Thomas Wood (-1666) of Woodend

Thomas Wood was a younger son of John Wood (-1608) of Woodend. His baptism isn't in the Lamplugh register, but his existence is proved by probate. There is no evidence to suggest that he married - he certainly had no surviving children at the time of his death.

Wath and Millgillhead

Both Wath in Cleator and Millgillhead in Lamplugh had water-driven corn mills.  Millgillhead consisted of two tenements - High Millgillhead (with the mill - 13 acres in 1837) and Low Millgillhead (1837 - 42 acres). Both were part of the manorial estate in 1837, but that only after a recent purchase. I'm not sure of the situation in the seventeenth century. Two families occupied Millgillhead over generations: Harrison (until the 1680s) and Winyeat (until 1705). In his will of 1757, Jacob Fox of Millgillhead described his property as a freehold.

Thomas was described as a miller when witnessing the will of his brother John in 1652. Elsewhere in the probate, he is described as 'Thomas Wood of Woodend yeoman'. It looks as though he was living at Woodend, but working at Millgillhead (entirely feasible in distance terms). Quite probably, as a younger son, he was apprenticed there.

If his mother was indeed Annas Harrison, then she would probably have been the daughter of George Harrison of Millgillhead (any baptism would have taken place before the registers start). It may be significant that Thomas' heir was his nephew George.

Brother John married Elizabeth Robertson - her brother Thomas Robertson was at Wath but, after the death of both his children in 1679, moved to Millgillhead.

Thomas' nephew, George Wood (son of his brother John and Elizabeth) was living at Millgillhead in 1681 and at the time of his death in 1694.

His probate

Thomas made a detailed will 06-02-1665/6. The inventory was taken 13-05-1666 and the bond is dated 21-05-1666. So he had at least three months of illness or infirmity before his death.

His executor was his nephew George Wood [the only nephew to be called a nephew rather than a cousin] and the witnesses to the will were: George Lamplugh, Rector of Lamplugh; Lancelot Jackson, John Dodgson and George Mirehouse. The last was born at the Green in Lamplugh in 1614, so of similar age to Thomas. His sister Dorothy had married Nicholas Dodgson of Tallentire in 1634 and had three sons - John was likely one of them (Dodgson isn't a local surname). Lancelot Jackson was also of the Green, born in 1609 (later father-in-law to Daniel Dickinson of Streetgate).

His inventory was prized by:  William Dickinson [1604-1677, of Streetgate], Henry Wood [1609-1676, of Redhow], John Dixon and David Dickinson [1623-1702, of Lackerton Wood].

In his will Thomas described himself as 'the Elder'. His nephew Thomas Wood of Woodend was the younger. He only mentions relatives in the will, but there are many others (some quite important) who owe him money in the inventory. The small sums are consistent with payments due for mill work

His probate: will v inventory

Thomas' probate is immensely useful in shedding light on his own family and that of others, a general rule for unmarried yeoman males - they tended to have spare cash that was lent out to others (and recorded in their inventories) and tended to make specific bequeste to relatives, describing their relationship.

In the case of Thomas, there is a problem in his will - he described almost everyone as 'cousin'. Very nicely though, the main prizer of the inventory converted the bequests/debts into precise relationship terms. So:

The above 'cousins' were actually all nephews or nieces.