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  #1  
Old 18-10-20, 09:26
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Phoenix Phoenix is offline
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Default Where there's a will...

Forty years ago, a friend I made at a family history conference explained how she had inspected the wills for an entire village to extract references to her family.

Now that I am retired and have the time to do this, I have been working through Wiltshire wills with amazing results. I am almost certain that I can take yet another branch of my family back beyond the Civil War.

I've always found wills the most amazing resource, and looking at communities gives a different slant on families as it's showing support networks - friends, work colleagues etc.

What are your experiences?
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Old 18-10-20, 09:49
ElizabethHerts ElizabethHerts is offline
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Phoenix, I am a will addict!

I often transcribe 10 to 20 wills a week, mainly for my Cornwall OPC parish page. When I took it over, there were probably about 30 transcribed wills. I have managed to go from roughly 1726 to 1858 with just a couple of gaps. I'm working on the 1680s at present. By doing this, I also found a few extra ancestors for me.
https://www.opc-cornwall.org/Par_new...obus_wills.pdf


It is so satisfying when I transcribe a will and find an ancestor as witness, overseer or appraiser of the goods and writing the inventory. I'm slightly obsessive as I have made lots of trees for people of the parish and I'm linking them up.

I have transcribed many wills for my ancestors and OH's ancestors and I find it the most satisfying part of my research. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to take my branches back so far.

Phoenix, I hope you spend many happy hours perusing your wills.
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Old 18-10-20, 11:07
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I've had extremely limited results with wills - either amazing (a few) or hopeless (many). I don't think I have ever found a mention of a potential relative in the will of a random person, or if I have it's because the potential relative has a very common name! Most of my relatives seem to ensure they come from areas where it may cost over £10 to see one will, so more time spect contemplating purchasing one document and no chance for me to browse numerous wills.

However, I just looked at the Wilstshire wills index on Ancestry and see there are over 2000 entries for people from the village where some of my relatives may have come from, so that should keep me busy!
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Old 18-10-20, 11:42
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I do try the tactic of searching all the wills of the right period for a village or town to see if my ancestor is mentioned, but not so easy when it's a city, though you can sometimes concentrate on those of a particular occupation.

I remember a breakthrough with a PCC will in the old days before they were on ancestry and you had to pay £3.50 to download each one from TNA's website. Our local archives had an event where you could access as many as you wanted to, for free, so I looked at some that I would never have considered paying for and I found one which mentioned some people on my Brown line, helping me to go back several generations.
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Old 18-10-20, 12:05
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That is a good idea but I really struggle with the writing. Some are so simple and lovely to read but the others put me off. Maybe once the kids have left school and I can devote myself more to it I'll get used to the writing and it will be easier and productive.

I have started partially transcribing new wills I get, just the names and relationships if given, so I can quickly scan later on to see what is relevant.
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Old 18-10-20, 12:14
ElizabethHerts ElizabethHerts is offline
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Transcribing does get easier with practice, Toni. I struggled at first but once you get used to the writing and the stock phrases used some wills can be transcribed quite quickly.
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Old 18-10-20, 12:46
Olde Crone Olde Crone is offline
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Ooh, just typed a long reply and lost it!

Yes, wills are great and are fantastic value for money most of the time. Only ever had two useless ones.

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  #8  
Old 18-10-20, 12:49
Jill Jill is offline
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I have a spent great deal of time transcribing Sussex wills, I've done them for my surnames of interest and for the parishes of Lindfield and Fletching in the hope that one of OH's ancestors will pop up, and indeed they do sometimes as a beneficiary and often as executors or witnesses for neighbours or friends. They have led me to relationships that I would otherwise never have known about and as I live near both these parishes when we visit I have been able to identify properties in which my OH's ancestors lived in Georgian times.

A favourite is the unregistered will of Ann Page in 1641 (it was the civil war) which mentions all her children and grandchildren (some of them get a ewe lamb) and her brother John Dappe which confirmed her maiden name and led in turn to her parents both of whom left wills.

Last edited by Jill; 18-10-20 at 12:50. Reason: spelling
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  #9  
Old 18-10-20, 13:10
ElizabethHerts ElizabethHerts is offline
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It is very satisfying transcribing wills for one rural parish as you really get to know the families and the bonds between them. However, the most infuriating term is "Cosen", which can mean a number of things!

Also, you become very familiar with the family names and the properties in the parish as they passed through the generations.

Lockdown and the past months have been made a lot more enjoyable for me with a project to focus on as I always need a purpose.
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  #10  
Old 19-10-20, 10:21
Pinefamily Pinefamily is offline
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I agree that wills can be used in wider searches in a number of ways. I recently searched wills in Luppitt, Devon which helped me sort out my Whitlock sisters. Still haven't absolutely their father, but I suspect it was an early case of surrogacy. The wills helped no end.
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