Wills and probate
Records in this collection
- Cheshire Wills and Probate 1492-1911
- Bank Of England Wills Extracts 1717-1845
- Billingshurst Burials and Probate
- Great Western Railway Shareholders 1835-1932
- Kent Probate Index 1750-1858
- London Probate Index 1750-1858
- Northamptonshire and Rutland Probate Index 1462-1857
- Prerogative Court Of Canterbury Wills Index 1750-1800
- Suffolk Testator Index 1847-1857
Wills and probate courts weren't just for the rich and famous (or infamous!), and their records can offer a unique insight into the lives and relative wealth of your forebears.
At first glance it would be easy to dismiss the Great Western Railway Shareholders records as unlikely to have any information about your relatives. However, the details you will find here are not dependent upon a family member having been a railway worker. Rather, over 440,000 individuals are named, alongside details of their address, marital status, dates of death and other events - which is actually a rather large number of the UK population!
Coupled with the fact that our Wills and probate records date back as far as 1462 (from various, countrywide sources, including the Bank of England and the Northamptonshire and Rutland Probate Index), and it's easy to see how useful, and interesting, these documents can prove to be.