JOHN MYLREA jnr

Will - 1887 (Michael)

This is the last will and testament of me John Mylrea of Cronk Urleigh in the parish of Michael being of sound mind, memory and understanding at the making hereof.

I devise and bequeath to my son John Mylrea the sum of one pound as legacy.

I devise and bequeath to my daughter Emma, wife of Daniel Kneen, the sum of five pounds as legacy.

I devise and bequeath to my daughter Mary Ann Mylrea all and singular those lands and premises part of Clyleen in the parish of Michael, also all my right, title and interest in and to that meadow part of Ballameanagh Quarterland in the said parish of Michael, also in and to these four houses and premises situate in the town of Douglas, namely one in Bigwell Street being numbered thirty in said street, another being seventeen in Wellington Square, another in Barrack Street and now in the occupation of John (Swindlehart?), and the other numbered twelve in James Street, including herein the whole of the real estate to me belonging in this island over which I have any disposing [power?]

To have and to hold the said lands, houses and premises and all my right, title and interest therein with all rights, members and privileges to the same severally? belonging or in any wise appertaining unto her, my said daughter Mary Ann Mylrea, her heirs and assigns absolutely.

I further devise and bequeath to my said daughter Mary Ann all the rest, residue and remainder of all my personal estate of whatever the same may consist and wherever described

To hold to her own use absolutely, and I nominate and appoint her, my said daughter Mary Ann, sole executrix of this my will, and I hereby revoke and set aside any and all former wills by me heretofore made, declaring this to be my last will and testament.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this the 15th day of March 1886. John Mylrea

Signed, published and declared by the testator as and for his last will and testament in presence of us who in his presence and in presence of eachother have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses. William H. Corjeag, John William Cannan

JOHN MYLREA

MICHAEL 1887

In Her Majesty’s High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man Testamentary Jurisdiction Common Law Division

To his honour Deemster Gill etc etc etc The humble petition of Mary Ann Mylrea of Cronk Urleigh in the parish of Michael

Sheweth that petitioner’s father John Mylrea late of Cronk Urleigh in the parish of Michael departed this life on the twenty-fourth day of February 1887 having first made and published his last will and testament in writing, whereof he appointed your petitioner executrix

That petitioner is desirous of proving the said will and to be sworn executrix thereunto

Wherefore your petitioner prays a hearing hereof and that your honour may be pleased to receive the said will and grant probate thereof to petitioner in due form of law, and petitioner will pray etc etc etc ……………………. For petitioner

Ordered that this petition do come on to be heard at a Court to be holden at Peel on Monday the 14th day of March instant whereof all proper parties are to have due notice. This 14th day of March 1887. ……….Gill

At Peel 14th March 1887 this petition is continued. …………. Gill

In Her Majesty’s High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man Common Law Division Testamentary Jurisdiction

At a Court holden at Ramsey the 21st day of March 1887 The annexed paper writing dated the 13th day of March 1886 having been proved to be the last will and testament of John Mylrea late of Cronk Urleigh in the parish of Michael deceased who died on the 24th day of February 1887. Mary Ann Mylrea of Cronk Urleigh aforesaid, spinster, a daughter of the testator the executrix therein named is sworn well and truly to fulfill and execute the same and to administer the personal estate of the said deceased according to law. ... Gill, A Judge of the said Court

NOTES

  1. Cronk Urleigh
  2. John was the only son of John Mylrea & Isabella Quayle, and baptised in Michael in 1818
  3. His father's family was of the Ballacooiley Mylrea clan but as the second son of the Ballacooiley steward, his father Daniel was not entitled to inherit the family estate. There is no information about how Daniel earned his living but he and his wife Mary Hughes lived much of their life in Jurby
  4. John's father was recorded as a farm worker in census collections. There is no evidence that he brought anything of significance to the marriage, nor that Isabella's family contributed anything other than monetary legacies when the Quayle parents died. Daniel Mylrea left his son 6d, and his mother left him nothing
  5. John Mylrea whose will this is married widow Margaret Barrie als Brew in Braddan in 1846 where he worked as a joiner
  6. Margaret had two daughters with her first husband, Robert Barrie. The younger daughter Elizabeth stayed with her mother and went to live in Michael while the older girl, Margaret Jane, stayed with her maternal grandmother in Douglas
  7. John & Margaret returned to Michael in about 1850, where they lived for over 30 years
  8. Their children were:
    • Emma born Braddan 1846, married Daniel Kneen, a widower and stone mason, in 1883. She died in 1897
    • John born Michael 1849, met with a catastrophic event in his 20s and was listed in the 1881 census as an imbecile, and during probate of his effects, as a lunatic
    • Mary Ann born Michael 1854, inherited almost the entire estate from her father, married a theology student who later became a school master, John Corkill Watterson Cowley, in 1891
    • also Mary Ann 1852-1853 & Louisa 1860-1862
  9. At the age of about 40, John acquired an 8 acre holding named Cronk Urleigh in the quarterland of Clyeen, which is in the Treen of Cammal
  10. John and Margaret mortgaged Cronk Urleigh in 1863 for £100 which was paid back in a little under 7 years
  11. Their disabled son John lived with his parents until they both died (Margaret in 1884 and John in 1887)
  12. Perhaps because Mary Ann was to care for her disabled brother for the rest of his life, John left the bulk of the family's assets (by no means inconsiderable) to her
  13. When Mary Ann married in 1891, she transferred the ownership of her lands to a joint holding
  14. Mary Ann had three boys in quick succession: John Richard Stanley Mylrea (1892), John Stanley Watterson Cowley (1893), William Mylrea (1895). William was killed in WW1, and John Richard Stanley Mylrea was his mother's sole legatee. Neither she nor her husband mentioned the second born child in their wills so presumably he died soon after birth, although there is no apparent record of burial. Only Mary Ann seems to have warranted an MI in the new ground at Kirk Michael
  15. LV 1903 shows rents in Shalghaige and Cammall quarterlands being transferred back into Mary Ann's name after the death of her husband in 1900
  16. Cronk Urleigh was doubled in size by the £650 purchase in 1896 of the tenancy adjoining their Cammal holding
  17. Mary Ann died in 1931, John Richard Stanley Mylrea sold up in the 1930s He might have left the island for New Zealand and Australia but he died at the Mannin Infirmary in Douglas in 1970 aged 77
  18. The other Mylrea family in Michael at much the same time belonged to Thomas Mylrea, the corn miller, and Mary Elizabeth Caine. Thomas came from Braddan and had no connection to John Mylrea of Cronk Urleigh other than, in 1850, his youngest brother William married John's sister, Mary

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Last updated: Sept 2024