When is a nephew not a nephew?
 

When he's a grandson, of course mutter, mutter **&?!!**!

I've been looking at a very long will, wondering why so much is made of John Upton, only to realise that, as I read it more closely, that he was eldest son of the son. Oh joy.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageview...f09&pId=923824

I have come across niece used to mean any female relative, so nephew was probably the same for males.

Be thankful you aren't Italian, Phoenix!
The word "nipote" means a grandchild of either sex or a nephew/niece!

I've read through two wills this morning. The one where I already have the extended family gives every detail of the relationships including where the beneficiaries lived and most of their occupations. The other will, where I need the testator to have done the same, just says, I leave everything to my loving wife and if she is dec'd then split equally between my living children - no names for any of them! Great :rolleyes:

Don't you just hate it when that happens, Merry!

Back to the original post - I seem to remember coming across a record where a child's guardian was described as his uncle but was actually his grandfather.

What is confusing is when in the same will a nephew or niece is called a cousin or cozen in a different sentence.

Yes, cousin was also used to mean any kind of relative more distant than parent or sibling.