Genealogy Chat

Hi all, me again. Subject: Wills I would really like to order some wills, but don;t know if my rellies made them, where to get them or how much they cost. I've looke on the national archives website and nothing there. Some people talk about ordering wills from York for £5, but what if they don't have it, or cannot find it? Is there anywhere that I can go and search through the records, and then when I find one, order it? Thanks.

Kew only has Wills before a certain date. From the Getting Started section of this website: 'Wills and administrations . It is not true that they were the preserve of the wealthy- many peasants' and poor tradesmen made them too. Until 1858, they were proved by the church in a network of its own courts, or by manorial lords and university colleges- the so-called 'peculiar courts'. The best guide is J. Gibson and E. Churchill's Probate jurisdictions, where to look for wills (FFHS, 5th edn, 2002). If someone did not leave a will you might find less detailed but still useful letters of administration- granting a relative the right to administer the deceased's estate. From 1858 wills were proved centrally at the Principal Probate Registry and can be searched at First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6NP, 0207 7936 7000, www.courtservice.gov.uk/using_courts/wills_probate. .'

Thanks Nell, but isn;t there something to do with York, thats a lot closer for me.

short answer - depends on dates. All wills after 1858 are on the same index, so its a doddle to find them. Best period would be 1858-1948 (I think) there is an index, usually on microfiche, which you can access at many (most?) record offices. its not on line. Order from York if you find one. I'm not sure about indexes for more recent stuff, but York will do a search for you for £5, covers a period of 4 years, and will include a copy of the will or admon. Downside is, the search fee is not refunded if they don't find anything. Have a look at Wills after 1858 under Research Tips on the GR Homepage Prior to 1858 is more problematic & largely depends on where they were living. Some have on-line indexes - Cheshire has some, as does Durham.

After 1858 all wills that went to probate are listed each year in the Probate calendar. Most archives have a copy of this. You can search it yourself to find out if they left a will and then send to York for it. You cannot go to the ptobate office in York to look for yourself. Just put 'wills' in the search above to bring up previous threads with the details of the York office. Anne

Tom, if you live near York, you can go to the Borthwick Institute (university campus) and search the index for PRE 1858 wills - if you get a hit, you can then look it up on microfilm. Their collection is the northern equivalent of the PCC wills at Kew, BUT not all Northern or Yorkshire wills are there - certainly worth a look if you live nearby. They also have PR for some of the archdeaconries in all 3 Ridings and an index for Yorkshire marriage lics. if you haven't been and live fairly locally, it is worth a visit, just to see what they have. No census though and you need to book a reader if you want to read microfilm. Jay