In the Name of God Amen I Richard Staples of the Parish of 
Saint Ann Limehouse Distiller being of sound mind and memory 
Do make this my last Will in manner and form following I 
desire I may be Buried without any Pomp or Shew but decently 
at the discretion of my Wife and Executors And as to my Estate 
I direct all my just Debts and ffuneral Charges to be fully 
paid and discharged I give to my beloved Wife Hannah Staples 
all and singular my Silver Plate Rings Jewells Watches 
Household Goods Linnen and ffurniture to and for her own Use 
and to dispose thereof among my Children as She shall think 
fit I give to my son and Daughter Simpson fforty pounds for 
Mourning and to my son and Daughter Smart the like Sum of 
fforty pounds for Mourning I give to my Clerk William Currie 
twenty pounds and to Nathaniel Kinch the Sum of Ten pounds in 
case they shall live with me at my decease All the rest and 
residue of my Estate whatsoever reall and personall I give 
devise and bequeath unto Mr John Simpson the Elder of Tower 
Hill and Joseph Stanwix of Bartletts Buildings and the 
Survivor of them In Trust that they or the Survivor of them do 
raise and lay out the sum of Six Thousand Six Hundred Pounds 
in Government or other Securitys such as my Wife and Trustees 
shall approve of and that the Interest or Income thereof be 
paid to my Wife for the maintenance of my Daughters Sarah and 
Elizabeth in such manner as my said Wife shall see proper, 
until they respectively attain their several Ages of twenty 
five years and then to be paid equally between them that is to 
say Three Thousand Three Hundred Pounds each or as much as the 
same will produce And I do also direct that the Sum of ffive 
Thousand pounds be raised by my Trustees and paid to my Son 
Richard Stapells at his Age of twenty one Years And I do 
further direct and my Will is that a further Sum of five 
Thousand pounds be laid out by my Wife and Trustees in 
Government or other Securities for my Daughters Martha and Ann 
and all the Interest which the same shall produce over and 
above their Maintenance and Education (which I hope my Wife 
will take care of) shall be placed out on good Securities in 
the Augmentation of their ffortunes And I direct that the said 
five thousand pounds or so much as the same shall produce be 
paid to them at their respective Ages of Twenty five Years 
equally between them But in case either of them the said 
Martha and Ann or both of them shall be desirous to have their 
respective ffortunes laid out in the purchase of Annuities for 
their lives and my Wife shall approve thereof then I direct my 
Trustees and Executors to comply with such desire And in case 
all or any of my Daughters shall happen to Marry with the 
Consent and Approbation of my said Wife  and Trustees before 
their Age of twenty five Years then I direct that the ffortune 
of her so Marrying shall be paid upon such their respective 
Marriages but not otherwise And I do further direct and order 
that in case any of my said four Daughters shall happen to die 
before their ffortunes become payable and unmarried That the 
ffortune of her so dying shall be divided to and among my Wife 
and surviving Daughters or Daughter and for the care and 
trouble of my said Trustees I give to each of them one hundred 
pounds And I do make constitute and appoint my said Wife 
Hannah Stapels and my said two friends John Simpson and Joseph 
Stanwix Executors of this my last Will and Testament And I 
appoint and Authorise my said Executors to compound and 
discharge any Debts that shall or may be due to my Estate as 
they shall see fit and I hope they will improve what I have 
given to my Wife or Children in the best manner they can and I 
direct that they shall not be accountable for any loss that 
shall happen unless it be by their wilfull neglect and 
contrivance and that they shall be accountable for their own 
Acts only only and not one for another and that they shall be 
allowed all their Charges they shall or may be put to And as 
to the Surplus of my Estate over and above paying my Debts and 
Legacies and ffuneral Charges I give and bequeath the same to 
my Wife Hannah Stapells in order that she shall distribute so 
much thereof among my Children as she sees fit in her life 
time or by her Will In Witness whereof I have hereunto set and 
put my hand and seal this twenty first day of January in the 
Year of Our Lord 1746

Richd Stapells

Benj: Wilding Popes Head Tavern
Thos Simpson

Whereas I Richard Staples of the Parish of Saint Ann Limehouse 
Distiller duly make and publish my last Will and Testament 
bearing the  twenty first day of January One thousand seven 
hundred and forty six and nominated and appointed Mr Joseph 
Stanwix one of the Trustees and Executors thereof since which 
the said Mr Stanwix is dead And I have purchased some 
ffreehold Houses in Limehouse of Mrs Markby and her Daughters 
Now my Will is and I hereby give and devise unto my beloved 
Wife Hannah Stapells for her natural life all the said Houses 
and Hereditaments which I purchased of the said Mrs Markby and 
her Daughters and at her death I give and devise the same unto 
such one of my Children his or her Heirs  as She my said Wife 
shall in and by her last Will and Testament in Writing give 
direct and appoint the same And my further Will is and I do 
hereby nominate and appoint Thomas Rayner the Elder of the 
said Parish of Saint Ann Limehouse top be a Trustee and 
Executor of my said Will and Codicil in the room of the said 
Joseph Stanwix jointly with Mr John Simpson the Elder in the 
said Will named and to that end and purpose I do give devise 
and bequeath all the rest and residue of my Estate whatsoever 
real and personal unto the said John Simpson the Elder and 
Thomas Rayner and the Survivor of them as fully and in the 
same manner and upon the same trusts and for the same purposes 
as in and by the said Will I gave devised and bequeathed the 
same unto the said John Simpson the Elder and Joseph Stanwix 
with the like Legacy of One Hundred Pounds to the said Thomas 
Rayner for his Trouble as I gave to the said Mr Stanwix And my 
Will is and I hereby declare this to be a Codicil to and to be 
taken as part of my last Will and Testament and I ratify 
confirm and establish my said Will in every other respect 
Except the variations made by this my Codicil In Testimony 
whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this fourth day 
of July in the Year of Our Lord One thousand seven hundred and 
forty eight Richd Stappells

Thos Simpson
Willm Wittingham
Jacb Davison

(Further Codicil provides for administration in accordance 
with the Statute of Distributions dated Dec 1748 Witnesses: 
Richard Mason, Richard Gash)

Proved 28th January 1748/9
PCC
Prob11/767

(Note in Margin dated 2nd December 1761 letters of 
administration with will and two codicils annexed granted to 
Richard Stapells son of the deceased Hannah Stapells the 
relict having survived the Executors John Simpson and Thomas 
Rayner and died intestate)

(Second note in margin dated 15th May 1764 that letters of 
administration with will and two codicils annexed was granted 
to Elizabeth Hodgson wife of George Hodgson the natural and 
lawful daughter of the deceased Richard Stapells the younger 
having died)