1661- Will

p.2 

Final page with signature...

Dear Anne, it is a quite regular will, made by an unmarried man. Remarkable is the exclusion of a specific family member at the end of the will; also this family member is not appointed as heir and hence could only receive some of the inheritance via inheritance legislation in case all appointed heirs and first-grade kin would have died before the testator, he specifically excluded her from any part of the inheritance.

Huijch Jansz van Dijssel, jongman (meaning unmarried man), living in Delft, in good physical and mental health, decalring null and void all previous codicils and wills, specifically mentioning the will he had composed before notary Govert Rota in Delft on 3 October 1655.

With this current will, he appoints his father, Jan Harmenss van Dijssel as heir to one half of his inheritance, and his sisters Geertgen Jans and Pieternelle Jans jointly as heirs to the other half of his inheritance, all heirs to be regarded as his sole and universal heirs. He specifically mentions them to inherit his part of the inheritance he inherited from his late mother.

In case his father would die before him, his fathers' part of the inheritance will befall to the aforementioned sisters. In case one of these sisters would die before the testator, the part to be inherited by the deceased sister will befall to the child(ren) of the deceased sister; in case the deceased sister will have no offspring, her part will befall to the surviving sister. In case the surviving sister would also die without offspring before the testator, her part will befall also to the father of the testator, if still alive at that moment (and actually then receiving all of the inheritance of the testator).

In addition, he specifically excludes his niece (or cousin; the Dutch term 'nicht' may refer to either of these English terms) Fijtgen Jans, as he does not want her to have any profit whatsoever of his inheritance; the reason for this specific exclusion is not mentioned.

PS It may be worthwile to search for the previous will from 1655 that is referred to; it maybe will shed some light on the reason for the aforementioned exclusion of Fijtgen Jans.