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Will of Mary Burnham, widow, Old Brentford, 1857

... first I desire that all my just debts, funeral and testamentary expences and charges be paid and that I be buried in the Burying Ground of St George Chapel in Old Brentford in the same grave with my son

I give unto my Executor and Executrix ... £100 stock in the 3½% consoldated Bank Annuities ... interest ... accumulation until my granddaughter Mary Eliza Burnham attains the age of 21 years

... case my said granddaughter shall die before ... transfer ... unto my daughters Eliza DRINKWATER and Mary Ann ADAMSON ... equal shares

... I give to my daughter-in-law Sarah Burnham £10 sterling for mourning and all my real estate

... residue ... I give devise and bequeath ... unto my two daughters Eliza DRINKWATER and Mary Ann ADAMSON

... I appoint my son-in-law George ADAMSON and my said daughter Eliza DRINKWATER executor and executrix

... first day of September 1842 [signed by Mary Burnham]

... witnessed by G CLARK, Solicitor, New Brentford; Thomas SMITH clerk to Mr CLARK, New Brentford

Proved ... 12th June 1857 ... by oaths of George ADAMSON and Eliza DRINKWATER (wife of George DRINKWATER) ... the Executors to whom Administration was granted.

The testator

Mary Burnham lived for several years at around 228 or 229 High Street in Old Brentford and was a perfumer & hair dresser according to Pigot's 1839 directory. The 1841 census shows she was '50' and heading a small household: herself and Sarah Burnham 25, her daughter-in-law referred to in the will, and Mary Burnham 5, her granddaughter. Mary prepared her will in 1842 and lived for another fifteen years, dying in 1857 at the age of 79.

Her death was registered in Uxbridge and the 1851 census shows she had moved in to London Street, Uxbridge, with her daughter Eliza Drinkwater (47) and husband George Drinkwater (46). He was a woollen draper and tailor born in Uxbridge. The census reveals Mary's birthplace as Southall, Middlesex.

How to see this will in full

A copy of the original will can be downloaded from The National Archives Documents Online service, or it can be viewed free of charge by visiting TNA at Kew.

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Published July 2016; updated July 2025