Nicholas WATTS, yeoman of Bramshott, Yateley, died January 1636

page prepared by Peter Tipton 4 Jan 2007

A note of caution 3 July 2008: researching the article for the Watts Family for this website I have found that the Yateley History Project in the 1980s missed transcribing wills and inventories for 12 key members of the Watts family. Five of these fall in the crucial third quarter of the 16th century. So my assumption that Nicholas Watts (d.1636 husband of Grace Reynolds) was the son of Richard Watts of Bramshot (d.1570) is by no means certain. I hope to transcribe all these wills and inventories in the near future now that the Hampshire Record Office has reopened

The Watts family had been in and around Yateley and the Blackwater Valley since the 13th century.

The earliest Watts will in Yateley Parish is that of Henry Watts of Bramshott dated 1558. It is immediately interesting to note that he also owned a house in Farroneborowe (Farnborough) which he left to his youngest son Steven. Steven had two older brothers, John and Thomas, who were Henry's executors. Henry had a fourth son Richard Watts whom it appears was appointed one of the overseers of the will and may therefore be Henry's heir. One cannot be certain since initial parts of each line of the will have decayed.

Richard Watts of Bramshott's own will was written 30 Sep 1570 and his inventory was taken on 29 Nov 1570. Richard's two youngest daughters were Elizabeth and Eleanor, but he also had two older daughters both called Joan. He had two sons, Harry and John, who shared Richard's inheritance with his wife Agnes.

The next will we have for Bramshott is that of Henry Watts. Henry made his will on 1 Jul 1592 making bequests of a hive of bees to each of his three sisters Jone Hailles, Besse Grover and Elenor Smalle for their children - confirming that Henry is almost certianly the Harry Watts mentioned in Richard's will. Henry had two sons Nicholas and Humphrey Watts. It appears that Nicholas was the elder son since he had to pay Humphrey one pound per year for twelve years out of the income form a meadow called Eastmeads.

This Nicholas Watts (who inherited in 1592) married Grace Reynolds, daughter of Herman Reynolds the potter, in Farnborough in 1596. Nicholas Watts' own will was written on 12 Jul 1635, naming himself Nicholas Watts of Bramshott, Yeoman. His inventory was appraised and valued by the overseers of his will: John Booth gent, Richard Stafferton gent, and Robert Poulson gent on the 30 Jan 1636. Unforunately therefore he died just six months before the start of the Yateley Parish Registers. However his wife Grace, whom he names in his will as his sole executrix, is recorded in the the Yateley registers as having been buried 21 Dec 1659. The Rev Robert Scott noted in the registers that Grace was 'an aged widow of 80 years of age'. We can therefore calculate Grace's birth year as about 1579, before Farnborough registers commence.

From Nicholas Watts' inventory it does not appear that he had any connection with the pottery business, nor brick, nor tile making. The highest value items appraised were his cattle and sheep, the corn and hay in his barn and the rye still unharvested. His house consisted of a hall, a chamber over the hall, another chamber, the chamber over the kitchen, and the kitchen. It may be that the house was larger and than his sons were already occupying parts of it, so that Nicholas had no goods in the other rooms.

Nicholas Watts made bequests to his four sons (Robert, William, Nicholas and George) and two daughters (Joan and Amy).

Over the last year I have been mulling over the question of who might have inherited Herman Reynolds' pottery business and/or skills. Herman appears to have had only two children, the two daughters who married the two Nicholas Watts. One of the sons-in-law might have been expected to have inherited. A second possibility is that one of Herman's male grandchildren may have been apprenticed to him, and taken over the business, but there are no Watts listed as in the Farnborough wills. A third possibility is that a grandchild learned the trade and started his own business elsewhere. But it seems unlikely that any of the children of Nicholas Watts of Bramshott would have taken up a formal appenticeships directly with their grandfather Herman Reynolds since the oldest could only have been 12 years old when Herman died. All these possibilities need careful research.

The present day location of Bramshott is close to junction 4A of the M3 motorway. An old timberframe house still stands - listed Grade II. I expected to find Bramshott in the copyholdings in the Crondal Customary dated 1567. The Tithing of Hawley can be found in the Baigent's Crondal Records 1890 on pages 310 to 330. There is no mention of Bramshott, though it undoubtedly existed in 1248 and 1287. Richard Watts did not die until 1570 so he would have been listed in the 1567 Customary as the copyholder. A Richard Watts is listed as a halimote tenant of James Hobson, but this is probably for an odd piece of leased land. It therefore seems that Bramshott was already freehold. This helps to substantiate my hypothesis that Bramshott was one of the original demesne farms of Crondall Manor, was depopulated during the Black Death and then sold to the Watts family. But that hypothesis too needs much more research.

Will of Henry Watts of Bramshott dated 1558

Inventory of Henry Watts of Bramshott dated 1558

Will of Richard Watts of Bramshott dated 1570

Inventory of Richard Watts of Bramshottdated 1570

Will of Henry Watts of Bramshott dated 1592

Inventory of Henry Watts of Bramshott dated 1592

Will of Nicholas Watts of Bramshott dated 1635

Inventory of Nicholas Watts of Bramshott dated 1635