Genealogy Chat

Thanks to the help that I received re the Devon ancestors Beare and Upton, I thought as they were farmers, may be a will around. Just been to NA and entered Thomas Beare (the earliest one I have on the 1841 thanks to you!) woo hoo up pops Thomazine Beare (!!) of the same farm address as Thomas has in 1841 - a 300 HUNDRED YEAR OLD WILL. Woo Hoo THANKS SO MUCH GUYS.

ooh you are lucky I envy you the only will I found was an ancestor leaving his sons his slaves , I think thats terrible and nothing I would be proud of. can I ask what is NA thanks and how is that puppy Arnold is it???

I would have been pleased with that Val!! By the way, its Ralph, not Arnold! But he is doing well, lying by my feet as I write this, just how old Lucy used to. Not bad considering he is only 13 weeks old. Good boy!

Lucky you Heather I've been fortunate to receive copies of 2 wills by contacting people on this site. One of them named all his children, wives and some of the grandchildren which really helped with my research. They make a fascinating read - enjoy it once it arrives! Debby

Actually Ive just downloaded it for £3.50. Bloody hell, its gonna be a hard job to read. Still amazing to know that that very person is an ancestor of mine.

what was I thinking I dont know why I said Arnold I have read your posts about him he sounds wonderful, and you sound glad you got him. I seem to have had some quite wealthy rellies who owned slaves , in a way its fascinating especially when you read their names , which of course they were given. The only other document I have is a settlement order for a rellie thats exciting to read if you can understand old english of course

One of my rellies very generously left his wife his horse and cart!!! What would she have done without Hercules? Haven't come across any slaves yet though. I was thrilled to bits when I sent for a copy of a will from the Oxfordshire Records Office. When it came they said that the microfilm copy wasn't too good so they had photocopied the original. In the package with it they had found a letter written by my gggg grandfather which they also sent to me. I was absolutely gobsmacked to have a copy of a letter written by my rellie in the 1800's.

how fantastic Angela, I do have a copy of the times with my ancestor's bankruptcy trial very interesting as it has some of the things he said , so I feel more like I knew him.

Hi heather, How do you obtain wills. I have just got the death certificate of my GG Grandma and GG Grandad and would like to see if I can find a will one died in 1906 and the other in 1912. Maggie

Hi there, well if it was a will proved up to about 1858 you can have a look on the National Archives site and download it if it is listed. There used to be info on the home page of GR about the addies you need etc. Your wills are later so you would have to get a search at York Probate (unless London is easy for you to search yourself) or go to a main library and have a look at the probate listings to see if they actually left a will first.

Thanks Heather, they had quite a bit of money so I think he must have left a will. Maggie

I have an early ancestor's will and the writer had to return to the UK and was not sure whether he still owned his plantations (local politics), but he was very concerned that his slaves (all named) should have proper care and accommodation in the event of his decease. I know a slave is a slave and considered as 'property', but there were also good and bad owners. Don't judge the past by todays standards or it will upset you. Rather think that, thankfully, we are now more enlightened.