17/03/2015

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Finding and Understanding Wills (England & Wales)

Else Churchill

Genealogist

Society of Genealogists

Download the free information leaflets

Record Guide Probate Records

Hints & Tips Abstracting Documents & Reading Secretary Hand

From SoG Website

www.sog.org.uk

(learn pages)

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Probate?

• A will is a document which sets out a person’s wishes about the disposal of his or her property. The legal process of proving a will and administering and distributing the estate in accordance to those wishes is known as probate

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Information Found on Wills

• Name: address: occupation of testator

• Date will made – obviously testator alive

• Indication health of testator when will made

• Details of family – eg married daughters, sons’ wives. Elder children may be already provided for hence not named

• Details of property leased or owned

• Date will proved. Obviously Testator has died – may be proved some years after death

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Terminology

• Will

• Testament

• Testator or Testatrix

• Executor or Executrix

• Grant & Final Sentence

• Probate Act Book

• Register Copies

• Intestacy • Administration

(Admons) • Administrator • Renunciation • Inventories • Tuition bonds • Curation bonds • Accounts • Nuncupative • Codicil

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Where to go to find wills? England and Wales

Post 1858

Search Find a Will indexes online and order PDF of will to be emailed from Court Service for £10

LDS Family History Centre

holds microfilm copies of the

wills 1858-1925

Search and copies by post

from Leeds registry

Pre 1858

PCC @ TNA

PCY @ Borthwick, York

Local Church Courts in Record Offices

Indexes & Finding Aids @SoG

LDS Family History Centre holds mocrofilms of old finding aids and the original documents

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Post 1858 Year by Year Indexes

Some copies on books, fiche or film in various libraries and CROs.

Ancestry.co,uk has indexed the calendars only from 1858 to 1966.

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Ancestry has probate indexes 1858-1966

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Find a Will website https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

• Wills & Admons probated 1858 - 1995

• Wills & Admons probated 1996 – date

• Soldiers Wills 1860-1986 – ORDER PDF OF WILL TO DOWNLOAD IN 10

WPRKING DAYS

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Court Service Find a Will Index 1858-1995

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

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Wills cost £10 and are available as a PDF to download after 10 working days

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Court Service Find a Will Index from 1996

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

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Find a Will Basic Search

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Find a Will 1996 to date - Advanced Search

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Soldiers wills 1860-1986

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Post 1858 Probate Research Strategy Having located the will you want from calendars or indexes then you can

• order copy for 1858- date from Find a Will website £10

• arrange postal search and copy to be sent from Leeds District Probate Registry £10

• visit local probate registry near you to search and order IF they will do it for you

• look for copy of pre 1925 wills on films from LDS at London FHC once you have established date of probate and the registry where it was proved (download copy for free or printout 50p per page)

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Post 1858 local registry copy Welsh Wills at NLW

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Letters of Administration 1878 Ferdinand Schlaepfer

• In the case of intestacy a relative, or creditor could apply for letters of administration or ADMONS to sort out the estate.

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ADMONS etc

• Note up to 1870 Admons were indexed separately in the annual calendars at PPR, but they do come up on online searches.

• After 1870 they are indexed together

• Wills separately recorded in Scotland, Ireland etc. but resealed in the English courts are also listed at the back of the indexes.

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Some could not leave wills

• Children

• Lunatics

• Criminals

• Married women before the 1883 Married Women’s Property Act without consent of husbands

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Before 1858

In the name of God amen

I give to the worst of women except being a whore

who is guilty of all ills , the daughter of Mr. Gramont

a Frenchman, who I have unfortunately married,

five and forty brass halfpence which will buy her a pullet

for her supper – a greater sum than her father can often make

for I have known when he had neither money nor credit for

such a purchase being the worst of men and his wife the

worst of women in debaucheries. Had I known their character I had

never married their daughter nor made myself unhappy.

