The Family › Temple–Catchings › Temple
William Temple
c. 1614–c. 1685
✦ direct ancestor — Owen's 8×-great-grandfather · Temple line
Life
- Born
- between 1614 and 1625 · Warminster, Wiltshire, England
- Died
- between 1 May 1685 and 19 May 1686 · Warminster, Wiltshire, , England
Parents
Marriage & children
Peter Temple (1661–c. 1735)
Timeline
- —ResidenceBishopstrow, Wiltshire, England
- —MarriedMarye Grund — Warminster, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
Records behind this page
Unnamed source
Will of John Temple of Bishopstrowe, co. Wilts, gent.; made 4 March 1635-6, proved 23 January 1637-8; Prerogative Court of Canterbury, register Lee, quire 4. Read in the printed abstract at 'Virginia Gleanings in England', Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. XVIII no. 1 (Jan. 1910), p. 88 - NOT from the PCC original. Local copy: 7-Family-History/TempleCrouchBondPlunkett/Temples in England/John Temple Kingston Deverill/Virginia Gleanings in England.pdf
read the transcript
JOHN TEMPLE of Bishipstrowe, County Wilts, gentleman. Will 4 March 1635-6; proved 23 January 1637-8. To be buried in the Chancel of Bishopstrowe Church. To the church 40s. To poor 20s. To my wife and executrix Mary Temple all household stuff, Plate, etc., in my house at Bishopstrowe. To my wife until my son William Temple shall be 22 my lands in Hachbury, Parish of Warminster, and my mills, he to pay her 1000 pounds when he reaches 22 to enable her to pay the legacies. To my daughters Mary, Elizabeth, and Hester Temple 500 pounds each. Overseers: My brothers in lawe William Seaman, Clearke, and Samuell Seaman, gentlemen. Witnesses: Tho. Seaman, Samuell Seaman. Commissary for oath, William Seaman, rector of Upton Skidmore. - Lee, 4.
Ancestry.com, England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013)
The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 11; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 383
The National Archives, Kew; Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 11; PROB 11/383/207 (register Lloyd, quires 46-90; image ref. 209). Will of William Temple of Bishopstrow, co. Wilts, dated 1 May 1685; proved at London 19 May 1686. ORIGINAL REGISTER IMAGE READ.
read the transcript
Opening: "I William Temple of Bishopstrow in the County of Wilts being (praised bee God) at this time IN PERFECT HEALTH and of good memory and understanding, Revokeing all former and other Wills, doe make and ordaine this to bee my last Will and Testament and doe dispose of my estate as followeth." (NOT a deathbed will - he lived at least another year.) DAUGHTERS: "Imprimis I give unto my Daughter Mary Ivyleafe five pounds. Alsoe I give unto her Two Daughters Mary and Rebeckah Tenne pounds a peece to buy each of them a peece of plate. Item I give unto my Daughter Anne Pearse five pounds; also I give unto her two Daughters Anne and Margaret Tenne pounds a peece to buy each of them a peece of plate." SON JOSEPH: "Item I give unto my sonne Joseph ELEAVEN HUNDRED POUNDS to bee paid him when hee shall accomplish the age of ONE AND TWENTY YEARES. Alsoe I give and bequeath unto him after my decease MY FREE LAND AND COPPYHOLD ESTATE IN HATCHBURY. Alsoe I give and bequeath unto him after my decease my Annuall Rent of Twenty pounds per annum payable out of the parsonage of [Wittcombe?]." WIFE ELIZABETH: "Item I give unto Elizabeth my wife all such Plate and Goods AS WAS HERS BEFORE I MARRIED WITH HER, and alsoe my will is that shee shall have and enjoy dureing her life all such houshold stuffe and goods as shall bee in my farme house att UPTON att the time of my decease, and afterwards shall leave it to him that shall succeed in my ffarme. Alsoe I give unto her Twenty pounds as a token of my love." SERVANT AND POOR: "Item I give unto my servant Betty Oatley five pounds if shee shall bee liveing with mee at the time of my decease. Item I give unto the Poore of the Parish of Bishopstrow five pounds, to bee distributed as the Parson of the Parish and my Executor shall thinke fitt." SON PETER: "Item I give and bequeath unto my sonne Peter MY FFARME AND MANNOR IN BISHOPSTROW withall the appurtenances thereunto belonging. Also I give unto him after the death of Elizabeth my wife my Lease and farme at Upton WHICH I BOUGHT OF SR EDWARD HUNGERFORD. Also all the Rest of my goods and Chattells (except before excepted) I give unto my sonne Peter, whom I doe hereby make and ordaine to bee my sole and whole Executor of this my last Will and Testament." DATE AND WITNESSES: "In witnesse hereof I have hereunto sett my hand & seale this FIRST OF MAY in the yeare of our Lord God One Thousand six hundred eighty and five" - signed "Will: Temple." Witnesses: John Mathew, William Stokes, Elizabeth Oatley, Jn: Gibbs his marke. (Betty Oatley the servant and Elizabeth Oatley the witness are the same woman.) PROBATE: "Probatum fuit huiusmodi Testamentum apud London coram venerabili et Egregio viro Richardo Raines Legum Doctore, Curiae Prerogativae Cantuariensis Magistro Custode sive Commissario legitime constituto, DECIMO NONO DIE MENSIS MAIJ Anno Domini millesimo sexcentesimo octogesimo sexto, Juramento PETRI TEMPLE FILII ET EXECUTORIS..." - 19 May 1686, sworn by Peter Temple, son and executor. Richard Raines is the same judge who proved Joseph of Bristol's will in 1699. TRAP: page 2 of the ordered PDF is the NEXT entry in the register - the will of John Wagstaffe of Glossop, co. Derby. Not this family.
