The Will was written in May of 1610 in Towcester, and we may conjecture the family had been there for some time. Many genealogical sources suggest Richard and Joane Lord were married in Towcester and that their children were all born there, but to date no primary data to support that has been found. Gaps in the Leckhamstead marriage records (for 1563, 64, 66, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79, 80 and 81) include precisely those years when the marriage might have taken place. Leckhamstead
What we do know is that Elizabeth was born in Leckhamstead near to May 26th of 1583 (Parish Baptismal Register), making her exactly 27 years old when cited in this Will; Thomas was born around 1585, as his age is listed as 50 in the passenger list when he boarded the ship Elizabeth & Ann in May of 1635 (Hotten's Lists), making him 25 years old; Alice was born in Leckhamstead near to January 18th of 1586(7) (Parish Baptismal Register), making her 23 years old; and we might guess that Ellen was born early in this sequence, as she is the one cited as closest to being married in 1610, so perhaps in 1584 in Leckhamstead and being 26 years of age. The order of mention in the Will for the female children may represent the eldest to the youngest, which would be "Elizabeth...Ellen... Alice". But the legacy to Elizabeth is only ten Shillings while that to Ellen is thirty Pounds and to Alice also thirty Pounds. Given that Ellen is the daughter for which we have no birth data, this information is not helpful. (see further discussion of this below.)
It is interesting, and common in the period, that as the first item in his Will Richard makes a gift to the church: "1st I give towards the repare
of the said parish church of
St. Lawrence Church - Towcester Leaving a legacy to the local church was often seen as insurance that a person would be given a spot in the consecrated ground of the churchyard. The amount, just 12 pennies (one shilling), seems a paltry sum, compared to the 30 Pounds left to the daughters, and is even less than was paid to the three supervisors of the Will - "ij s vj. d." (two shillings six pennies). What could Richard's shilling buy? A carpenter in that time made about 13 Pounds a year (about $13,000 in our terms). That would be about 260 shillings in wages for the year. So Richard's one shilling (12 pennies) would buy about one day's labor by a skilled carpenter. Perhaps that was good enough? The
Will
As far as we can confirm, on the day Richard Lord signed his Will with
his "marke" (above), the Lord family consisted of the people indicated
in the chart below. That Joane had produced four children that lived to
adulthood, and herself survived, is in itself noteworthy. We will see
this same phenomenon repeated in the family of Thomas and Dorothy Lord
decades later.  Copyrighted
image. But one critical factor is immediately evident here. Although in today's world Richard's wife, Joane, would be expected, while living, to inherit the entire Lord estate, in 17th century England, the wealth of the family, and any rights to title, lands and Coats of Arms, always went to the eldest male child. Thomas was not only the eldest son... he was the ONLY son. This meant the legacy of Richard Lord's patriarchy would be carried forward in only one line. There would be no other child but Thomas to preserve the "Lord" name... at least in this lineage.
 The family of Richard Lord in 1610 and their names, as recorded in his will (below - .Copyrighted image. permission granted for this use only by the Northamptonshire Record Office. )  We know that Thomas, the son, will receive the bulk of the property from his father, and we know from the previous webpage that Richard's wife, Joane, will be provided for in the Will (the provision to be reviewed below). So let's first "dispose of" the daughters' inheritance, and see what we can ascertain from the way in which they were recognized by their father in his last (and perhaps only) written statement about the family. Since the lands and house and any other buildings and much of the material objects in possession of the family in 1610 will largely pass to Thomas, what is left to the daughters is primarily money. But in giving these sums of money, Richard attaches certain qualifications that reveal something of what was going on with these young women at that time. Elizabeth
my daughter
We know that Elizabeth is 27 years old and assumed to be the oldest of all the children. Yet while her sisters get 30 Pounds each, she gets just 10 Shillings; which is a fraction of one Pound. "Item..
I give to Elizabeth my daughter
tenn Shillings of currant money of England."
The 19th century transcription
of this passage reads "x li of currat money", but there is no doubt the
word is "Shillings" and one can debate the amount written before it. Copyrighted
image.
If she is the
oldest or not, she is clearly 27 and well past marrying age. Did
Richard consider her hopeless? Was she a nun? Or perhaps was she
already
married? In a later Lord Will (1669/70) the daughters who are married
are
mentioned with their new last names. Perhaps in 1610, this was not the
way it was
done.
A clue is found in the microfilm archives of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Attached to a listing related to "Elizabeth (Lord) Johnson" we find the following notation: March 25 1610
Elizabeth
Lord,
daughter of Richard Lord of Towcester and William Johnson Ellyn
my daughter
We estimated that Ellen was 26. And from what Richard says of her, Ellen is on the verge of marrying a young man from a few miles north of Towcester - in Caldecot. There are substantial, and perhaps significant, differences between the 19th century transcription and the actual text of the Will, so I will "translate" what I see (below) with that in mind. "...and bequeath to Ellyn my daughter Thirtie pounds of currant money of England to be payd unto her by my executor hereafter named in manner and forme following. Viz: the one half thereof at her day of Marriage, and the other half within Twelve months after her sayd day ofmarriage yf she shall be livinge. And yf it shall happen that she shall marrie with one Robert Marriot of Calcot Yeoman, then my will is that the fsyd sume of Thirtie pounds be made up by fourtie pounds and to be payd to her at the sayd daye before married by equall porcons. But yf she happen not to marrie, Than my willis that she shall have Thirtie pounds onlye for her procon to be payd to her within three yeares after my deceassing." 
