Dodgy will or not?

[Mick Loney]

Came across a will for someone who signed with a cross.
The will was dated 28th Feb, and the individual was buried on 29th Feb.

Is this a case of cutting it fine, or is it suspicious? Looks like a plot of an Agatha Christie novel

[devonliz]

Hmmm ... well, surely that's why we have witnesses - who presumably can sign their names, and testify that the will is made out correctly. Same with marriage certificates.
Are there any examples of witnesses who can't sign their names? I would expect rather few.

[Mick Loney]

Sorry, bit of a typo

Can across, should read came across

[AdrianBruce]

I have just written a query on my FamilyHistorian data and of 313 people where I have a genuine date (i.e. not an approximation) for both death and burial, I believe that I have 14 people where death and burial are one day apart. That's not the same as the will and burial being one day apart, but I've seen some close calls for wills.

The one day differences range from 1755 in the Bristol area to 1954 in Australia - I can imagine that hotter weather provides an incentive for a swift burial.

As for witnesses who made their mark - a swift look only revealed two wills in my collection with such witnesses (though I didn't even attempt to read the PCC wills in their distinctive style of writing). I suspect it might be a function of the "fact" that even in days of old, people tried to get upstanding citizens to act as witnesses to wills and they would tend to be literate.

Witnesses to weddings - I suspect they are usually family members (except in certain parishes) so I'd take a wild guess that illiterate wedding witnesses were common.

But I shall deny ever having said anything if the evidence police come calling...

[Mick Loney]

Witnesses to weddings - I suspect they are usually family members (except in certain parishes) so I'd take a wild guess that illiterate wedding witnesses were common.

I’ve come across quite a few, where the witnesses seem to appear on a regular basis, i.e 4 or 5 times on a page of 8 entries. Perhaps they are minor church officials like verger, gravedigger etc, or just like weddings

[Thunder]

Came across a will for someone who signed with a cross.
The will was dated 28th Feb, and the individual was buried on 29th Feb.

Is this a case of cutting it fine, or is it suspicious? Looks like a plot of an Agatha Christie novel

It's better than no will but I expect the police would be contacted if a beneficiary was unhappy with their expected inheritance. I assume there had been no foul play but the newspapers would likely have reported it.

[Mick Loney]

In the 1750’s, so I doubt there was any police

[VALLMO9]

I can imagine that hotter weather provides an incentive for a swift burial.

Could another reason be the person died during a mid-18th century epidemic (e.g. smallpox, typhus)?

[AdrianBruce]

... I’ve come across quite a few, where the witnesses seem to appear on a regular basis, i.e 4 or 5 times on a page of 8 entries. Perhaps they are minor church officials like verger, gravedigger etc, or just like weddings

Well, she bought the hat, so she's going to use it!

But seriously... I've seen a number of parishes where the same witnesses repeat for most of the weddings - "professional witnesses" I call them, though not in the in the sense that they were paid, rather that they were habitual, quasi-official. It wasn't until this thread that it occurred to me to wonder if they were chosen because they were literate and, in the opinion of the parish priest, could therefore see what was going on better than others.

[AdrianBruce]

...
Could another reason be the person died during a mid-18th century epidemic (e.g. smallpox, typhus)?

That must surely be another possibility.