share his or her parent would have taken in my residuary estate had such parent survived me

16. I declare that the bequests and provisions hereinbefore made to or in favour of my said children are to be in addition to any sums of money or other property which I have already given or may hereafter give to them respectively unless I shall hereafter direct in writing to the contrary

17. I declare that any moneys requiring to be invested for any of the purposes of this my will shall be invested in the names of my trustees and may be invested in securities in which trustees are by law authorised to invest trust funds

18. It shall be lawful for my trustees to retain any investments which shall be long to me at my decease unconverted and in their then state of investment for such period or periods as my trustees shall in their absolute and uncontrolled discretion think proper without being answerable for any loss or depreciation in value which may be occasioned thereby And I declare that my trustees shall have full power from time to time to take up or subscribe for any stocks shares or securities which they as the holders of any property for the time being subject to the trusts of this my will may have an absolute or preferential right to take up or subscribe for and shall also have full power either to hold or dispose of any stocks shares or securities so taken up or subscribed for and shall also have full power to concur in or consent to any reconstruction or rearrangement of capital or other modification of any Company or undertaking in which they as the holders of any property for the time being subject to the trusts of this my will may be interested and either to hold or dispose of any stocks shares or securities to which they may become entitled under any such reconstruction rearrangement or modification as aforesaid

19. I authorise my trustees to determine what articles pass under any specific bequest contained in this my will or any codicil hereto and whether any monies are to be considered as capital or income and whether any expenses outgoings or other payments ought to be paid out of capital or income and how valuations are to be made or values determined for any purpose and to apportion blended trust funds and to deter mine all questions and matters of doubt arising in the execution of the trusts of this my will or any codicil hereto I declare that every such determination whether made upon a question actually raised or implied under the acts or proceedings of my trustees shall be conclusive and binding on all persons entitled under this my Will or any Codicil hereto

20. I authorise my trustees at any time or times at their discretion to appropriate any part of my estate (whether real or personal) hereinbefore devised and bequeathed to my trustees in trust for sale and conversion in its then actual condition or state of investment in or towards satisfaction of any legacy or share in the said trust premises with power for that purpose conclusively to determine the value of the said trust premises or any part or parts thereof in such manner as they shall think fit and without imposing on my trustees any obligation in respect of the exercise of the powers of this clause I recommend them to appropriate in or towards satisfaction of the shares of my said daughters in my residuary estate such of the investments held by me at my death as in the opinion of my trustees may be suitable to be held by my said daughters as permanent investments if appropriated to them as part of their respective shares in my residuary estate and to realize all my investments of any other nature and out of the proceeds thereof to provide for my pecuniary legacies and all other necessary payments and to distribute the surplus proceeds thereof as cash and I hope that my said daughters will invest any capital monies paid to them as part of my residuary estate upon suitable permanent investments they first consulting my trustees as to the investments to be so made

21. I hereby declare that my executors or executor or trustees or trustee for the tine being shall not be bound in any case to act personally but shall be at full liberty to employ a Broker Solicitor or any other Agent to transact all or any business of whatsoever nature required to be done in the premises including the receipt and payment of money and shall be entitled to be allowed and shall be paid all charges and expenses so incurred and shall not be responsible for the default of such Broker Solicitor or Agent or for any lose occasioned by his employment and it is my especial wish that my eldest son shall act in any business in which the services of a Stockbroker are needed And I further declare that any executor or trustee for the time being of this my Will being a Broker Solicitor or other person engaged in any profession or business shall be entitled to charge and shall be paid all usual professional or other charges for any business done by him or his firm in the premises whether in the ordinary course of his profession or business or not and although not of a nature requiring the employment of a Broker Solicitor or other professional person

IN WITNESS whereof I the above named John Coles the testator have to this my last Will set my hand this first day of November one thousand nine hundred and sixteen JNO. COLES SIGNED and acknowledged by the said John Coles the testator as his last will in the presence of us both present at the same time who in his presence and in that of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses CHAS GODDARD Solr Grays Inn W.C. THOMAS JACKSON Butler to Mr Coles.