Will of John Temple, Gentleman of Bishopstrow, Wiltshire — PROB 11/176/58, register Lee, folio 27 (quire 4); made 4 Mar 1635/6, proved 23 Jan 1637/8
read the transcript
The National Archives, Kew — Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Will Registers, PROB 11/176/58. Register LEE (PROB 11/176 = quires 1-51, calendar 1638). Catalogue title: "Will of John Temple, Gentleman of Bishopstrow, Wiltshire"; catalogue date 23 January 1638 (the PROBATE). Ordered from TNA and READ IN THE ORIGINAL 31 Jul 2026. PDF and extracted page images: ancestry/sources/john-temple-bishopstrow-1638-will-PROB-11-176-58.pdf OPENING: "John Temple of Bishopstrowe in the Countie of Wiltes Gentleman knowinge that theire is nothinge more certaine then the tyme of death, And to the intent that I may settle my estate in my lyfe tyme doe hereby make and declare my last will and testament..." BURIAL: "...to be buried in the Chancell of the parishe Church of Bishopstrowe aforesaid in such decent manner as my Executrix hereafter named shall thinke fitt." — 40s to the church, 20s to the poor of Bishopstrow, distributed as the executrix thinks fit. WIFE AND EXECUTRIX: "unto my welbeloved wife MARY TEMPLE whome I make sole and onely Executrixe of this my last will and testament All my Plate, householdstuffe and implements of household which shall be remaininge in my house at Bishopstrowe aforesaid, and all my goods and chattles moneyes debts speciallties and Bonds whatsoever..." ⭐ THE PROPERTY — THREE SEPARATE HOLDINGS, verbatim: "...unto my beloved wife untill my sonne WILLIAM TEMPLE shall accomplishe his age of two and twenty yeares All those my lands and tenements which I have in HA[CH]BURY in the said County of Wilts AND all those my lands and grounds called THE MARSHES in the Parrishe of WARMINSTER in the said County of Wiltes, AND LIKEWISE MY MILLES with the appurtenances." The remainder to William and his heirs at 22, "so as hee doe pay to my said wife... the somme of ONE THOUSAND POUNDES of lawfull money WITHIN THIRTY DAIES after hee shall accomplishe his sayd age... for the better enablinge of my said Executrixe to paie the legacies"; on default the executrix has "full power... to sell the said landes in Ha[ch]bury and the said Marshes in Warminster and Milles in Bishopstrowe." DAUGHTERS: "unto my Daughters MARY TEMPLE, ELIZABETH TEMPLE and HESTER TEMPLE the somme of FIVE HUNDRED POUNDES A PEECE of lawfull money, to be payd unto them by my said Executrixe at their severall and respective ages of eighteene yeares or at their severall and respective marriages, PROVIDED ALWAYES THAT THEY MARRIE WITH MY SAID EXECUTRIXE CONSENT." OVERSEERS: "my lovinge brethren WILLIAM SEAMAN Cleark and SAMUELL SEAMAN". DATED: "In witnes whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and Seale this FFOWERTH DAIE OF MARCH In the yeare of the raigne of our Soveraigne Lord Kinge Charles of England Scotland and Ireland Kinge defendor of the ffaith &c the ELEAVENTH, &c Annoq Dom one thousand six hundred THIRTY FIVE. JOHN TEMPLE." Witnesses: "Tho. Seaman, Samuell Seaman." PROBATE: granted at London 23 January 1637[/8] before Sir Henry Marten, to "Marie Temple", relict and executrix named in the will. ⭐⭐ WHAT THIS SETTLES, AND THE ONE THING IT CORRECTS. (1) THE 1910 ABSTRACT IS VINDICATED ON DATE. "Will 4 March 1635-6; proved 23 January 1637-8" is exactly right: 4 March, 11 Car. I, A.D. 1635 Old Style = 4 March 1635/6, and the regnal year cross-checks it (Charles acceded 27 Mar 1625, so 11 Car. I ran 27 Mar 1635 - 26 Mar 1636). The apparent conflict with register Lee (calendar 1638) was never real: one date is the MAKING, the other the PROVING. (2) "LEE, 4" = PROB 11/176/58. The folio number in the upper-right margin of the page reads 27; at 8 folios to a quire, folios 25-32 are quire 4. (3) ⛔ THE ABSTRACT'S ONE ERROR: it reads "my lands in HACHBURY, PARISH OF WARMINSTER, and my mills", merging two distinct devises. The original keeps them apart, and "in the Parrishe of Warminster" attaches to THE MARSHES. Heytesbury is its own parish — which is why the abstract never fitted the geography. ⚠ THE SPELLING OF "Ha[ch]bury" IS NOT RESOLVED at the available resolution (ch/tch/sb indistinguishable) and was NOT normalised in this tree; the structural finding does not depend on it. Compare William 1686 "Hatchbury" and Joseph 1699 "Haytſbury". (4) It confirms WILLIAM WAS UNDER 22 on 4 Mar 1635/6, i.e. born after 4 Mar 1613/14 — consistent with the tree's "between 1614 and 1625" and with his being a MINOR when VCH says the Temples bought Bishopstrow in 1635. ⚠ NOTHING IN THE TREE REQUIRED CHANGING: wife Mary SEAMAN, and all three daughters, were already recorded, as were the 1637 death and the 21 Jul 1637 burial. This citation replaces a printed abstract with the register itself.
Research notes
Working notes from the research, kept verbatim — what was read, what it proved, what stays open.
Research note · 31 Jul 2026
Audited 22 Jul 2026, REVISED 30 Jul 2026 (twice), REVISED AGAIN 31 Jul 2026 (later) — this note supersedes all earlier texts. Junction #1. ⚠ FIRST, A CORRECTION TO THIS NOTE ITSELF: the 30 Jul text said his death and residence were cited to 'PCC PROB 11/383, read in the original hand.' THAT WAS NOT TRUE. The three citations on this source (710/711/712) are Ancestry-index stubs giving only 'Piece: 383', with no item number and no transcribed text, and nothing in the note came from the will's contents. THE WILL HAS NOW ACTUALLY BEEN READ: PROB 11/383/207, register Lloyd, ordered free from TNA Discovery 31 Jul 2026 (order 3605029) and read from the register image. WHAT IT SAYS: dated 1 MAY 1685, when he was 'in perfect health and of good memory and understanding' - not a deathbed will - and proved at London 19 MAY 1686 before Richard Raines on the oath of his son Peter, sole executor. So the tree's death range 'from 1 May 1685 to 19 May 1686' is now sourced from the original and stands exactly as it was. ⭐⭐ THE PROPERTY, and it is the reason this document mattered: he devises to his son Joseph 'my free land and Coppyhold estate in HATCHBURY' - Hatchbury being the attested vernacular form of HEYTESBURY (Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-72). His father [91] John Temple's will of 1635/6 leaves 'lands in Hachbury' in the same spelling, and [35] Joseph's own 1699 will still holds a messuage at 'Haytsbury'. THE SAME PROPERTY DESCENDS THREE GENERATIONS, and Heytesbury is where [2957] Thomas Temple d. 1594 lived and was buried. ⚠ This is EVIDENCE for the Heytesbury connection, NOT proof of descent from Thomas - land is bought as well as inherited. TO SON PETER: 'my ffarme and Mannor in Bishopstrow withall the appurtenances', the residue, and the sole executorship - which confirms the 1984 chart's statement that Peter inherited the Bishopstrow estate and matches Peter's own 1751 will ('all that my Manor and Lordship of Bishopstrow'). Peter also takes, after Elizabeth's death, 'my Lease and farme at Upton which I bought of Sr Edward Hungerford'. TO SON JOSEPH: 1,100 pounds payable at 21 - ⭐ which proves Joseph was UNDER 21 on 1 May 1685, i.e. born after 1 May 1664. The tree's 3 Feb 1666 satisfies this and is left unchanged. ⭐ WIFE ELIZABETH [3350] IS A SECOND WIFE: 'all such Plate and Goods as was hers before I married with her' is the standard remarriage formula. This independently confirms what Joseph's 1699 will implied by naming TWO women as 'my mother in law' - Elizabeth Temple was Joseph's STEP-mother. She is very probably the Elizabeth Temple of Bishopstrow whose will is dated 1705 (W.R.O. 132/34). ⛔ AND IT CONTRADICTS THE TREE: [90] Marye Grund is recorded d. 1690, but William had a wife Elizabeth on 1 May 1685. Marye's death is uncited; it is FLAGGED, not changed - see db-write-queue.md. ⛔ TWO DAUGHTERS ARE MISSING FROM THE TREE, which holds only Joseph and Peter as his children: 'my Daughter Mary Ivyleafe' with daughters Mary and