Genealogy Chat

By the way, I don't think I ever asked you if you had seen this one on Scotland's People: Munro Hugh 20/10/1848 Sir, bart, of Fowlis Edinburgh Sheriff Court Wills SC70/4/5 VIEW (£5.00) (9 pages) Munro Hugh, Sir 23/10/1848 Baronet of Fowlis in the county of Ross and of Manchester Square in the county of Middlesex Inventory Edinburgh Sheriff Court Inventories SC70/1/68 VIEW (£5.00) (2 pages) I think it was Hugh Munro's will from Documents Online that you had before, wasn't it? Kate.

this one says something that looks like Proped in large letters and then 'at London 4th February 1856 before the worshipfull WIlliam .... ..... of ...... John Thomas Munro .....executor to whom (can' read the rest) Is that the thing?

All the wills I have downloaded from the National Archives Documents Online have a bit after them which says where and when probate was granted, to whom and by whom. Doesn't Isabella's have anything like that? Kate.

As far as I know the Scottish naming tradition was to call the first son after the paternal grandfather (which he appears to have done) the next one after the maternal grandfather (could be I'm not sure) and then I am not sure what they would have done with the third son. Perhaps I missed a child who was an organ builder like his Dad? Good thought.

It would be unusual for John Thomas not to name a son after himself though. And many a spinster had children back then! I dont know a lot about wills, I mean could he have been named when she first wrote it and he died afterwards? Has a will for him not turned up? I also had an ancestor who is down as widow on the 1891 and working in a pub in Bermondsey but the hubby is alive and kicking with a 'housekeeper' and the son in Suffolk. You need someone like Trudy who worked for Probate.

Isabella was a spinster so I don't suppose it was her son. As far as I know John Thomas's sons were Hugh Nathaniel (died young) James Hector (can't find any children) and Robert Hugh who is my ancestor. There could easily have been other John Thomas Munro's at the time (I know of one who was married to Eleanor and was a house decorator) but I doubt if there were any others who were organ builders. HOW DO I CHECK IF PROBATE WAS GIVEN TO HIM?

Hi Jennifer, My great-great-grandmother is listed as a widow on the 1891 census even though her husband was only living a few doors away! They had been separated for a long time and I can only think that she thought 'widow' sounded more respectable or she didn't want to go to the bother of explaining where her husband was and why she wasn't living with him. Of course, it could be that John Thomas was a family name and that the executor of the will was some other relation with the same name? Does she say in the will that he is her brother? Was probate granted to him? (If so, it proves he was alive!) Kate.

How exciting. Could John Thomas on the will be her son or nephew?

I would like to know if I am stretching a point too far or if you think this is a valid assumption: I know my ancestor John Thomas Munro circa +- 1800 was an organ builder because it says so on his son's marriage certificates of 1846 and there was an organ builder's apprenticeship papers in the loft. I have seen evidence of organs built by the firm Dobson and Munro of 22 Swan St Minories - they are in museums now. I know he was married to Sarah who lived in Clerkenwell in 1851 and said she was a widow then. My sticking point has been in finding JT's parents. There was a John Thomas Munro christened in at ST Botolph's without ALdgate in 1783. His Dad was Hugh and his Mum was Elizabeth. He had a sister Isabella. I have found a will of an Isabella Munro spinster of 5 Swan ST Minories in which she names John Thomas as the executor. It was dated 1856. The witness is John Bunting. He is mentioned on the British Organ Builders website as an organ builder. If the executor of the will was my JT then how could the discrepency of Sarah (the wife) saying she was a widow in 1851 have happened? My head now feels as if someone has been in there with the Magimix!!!!