Today, another post inspired by our recently-published volumes on the House of Lords. In this blog the editor, Dr Ruth Paley, discusses the hotly-contested will of the 2nd Duke of Albermale…
Christopher Monck, 2nd duke of Albemarle, was an alcoholic who had been warned by his doctor, Hans Sloane, to take care of his diseased liver. He didn’t listen. In 1688, shortly after he arrived in Jamaica to take up the post of governor, news arrived of the birth of a son to James II. Albemarle celebrated rather too well. He was only 35 when he died on 6 October 1688, having literally drunk himself to death.
A year earlier, in anticipation of his voyage to the Caribbean, the childless Albemarle had made a new will. It was a long and complex document which made generous provision for his widow during her lifetime and directed the bulk…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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