Rebeckah, and 'my Daughter Anne Pearse' with daughters Anne and Margaret. ⭐ Anne's married name very probably identifies Edward Peirce of the Devizes, woollen draper - Joseph's 'Brother in law' and executor in 1699 - as JOSEPH'S SISTER'S HUSBAND, which resolves an ambiguity left open that morning. The will does not name Anne's husband, so this is LIKELY, not proven. ✅ The 1984 fan chart's 'died in 1688' is confirmed WRONG. STILL OPEN, unchanged: VCH's '1635 sale to William Temple' conflicts with his being a minor in 1635/6 per his father's will; W.R.O. 132 Deeds of Manor decides it. Memo: ancestry/temple-arnold-liston-junction.md ── CORRECTED the same day, 31 Jul 2026: this will had ALREADY BEEN READ on 22 Jul 2026 from screenshots, and the reading was written up in temple-arnold-liston-junction.md (~line 1507) and partly indexed as Burke's row A6 in documents-read-index.md. It was NOT found before the TNA copy was ordered - the eighth time in three days that work already in hand was redone. Diffing the two readings against the register image: Joseph's legacy is ELEAVEN hundred pounds (1,100), not the 700 first recorded here; the witness and servant surname is OATLEY, not Dockey; my William STOKES and Jn:o GIBBS stand against 22 Jul's 'Hokes[?]' and 'Giles'. ⭐ And the two daughters' married surnames, recorded here an hour earlier as illegible, are given by BURKE'S LANDED GENTRY 1858, already in the read-index: 'Mary m. Joseph IVYLEAF of Frome' and 'Anne m. - PEARSE OF DEVIZES'. With those candidates in hand the register supports both. ⭐⭐ THAT UPGRADES THE PEIRCE IDENTIFICATION: William's will names daughter Anne Pearse, Burke's says she married a Pearse OF DEVIZES, and Joseph's 1699 will names 'my Brother in law Edward Peirce OF THE DEVIZES, Woollen draper' as an executor. Three independent sources - Edward Peirce was the husband of Joseph's sister Anne. Burke's also gives a son JOHN b. 1657 d. young (not in this will, consistent) and says William's second wife was a daughter of - BONETT of Norton Bavant, which is a lead on [3350] Elizabeth but sits oddly with the will's remarriage formula; unresolved. ── 31 Jul 2026 (late): HIS TWO DAUGHTERS ARE NOW IN THE TREE, on Owen's explicit decision - MARY, who married an IVYLEAF (Burke's: Joseph Ivyleaf of Frome), and ANNE, who married EDWARD PEIRCE of the Devizes, woollen draper. Both are entered under the maiden surname TEMPLE with the married surname as an alternate name; Edward Peirce is created as Anne's husband on three independent sources. ⚠ Their four daughters - Mary and Rebeckah, Anne and Margaret - are NOT created: only forenames survive. No dates are entered for any of them. ── ADDENDUM 31 Jul 2026: HIS FATHER'S WILL, READ IN THE ORIGINAL (PROB 11/176/58, 4 Mar 1635/6), NAMES HIM AND DATES HIS MINORITY. "...unto my beloved wife untill my sonne WILLIAM TEMPLE shall accomplishe his age of two and twenty yeares All those my lands and tenements which I have in Ha[ch]bury... and all those my lands and grounds called the Marshes in the Parrishe of Warminster... and likewise my Milles" — the remainder to him and his heirs at 22, on paying his mother £1,000 within thirty days, with power in her to SELL if he defaults. ⭐ SO HE WAS UNDER 22 ON 4 MARCH 1635/6, i.e. born after 4 March 1613/14 — consistent with the recorded "between 1614 and 1625", and it independently confirms HE WAS A MINOR IN 1635, which is what made VCH's sentence about the Temples buying Bishopstrow in 1635 unreadable at face value. ⭐ THE HEYTESBURY PROPERTY DESCENDS: Ha[ch]bury here (1635/6) → "my free land and Coppyhold estate in Hatchbury" in his own 1686 will (PROB 11/383/207) → a messuage at "Haytſbury" in Joseph's 1699 will (PROB 11/450/343). ⚠ Descent through three wills is EVIDENCE, not proof, of descent from Thomas of Heytesbury d. 1594 — land is bought as well as inherited. Memo: ancestry/temple-arnold-liston-junction.md
Elsewhere
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