Genealogy Chat

I would imagine wills contain details on the living decendants of the deceased, which would obviously be useful. But does anyone know how common it was for the average person (not rich) to have a will in the 1700s and 1800s. And if they did have wills how might I find them in the London/Surrey area. I would appreciate any help, Nigel

Hi there, if you go to the National Archives website you can actually look up and download wills for £3.50 up to 1858.

Hi Heather, Just checked that out but none from my family. I believe those on there were fairly well off, unlike my Family! Thanks, Nigel

Will survival for Surrey doesn't seem brilliant. Cliff Webb has done abstracts of the early wills and West Surrey FHS have produced indexes to various courts for various periods. London Metropolitan Archives is the best place to go for these.

Hi Brenda, Thanks for that info. I suspected the LMA would be best, but I have no idea how I would go about finding a will. Is it different to locating Parish records? Nigel

Not all the wills are at the National Archives pre 1860ish. Any wills that have survived for ancestors will often be at the County Record Office of the county where they died so if you are into London/Surrey you will need to find the correct CRO for what you want. LMA will deal with Middlesex and Guidhall with City of London but then you also have parts of London today which would have come under Kent/Essex/Surrey/Hertfordshire/Bucks back in the 1800's so you will need to decide which area of London you are interested in. Then you will need to visit the appropriate CRO to search their catalogues. I have found 1700+ wills in the CRO and these wills are not in the National Archives but I have also found a will in the National Archives which is not at the CRO so searching both areas is a good idea. No, it is not necessary for your ancestors to be rich to leave a will. Ag labs have often left wills. I had an ancestor who just left £33 to the local workhouse master so be prepared to be surprised. Until you search the CRO you will never know what treasures there are. Janet

Virtually all Surrey wills are at LMA, apart from a few in Hampshire RO. Your best starter is the booklets produced by West Surrey FHS. These will give you a reference number, which will take you to microfilm. It is years since I looked at the microfilms and I can remember being disappointed by them. I think in some instances the wills had been calendered (a contemporary index) but the wills themselves did not survive. Surrey was never very good at conservivng its records. If you have names and dates, let me know and I'll see if I can find anything in the booklets I have.

Thanks Janet, thats an interesting find as some of my ancestors were ag Lab. I think i'll send an email to LMA enquiring about wills as I couldn't find them in thier online catalogue. Nigel

Hi Brenda, That is a very kind offer. The relatives I am tracing lived in Clapham and possibly Camberwell later on. The problem I have is that these places used to be in Surrey but changed to London boroughs of Lambeth or Wandworth later in the 1800s. I am looking for wills of John Wyeth who was buried in Clapham March 1850 Age 73 and his son John Wyeth who died in Clapham in Mar Qtr 1864 Age 55. His son another John Wyeth who died in Camberwell in June Qtr 1894 Age 60. Hope you can find them but I have a feeling they will fall under London. Thanks for your time. Nigel

Hi Nigel, I'll see what I can find for the earlist one, but after 1858, life gets much simpler and all wills are indexed centrally. Go to your homepage and find the link for wills after 1858 for details. B

Wow Brenda I do feel a bit stupid. I should have seen that 1858 Wills link! Looks like I'll make a trip to my local records office to view this Microfiche Index upto 1943. Thanks Brenda. Nigel

Wills post 1858ish are all indexed at High Holborn Probate Office in High Holborn. Nearest tube station Chancery Lane/ High Holborn. Google search'Probate Office High Holborn' for more info online on opening times etc. The early wills of 1858+ are actually written in the books, but about 1890 or so they change to just give you the name, address and a few other details, and you then have to order them at the counter at a cost of £5 for each Will you are interested in. The early ones are also split into Wills at the front and Letters of Administration at the back of the book. Somewhere around 1890 they are all merged as Wills and Letters of Administration. It is very easy to research for these wills and if they are not there then chances are that they did not leave a will. You will need to know date of death and look about 2 years after date of death. Sometimes wills were not proved for 10 years or so. Probate Office is not crowded but the books are very heavy and the bottom shelf ones can be a pain to get down to!! If you do not live near London then it looks like the Microfiche Index will sort you out. Janet

Im being thick here but I have three ancestors (3 generations, all the same name!) from London who had businesses. I would like to check it they left wills - all post 1858. If I go to my local records office would I be able to tell from the will index that these are definitely my men?

Heather Sorry, I have never looked at wills via the Microfiche Index in CRO as suggested post 1858 as I have always been to the Probate Office at High Holborn so I can't help you with that one but I am sure somebody will help you with this query. I have only looked for wills at CRO pre 1850's. Janet

Hi Janet, Thanks for all that useful information on wills. I think I'll have to make the time one day to visit the Probate Office in London. Nigel

Hi dont know if i a too late for you but any Wills that are 'proved' and these are the only ones that you will be able to get copies of, prior to this they are private, once proved they are public documents. if you write to york district probate registry with as many details as you can give , full name and address and date of death if a will was proved they will be able to send you a copy the fee for this is £5 Hevi

Thanks for your input guys, I have just mailed our main city library to see what sort of index they have there that I may be able to look at. I take it York would need a reference otherwise there may not be a will at all.

hi york search by name and place so far as i know hevi

I have had several wills from the National Archives website. Not all people making wills were rich. Some of them made a will because they were doing a hazardous job, or perhaps going away to sea. I have found some of them really useful, naming all the children and cousins and giving the relationship between them all. Others have been really unhelpful for example just saying 'my son' or 'my wife' without naming them.

Hi Heather and Barbara, Can I just clarify that my relative who died in London would have his will kept in York probate office? If so do either of you have an address you could give me? And finally how much info do they need? I don't have the Death cert but have found him on FreeBMD so have that index info. Thanks for the help. Nigel