HENRY VIII,’S DRAFT WILL.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 264, 29 November 1928, Page 5

HENRY VIII,’S DRAFT WILL.

The finding in the Exeter Cathedral library of the original draft! from which the last will of King Henry VIII. was drawn up has called attention to the fact that there remains in the cathedral a mass of documents that may contain other gems of histori< interest (reports the Exeter correspondent of the Daily Mail). The j

cathedral’s literary possessions, are ) housed in a dry and almost fire-preof buildings, but have been neglected, and are largely an undigested mass of unknown value, representfing the accumulations of centuries. There are no funds to meet the **«cvy cost of the thorough search and cataloguing that are urgently called for. Even the normal care of the cathedral library is an honorary task undertaken by one of the canons.

The dean and chapter would gladly see the work put in hand, but in recent years the diocese has been called upon to raise a large sum for the upkeep of the cathedral. Something is already being done by enthusiastic volunteers. The bureau of the late Chancellor Haringten, in which Henry VIII’s will was found, has been cleared but many of the documents in it await examination. The King’s will although magnificently bound, bears evidence that its parchments were once tightly folded into small compass, and, as that happened most) probably before Queen Elizabeth parted with it in 1590, it seems not unlikely that the creasing was the result of the Queen carrying the document about her during ihe years when the will was in dispute.