Early Hertfordshire wills and Ancestry indexing!

[ElizabethHerts]

I have ordered two early Hertfordshire wills from Huntingdonshire Archives.

I found them on Ancestry searching by putting a parish name in the box and leaving the person's name blank. The sort of hits I get are like this:

Name: Wilsher, Thomas
Place: Welwin, Lincolnshire, England
Book: Calendar of Wills Proved and of Administrations Granted in the Commissary Court of the Peculiar and Exempt Jurisdiction of Groby, 1580-1800. (Will)
Collection: Lincolnshire and Huntingdonshire: - Calendar of Lincolnshire Wills, 1601-1652, Calendars of Huntingdonshire Wills, 1479-1652
Volume: Wills and Administrations in Act Books.
Chapter: Herts, Vol. 1.
Text: Wilsher, Thomas, Welwin adm. 179, 182, 185, 188

Name: Wilsher, Thomas
Place: Welwin, Lincolnshire, England
Book: Marriages From Transcripts. (Marriage)
Collection: Lincolnshire and Huntingdonshire: - Calendar of Lincolnshire Wills, 1601-1652, Calendars of Huntingdonshire Wills, 1479-1652
Volume: Wills and Administrations in Act Books.
Chapter: Herts, Vol. 1.
Text: Wilsher, Thomas, Welwin adm. 179, 182, 185, 188

Welwyn (variant spellings early on) is in Hertfordshire, which could be very confusing for researchers.

I e-mailed Hunts Archives about this will and they replied:
"The document you mention is definitely a will and I’ve found it in the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon will volume 6, page 119. It’s dated 1540."

I have found probably 20 early Hertfordshire wills which have similar references and likely to be held at Huntingdonshire Archives.

I hope this might help someone.


Perhaps Ancestry ought to look at their indexing - but at least I found them.