The Wills of Our Ancestors

A Guide for Family & Local Historians

Stuart A. Raymond

• Publisher: Pen & Sword
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN:
  9781781594759
• Print ISBN:
  9781848847859
• Subtopic: British History

"Almost every book on English research highlights the need to examine the wills of our ancestors. . . . [this book] gives us an easy to read detailed guide." — FGS Forum
What are wills, and how can they be used for family and local history research? How can you interpret them and get as much insight from them as possible? Wills are key documents for exploring the lives of our ancestors, their circumstances, and the world they knew. This practical handbook is the essential guide to understanding wills.
Wills expert Stuart Raymond traces the history and purpose of probate records and guides readers through the many pitfalls and possibilities these fascinating documents present. He describes the process of probate, gives a detailed account of the content of the various different types of record, and advises readers on how they can be used to throw light into the past, offering factual evidence that no genealogist or local historian can afford to ignore.
In a series of concise, fact-filled chapters, Raymond explains how wills came into being, who made them and how they were made, how the probate system operates, how wills and inventories can be found, and how much can be learned from them. In addition to covering probate records in England and Wales, he includes the Channel Islands, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland.
This introduction is aimed primarily at family historians who are interested in the wills of particular individuals who are seeking proof of descent and local historians who are interested in the wealth of local historical information that can be gathered from them.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• FAMILY HISTORY FROM PEN & SWORD
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• DICKENS ON WILLS AFFECTION – OR HATRED?
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• Chapter 1: WHO MADE WILLS? AND WHY DID THEY MAKE THEM?
• Chapter 2: WHAT HAPPENED AFTER DEATH? THE PROCESS OF PROBATE
• Chapter 3: WHAT CAN I FIND IN A WILL?
• Chapter 4: WHAT CAN I FIND IN A PROBATE INVENTORY?
• Chapter 5: WHAT CAN I FIND IN OTHER PROBATE RECORDS?
• Chapter 6: WHERE AND HOW CAN I FIND PROBATE RECORDS?
• Chapter 7: POST-1858 WILLS
• Chapter 8: PROBATE RECORDS OUTSIDE OF ENGLAND AND WALES: THE CHANNEL ISLANDS, IRELAND, THE ISLE OF MAN, SCOTLAND
• Chapter 9: WHERE CAN I FIND OTHER SOURCES OF PROBATE INFORMATION?
• FURTHER READING
• Appendix 1: SUMMARY LIST OF PRE-1858 PROBATE COURTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES
• Appendix 2: HANDWRITING AND LATIN
• Appendix 3: SOME TERMS USED IN PROBATE RECORDS
• Appendix 4: LATIN GLOSSARY
• Appendix 5: LEGISLATION AFFECTING PROBATE
• SUBJECT INDEX
• PLACE NAME INDEX
• PERSONAL NAME INDEX