Elizabeth wife of John Bushell
Events
Date of Birth: about 1544.
Place of Birth: unknown.
In documents relating to the contesting of Elizabeth’s will, it is stated that she “was reputed to bee about lxxx yeares of her age at her death.”
Date of Burial: 3 January 1624/5.
Place of Burial: Frodsham, Cheshire.
The burial is recorded in the parish register.
Relationships
Father: unknown.
Mother: unknown.
See below.
Spouse: John Bushell.
John’s and Elizabeth’s wills make clear the relationship.
Children:
(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)
Elizabeth Bushell (possibly baptized 15 September 1565 in Frodsham) married John Walker 22 August 1585 in Frodsham.
Jane Bushell (possibly baptized 26 March 1567 in Frodsham - buried 3 June 1615 in Frodsham) married Randall Whitby 23 August 1591 in Frodsham.
Katherine Bushell (possibly baptized 24 April 1569 in Frodsham) married John Hatton 8 October 1599 in Frodsham.
Raphe Bushell (buried 19 April 1614 in Frodsham) married Elizabeth Cally.
John Bushell (possibly baptized 19 April 1574 in Frodsham).
William Bushell (possibly baptized 11 October 1576 in Frodsham).
Alice Bushell (buried 27 July 1639 in Barrow, Cheshire) married (1) Richard Edge 9 October 1602 in Ince (Frodsham register); married (2) Benedict Stockton (licence 16 May 1607, Barrow, Cheshire).
Ann Bushell married Richard Ear 22 December 1605 in Frodsham.
Evidence
Frodsham parish register (January 1624)”
Elizabeth Busshell de Mickledale widowe. 3
Elizabeth’s will:
In the name of god Amen the xxvijo day of December in the yeare of our Lord 1624: I Elizabeth Bushell of Myckledale in the countie of Chester widowe being sicke & weak in Bodie but yet of good and p[er]fecte Remembrance I thanke god for it doe make my last will and Testamt in manner and form following. First I Committ my soule into the hands of Almightie god and my bodie to the Earth from whence it came and to be buried in the parishe Churche of Frodsham at the discretion of my Frends. And as for my temporal goods Cattells and Chattells whatsoever my will is that they be Ordered and dystributed after this manner. Imprimis I do give unto my sonne Jhon Bushell Two of my best kyne to be of his Choyce. Item I doe give unto my sonne William Bushell other tow kyne Item I doe give unto yong Jhon Bushell my bigger Browne cowe and the bigger browne calf and the little gray nagg. Item I doe give unto Richard Bushell my yong oxe or flower now in his fathers keeping. Item I doe give unto my sonne Jhon Bushell my bay mare and to my sonne William my baullod mare & my Iron bounde wayne for all his parte and porcon & in full satisfaction of all his Childs parte of goods. Item I doe give unto William Bushell the yonger my yong black heffer [...] Item I doe give unto Jhon Bushell the yonger my best Pewter dyshe and my best Truncbett[?], my best chaundler[?] and Chaffing dyshe my Fetherbedd with all Furniture belonging to my bedd one Coverlett either the new one or the oulde one which is now in my sonnes William Bushells his keeping Item I doe give unto everie one of my godchildren xij d. Item I doe give unto my sonne in law Jhon Walker & Elizabeth his wief x s. Item I doe give unto Richard Ear and Anne his wief ten shillings. Item I doe give unto Benedict Stocton and Alles his wief tenn shillings in full satisfaction and dischardge of all their and eveie of their child p[ar]t and porcon of goods and the sd legacies & summes of money to be paid unto them at the feast day of St Mychaell tharchangell next ensuing and not to be done untill that day. Item all the Rest and Residue of my goods & Cattells both moveable and unmoveable whatsoever and wheresoever, my debts legasies and funerall expences being first paid and discharged upon the whole I doe give unto my sonne Jhon Bushell to his sole and proper use for ever. And I doe make & ordayne my said sonne Jhon Bushell my sole true and lawfull Executor to prove my will & to dyschardge my debts legasies and funerall Expenses according to the trust I repose in him
Elizabeth Bushell.
Witnesses
Jhon Antrobus
Robart Pickavance
Edmund Beery
[The will was contested, as it was alleged that Elizabeth was “not of sufficient memory nor able to make a will.” Her son John is alleged to have altered a previous will.]
