Elizabeth Vernier???

  Notes:

I'm now pretty sure Richard and Phoebe are NOT Wm's parents, therefore this is irrelevant but I'm leaving this line here for now.

Suspect her surname might be 'Vernier'.
Only know she is the mother due to her will which reads;

In the name of God Amen I Elizabeth Powis of the parish of Greenwich in the County of Kent widow being weak(?) in body but of sound and disposing mind and xxxxxxxry praised be almighty god for the same do make this my last will and testament in xxxxxxx following that is to say I give and bequeath unto my three sons Thomas Powis Richard(?) Powis and William Powis all my rights(?) title(?) and interest in the brewhouse and premises situate and being in axxxxxxxxx in the parish of Greenwich aforesaid and all my right title and interest in the stock debts fixtures and utensils in the trade and business of a Brewer also I give to my said three sons Thomas Richard and William Powis all my leasehold estate situate and being in the parish of Greenwich in the County of Kent aforesaid to hold the same for my said three sons their executors administrators and axxxxxxx for and(?) during(?) all the rest(?) residue and remainder(?) of the xxxxx of years which shall be to come(?) in the said leasehold premises(?) I also give to my said son son (it is in there twice!) Richard Powis all my household goods and furniture plate linen(?) and china house(?) I give to my son in law John Kirkham and to my daughter Elizabeth Kirkham one guinea each for a mourning ring I also give to my said daughter Elizabeth Kirkham all my looming(?) Appxxxxx I also give to my son in law Thomas Good and to my daughter Eleanor Good one guinea each for a mourning ring also I give to my grandsons Richard Powis Thomas Powis John Kirkham and Richard xxxx Kirkham and to my three granddaughters Eleanor Powis Poll Powis and Elizabeth Kirkham one guinea each for a mourning ring also I give to my sister Mary Bxxxxx one guinea xxxx for a mourning ring also I give to my nephew Thomas Bxxxxx and to my niece Mary Bxxxxx one guinea each for a mourning ring also I give to my good and worthy friend xxxxxx Mason(?) one guinea for a mourning ring and all the rest and residue of my estate and effects I gave and bequeath the same to to my said son Richard Powis and I do hereby nominate and appoint my said son Richard Powis sole executor of this my will and do revoke all former wills by me at any time aforesaid(?) xxxxxx and declare this will to be my last will and testament xxx xxxxxxx whereof of the said Elizabeth Powis have herewithto set my hand and seal this first day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty five E Powis signed sealed published(?) xxxx xxxxx by the said Elizabeth Powis to be her last will and testament in the prescence of Henry Biddlecom.

Then it says 14th May 1785, which might relate to the next bit which is ;

Approved Person (?, maybe!) Thomas Barker of Greeenwich in the County of Kent gentleman and being sworn(?) out this xxxxxxist to depose the xxx xxxxxx oath xxxx xxx xxxxx and was well acquiainted with Elizabeth Powis late of Greenwich in the County of Kent widow deceased(?) for several months before and to the time of xxxxx death and during(?) such(?) his knowledge and acquaintance with her xxxxxxx hath xxxxxxxxx seen her write and subscribe the same(?) which(?) he is xxxxxxx well acquainted with her(?) xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxx of said(?) writing and subscription and xxxx looking(?) upon the account(?) E Powis appxxxxxing to be subscribed to the xxxxxxx writing hereto(?) xxxxxxxx beginning thus "in the name of god xxxxx xxx x Elizabeth Powis of the parish of Greenwich in the county of Kent widow" ending thus xxx xxxxxxx xxx whereof I the said Elizabeth Powis has(?) xxxxxto set my hand and seal the first day of February in the year of our lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty five" and thus subscribed "E Powis" xxx xxxxth xxxx doth xxxxily and in his xxxxxxxx before the same "E Powis" to be of the proper handwriting of the said Elizabeth Powis widow aforesaid Thomas Barker the same day the said Thomas Barker was duly sworn to the xxxxx of this affidavit before me Geo Harris(?) Surrogate(?!) xxxxx Geo Bogg xxxx xxxxxx

This will was proved at London on the sixteenth day of March in the year of our lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty five before the worshipfull George Harris(?) xxxxxx of xxxx surrogate of the Right Worshipfull Peter Talbot xxxx of xxxxx qxxxxxx xxxxxx or commisary(?) of the perogative court of Canterbury lawfully xxxxxxed by the oath of Richard Powis the son of the deposed(?) and sole executor named in the said will to whom xxxxxxx was granted of all and singular the goods chattels and credits(?) of the said deceased having been first from only to administer.