THIS IS A CODICIL to the last Will of me JOHN COLES of No 4 Kensington Park Gardens in the County of London Esquire I hereby revoke all codicils to my said will made by me prior to this codicil As soon as convenient after my death I desire and direct my executors to transfer a sum of one thousand pounds 5 per cent War Loan Stock 1929/47 to each of the following persons namely Lady Ryan the wife of Sir Gerald Ryan Mrs Gertrude Mary Dangar of Exeter Widow Miss Mary Lucas of 29 Royal Crescent London W. and Miss G[?] Higginson of 29 Royal Crescent aforesaid for their absolute use and benefit and a like sum of one thousand pounds 5 per cent War Loan Stock 1929/47 to the Treasurer for the time being of the Stock Exchange Benevolent Fund for the general purposes of the Fund And I confirm my said Will except as altered by this Codicil IN WITNESS whereof I have hereunto set my hand this thirty first day of January one thousand nine hundred and eighteen JNO. COLES SIGNED by the said testator as a codicil to his will in our joint presence and by us in his presence and in that of each other CHAS GODDARD Grays Inn. Solr THOMAS JACKSON.

THIS IS A FURTHER CODICIL to the last Will of me JOHN COLES of Number 4 Kensington Park Gardens London Esquire I give to my daughter Emily Amelia Coles the sum of ten thousand pounds in addition to the legacy of the like amount left to her by my said Will IN WITNESS whereof I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of September one thousand nine hundred and nineteen JNO. COLES SIGNED by the said testator as a codicil to his will in our jointpresence and by us in his presence and in that of each other CHAS GODDARD Grays Inn W.C. Solr THOMAS JACKSON Butler to J.Coles.

THIS IS A FURTHER CODICIL to the last Will of me JOHN COLES of Number 4 Kensington Park Gardens Esquire I revoke the devise and bequest to my son Herbert Edwin Coles of my freehold property known as Blounts Cottage West Chiltington Sussex with the garden outhouses property and land on the north side thereof containing about 20 acres and all furniture and other articles and effects belonging to or appropriated for Blounts Cottage aforesaid and instead thereof I devise and bequeath all the said property to my son John Howell Coles for his absolute use and benefit IN WITNESS whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of October one thousand nine hundred and nineteen JNO. COLES SIGNED by the testator in our presence and by us in his presence and in that of each other CHAS GODDARD Solr Grays Inn W. A. EVERS.

THIS IS A CODICIL to the Will of me JOHN COLES of 4 Kensington Park Gardens Esquire I revoke the bequest of my own motor car usually kept by me at 3 Kensington Park Mews in favour of my son Herbert Edwin Coles and I give the said motor car and its accessories to my daughter Emily Amelia Coles IN WITNESS whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of October one thousand nine hundred and nineteen JNO. COLES SIGNED by the testator in our presence and by us in his presence and in that of each other CHAS. GODDARD Solr Grays Inn W. C. W. A. EVERS.

ON the 25th day of November 1919 Probate of this Will and four Codicils was granted to Frederick Pinckard Coles Herbert Edwin Coles William Joseph Hutchings Whittall the Executors.

PROBATE

BE IT KNOWN that John Coles of 4 Kensington Park Gardens Notting Hill in the County of Middlesex

Died there on the 18th day of October 1919

AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that at the date hereunder written the last Will and Testament with four codicils thereto of the said deceased was proved and registered in the Principal Probate Registry of His Majesty's High Court of Justice, and that administration of all the estate which by law devolves to and vests in the personal representative of the said deceased was granted by the aforesaid Court to Frederick Pinckard Coles of 39 Throgmorton Street in the City of London stockbroker Herbert Edwin Coles of 2 Landsdowne Crescent Notting Hill aforesaid esquire sons of the deceased and William Joseph Hutchings Whittall of 18 Airlie Gardens Kensington in the said county of Middlesex esquire the executors named in the said will.

Dated the 25th day of November 1919

Gross value of estate: £461780 - 3 - 3
Net value of Personal Estate: £453871 - 15 - 4