The will of William Hatton (1611)
In the name of god Am[...][several words missing] I Willm Hatton of Hel[...][several words missing] But of good & p[er]fect mem[...][several words missing] my last will and testament [several words missing] First I commend my sou[...][several words missing] assuredly therewith the only meritts of Jesus Christ [several words missing] p[ar]taker of life everlastinge and I commend my body to the earth [...] it is made. Item I will that such debtes & dutyes as I owe of [righ...] [cons...] to any persone or p[er]sones as be well and trulie con[...] & paid by myne executors hereafter named. Item I give and bequeath unto my three daughters viz Elizabeth Bushell Jane Rutter and Katharine Witter xij d a peece. And I give moreov[er] to my sd daughter Jane Rutter a gowne to be [...] made for her of such like cloth as my sd daughter Katharine hath now foar her best gowne. Item I give and beqeth to every of the childarn of my sd daughters Elizabeth and Jane a Ewe lambe, and to Johane Bushell the daughters daughter of the sd Elizabeth my daughter a Ewe lambe, and to every of my godchildren xij d. Item after my debts & legacies discharged, and my funrall expences p[er]formed I will that all my goods cattells and debtes be devided into twoe equall p[ar]ts whereof I will that my wife Elizabeth Hutton shall have one equal p[ar]te to her owne p[ro]per use in the name of her purp[er]tie[?] & reasonable p[ar]te of all my sd goods cattells and debtes and the other equall p[ar]te of all my sd goods cattells and debtes whatsoever I give and bequeath to my sonne Robert Hatton. Item I doe give graunte and Assigne unto my sd wife and my sd sonne all my whole estate right and terme of living[?] which I have of in and to the messuage or tenement whearin I nowe dwell in Helesbie aforesd, & the lands and appurtenances therunto belonging & all my right estate interest & tearme of years which I have of & in that messuage or tenement which I have in Micle Tarafford & the lands and appurtenances thereto belonging and the lands and appurtenances which I hould of Sir Edward Brabasonne knight To have and to hould all and singular those messuages or tenements lands & appurtenances to the sd Elizabeth Hatton my wife & the sd Robte Hatton my sonne their executors and Assignes from and ymmediatly after the day of my decease for and during the residewe of the lives and years which shall then be unexpired in the houses or tenements which I have of the same, & unto the ende determinacon & expiracon of the sd leases & of every of them together with the sd leases[?]. Alwaies p[ro]vided that it shall & may be lawfull for the sd Elizabeth my wife and my sd sonne or to either of them at or before [...] to Assigne over the moitye or one half of those messuage or tenement in Micle Trafford to any p[er]son or p[er]sons such as the lease thereof doth alowe to have and [...all] the sd moity to such person or p[er]sons to whom the terme[?] shall be assigned and according as it shalbe assigned unto thand[?] of the sd lease Item I doe constitute make and ordaine the sd Elizabeth Hatton my wife and the sd Robte Hatton my sonne executors of this my sd last will & testamt. In wittness whereof I have herunto put my hand and seale the daie and yere first above written/
Wittnesses hereof
Randle Whitbye
Harry ap John
Allan[?] ap John./
[...] goods & cattalls of Willm Hatton late of Helsbie in the County of Chester yeoman decessed aprized by John Brownent [...] Hill Thomas Fryer and Robte Chalener[?] the xvijth daie of October Anno 1611.