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Will abstract THOMAS ARROWSMITH the elder of Beeston, yeoman

• …unto my son THOMAS ARROWSMITH … my messuages [dwelling house, & outbuildings etc] … situate in Tattenhall Cheshire [and] in Beeston … subject to the payment of the clear yearly sum of £12 … unto my loving wife Elizabeth (executrix)

• Son JOSEPH ARROWSMITH £400 (from brother)

• Daughter RACHEL ARROWSMITH £150

• Grandson THOMAS DOD £10

• Daughter ALICE wife of THOMAS CHALLINER 20sh

• Daughter ELIZABETH wife of JOHN FENNA 20sh

• Daughter SARAH wife of ROBERT HINTON

• Daughter MARY wife of Thomas FAULKNER 20sh

• Daughter MARTHA wife of JOHN BAILY

Will dated 24 November 1727

Probate 7 December 1730 @ Consistory of Chester

Testator died 11 November 1730

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Pre 1858 wills proved in church courts

Consistory Court of Hereford

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Church Court Hierarchy pre 1858 wills

Ecclesiastical Courts

Peculiars(Rectors, Dean& Chapter)

(Crown, Bishop, Archdeacon)(University, Lord of the Manor)

Archdeaconry Courts(Archdeacon)

Diocesan CourtConsistory or Commissary

(Bishop)

Prerogative Court of CanterburyPCC

Province of Canterbury(Chancellor or Registrar of Archbishop)

Peculiars(Rectors, Dean& Chapter)

(Crown, Bishop, Archdeacon)(University, Lord of the Manor)

Archdeaconry Courts(Archdeacon)

Diocesan CourtExchequer, Consistory or Commissary

(Bishop)

Prerogative Court of YorkPCY

Province of York(Chancellor or Registrar of Archbishop)

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General Rules for Finding Wills before 1858

1. Land/property all in one archdeaconry =ARCHDEACONRY COURT

2. Land/Property in more than one archdeaconry but within one diocese =CONSISTORY/COMMISSARY

3. Land/Property in more than one diocese but all in Province of York = PCY

4. Land/Property in more than one diocese but all in Province of Canterbury = PCC

5. Land/Property in both Provinces = PCC (senior)

6. Outside archdeaconry but still in jurisdiction of Consistory or Province = PECULIAR

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BROADLY SPEAKING Pre 1858

WILLS CAN BE FOUND IN

• Local County/Diocesan Record Offices

• Borthwick Institute in York

• National Archives in London

Filmed by LDS

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What to read

• Sin, Sex & Probate:Ecclesiastical Courts, Officials and Records – Colin R Chapman

• Probate Jurisdictions: Where to look for Wills by Jeremy Gibson & Else Churchill

• Will Indexes and Other Probate Material in the Library of the SoG by N Newington-Irving

• Phillimore Atlas & Index of Parish Registers • Maps of local courts jurisdictions

• Show peculiars

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Gibson Guide

Updated by Andrew Millard’s Genealogy Page

Recent Indexes to English and Scottish Probate Records

www.dur.ac.uk/a.r.millard/genealogy/probate.php

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Andrew Millard’s Genealogy Page

Andrew Millard's Genealogy Recent Indexes to English and Scottish Probate Records.mht

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The Phillimore Atlas & Index of Parish Registers

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Kent West Kent

• Rochester Consistory & Archdeaconry Courts

• Peculiars of Shoreham & Cliffe

David Wright’s West Kent Probate Index 1800-1858 coming soon on CD

East Kent

Canterbury Consistory & Archdeaconry Courts

18 51 Jurisdictions http://maps.familysearch.org/

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Pre 1858 Search strategy • PCC on line or at TNA

• Local Diocesan Record Offices

– (some local indexes online e.g Chesh & Gloucs)

• PCY at Borthwick Institute

• Check LDS Family History Library Catalogue and obtain copy from LDS family history centre once you know the court

• SoG Indexes & Collections

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Prerogative Court of Canterbury PROB 11

Registered Wills @ TNA

On line @

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

Documentsonline/DISCOVERY

• Originals and other classes of PCC probate documents at Kew

• See the SoG online hints and tips – Finding and downloading PCC

wills from TNA website

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Wills in Lesser London Courts • London Metropolitan Archives (Greater London outside the City)

• Consistory Court of London 1362-1858 *

• Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex 1660-1810 *

• LMA (City of London, parts of Westminster, Middlesex, Essex &Herts)

• Commissary Court of London 1374-1830 *

• Archdeaconry Court of London 1393-1781(few to 1807)*

• Peculiar Court of Dean & Chapter of St Pauls 1535-1781*

• Royal Peculiar of St Katherine by the Tower 1698-1793

• Westminster Archives (Some of Westminster and part of City of London)

• Royal Peculiar of Dean & Chapter of Westminster 1504-1829

• Lambeth Palace Library (Small part of Middlesex and part of City of London)

• Peculiar of Deanery of Croydon 1664-1841

• Deanery of the Arches 1620-1780

• ALL WILLS & ADMONS of these courts 1750-1858 have been indexed by David Wright, 71 Island Wall, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1EL

