MARGARET JOYNER ALS McYLROY

Will - 1729 (Douglas)

Douglas 1728/9

The last will and testament of Margaret Joyner als McYlroy, wife to Robert Joyner, of the town of Douglas, who departed this life about the 24th of March last past being in perfect mind and memory at the making thereof

First, she committed her soul to Almighty God that gave it and her body to Christian burial

Item she left to Charles Joyner her son and Jony his wife the long table cloth belonging to the long table

Item she left her daughter Margaret Cosnahan a table cloth as a legacy

Item she left her daughter Emma McClaire a pair of sheets, one table cloth, and four napkins, as also her part of the house and garden after her husband Robert Joyner decease in case he had it to spare and was not under any necessity or want of selling or disposing of it before his death

Lastly, she constituted and appointed her dear and loving husband Robert Joyner sole and whole executor of the rest of her goods and chattels moveable and immoveable whatsoever and wheresoever

Testes: Thomas Joyner, Richard Killey ] jurati Pledges the witnesses of the will

The executor sworn in Court in form of law

Probatum est et solvit

NOTES

  1. Original Douglas Mylrea clan (I am increasingly convinced that Margaret's father, John Mcylroy, was a descendant of one of the early Mylrea men, recorded in Douglas in the early 1600 [John, Thomas, Henry]) although no records exist to link John back to those early residents)
  2. Margaret's mother, Catharine McYlroy als Moore died c1698; father John left the island and was presumed dead
  3. Margaret MALLEREIGH married Robert Joyner 3rd November 1685, Braddan, suggesting she was born in the 1660s. Robert was a mariner
  4. Margaret's sister, Jane, married Richard Killey in 1689, underage, and so perhaps born in about 1770
  5. The Joyners had three children: Margaret (August 19th, 1686), Charles (c1693), Emma (1700). Son Robert Joyner jnr (mariner) died in 1716, naming in his will siblings Charles, Margaret and Amy, the names Emma and Amy being similar. Robert jnr had no baptism record
  6. Robert Joyner's step-father was Hen Maelereigh and Margaret's father was John McYlroy but any connection between them is unknown
  7. Son Charles was a glover as was Margaret's son-in-law, Charles Cosnahan
  8. Son Charles b1693ish married Jony Clukas - 5 children: John, Robert, Charles Margaret, Ellinor of whom Margaret died soon after birth and John and Charles had no records of baptism but were named in both parents' wills
  9. Charles died 1729
  10. Curiously both Robert Joyner and his daugher-in-law Joney Joyner als Clukas received handouts for the poor in 1730 which seems counter intuitive since Robert settled property on his son and daughter in the preceding years
  11. Daughter Margaret b1686 married Robert Quillin in 1717 (children: Richard b1717, Robert b1718, William b1719, Susannah b1721). He died and she then married Charles Cosnahan 1724 (Francis b1726, Charles b1727, Margaret b1728)
  12. Although Margaret left her part of the house and garden to daughter Emma & in case he (Robert) "had it to spare" either Emma died or was simply excluded from ownership of the house. Also possible that the documentation relating to Emma's share of the house and garden has not survived
  13. Official Court document gives Margaret's death 24th March; burial record MARY Joyner buried 25th March 1729
  14. The estate of Margaret's mother was dealt with in a Consistory Court in 1741, long after Margaret's mother had died (1698), and long after the deaths of her daughters Margaret (Joyner) & Jane (Killey) in 1729 & 1736 respectively. The purpose of the hearing was not stated but the administration of the estate was handed to the widowers of Margaret & Jane
  15. In 1730 Douglas: husband Robert (widowed) alone, widow Joyner with 4 children, Margaret & Charles Cosnahan with 6 children (so either one child had died, or the oldest was elsewhere). The family lived in Barrack St
  16. Robert Joyner died 1744: his MI in Malew church - Robert Joyner, mariner, buried Braddan and the parish records "old Robert Joyner aged 91"
  17. MI, Santon: Margaret Cosnahan alias Quillian alias Joiner from Malew, buried the 11 March 1764
  18. The Joyners (Robert & Margaret) might have been relatively wealthy. Robert inherited several allotments in Douglas from his William Joyner (b1628), originally compounded for in 1643 by Robert Joyner his grandfather, and described as a dwelling house, brewhouse, backside, chamber and garden over the way (rent 3s 9d) and Margaret enjoyed a smaller legacy from her mother, Catharine. See Crowe's 1705 Survey of Douglas allotments [12/15, 13/09, 16/05] The allotments were on (now) Barrack St
  19. The substantial cottage allotment #75, which was Robert Joyner's in entirety in 1700 was gradually removed from Joyner hands, when the portions gifted to Catherine and to Charles were sold until, by the end of the 1700s, grandsons John and Charles held a less than 1% share
  20. NOTE: Be aware that cottage allotment numbers changed over time as Douglas expanded. Rent and neighbours are key elements in confirming whether the tenants (eg Robert Joyner) have changed properties or whether they have remained stable while the allotment number from one LA to the next has changed

Associated Documents

Last updated: Apr 2025