I
had a 7th great-granduncle, William Shepheard (1638-after 1685), who attempted
to have a forged will of his brother, Sampson Shepheard (ca1636-1685), proved
in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in 1685. If he had been successful, my
6th great-grandfather, Nicholas Shepheard (ca1675-1756), would have been
deprived of significant lands and other property. No doubt the history of his
descendants would have been much different as well, without the family estate
in Cornwood parish, Devon.
I found
the court summary in a search of the name, Shepheard, in the catalogue of The National Archives (TNA) of Britain. The
surviving records concerning the proceedings were contained in four files which
were readily obtained through TNA. They included the supposed will submitted
for probate, depositions of persons who had been enlisted to draft and witness
the will, notes of the justice overseeing the case and the written sentence of
the justice. Several of the documents were written in Latin which, of course,
made reading it a bit difficult. That problem was solved by enlisting the
services of a student in the Fine Arts Department of the University of Calgary
to translate the document. Today I could probably use one of the online
translating sites such as Google
Translate.
The
story is one of both deceit and intrigue.
 |
| 1685 - portion of TNA document PROB 11/385 - Concerning the nullity of the alleged will of Sampson Shepheard |
William
first sought out an attorney to draft the will and was introduced to Richard
Stephyns of Tavistock, Devon, by a mutual acquaintance, John Winsor, who knew
him only as Constable Shepheard of Cornwood Parish, Devon. He presented himself
to both men, posing as his deceased brother, Sampson. According to Stephyns, he
was “in the habitt of a Souldier (wearing
a greene Coate & beareing Armes)” surely to impress them with his
position and power and to leave them no doubt as to his veracity. He requested
the lawyer back-date the document, to a time which was before the actual
decease of the real Sampson, saying he wished the date to precede the actual
execution of the will because “there might arise some differences about the said Will
betweene his friends” presumably
meaning he (Sampson) had informed certain people of what the will contained and
wanted the document to reflect the date they had been informed.
Stephyns
had John Winsor and a neighbour, Stephen Harvye, witness the signature of
William Shepheard, who signed the will in front of them as Sampson Shepheard. At
the time none of them knew he was not who he said he was. In depositions given
later, all expressed great surprise in learning he was not the testator.
 |
| 1685 - copy of will of Sampson Shepheard forged by his brother William Shepheard |
William
then presented the executed document to another lawyer, Henry Legassicke, of
Modbury, Devon, requesting him to have it proved “with as much speed as possible” as Legassicke
described in his own deposition given to the court later. William indicated to Legassicke
he did not personally know the witnesses or where or when the will had been
sealed, “but said that his brother was not at home the day of the date of the
will (being the first day of May last) & hee did believe that his said
brother was then at Tavistocke & made the will before & did believe
that the witnesses lived at or near Tavistocke.”
According
to the deposition of the lawyer, William had “found it in his brothers chest. “Legassicke thought “it was well penn’d but
did suspect the source.” In his opinion, the signature on the will did not
appear to be in the same handwriting he had seen on other documents executed by
Sampson. William indicated he would get the witnesses to each sign a note
saying they knew Sampson Shepheard but later, when pressed by Legassicke for
the notes, was told “they confessed that
they were witnesses to the will but refused to set their hands to the said
note.” Legassicke informed William he would not get further involved,
without those supporting affidavits. William subsequently found another lawyer
to act on his behalf and paid out Legassicke for his services.
The
forged will was challenged in court by Nathaniel Ryder, the guardian of
Nicholas Shepheard, who was a nephew of both William and Sampson. Nicholas was
still, at the time, under the age of majority. The judge in the case reviewed
depositions taken from each of the parties and declared William had not proven
his case and the will he put forth was not legitimate. He was ordered to pay
all the expenses Nathaniel Ryder had incurred in the proceedings.
As
a result of the case, the properties of Sampson Shepheard were passed down to
his nephew Nicholas Shepheard, and, from him, through several more generations
of my direct Shepheard line who resided in Cornwood parish.
No
information has yet been found as to whether William was ever charged or
convicted of a fraud.
A
subsequent post here will show how the relationships of all of the Shepheards
named in this proceeding were unraveled.
Most
of this post was first published in Chinook,
the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family
Histories Society,
in October 2011, volume 32, number 1. Some additional information has been
obtained since then and the interpretation as to my direct line ancestor has
been changed. A follow-up post concerning my 7th great-grandfather
will follow.
The
court documents are the property of The National Archives and published
under their Open Government
License. Catalogue
references for the documents are PROB 11/385, PROB 18/18, PROB 18/18/45 and
PROB 36/4.
Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish
Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon,
England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook,
the quarterly journal of the Alberta
Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical
consulting services through his business, Family History
Facilitated.
