Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/419

 ii s. vi. NOV. 2, i9i2.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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he was known locally as " the wicked John Keelinge." He was baptized at Kingswin- ford on 18 July, 1713, and died 17 Oct., 1783, and was buried at Kingswinford on 25 Oct. His will, which is dated 16 Oct., 1783 (the day before his death), is a very long one, and it was proved in P.C.C. on 25 Nov., 1783, by his nephews, Thomas Dudley, Esq., and the Rev. John Dudley, his executors (570, Cornwallis). Part of the will runs as follows : " I give to my wife Mrs. Mary Keelinge for her life, or until my undutiful son Joseph Freeman shall marry, my mansion and lands at Summerhill and Ashwood in the parish of Kingswinford, and now in my own possession, and also an annuity of 2001. issuing out of the rents of my estates in Pedmore and the New Park in Dudley. And after her decease, or until my said undutiful son Joseph Freeman (for he is my son, and I brought him up and educated him) shall marry any other woman than a daughter of Jonathan Green of Dudley, glassmaker, I give him six shillings a week. And when he marries any other woman than a daughter of Jonathan Green, then I give the said mansion house and lands to the said Joseph Freeman and his heirs."

He gave certain other manors and lands and the residue of his estate to his trustees, upon trust to convey the same to the eldest son of Joseph Freeman and his heirs at the age of 25 years.

The upshot was that some of the bequests in John Keelinge's will were believed to be illegal, and the will was disputed by Jolm Keelinge's four sisters or their representa- tives. A Chancery suit was commenced in 1784 by Thomas Dudley and John Dudley against John Homer and others, to establish the will of the testator ; and a second suit was instituted in Trinity Term, 1819, by Thomas Dudley and others against Joseph Freeman and others, to upset the devise to the eldest son of Joseph Freeman at 25. Judgment was given in this second suit by the Lord Chancellor on 10 Dec., 1823, in favour of the plain tiffs ; he held that the devise of Keelinge's residuary estates to the eldest son of Joseph Freeman at his age of 25 years was too remote and void, and that such estates vested in the testator's sisters and their representatives. These, however, in January, 1824, to end the litigation, agreed to pay John Freeman (Joseph's eldest son) 20,000/., and also his costs in the suit.

Joseph Freeman did not marry the daughter of Jonathan Green, but he married Emmette, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Pettener, and so inherited the Summerhill estate ; but he died in July, 1822, whilst the Chancery suit was in progress,

Mary Keelinge (John Keelinge's widow), by her will, dated 16 May, 1800, and proved in P.C.C. 2 May, 1801 (319 Abercrombie), left to her son Joseph Freeman of Pedmore, gent., twenty guineas for mourning, and the residue of her estate to her daughters, Nancy Stokes and Eleanor Watkins.

I can carry the historian's ancestry back for two more generations. John Keelinge's father was Richard Keelinge of Summerhill, and of Pedmore Hall, which he purchased 22 Oct., 1745. This Richard Keelinge was baptized at Sedgley, 5 Nov., 1688 ; married at Pattingham, 23 Sept., 1710, Patience, daughter of John Hodgetts of Shutt End ; and was buried at Kingswinford, 6 June, 1766, aged 77 years. His will is dated 20 May,

1766, and was proved in P.C.C. 10 Feb.,

1767, by his son and sole executor, John Keelinge (60 Legard).

Richard Keelinge was the second son of William Keelinge of Sedgley, gent., who married at Sedgley, 29 May, 1683, Eleanor, daughter of William Gibbons of Ettingsall, in the parish of Sedgley, and was buried at Sedgley, 19 Feb., 1702/3. His will, dated 13 June, 1702, was proved at Lich- field, 5 June, 1703.

I have full abstracts of all these wills and Chancery proceedings. W. G. D. F.

S TATTIES AND MEMORIALS IN THE BRITISH ISLES.

(See 10 S. xi. 441 ; xii. 51, 114, 181, 401 ;

11 S. i. 282; ii. 42, 381; iii. 22, 222,

421 ; iv. 181, 361 ; v. 62, 143, 48} ; vi. 4,

284.)

SOLDIERS (continued).

Shrewsbury. On the London Road, at the entrance to the town where the Abbey Foregate ends, stands " the largest Doric pillar in the world/' It was erected in 1816 from designs by a local architect to com- memorate the military achievements of the first Viscount Hill. It is 132ft. high, and on the summit is placed a colossal statue of the Peninsular general. The balcony is reached by a flight of 172 steps in the interior of the column, and at the t>ase are four couchant lions. The statue was damaged by lightning in 1909. It contains the following inscriptions :

SOUTH SIDE. Civi svo Rolando Domino Baroni Hill ab Almarez et Hawkstone Popvlares eivs ex agro atqve Mvnicipio Salopensi Colvmnam hancce cvm

Statva P.O. A.S. Mpcccxvf,