John Smedley MFFMF (OH`s)
 

Name - "official" name and what they were known as
John Smedley

Date and place of birth
Abt 1782 Bonsall Derbyshire

Names of parents
Adam Smedley and Alice Heathcote

Date and place of baptism - if applicable
1 Sept 1782 St James church Bonsall

Details of each of his or her marriages - if any
28 July 1805 St James church Bonsall to Hannah Leedham/Needham

Occupation(s) - if any
Farmer of 18 acres (1851)

Addresses where they lived (including county if in UK) - and please list which censuses you have or haven't found him/her on (if s/he lived in census times!).
1841-Upper Town Bonsall
1851-Upper Town Bonsall

Date, place and cause of death
Not found

Date and place of burial.
Unknown

Details of will / administration of their estate - if applicable
Unknown

Memorial inscription - if any
Unknown

I would like to find his death to see if there was a will, wife Hannah is living with daughter Mary Henstock nee Smedley in 1861 and says her occupation was "Formally farmers wife" it does not indicate she was a widow, that part is blank.

There is a John Smedley burial listed on findmypast at Brassington, Derbyshire, in 1856, age 64. I haven't got a sub so I can't check the record to see what details it gives. Brassington is very close to Upper Town on the map. There is a death on the GRO index Jul-Sep 1856 in Ashbourne district which would be the correct district for Bonsall. Also Brassington is listed as a sub-district of Ashbourne, and it may turn out that the record on findmypast is one of those Derbyshire Registrars' death index records rather than a burial, in which case I think Brassington would be the sub-district name.

Kiterunner, it actually says he was 74:

There are no details of date apart from the year, just a Register entry - BND/06/046
Reg Office: 390

This is the source:
Derbyshire Registrars Death Index

Thank you Kite, i have a sub, it says,

Forenames: John

Surname: SMEDLEY

Year: 1856

Age: 74

Place of Event: Brassington

Reg Office: 390

Register Entry: BND/06/046

It looks like it could be him.

Could someone look on Ancestry please to see if there is a will.

Oh, sorry, miscalculated the age! But 74 would be right for him, wouldn't it? Ancestry won't tell you if there was a will, sorry. But if you look at the Index to Death Duty Registers on findmypast (listed in Deaths for some reason), you will be able to see if there is an entry for him. If you find one then you would have to contact Derbyshire Record Office for a copy of the will.

Unfortunatly Derby Records office only hold wills from 1858 to 1928, so hes 2 years too early and theres nothing on FMP

Ooh, that's weird. I wonder where the pre-1858 Derbyshire wills are, then! But if there isn't an entry in the Index to Death Duty Registers then I don't think there will be a will. Did you check 1857 and 1858 as well as 1856?

Ooooh, their website says:

Historically, Derbyshire was part of the Diocese of Lichfield, so pre-1858 wills and administrations can be found at Lichfield Record Office.


I never knew that!

The will is as follows:

1856
Smedley John Bonsall Derby
Exectutor: Adam Smedley Land? (or and) Ashover
Lichfield 3 1167

Oh darn, that link for Lichfield is not working, have gone through google now though.

Derby RO`s site is good, with listing the wills though, if you have one between those dates.