Will of Mary Pitts
from Newfoundland will books volume 14 pages 18-20 probate year 1927

In re
     MARY PITTS.     DECEASED.

THIS is the last Will and Testament of me, Mary Pitts of St. John's in the Island of Newfoundland, Widow:-

1. I revoke all former wills and testamentary dispositions.

2. I leave to each of the four Methodist churches in St. John's, namely Cochrane Street Church, Gower Street Church, George Street Church and Wesley Church, the sum of one thousand dollars. The trustees of each of the said respective churches shall invest the said sum of one thousand dollars and pay the interest accruing therefrom annually at Christmas time among the poor of each of the said respective churches.

3. I leave the sum of one thousand dollars to Margaret E. Duder, Widow of Edwin John Duder of St. John's.

4. I leave the sum of five hundred dollars to my coachman, James Diamond, and I leave the sum of five hundred dollars to Lily, wife of the said James Diamond.

5. I leave the sum of fifty dollars each to such of my female domestic servants as shall be in my employ at the time of my death.

6. I leave the desk inlaid or bound with brass which I believe to have belonged to his great-grandfather James Pitts to Dr. Cluny Macpherson.

7. I leave the sum of four hundred dollars to the St. John's Dorcas Society.

8. I leave the sum of two hundred dollars to Mrs. C. E. Ley of Lance Cove in remembrance of her kindness to my husband's cousin Fanny Pitts.

9. I leave the sum of four thousand dollars to the Blind Soldiers' and Sailors' Hostel, St. Dunstan's Park, London.

10. I leave the sum of five hundred dollars to be invested by my executors and trustees and the income thereof, and if need be a portion of the principal, applied from time to time to the upkeep and proper maintenance of the three plots in the General Protestant Cemetery where my husband, his father and his grandfather are buried, and of their monuments.

11. I leave to James and Katherine Ferguson, children of William Ferguson, Pictou, the sum of five hundred dollars each.

12. I leave the furniture, plate and household effects which were originally in the house of my father in law William Pitts to Lydia Gertrude Ayre to be disposed of as she may think fit.

13. I leave to my niece Mary Mackay all the household furniture and effects and all the silver, silver plate, the piano, china, crockery ware, cutlery and utensils and all the clothing, jewellery and trinkets and all the personal effects and generally the contents of my dwelling house of which I shall be possessed at the time of my death, except such articles as shall be disposed of otherwise in this my Will.

14. I leave to my friend Herbert E. Knight the bookcase in the parlour,

15. I leave to my niece Mary Mackay the sum of thirty thousand dollars.

16. All the foregoing legacies and bequests are to be paid and distributed free of all death and succession duties and probate duties or fees and charges of administration, all of which are to be paid out of the residue of my estate.

17. I will and direct that none of the legacies or bequests made herein shall be abated or diminished by reason of any gifts or advances which I shall make to the beneficiaries thereof in my lifetime.

18. All the rest residue and remainder of my estate I give and bequeath unto the following persons in equal shares, namely Mary Mackay and Alexander D. Mackay (children of my brother William Mackay), Thomas Ferguson, John Ferguson, Donald Ferguson, Roderick Ferguson and Bessie Ferguson (children of my sister Catherine Ferguson) Cassie Ferguson, wife of my nephew William Ferguson, William A. Mackay and Leslie Gower Mackay (children of my brother Alexander M. Mackay, Dorothy Ferguson and Jessie Ferguson (children of my nephew James Ferguson), and James Ferguson and Catherine Ferguson (children of my nephew William Ferguson), children of a deceased residuary legatee to take their deceased parent's share.

19. I appoint my friend Herbert E. Knight and The Eastern Trust Company executors and trustees of this my will.

Dated at St. John's in the Island of Newfoundland this 8^th day of February A.D. one thousand nine hundred and twenty five.

Mary Pitts

Signed published and declared by the said Testatrix as and for her last Will and Testament in our presence who in her presence and at her request and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses (the word "each" having been first inserted in the first line of the 5^th paragraph hereof)