Is it just me or

[quiffdo]

Have any of you not been able to find one single person in your family tree who has left a will?

I have ag labs and people with pretty good trades and none of them have left a single will.

I even have rellies who were well respected and had servants and still not come across a will for them.

I am just unlucky or am i not searching hard enough?

Danny

[Little Nell]

No one in my immediate family. Distant cousins yes and husband's London lot (chap who was a solicitor's clerk).

Where have you looked?

[quiffdo]

Hi Nell

Ive tried the cheshire wills site and ive tried the lancashire will search.
I also had a look on the national archives to check a few.

Ive had no luck so far.

Danny

[Little Nell]

National Archives only goes up to 1858.

[quiffdo]

Ahh no wonder ive not had much luck on there:o

Danny

[Little Nell]

Have you looked in the Wiki:

Wills and Probate - Family Tree Forum

[quiffdo]

Ive not had a look at that to be honest, but i will now.

Thankyou nell

Danny

[Phoenix]

I have a friend: JP, retired bank manager etc, been doing his tree since the year dot, and not a whisker of a will.

I do have lots of wills in my family, but only at certain periods. Most people would not have their wills proved in the PCC and I think the numbers of willmakers generally declined very sharply in the 1800s and only picked up in the early 1900s.
After 1858 everything was very simple. Before that, it can be horrendously complicated, trying to find where a will might have been proved. Wiltshire Record Office holds wills for (I think!) 27 different courts. Before that information was online, you had to wade through all the contemporary calendars to find your man.

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

Apart from my dad and grandfather (which don't really feel like they count, family history-wise), I only have one direct line ancestor who left a will (1764)and that one didn't tell me anything much.

However, I have 68 wills for people who are not direct line, many of which have helped prove who people are, both on and off my direct line!

[Lynn The Forest Fan]

I've only got my gg grandfather's will so far. It is frustrating when you can't find anyone who has left a will, but I live in hope.

[SueinKent]

Danny you are not alone, I've not been able to find any wills, either for my family or OH's. We obviously are a poor lot lol.

[Phoenix]

[quote=Merry Monty Montgomery;1269999]
I have 68 wills for people who are not direct line, [QUOTE]

Merry, how DARE you be so organised as to know precisely how many wills you have found!

And I can't even quote properly!

[quiffdo]

I feel better knowing im not the only one:D

Danny

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

[QUOTE=Phoenix;1270057]

I have 68 wills for people who are not direct line, QUOTE]

Merry, how DARE you be so organised as to know precisely how many wills you have found!

And I can't even quote properly!

Lol!! I didn't know, but they are in a folder on the computer, so I just looked to see how many docs were in the folder!

[Tilly Mint]

Danny, i havent got any either - not for the want of trying :D

[Chris in Sussex]

Direct line I only have two....

A husband and wife and I have to go back to 1770 and 1772 for them :( They were fairly wealthy but my line from them went quickly (financially) downhill :D

As far as I have been able to assertain my Grandparents were the next generation that left wills....And then only the males!

[Christine in Herts]

I have a DocsOnline will - relying on my uncles' research - my Gx10-g-father's will, which gave me his wife's name, and triggered renewed IGI searching.

A bit of IGI playing helped me towards three DocsOnline Wills, of which only one was from a direct ancestor, but the others confirmed the link by naming people very carefully. That was a real treat when my guesswork was so clearly borne out.

I lodged pre-final WW1 of my Grandfather's at Hants RO - and a mid-C19th Will from OH's family at Plymouth & W Devon RO. Both of them on permanent-loan and in both cases they kindly supplied a beautiful digital image of the doc in question.

Christine

[Northern Light]

I feel better knowing im not the only one:D

Danny

Me too Danny, Our Lancashire and Cheshire rellis must have been very poor ..:D

[Olde Crone Holden]

Look out of county for Lancashire Wills - they were often proved in Yorkshire, London, Wales, Birmingham and so on. Ditto for Cheshire Wills which were often proved in Wales.

It all depended on who owned the land on which they lived, and which ecclesiatical authority the OWNER OF THE LAND came under.

(This refers to pre-1858 stuff, by the way).

OC

[Northern Light]

Thanks OC,

I never knew that, I just presumed the owners of the Cheshire farms would live in Cheshire! I've a lot to learn lol..