Imp[rimis] Corne and malt --- lxxvij li viij s iiij d
Item haye --- v li vij s viij d
Item a yoke of Oxen --- vij li x s
Item five kyne --- xij li x s
Item twoe other kyne and a heyfer --- vij li
Item fourer sneares[?] --- vj li
Item foure Calues --- iij li
Item one horse --- iij li vj s viij d
Item a young redd bay mare --- xxxiij s iiij d
Item a yonge graye fillie --- xxxiij s vij d
Item an old black bay mare --- liij s iiij d
Item sheepe ---- xiij li vj s viij d
Item swyne --- iij li vj s viij d
Item geese and other poultrie --- xx s
Item husbandrie ymplem[en]ts --- iij li vj s viij d
Item tymber --- vj s viij d
Item cheese and butter --- xlvj s
Item bills pailes hatchetts axes yelines[?] augers & such like ymplem[en]ts --- v s
Item brasse and pewter --- vij li
Item spitts, gobarts and other iron ymplemts belonginge to the kitchen --- xiij s iiij d
Item a ioynd bedstead a greate table & frame with banches belonginge thereto a litle square table & frame a Cupboard & dishboard an old table and other bedsteads chests formes boards shelves plankes brakes an old cupboard & such like stuffe --- v li vj s viij d
Item Cowpery and [...] ware a spinninge wheele muggs glasses and such like stuffe --- xviij s
Item sixe silver spoones --- xx s
Item give hyves of beezes --- xx s
Item naperie ware --- iij li
Item a fetherbedde five bolsters & 3 pillowes --- iij li vj s viij d
Item 6 woolbedds --- xxx s
Item a bedd hillinge[?] --- xx s
Item Coverletts and blanketts --- xxx iij s iiij d
Item Curtaines --- x s
Item Cushions --- v s
Item Chaires & stooles --- v s
Item wooll --- viij s
Item sackes twill sheets & wynow sheets --- viij s
Item Coules and Cannell --- x s
Item an old hayer[?] 4 axle trees prockes[?] wickes woading luges[?] worthinge[?] hooks shepskins & some other such stuffe --- xx s
Item 2 sisternes and other stone troughes --- x s
Item hemp & hemp sead --- xiij s iiij d
Item twenty yards of wolle cloth with the w[...] --- xxx s
Item his apparell sadles bridles and hors furniture[?] --- liij s iiij d
Suma total Clxxxvij li
Commentary
The identity of Elizabeth
William Hatton, a yeoman of Helsby, left a 1611 will in which he mentioned his daughter Elizabeth Bushell and “Johane Bushell the daughters daughter of the sd Elizabeth”. Since the Elizabeth of this page is described in 1624 in documents relating to the contesting of her will as having died at the age of about 80, that would presumably make William Hatton around 90 at the time of his will, if he was the father of this Elizabeth. Of course, this is old for the time, but his will does make clear that he has several grandchildren and at least one great-grandchild. On the other hand, in the will William also mentions his daughter Katherine Witter. A Katherine Hatton married a William Witter in Frodsham in 1609 and the couple had several children baptized there between 1611 and 1624. If she was the Katherine in question, she would have to have been born not earlier than the late 1570s. This would be possible if Katherine was the daughter of a second marriage of William, although William would have been in his 50s or 60s.
Robert Hatton, the vicar of Backford, Cheshire, left a 1590 will in which he mentions, in order:
his mother Ellen Hatton [2 black horses, a bed with appurtenances]
his brother’s five children (unnamed) [33s 4d each]
William Bushell [one yellow coverlet]
his father (unnamed) [20s and his stock]
his mother again [one pan]
his brother’s children again [the same pan, after the mother’s death]
his brother [the rest of his bedding]
his mother (again) and his sister [half the naperie ware each]
his grandmother (unnamed) [one (pair?) of flaxen sheets]
his father and mother again [the rest]
He makes his brother executor and his father overseer.
It seems likely that William Bushell is a relative. One possibility is a son of the John Bushell and Elizabeth of this page, probably baptized in 1576. (However, Robert does not seem to have been the son of the William Hatton above, as William Hatton named a son Robert in his 1611 will.)
On the whole, it seems possible that William Hatton was Elizabeth’s father, although the evidence leaves considerable room for doubt.
(William Hatton is probably the William Hatton named in the 1580 Visitation of Cheshire as the son the John Hatton and the daughter of a Barlow of Thornton, and the grandson of Richard Hatton of Helsby. William’s wife is given as Elizabeth Whitby. William names his wife Elizabeth in his will. According to the construction suggested above, this would probably make Elizabeth Whitby William’s second wife, unless he had two or more wives named Elizabeth.)
References
Parish registers, Frodsham. Digital images on Findmypast.co.uk accessed 17 November 2019.
Will of Elizabeth Bushell of Mickledale, Frodsham, widow. Proved 1624 in the Consistory Court of Chester. Digital images on Findmypast.co.uk accessed 17 November 2019.