• General Notes

  In Ely, 1565, leased house (former chapel) from Clare College Cambridge
  
  Children
  Thomas LEGGETT b: BEF. 1570 in "Chapel House, " Ely, England
  John LEGGETT b: BEF. 1571 in "Chapel House, " Ely, England
  
  To help clarify the generations, I have used this code: English (E-1, etc.), American (A-1, etc.). Generally I have attempted to follow Dr. [Theodore A.] Leggett's format. Inconsistencies in the spelling of the family name in wills has been retained, though in all other references I have used the "Leggett" spelling.
  
  1. Gabriel (E-1) Leggett the great-grandfather of the first American Gabriel (E-4. A-1) was born in the middle years of the reign of Henry VIII. The first reference to him appears in the records of Clare College of Cambridge University which leased him a house in 1565. In this record he appears as a "laborer" which meant he owned little or no land. The house he leased was part of the buildings of the medieval Hospital of St. John the Baptist, a former leprosarium granted to the college in 1561. Clare College converted the twelfth-century chapel (a substantial structure measuring forty-one by twenty-five feet) into a dwelling of two stories with four fireplaces. This building still stands, west of the town center. Here the Gabriel Leggett family lived with both the Thomas (E-2) and John (E-2) families occupying it simultaneously. [In September of 1995, my father and mother, John Milton and Ellin North (Ratcliffe) Leggett, visited Ely and met the current owners, Roger and Yvonne Runciman, brother and sister, who showed them around the property. They took at least eight photographs, copies of which have been in my possession since January of 1996. The images show the Runcimans and my father posing before the exterior of the building, obviously a converted chapel with bricked-up gothic arched windows and doors. Interior shots also show arches, columns and bosses of the old chapel, along with two of the added fireplaces the Leggetts would have used. It has been some time since this structure was used for human habitation. The roof leaks, plaster has fallen, and it seems largely vacant except for some storage. Yet, being "off the beaten track" it has survived, for the time being, unlike much newer, 18th and 19th century, Leggett houses in New York City.]
  
  In 1584 records of the church warden of St. Mary's, Ely, show that Gabriel did not pay his tithes; Gabriel's reason for non-payment is unknown. This was the year after Archbishop Whitgift of Canterbury began to repress Puritanism.
  
  In the parish of St. Mary's there are no extant parish registers of baptisms, marriages, or burials before 1599. Gabriel (E-1) died November 2, 1609, and mentions his grandson Gabriel (E-3), father of the first American Gabriel, in his will. At the time of his death, Gabriel (E-1) owned his own house and fifteen acres of farm land. The several acres and rood (14 acre) owned by the Leggetts abutting the land of a Mr. March were probably located in the vicinity of Grunty Fen, out towards Haddenham. The Marches owned a former manor called Gray's in the Haddenham area, several miles west of the city. It was fairly common to own parcels of land at a distance from one's dwelling.
  
  The fact that Gabriel owned a house and land at the time of his death indicates upward mobility for one who had been a laborer thirty-seven years earlier. Even such a small holding entitled him to call himself a "yeoman." Most yeomen of the fenlands had similarly small holdings. Their wealth came from cattle that they grazed on common lands in the fens.
  
  Gabriel and his wife Joan Wood, who died June 26, 1615, had two sons [and one daughter]. Gabriel (E-1) left a will dated 1609.
  
  Children: 2 [no, 3] (Leggett), 2 sons [and 1 daughter] both [all] born at Ely.
  i. Thomas (E-2) b. ---- d. July 17, 1640 m. Katherine Piggott
  ii John (E-2) b. ---- d. May 10, 1631 m. Mary Gotobed
  [iii Alice b. ---- d. Aft. 20 Oct 1609 m. a Mr. Westfield; this daughter's existence is proved by a closer reading of Gabriel's will.]
  
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  The following copy of the will of Gabriel Leggett is provided courtesy of the sister-in-law of my cousin, Margaret Haylock, i.e., Margaret Bolton, of High Wycombe, Bucks., England, and the Cambridge Records Office, which gave Margaret B. permission send me a photcopy of the original will. She mailed it on 4 December 2001, along with her transcription of what she could make of its rather cryptic hand. After a cumulative effort of at least 24 hours spent deciphering it, I was able to make numerous additions, and believe I have a version ready for the record for the first time in nearly 400 years, this day, 6 February 2002. This version of the will is a considerable improvement over that given by Dorothy Wertz in her work English Origins... cited above, and therefore here replaces same. Dorothy in 1985 gave us the invaluable gift of the first firm connection of our family to England, back to the beginning of the written record. She did not, however, have the time needed to spend on this single will, the second page of which is, at first glance, illegible. No doubt she had less time to do the entire search than I spent on this will. My work has resulted in some minor changes in the genealogy as we knew it heretofore, but nothing to substantially change the lineages set out in Dorothy's fine work. The transcript is set out line-by-line as it appears in the original. The spelling is also as in the original, but archaic versions of letters are replaced with their modern equivalents. Minor notes are in brackets. DJL
  
  
  Will of Gabriel Leggatt 1609 (VC22:293 at Cambridge Record Office)
  
