The Last Wishes of Katherine Raleigh
April 16, 2022"Deare Sonnes"
On the 18th April in the year 1594 Katherine Raleigh lay in her bed in a house close to the Palace Gate, near Exeter Cathedral. She was well into her seventies, a long life for a woman of her time.
Fearing her end was near, she called for her grandson, Arthur Gilbert, one of Sir Humphrey's many sons. Along with Nicholas Bolte and Richard Jerman, probably Exeter merchants, Arthur Gilbert witnessed her last will and testament.
As she lay, probably very near death, Katherine’s overriding concern was to see all her accounts on earth …