_Extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury_.
This is the last will and testament of me, George Gordon, Lord Byron,
Baron Byron, of Rochdale, in the county of Lancaster, as follows:--I
give and devise all that my manor or lordship of Rochdale, in the
said county of Lancaster, with all its rights, royalties, members,
and appurtenances, and all my lands, tenements, hereditaments, and
premises situate, lying, and being within the parish, manor, or
lordship of Rochdale aforesaid, and all other my estates, lands,
hereditaments, and premises whatsoever and wheresoever, unto my
friends John Cam Hobhouse, late of Trinity College, Cambridge,
Esquire, and John Hanson, of Chancery-lane, London, Esquire, to the
use and behoof of them, their heirs and assigns, upon trust that they
the said John Cam Hobhouse and John Hanson, and the survivor of them,
and the heirs and assigns of such survivor, do and shall, as soon as
conveniently may be after my decease, sell and dispose of all my said
manor and estates for the most money that can or may be had or gotten
for the same, either by private contract or public sale by auction,
and either together or in lots, as my said trustees shall think
proper; and for the facilitating such sale and sales, I do direct
that the receipt and receipts of my said trustees, and the survivor
of them, and the heirs and assigns of such survivor, shall be a good
and sufficient discharge, and good and sufficient discharges to the
purchaser or purchasers of my said estates, or any part or parts
thereof, for so much money as in such receipt or receipts shall be
expressed or acknowledged to be received; and that such purchaser or
purchasers, his, her, or their heirs and assigns, shall not
afterwards be in any manner answerable or accountable for such
purchase-monies, or be obliged to see to the application thereof: And
I do will and direct that my said trustees shall stand possessed of
the monies to arise by the sale of my said estates upon such trusts
and for such intents and purposes as I have hereinafter directed of
and concerning the same: And whereas I have by certain deeds of
conveyance made on my marriage with my present wife conveyed all my
manor and estate of Newstead, in the parishes of Newstead and Limby,
in the county of Nottingham, unto trustees, upon trust to sell the
same, and apply the sum of sixty thousand pounds, part of the money
to arise by such sale; upon the trusts of my marriage settlement: Now
I do hereby give and bequeath all the remainder of the purchase-money
to arise by sale of my said estate at Newstead, and all the whole of
the said sixty thousand pounds, or such part thereof as shall not
become vested and payable under the trusts of my said marriage
settlement, unto the said John Cam Hobhouse and John Hanson, their
executors, administrators, and assigns, upon such trusts and for such
ends, intents, and purposes as hereinafter directed of and concerning
the residue of my personal estate. I give and bequeath unto the said
John Cam Hobhouse and John Hanson, the sum of one thousand pounds
each, I give and bequeath all the rest, residue, and remainder of my
personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever unto the said John Cam
Hobhouse and John Hanson, their executors, administrators, and
assigns, upon trust that they, my said trustees and the survivor of
them, and the executors and administrators of such survivor, do and
shall stand possessed of all such rest and residue of my said
personal estate and the money to arise by sale of my real estates
hereinbefore devised to them for sale, and such of the monies to
arise by sale of my said estate at Newstead as I have power to
dispose of, after payment of my debts and legacies hereby given, upon
the trusts and for the ends, intents, and purposes hereinafter
mentioned and directed of and concerning the same, that is to say,
upon trust, that they my said trustees and the survivor of them, and
the executors and administrators of such survivor, do and shall lay
out and invest the same in the public stocks or funds, or upon
government or real security at interest, with power from time to time
to change, vary, and transpose such securities, and from time to time
during the life of my sister Augusta Mary Leigh, the wife of George
Leigh, Esquire, pay, receive, apply, and dispose of the interest,
dividends, and annual produce thereof, when and as the same shall
become due and payable, into the proper hands of the said Augusta
Mary Leigh, to and for her sole and separate use and benefit, free
from the control, debts, or engagements of her present or any future
husband, or unto such person or persons as she my said sister shall
from time to time, by any writing under her hand, notwithstanding her
present or any future coverture, and whether covert or sole, direct
or appoint; and from and immediately after the decease of my said
sister, then upon trust, that they my said trustees and the survivor
of them, his executors or administrators, do and shall assign and
transfer all my said personal estate and other the trust property
hereinbefore mentioned, or the stocks, funds, or securities wherein
or upon which the same shall or may be placed out or invested, unto
and among all and every the child and children of my said sister, if
more than one, in such parts, shares, and proportions, and to become
a vested interest, and to be paid and transferred at such time and
times, and in such manner, and with, under, and subject to such
provisions, conditions, and restrictions, as my said sister, at any
time during her life, whether covert or sole, by any deed or deeds,
instrument or instruments, in writing, with or without power of
revocation, to be sealed and delivered in the presence of two or more
credible witnesses, or by her last will and testament in writing, or
any writing of appointment in the nature of a will, shall direct or
appoint; and in default of any such appointment, or in case of the
death of my said sister in my lifetime, then upon trust that they my
said trustees and the survivor of them, his executors,
administrators, and assigns, do and shall assign and transfer all the
trust, property, and funds unto and among the children of my said
sister, if more than one, equally to be divided between them, share
and share alike, and if only one such child, then to such only child
the share and shares of such of them as shall be a son or sons, to be
paid and transferred unto him and them when and as he or they shall
respectively attain his or their age or ages of twenty-one years; and
the share and shares of such of them as shall be a daughter or
daughters, to be paid and transferred unto her or them when and as
she or they shall respectively attain her or their age or ages of
twenty-one years, or be married, which shall first happen; and in
case any of such children shall happen to die, being a son or sons,
before he or they shall attain the age of twenty-one years, or being
a daughter or daughters, before she or they shall attain the said age
of twenty-one, or be married; then it is my will and I do direct that
the share and shares of such of the said children as shall so die
shall go to the survivor or survivors of such children, with the
benefit of further accruer in case of the death of any such surviving
children before their shares shall become vested. And I do direct
that my said trustees shall pay and apply the interest and dividends
of each of the said children's shares in the said trust funds for
his, her, or their maintenance and education during their minorities,
notwithstanding their shares may not become vested interests, but
that such interest and dividends as shall not have been so applied
shall accumulate, and follow, and go over with the principal. And I
do nominate, constitute, and appoint the said John Cam Hobhouse and
John Hanson executors of this my will. And I do will and direct that
my said trustees shall not be answerable the one of them for the
other of them, or for the acts, deeds, receipts, or defaults of the
other of them, but each of them for his own acts, deeds, receipts,
and wilful defaults only, and that they my said trustees shall be
entitled to retain and deduct out of the monies which shall come to
their hands under the trusts aforesaid all such costs, charges,
damages, and expenses which they or any of them shall bear, pay,
sustain, or be put unto, in the execution and performance of the
trusts herein reposed in them. I make the above provision for my
sister and her children, in consequence of my dear wife Lady Byron,
and any children I may have, being otherwise amply provided for; and,
lastly, I do revoke all former wills by me at any time heretofore
made, and do declare this only to be my last will and testament. In
witness whereof, I have to this my last will, contained in three
sheets of paper, set my hand to the first two sheets thereof, and to
this third and last sheet my hand and seal this 29th day of July, in
the year of our Lord 1815.