Last Will and Testament of John Joseph Hickmott
submitted by Roger Cockett
Dr Gerald Cramp has found a copy of the will of the elder John J Hickmott, complete with 3 codicils. Probate was granted on 18 January 1904. The will is worth reading through, for it explains some details about the family. You will notice that the will itself and the first two codicils are signed at the lawyer’s offices in Finsbury Circus in London, but the third codicil is signed at Longfield, with the manager of his brickfield and his gardener as witnesses. The third codicil contains the only reference we have to Charles Burgoyne Seabrook, who must be a second brother of Ada Seabrook; and it appears that the old man did not want to trust him with a capital sum! So where has Charles come from? I cannot find him in the 1881 Census. Did he go to Australia with his father and return between March 1900 and November 1901?
By the way, I notice that J J Hickmott’s assets totalled to £198,725 which at present day values is over £12.2 million, or about $17.2 million.
(Click on thumbnails to view each page of the will. Each file may take a few minutes to download.)