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Notes in the History of Sir Jerome Alexander Second Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and Founder of the Alexander Library, Trinity College, Dublin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

Charles Rogers
Affiliation:
Historiographer to the Historical Society

Extract

The Will of Sir Jerome Alexander, a parchment transcript of which is preserved in the Chief Probate Office, Dublin, is a document of more than ordinary interest; even with its cumbrous repetitions we owe no apology for producing it in full:–

“In the name of God Amen. I, Sr Jerome Alexander of the City of Dublin, one of the unprofitable servants of Almighty God, being of a perfect sound disposing memory, praised bee God, this three and twentieth day of March in the yeare of the Raigne of our Soveraigne Lord Charles the Second of that name by the grace of God of England, Scotland, Fraunce and Ireland King Defender of the Faith &c. the two and twentieth, and hereby renounceing and admitting and declareing all former Wills and Testaments by mee at any time heretofore made to bee utterly void & of none effect, doe declare this to bee my last true Will and Testament in manner & form following and doe now soe declare it to bee. And first of all I resigne my soul into the hands of Jesus Christ my blessed Saviour and Redeemer, confidently trusting and assureing myselffe in by and through his onely merritts and mediation to receive life everlasting; and I doe hereby profess myselfe to dye as I have allways lived, a sonne of the Church of England, which is the most absolute and best forme of government in all the world,’ twere to bee heartily wished that it were practised in all the Churches of Christendome, and my body I commend unto the earth from whence it came to receive decent and comely buryall, without any greate pompe or ceremonies whatso-ever, not doubting but at the last day it shall bee raised againe and united unto my soule with it for to partake of immortall and everlasting happiness.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1872

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References

page 233 note * Close Rolls, 11th James I., Part 44, No. 121.

page 233 ntoe † Warrant Books and Patent Rolls, passim.

page 233 note ‡ Conway Papers in the Public Record Office, Vol. 288, paper 66; also passim.

page 233 note § State Papers, Ireland, 1633.

page 234 note § State Papers, Ireland, Vol. 282.

page 235 note * Patent Rolls, 9th Charles I., Part 5, No. 2.

page 237 note * “Adventurers for Lands in Ireland,” Vol. 302, Public Record Office, London.

page 237 note † Patent Rolls: Charles I. Public Record Office, Dublin.

page 237 note ‡ “Prendergast's Cromwellian Settlement in Ireland,” 1870; 410, p. 265.Patent Rolls, 19th April, 1661.

page 237 note § Patent Roll, Dublin Record Office.

page 237 note ‖ Funeral Entries in Office of Ulster King of Arms, Dublin Castle.

page 238 note * Funeral Entries, Dublin Castle.

page 238 note † Memoranda Rolls in Court of Exchequer, Ireland, 31 Charles II.

page 238 note ‡ Exchequer Rent Books, in the Public Record Office, Dublin.

page 239 note * SirWill, Jerome Alexander's, and “Pleadings in Exchequer Court,” Button v. Barker, 1678Google Scholar.

page 239 note † In his Will, dated 1668, Thomas Gorges bequeaths to Sir Jerome Alexander, his father-in-law,.£5, and £5 to Elizabeth Alexander, his sister-in-law.

page 239 note ‡ For these particulars respecting the family of Gorges we are indebted to the Rev. Frederick Brown, Fellow of the Historical Society.

page 240 note * For these particulars respecting the administration of Sir Jerome's public bequests we are indebted to the Rev. B. Dickson, D.D., Trinity College, Dublin, Fellow of the Historical Society.

page 240 note † A careful examination of Patent and Close Rolls, Wills, and other public instruments, warrants the belief that the English family of Alexander is of Jewish origin. During the reigns of James I. and Charles I. such names as Samuel, Michael, Augustine, Paul, Thomas, Matthew, Nathaniel, and Jerome are common to the different branches of the family. The Scottish House of Alexander is a branch of the Macdonalds, and nearly all the members of the sept in Ireland are of Scottish origin.