Genealogy Chat

Hello Just wonder if many ppl on here have found any useful or interesting info from wills. Also how do u go about getting access to these and how much do they cost... that is if they are avaliable to ppl... Thanks Carly...

The two main sources for older wills are the National Archives website and local County Record Offices. Wills proved through the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) are available to buy through the NA (online) at £3.50 each. You can search at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/browse-refine.asp?CatID=6&searchType=browserefine&pagenumber=1&query=*&queryType=1 I have one will that details 36 relations and how they fit in to the tree!! Merry

Firstly, info about where to find Wills here: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/wills/default.htm Secondly, yes I have found interesting info - addresses, names, which led me to find marriages and births etc. My great-great-uncle's Will was interesting as he was an ag lab in 1901, but by the time he died in 1937 he had enough money to leave sizable bequests and a number of properties to all his nephews and nieces as well as legacies to charities. He married into money at the ripe old age of 69 and his child bride was 54. This was no whirlwind romance, as her brother and his youngest sister had married in 1900. nell

I recently had the details of a will, via the relevant records office - they couldn't photo copy it because there were too many seals on it, so they sent me a breakdown of the relevant details, I'd found out about the will from the A2A site - which gives u a list of what every record office holds, it cost £21 for the researchers work, but very useful as showed that my ancestor was illegitimate - no wonder i'm having trouble finding him!!

Thanks Merry and Nell, they do sound very interesting!! is it esy to ensure that you are odering the correct ones!! I think i'll be definately ordering some of them and hopefully will get some very useful info on my family... Thanls

no its not that easy, alright if your ancestor comes from a small village but if its a large town and your name is a common one its a matter of pot luck

Maybe following my first post, I should also say I have numerous wills that, whilst interesting (slightly), are of no help whatsoever in working out my tree!! (wouldn't want to give a false impression!!) The wills of widows and spinsters are sometimes more useful than married mens.......In general, men die first and leave all to their wife (whose name you already know, so not much help)....the widow has to be more imaginative so leave everything split between numerous children, other relations and neighbours etc. Women leave a silver spoon to X and a bedstead to Y.....a cooking pot to A and a book to B.....men don't always bother with these household items!! Merry

ha ha do they really i will take that on board when ordering!! i'm just interested to see what type of stuff they put on them... Thanks carly...

When you look at the docs on line for wills you should have a good idea if its your ancestor as it will give the place and occupation. I have to say I have been pretty lucky in that I have unusual names to search for. Remember not all wills are on there in fact I believe not that many in comparison to those proved. I am no expert, but if you cant find the expected wills on there (they only go up to 1858) you may want to have a look at the probate index at a main library. For wills after that 1858 I have applied to York Registry - the details for addresses etc are on the home page of GR. As Merry says, men, as always, tend to leave fairly dry information, but the women are so much more detailed. Although I recently got one for my GGFx2 and he did detail what money was to be given to his two unmarried daughters, and also mentioned he wanted to be buried in a particular churchyard where his parents were (unfortunately he didnt give me their names!) - With gratitude to Merry for translating same for me. Thanks to the Will of one female ancestor who had shacked up first with one man about three times her age with whom she had two illegitimate kids and then another man who also died before her again without making her an honest woman, I found every one of her siblings (this is late 18th/early 19th century), all named in order of birth, their wives, their occupations, where they lived and even some of the cousins. And the fact that one sister in law was a widowed pauper with a blind son and so on. Again as Merry says, details such as 'my silver cutlery', my furniture, etc. which is brilliant. Also very telling, though she had a son and daughter, the daughter is given control of the dosh to dole out to the brother. Gives you some idea of their personalities. However some Wills say little more than they are of sound mind and basically everything goes to ............. annoying when it just says 'my wife Anne'.

I've had some really useful wills that have confirmed the names of their children & daughter's husbands etc. One mentioned an illegitimate son I'd not come across (but frustratingly didn't give the lad's Surname!) And a couple of really boring ones that didn't even give wife's name... One helped me track down 2 missing siblings that I'd assumed had died in infancy as I'd not found them on any censuses. If you're lucky enough to have rellies in Northumberland & Durham prior to 1858, those wills are accessible via Durham university. They have an on-line catalogue. http://aesica.dur.ac.uk/probate/ You can order by post or email, and the charges are very reasonable - a handling charge of £4 or £5, plus cost of photocopies, plus postage. I got a batch of eleven for a total cost of £14.55. (They are quicker than York too). The earlier ones don't have addresses shown in the index so it can be pot luck, but at this sort of price I don't mind.

adding to this so I can find it easily later thanks Christine :)

Hi Carly. Copies of old wills have helped me a huge amount in my research. They are really useful if you have got stuck and need to work out the relationship between people, especially if there are several people of the same name.

I have recently given up buying certificates in favour of buying Wills, after I discovered the honey-pot that is Cheshire Wills on-line. For 3.50 each, I discovered from ONE Will that I had correctly identified the 10 children of the correct parents. I also got the daughters' married names, and the identity of the mother of a floating grandchild. This Will told me that the deceased had failed to administer the Will of her late husband who died on blah blah and that admin was now granted to her son and her solicitor, who was also her son-in-law, who lived in a completely unexpected county - led me to about another 50 rellies. I also discovered, reading between the lines, that her illegitimate grandson was her favourite, cos she left him the lot! Another Will however, must surely rank as being the shortest Will in history - an extremely wealthy farmer, :I leave everything to my son-in-law' (not named!). Olde Crone

I would like to try and find wills in Caernarvonshire and Lancashire, after 1858, is it possible online, if not where and how?

You can't search for or order wills aftre 1858 online. Contact the York probate office with all the details you have and enclose a cheque for £5.00. They will do a search and send you copies if they find one. Ian

Anyone looking for Wills in Gloucestershire, go to www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/GLS/Probate Records/Wills. The site has precis of wills sent in by people (including me) that give the relevant details, ie. whether will is PCC or Glos Record Office, relatives/relationships named, places, sometimes land holdings, and of course the teaspoons! Pam

Are all wills listed on the National Archives site, if a person's will is not listed does it mean they didn't make one? Or is there an index somewhere else on line?

Does anyone have the York address for wills please?

Its on the home page of GR, bottom left, under 'WIlls after 1858' Ian

Please be aware that many people did not make wills before 1900, although many surprises can be found amongst our more 'humble' ancestors. Not all wills will be lucrative, either by addresses/people etc or money! I have found some wonderful wills proving my work to be correct and others that have led me to married names unknown, but I have also had wills with just one line, telling me nothing. Most of my family did not leave wills. However, one shoemaker poignantly left his £35 to the Workhousemaster. It is pot luck if you find something, and not something that can be guaranteed so do not be too disappointed if nothing is found. Perhaps an area that may not be generally appreciated is that those soldiers who died in the 1 W War made wills, as Army service meant that provision had to be made for their families, and I have found some interesting info this way. Janet