  I: Gabrielis Leggatt de Elye Ste Marie
  
  In the name of God Amen. I Gabriyell Leggatt of the St. Marie's
  pishe in Elie beinge sick in bodye but in good and pfect remembrance
  the Lord be thanked for it doe make this my Last will and Testament
  in ye mannr and forme as followeth the xxieth [20th] daie of October
  Ano Dmi 1609: Ffirst I comitt my swle into the hands of
  Almightie god my alone Saviour and redeemer and my bodye to be
  buryed in St. Marye's pishe Church yard in Elie. Imprimis I give
  unto my sunne Thomas Leggatt's three daughters that is Mary Elizabeth
  and Margarett my grandahteren to either of them xiiis iiiid [13s 4d]. Item
  I give to Gabriell Legett my grandchild ii [2] roodes of wheat
  lying at the towne's end. Item I give unto John Leggatt my Sunne my
  T___e with bullocke and a yoek and all my apparrell and alsoe a
  half an Acre of wheate in the feild and alsoe my barlie in the
  Litle Barne
  [page 2]
  
  Litle Barne and my pe_____ uppon the ____ providing to my Executor
  towardes the dischardge of my Legacies ___ [sum] before the paying ___ this
  ______ out of the Barne - And my will is that if John Legatt my Sonne
  shall refuse to pay this ______ to my Executor then __ ____ ___ Executor
  shall have the Power to _____ my Legacyies. Item I doe alsoe give unto
  John Leggett all my haie in the yard and a [free year?]. Item I give
  unto Thomas [John?] Leggatt's daughters my grandchildern to either of them
  xiiis iiiid [13s 4d] that is to Ann Marie and Alice when as they should
  come to the age of xxi's [21] years or daie of their marriadges if such
  should be first. And my will is that my Executor shall paie
  unto my Sunne John Leggett the ___ that is given unto his daughters[s]
  within two moneths after my death and my will is that uppon the paimt
  of the said gift that my Executor shall be fully dischardged of the said
  gift. Item I give unto John Leggett my grandchild _____ [sum] to be paid
  to him by my Executor as he shall come to one and Twentie years
  of age. Item I give to Gabriell Wood iiis [3s] and Henry Woode iiis [3s]
  and also Alice West field my daughter iiis [3s] and alse [Alice?] Woode my daughter
  in law xxis [21s]. Item I give unto Ane Leggatt my Grandaughter my
  Cubbord. All the rest of my goodes unbequeathed my Legacies discharged
  and my body reverently brought to the ground I give to Thomas Legget
  my Sonne whom I make my sole Executor. And this I ordeine for
  my Last will and Testamt. In witness whereof I have sette my
  mark subscribed my name Sign Gabrielis Leggatt S ed and
  delivered in the presence of us Robte Perne, Richard Banks &
  Willm __________
  
  [The clerk's 11-line notation of the proving of the will appears to be largely in Latin, of limited legibility; perhaps a scholar of that language could make more of it:]
  
  I _____ find ____Testament Gabrielis Leggatt my parhis this
  maid in Elie def. ___ Elie xiii [13th] Daie ___ ____ December Ano
  Dmi 1609. _____ honorabili vivo ________________________ in
  _______ ____ et ______ _________ ______ et
  _______
  _______ ____ def. Thomas
  Leggatt Executor __ ___ Testament
  _______
  _______
  _______
  Legalib. ___
  
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  Timeline of "Chapel House" lease:
  
  1565
  The house Gabriel Leggett leased in 1565 was part of the buildings of the medieval Hospital of St. John the Baptist, a former leprosarium granted to the college in 1561. Clare College converted the twelfth-century chapel (a substantial structure measuring forty-one by twenty-five feet) into a dwelling of two stories with four fireplaces. This building still stands, west of the town center. Here the Gabriel Leggett family lived with both the Thomas and John Leggett families occupying it simultaneously. [In September of 1995, John Milton and Ellin North (Ratcliffe) Leggett, visited Ely and met the current owners, Roger and Yvonne Runciman, brother and sister, who showed them around the property. They took at least eight photographs. The images show the Runcimans and John Leggett posing before the exterior of the building, obviously a converted chapel with bricked-up gothic arched windows and doors. Interior shots also show arches, columns and bosses of the old chapel, along with two of the added fireplaces the Leggetts would have used. It has been some time since this structure was used for human habitation. The roof leaks, plaster has fallen, and it seems largely vacant except for some storage. Yet, being "off the beaten track" it has survived, for the time being.]
  
  1609
  Gabriel (i), (d. 1609) apparently leaves the house to his son John, when he bequeaths to him "all my haie in the yard and a free year." (a year of rent paid out of his estate)
  
  1631
  John (i) (d.1631), bequeathed lease to wife, Mary (Gotobed) (d.?) then to son John (ii) (d.?).
  
  1640
  We do not seem to know how Gabriel's second son Thomas (d. 1640), brother of John (i), came to hold the lease, but he bequeathed it to his grandson, William (1632-1665), as his firstborn son John "of Exeter, NH" was left with but one shilling (probably as he had by this time emigrated to America c. 1635.) Why he did not bequeath it to William's father, Gabriel (ii) (d.1657) we do not know, perhaps he thought he would emigrate too, but he never did, although his son, Gabriel (iii) (1637-1700) did so, in 1661.
  
  1657
  Gabriel (ii) does not mention the house in his will, but it was not his but his son William's, according to Gabriel's father's will of 1640.
  
  1665
  William's will does not mention a house connected with "Clare Hall of Cambridge" so we cannot tell, without further research, if it was still in the family, or given up earlier. He does mention houses by geographic location. Thus, we can only seem to document the house as being in the family from 1565-1640, a period of 75 years. Perhaps it did indeed remain a Leggett house for a full century. But Mrs. Wertz's research was not centered on tracing property.
  
  Children
  Thomas LEGGETT b: BEF. 1570 in "Chapel House, " Ely, England
  John LEGGETT b: BEF. 1571 in "Chapel House, " Ely, England
  Alice LEGGETT b: in "Chapel House, " Ely, England

Details of Gabriel's family with Joan Wood