Old Wills and the Search for Humphrey Colles.

Old wills are a wonderful source of family information and can sometimes be very useful in determining family relationships across different branches and generations. In an email today from my Mum, she said "My eyes are worn out from looking at old Wills". Mine feel a bit that way too - all that squiggly writing, little punctuation, archaic language and sometimes fuzzy imaging can be a challenge to decipher, but well worth the effort. We have been on the track of one of my most determinedly elusive ancestors, one Humphrey Colles, who married Elinore Carter. It is only through wills that we really know about this relationship. Relevant parish records of baptisms, marriages and deaths for this couple are few and far between and yet we know that Humphrey and Eleanor had at least 6 children, possibly more, and that Humphrey was in control of large amounts of money and property as an Executor, Overseer and Beneficiary in a number of wills. At this stage, I am pretty sure that Humphrey was born in about 1584 and died in 1661 at the age of 77, but some really solid evidence would be oh so very welcome!