The Wills of our Sturge ancestors make fascinating reading. Not only do they furnish us with lists of names and relationships,

"I give and devise unto Thomas Sturge son of my cousin Joseph Sturge of Yate who was one of the sons of my late brother William Sturge deceased"

stated Thomas of Gaunts Earthcott, in 1725, but also provide a wealth of information about the testators and their everyday lives. Nathan Sturge, who was buried at Hazel in 1732, left

"three pence apiece to all such poor people as shall be present at my burial."

Thomas Sturge, a mason of Winterbourne, bequeathed to his daughter,

"my red rugg two sheets and a coople of pillows all belonging to the bed I now lye on."

George Sturge , a descendant of William of Yate, handed down a set of clothes;

"To my beloved brother Thomas my best buckskin breeches grey coat and white waistcoat best greatcoat shirt stockings and shoes."

The story of the Quaker Sturges has already been well recorded but the origins of the family who lived in the region of Gaunts Earthcott remains something of a mystery. Joseph Sturge, whose name is recorded in the Olveston Quaker burials for 1669 would appear to be the father of William, Nehemia, Joseph, Abigail, Thomas and Nathan, but who was this Joseph? Where did he come from? Who was his wife?The story of the Quaker Sturges has already been well recorded but the origins of the family who lived in the region of Gaunts Earthcott remains something of a mystery.

"Where there's a will there's a way" goes the old saying. An old Sturge Will may go some way to solving the problem! Joseph's son married a girl named Barbara Williams and when they "took hands" at a Frenchay Quaker Meeting in 1674 Joseph and Barbara stated that they came from the village of Filton. No Sturge entries appear in the parish registers for St. Peter's, Filton, for this period, but the Will of a John Sturges of nearby Stoke Gifford mentions a son called Joseph. "Josufe" was baptised in 1601, so might be the Gaunts Earthcott ancestor shown on the family tree drawn up in 1851 by Walter Sturge. This early will shows that John Sturges worked on the land and had some rather odd sounding implements of husbandry,

"I do give my son thomas my best wayne a yoke a strange a sollo and a nay and to my sonne John ten bosshelles of wheat." His daughters, "marye and alles" were to receive twenty pounds each "to be payed at thayer day of marige if they do marry to thayer mothers likinge." Josufe would inherit ten pounds when he reached "one and twentie yeres." Seven years later John's widow made her Will and by this time a brother named Christopher had appeared. Could this be the Christopher Sturge mentioned in the early Quaker records for Frenchay? The quest continues.

Spelling was very erratic in those early days. The surname Sturge had many variations; Storg, Sturges, Sturgess, Stirrege and Sterridge, to name but a few. A William Stiredg of "Bristowe" who died in 1635 might be "one of ours." He belonged to the Company of Skinners and his Will is very detailed.

"I give unto my sonne William my second best Bybell and my greate brasse candlesticks and greate peawter platter marked with a W and S."

This pewter platter did not appear amongst the exhibits at the 1980 Pilgrimage but, who knows, it may be hiding somewhere.

Copies of the Wills mentioned above may be obtained from the Bristol Record Office. At first sight the old handwriting may appear strange and perplexing, but a few hours of practice with the "secretary hand" alphabet will make the transcription work most pleasurable and rewarding.

Joyce Cook, 1986