Watts, Frances; sister of John Taylor, St Mary at Hill, City of London, vintner (as shown by her will and accompanying affidavit) ; aged 35 in 1733 ; kept a boarding house in Little Dean’s Yard from 1738 (previously occupied by Mrs.Beresford) (she directed in her will that “the house I live in” should be sold after her death) ; first two of seventy-one recorded boarders adm. Apr 1738, last three recorded boarders adm. Oct 1752, but her boarding house may be presumed to have continued to operate until her death ; her will expresses her wish to be buried in Barnes, Surrey, where she owned two copyhold messuages ; she bequeathed 10 guineas each for mourning rings to William Markham (qv), Head Master, Peirson Lloyd (qv), Under Master, and Charles Cooper (qv), “the usher of my house” ; m.1st, by c.1720, William Cox, surgeon, with whom she emigrated to Savannah, Georgia, North America, 1733 (but who d. there 1733) ; m.2nd, 1 Jun 1734 James Watt (or Watts), Lieut. South Carolina Independent Company (but who d. same month, she returning to England) ; d. Jan 1755 (London Evening Post, issue for 11-14 Jan 1755) (will dated 25 Jun 1754, with codicil 19 Dec 1754, proved PCC 24 Jan 1755, as of Frances Watts, Little Dean’s Yard, St.Margaret’s, Westminster, widow).