• * are on Ancestry.co.uk

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Some Local Online Wills see Andrew Millard’s Genealogy Page for links

• Cheshire RO (index & images)

• Dorset RO (index & images on Ancestry)

• Durham & N’thld (index North East Inheritance Database, Durham University)

• Essex RO index & some images

• Gloucester RO index via catalogue

• Wiltshire RO index & images

• Nat Lib Wales all courts index & images

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British Origins bought by findmypast National Wills Projects

findmypast

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Some pre 1858 printed indexes on Ancestry.co.uk

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Wills of Dame Fern Norris proved 1893 &

Andrew North of Whitchurch proved 1715. The Society hold thousands

of copies, abstracts and transcripts of probate documents from local church courts as well as the later civil courts. These documents are being listed and an index is available on our website. The SoG holds all available indexes and finding aids for wills around the country.

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Sources @ SoG

• 1858-1930 Indexes on Film

• IR 27 Estate Duty Indexes 1796-1858

• All published indexes pre 1858

• British Record Society Index Library Vols (BRS)

• MS local church court calendars on film

• Abstracts – e.g. Bank of England Wills 1717-1845 (abstracts of wills referring to government stock)

• Copies in Document Collections – Indexed on SoG members area

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Unique indexes? WELLS WILLS

Unpublished MS indexes and calendars for

Consistory, Deanery and Archdeaconry Courts of Wells plus peculiars on fiche in Lower Library at the Society of Genealogists. This MS index was made before the originals were destroyed at Exter.

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Wills destroyed at Exeter?

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Reading, abstracting and transcribing probate documents Visit the learn pages of the SoG website www.sog.org.uk and read the palaeography hints and tips parts 1 & 1 (H&T 10&11)7

Visit the reading old documents pages of the National Archives website http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/reading-old-documents.htm

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Thomas Wheeler Citizen and Draper of London

Will dated 8 May1626

“to my son which I fullishlie begott not in wedlock but in recompense of my sins for the child is not at fault …to him all my goods at 21…If he dies Richard Turner my kinsman to have them.. Land I have in mortgage with my kinsman John Turner I give to him again… he is to take my child Thomas W who hath been brought up by John Lodwyn who had some time been my servant… Sd Thomas Turner to be exor. To his wife my diamond ring … To servants of the house when I die 20/

Written with my own hand – No witns Proved 19 Sep 1626 John Turner Exor Name of Register: Hele Quire Numbers: 109 - 154 [113] (PCC Prob11/150 image ref 9669)

Sir Robert Bevil Kt d.1635 • “I give and bequeath to my son-in-law Sir John

Hewell Bt, tenn shillings and noe more, in respect he stroke and ceaselessly fought with mee”

• “I give unto my wyfe ten shillings in respect she took her sonnes part against me and did and did anymate and comforte him afterwards. These will not be forgotten”

• “Inasmuch as she hath not only deserted mee, but hath taken into her possession all her own goods and hath disposed of them at her own pleasure …. to make no ampler provision for her”

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John Parker Book Seller of Old Bond Street

• “To one Elizabeth Parker whom through fondness I made my wife, without regard to family, fame or fortune and who in return has not spared most unjustly to accuse me of every crime regarding human nature, except highway robbery, I bequeath the sum of fifty pounds”

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John George of Lambeth d 1791 Seeing as I have had the misfortune to be married to the aforesaid

Elizabeth, who ,ever since our union, has tormented me in every possible way: that, not content with making game of all my remonstrances, she has done all she could to render my life miserable; that heaven seems to have sent her into the world solely to drive me out of it; that the strength of Samson, the genius of Homer, the prudence of Augustus, the skill of Pyrrhus, the patience of Job, the philosophy of Socrates, the subtlety of Hannibal, the vigilance of Hemogenes, would not suffice to subdue the perversity of her character; that no power on earth can change her, seeing we have lived apart during the last eight years, and that the only result has been the ruin of my son whom she corrupted and estranged from me; weighing maturely and seriously all these considerations, I have bequeathed , and I bequeath to my said wife Elizabeth the sum of one shilling to be paid unto her within six months of my death.

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William Kinsett

• Believed the miasmata of churchyards to be more or less pernicious to the locality bequeathed his body to the Imperial Gas Company, to be consumed to ashes in one of their retorts, accompanying the request with a £10 note

– “nevertheless should the fanaticism and superstition of the times prevent the fulfiment of this my request, then my executors must submit to have my remains buried in the plainest manner possible in my family grave in St John’s Wood Cemetery to assist in the poisoning of that neighbourhood”

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