So;
The mother of "the three brothers" was called Elizabeth and died in 1785, her husband already being dead.
Presumably the only three (surviving) sons were Thomas Richard and William
There was also a dau Elizabeth married to a John Kirkham. They had sons John and Richard and dau Elizabeth
There was also a dau Eleanor married to a Thomas Hood (?) presumably they had no (surviving) children as not named.
There were two (other) grandsons called Richard and Thomas Powis (no William ; even though Painswick William was born in 1771)
There were two (other) grandaughters called Poll and Eleanor Powis
Her sister was called Mary Bxxxxxx who had children Thomas and Mary. Most likely 'Barker' and the chap who validates her handwriting is her brother-in-law.
The three sons equally get the bulk of the estate ; brewhouse, other property and brewing equipment
Richard is the favoured son (gets all household goods and any residue and is sole executor) and, presumably therefore, the eldest.
There is no mention of Thomas' other children on the tree (who were all born before 1785)
Odd that is just says "to my grandsons" but "to my THREE granddaughters" , does this imply there might be other grandsons but no other grandaughters, or am I just reading too much into it ?

Does this help? Well it establishes more facts which are bound to be useful in the long run, and more questions ;
1.If Painswick William was a grandson why isn't he named? Perhaps he WAS illegitimate and that is why he wasn't named, but (it's just occurred to me) if he was illegitimate he wouldn't be called Powis. There are lots of the supposed children of Thomas Powis who are not named, and we know (or think we know) of TWO Richard Powis who were alive in 1785, and only one of those is named. Maybe it's just the grandchildren who have reached a certain age who are named ; Painswick William was 14 when she died). This would lend credence to him being a grandson but it would have been (much!) 'cleaner' if he was actually mentioned.
2.If Painswick William was the son William who is named that would mean a) his father was ~71 was he was born and b) his mother was presumably quite old when he was born (even if she was 20 years younger than her husband she would have been in her 50s) and c) he was 37 years younger than his brother Thomas (born in 1734, same mother) and d) he was a minor at the time the will was written ; every time I've seen that there's a load of stuff about keeping his share in trust until he comes of age etc. etc. , and there's non of that in here.

I'm now 99.9% sure we can rule out Painswick William as the same person who was the William who was one of the "three brothers".
We DO know for certain that there was 'A' William Powis still involed in the brewery at the bitter (ha ha!) end, so he must have come from somewhere.

Expansion of the 'only grandchildren of a certain age get a mourning ring theory'. The 'Known' (Powis) grandchildren;
Children of Thomas Powis and Hannah Paddon;
Mary b1759. Not mentioned. Is she dead?
Elizabeth b1760, presumably died young as there are two later siblings with same name
Eleanor b1762 (presumably the one named in the will, age 23)
Richard Vernier b1763 (presumably the Richard named in the will, age 22, rather than his younger cousin)
Elizabeth b1765, presumably died young as later sibling with same name.
Poll b1766 (presumably the one named in the will, age 19)
Thomas b1768 (presumably the one named in the will, age 17)
Elizabeth b1770 NOT NAMED IN WILL, age 15

Children of Richard Powis and Phoebe;
William 'Painswick' Powis b1771 NOT NAMED IN WILL, age 14
Richard Powis b1779 NOT NAMED IN WILL, age 6

No known children of "Three Brothers" William.

So, apart from Mary, who might well have died, all the known children over 16 got a ring, all the children under 16 didn't. That just about allows me to keep the faith that Painswick William is a son of Richard Powis, married to Phoebe. It might also mean that Kirkham and Hood had other children who were <16, but I'm not really bothered about them at the moment !

Elizabeth married William# Powis, son of Richard# Powis and Mariah# Smith. (William# Powis was born ~1695 and died before 1785.)