Copyrighted
image. Alice my daughter
Alice was 23 in 1610, and does not seem to have the same prospects for marriage that her sister Ellen had. (Note: the fact that for both Ellen and Alice Richard stipulates different bequests based on whether they marry or not, but does not do that for Elizabeth, tends to confirm Elizabeth was already married.) (Again, there are substantial differences between the 19th century transcribed text and the actual text.) "Item: I give and bequeath to Alice my daughter Thirtie pounds of currant money of England to be payd unto her by my executors hereinafter named in manner and forme following Viz: the one half thereof at the day of marriage, and the other half within Twelve months after her sayd day of marriage yf she shall then be Lyving. but yf she the sayd Alice happen not to marrie Than my will is that her Sayd Legacie be payd to her within five yeares next after my deceasing."  Copyrighted
image. Jone
my wife
The details of Richard's legacy to his wife were detailed in the previous webpage, and will not be repeated here. Essentially she gets half of all the moveable property (furniture, etc.), with the other half reserved for Thomas, along with the house. She gets a third of the orchard crop, and she gets to live in the master bed chamber until her death or marriage. In fact her entire inheritance is contingent on her not remarrying. "I
give and bequeath to Jone my wife..."
 Copyrighted
image. The geneaogical record has several spellings for her name, including, most commonly, "Joan". It is often also transcribed as "Joane", even when the original document carries no terminal "e". It is an error often made, thinking adding the "e" makes it more authentic, like "Olde England". But as can be seen, in the Will it is written "Jone". Now writing, even by clerks, was often phonetic, with the words spelled the way they sounded. Even into the late 18th century, written texts appear almost childish with little connection to the way the language is written today. But this document is not like that; the words are usually spelled correctly and consistently. So perhaps we have some basis for assuming her name was actually "Jone Lord", not "Joan" or "Joane". After all her husband is sitting right there as the clerk takes down his words. In his detailed provision for his wife, Richard clearly assumes for her a long life beyond his own. As it was, she died 23 days before he did. The Parish records for Towcester contain the following information: Buyalls A.o 1610
Joan
ye wyfe of Richard Lorde..................22. Sept.
Richard
Lorde yeom...................................16. Octobr
Thomas
my sonne
"Item:
I give and bequeath to Thomas my sonne and to his heires and
assigns forever all my Lands Tenements and hereditaments
whatsoever in Towcester and within this realm of England –
conditionally that
he shall instantly and trulie performe this my last will and testament
without
fraud or deceipt, And all the rest of my goods and chattels whatsoever
moveable
and <??> moveable <??> after my debts and
legacies payd and my
funeral expenses p’formed I give and bequeath to my sayd
sonne Thomas whome I
do make and ordayne my sole executor of this my last will and testament
and
utterly deneye all other former wills heretofore by me made given or
bequeathed."
 Copyrighted
image.  As
indicated in the previous webpage, Richard signed his Will with a
"marke" and then impressed into it his signet ring. This was a "papered
seal", (see below) which means instead of just the bare wax to preserve
the imprint, a slip of paper, cut into the edge of the document, was
first folded over the warm wax, and then impressed. This preserved the
seal better, as will be seen when we look at Dorothy Lord's wax seal
from 1669/70, which was not papered and has lots much of its wax
imprint. (Look
here for more about this seal.) It is very likely that Thomas felt he was not in a position to marry until he had sufficient property and wealth, and his father's death late in 1610 provided that. Assuming the role of head of the household, and no longer required to provide the use of the master bedchamber to his mother, Thomas no doubt saw the spring of 1611 as the start of a new life and a new family. Dorothy
Bird
The woman he married was Dorothy Bird of Towcester. She was born in that town in May of 1588 and so was 23 years old at her marriage to Thomas, who was about 3 years older. (Note: Her name is usually spelled "Dorothy Bird" in 19th century texts, but her own will and American colonial documents have it as "Dorathy Lord" and in the Parish Regsiter of Marriages it is recorded as "Thomas Lorde & Dorithee Byrde".) Her parents were Robert and Amy Bird of Towcester, and we can see her parents names given to two of her children. Their
Children
During the next 20 years this couple would create a family of ten; with eight surviving children. This is the family that would relocate, in 1635, to New England and the Connecticut River Valley frontier. (Note, dates written as "1611/12" would be "1612" in our modern calendar, but are recorded as "1611" in the Parish records.)
One is perhaps immediately struck by the size of this family and cannot help but wonder if these ten people stayed in the same house that sheltered just six 20 years ealrier? And another clue might be the names given and how these may lead us to the grandparents of Thomas Lord (as yet unknown). Children were often named for immediate relatives, so by eliminating the known names, we are left with names that must relate to either a parallel branch (siblings of Richard) or an ancestor (parents of Richard). "Richard" - clearly named for his granfather, Richard Lord. "Thomas" - clearly named for his father, Thomas Lord. "Robert" - clearly named for his mother's father, Robert Bird. "Amy" - clearly named for her mother's mother, Amy Bird. "Dorothy" - clearly named for her mother, Dorothy (Bird) Lord. So that leaves "Ann", "William" and "John". Some souces suggest Richard had a brother named "William", but that is not confirmed. So these clues remain just that.... clues. UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
 This webpage is being worked on. A substantial amount of primary data has still to be collected. So please check back in a few weeks. The links below are live, however, and will take you forward or back to other pages.
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lthough the
1610 Will of Richard Lord leaves out many details that would allow a
more complete reconstruction of the house he lived in at the time, it
does provide quite a bit of detail on the distribution of
wealth he intended to the surviving family members. In so doing, this
document gives us a
glimpse into the social history of the family and its composition. We
already have stated that Richard and his wife, Joane, had four adult
children in 1610. Since two of them were recorded in the baptism
registers of Leckhamstead Parish, in Buckinghamshire, (below) about six
miles
south of Towcester, and there are significant gaps in those registers
(allowing for the others also to have been born there),
we may assume that prior to moving to Towcester, the family lived here,
from at least 1583, and perhaps until about 1600.
