Genealogy Chat

Nudgin'

I visited the probate office in Nottingham last Friday and was told the price for a copy of a will has increased to £6.

I searched their system and all the names I was searching were coming up as no results. I then entered the name of an ancestor whose probate details I'd got from Ancestry and again it came up as no results. When I checked this with staff all he said was the system isn't infallible. Great eh.

Fortunately though two records I was interested in were on their system. Wish I'd taken cash with me though as they do not accespt debit cards so ended up having to post a checque off to them.

Chris

One point which must be emphasised.............

Only Wills which have been PROVED, i.e. gone to Probate. will be in the public domain.

The following is the official source........the application form can be downloaded

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/wills.htm

Search fee is £5.00 per item....non-refundable

Hi everyone,
as posted earlier a good site for help in reading old handwriting is
http://script.byu.edu

Linda

I was surprised to find that my Gr.Gr,Grandfather left a will in 1878. He described himslf as a Labourer. He left a cottage and two gardens. They were to be sold and proceeds to go to his nine children

Nudgin'

nudge

Steve, I'm in Canada and it took a couple of months before the will arrived. When it did I was rather disappointed, it was just a typewritten copy with no date on it. I was really interested in when the will was written.

Hi All (*I usually include a smiley face with any of my posts – but am finding it hard to smile of late) :-(

Sadly I have just read this post which I feel would have been of great help if only I had read it 30 days ago.

I have ordered 4 wills with the payment of $25 Australian dollars made in full on the 23rd February 2011 and I am still awaiting there delivery. I have emailed them (the site) twice in the last 3 days asking for a ‘please explain’ as to why I have not received them – no such luck. Needless to say I am incredibly down hearted and bitterly disappointed. Especially after waiting near 6 years to bite the so called bullet, I feel so let down.

Living in Australia and ordering from the UK has had some issues for me in the past – but everything has been OK till now.

The upshot of my message is – how long is too long to wait for delivery 14 days? – 20 days? – 30 days? – 40 days? And what can I do if I am still waiting in another 30 full days with no response?

The site I have ordered the wills from appears to be above board and has many and varied current links – so I am at a complete loss as to now what to do next – any thoughts or suggestions would be most appreciated – I am truly at a loss as to know what to do next.

Thanks in Advance

Steve.

Oops just read again and noted that much can be done and paymentbmade online BUT will still need help I am sure

Thanks

Bridget

I have just found this thread and it is very interesting. Thank you for putting this information in such a clear manner.

I am going to book Mark it and then start trying to find somecwills.

Please could someone tell me is it costly to obtain wills and is it easy to usebthe online resources. As I do not live in the UK it is not possible for me to visit.

Many thanks


09. 56 hrs Spain

Ken2

Ancestry say...

'Our collection covers 80 years from 1861 to 1941. We currently do not have the books for the years 1858-1860 and there are some gaps for the years 1863, 1868, 1873, 1876, 1877, 1883, 1888, 1899-1903 and 1910-1911. However, we hope to add records for these years as soon as possible.'

Chris

Thankyou Jonesey. x

Ancestry.co.uk has a searchable index of probate commencing 1861.
What about the missing 3 years - ie from 1858?

Thought I would nudge this to join the others

Dee,

I have a shepard from Leicestershire that left a will in 1743, so worth looking.

Sylvia (in Oz)

thank you Chris.
Knowing my lot, mine will be in the "not" route too!
Might have a quick route for some.
Thanks again
Dee

Dee

I was listening to a NA podcast on wills and the lecturer was saying thatthere were a substantial amount of 'Labourers' wills in the PCC which you wouldn't have expected.

His advice as to whether a 'poor' ancestor left a will or not boiled down to....

You won't know unless you look!

Mind you my lot tended to go down the 'not' route :-)


Chris

Most of my ancestors were shepherds from Norfolk. Is it likely they would have left a will? I think they were quite poor.
Dee

I would just like to point out that not all wills before 1858 in the South of England were proved in the PCC.

There were hundreds of lower courts that operated around the country and where a will was proved or an administration granted was dependant on various factors.

The NA guide to wills before 1858 explains the process in more detail

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/wills-and-probate-records.htm

and for those wanting to read more about the subject I would thoroughly recommend

Wills and Probate Records (2nd Edition) by Karen Grannum and Nigel Taylor.

Chris