James Smith of Great Torrington

[Phoenix]

appears to have been a regular bluebeard!

When he dies in 1703/4 his wife gets £5, while his children get £50 or more. http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/51...nSearchResults
There appear from this to be only the two: James, the son of Frances, b 1681 and Susan, daughter of Margaret b 1664.

Margaret presumably died in childbed in 1664 - she appears to be buried nearly a fortnight before her daughter is christened.
Another Margaret is buried in 1676
Frances is buried in 1684.

James had land in Somerset and someone in that county has extracted lots of non PCC wills for the Smyths of Great Torrington.

Short of going to the Devon and Somerset ROs, can anyone suggest how I can access:

• Great Torrington marriages in the 1600s- not yet on FMP
• Siraut p 210,211 - extracts of the wills - [Siraut] Siraut, M. (ed). Somerset Wills. Somerset Record Society Vol 89 (2003) - A printed version of a set of abstracts (made before 1942 by A.J. Monday).

There were, of course, several James Smyths in Torrington at the time. One was married to Alce, another to Wilmoth, but I have no idea who my James's presumable fourth wife was.