Unconfigured Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Aren't wills wonderful things!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Aren't wills wonderful things!

    I came back from a weekend away to discover the will I ordered last Friday on the mat.

    Jane Gerhold died in 1926. She was the girl apparently brought up apart from her family. She leaves money to my cousin's great grandparents, to her illegitimate son, to the companion who was presumably looking after her, and to her two nephews, Lionel and Louis Burn, sons of her sister Martha Gerhold.

    For completeness, I checked to see what happened to these boys: whether they had married etc.

    Louis did marry: in 1905, to Sybil Pattisson.

    And suddenly something clicked in my brain. My original brief had been to try to find a connection between the Gerhold and the Pattisson families, as Sybil's sister Emily was described as an aunt within the family, but nobody had known the relationship!

    When I phoned my cousin, she pointed out that we had been looking at the wedding photo of Louis and Sybil!! Only then we knew who Sybil was but not Louis.

    Since starting researching, I have found a descendant of Jane's son, who clearly thought that the boy was abandoned and uncared for. The will demonstrates that the mother did care, so my next task is to get in touch with them.
    Phoenix - with charred feathers
    Researching Skillings from Norfolk, Sworn from Salisbury and Adams in Malborough, Devon.

  • #2
    Yes Phoenix, I have untangled a few things with wills, hope you do contact the boy's relatives, that would be a lovely record to set straight, I am often saddened by some info I find and it would be brilliant to find it was not as bad as I imagined - hope they think so too. Good Luck!
    ;) Helen x

    Comment


    • #3
      Yes, Wills are wonderful!

      I may have been reading between the lines, but I like to think not...

      My 5 x GGPs, Thomas and Amy Green, had ten children. The eldest daughter Jane died tragically "Found dead in a field of childbed. Unshriven. Bastard stillborn infant of Jane Green" made me weep for days.

      But in Amy Green's Will, long after poor Jane had been cast out by her family, the illegitimate child of another daughter, inherits the lot!

      I do like to think that Amy was so sorry about Jane that she welcomed her illegitimate grandson with open arms, and he became a petted favourite.

      On the other hand, another Will in the same family says "I leave all to Mary Hammond" and nothing else! Who was SHE, then?

      OC

      Comment


      • #4
        That's awful, OC. I can't believe the family weren't affected by your Jane's death.
        Phoenix - with charred feathers
        Researching Skillings from Norfolk, Sworn from Salisbury and Adams in Malborough, Devon.

        Comment


        • #5
          Wills, like any other record, can illuminate or tantalise.

          I have one which witters on about leaving money to her nephew, but I can't see who this nephew's parents were! It also says vaguely something about "the four younger children of my nephew" but doesn't give their names and of course I have no idea how many children there were altogether.
          ~ with love from Little Nell~
          Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

          Comment


          • #6
            Oh yes, Nell, I am playing with several Wills and other documents at the moment, all of which mention Thomas Holden, the grandson of Gilbert.

            Problem is, they never identify Thomas's parents, for whom there are five candidate couples! (And one unmarried daughter....)

            OC

            Comment


            • #7
              I've had some real gems from Wills, and some I just love for the wording & insights into character.

              I had long been intrigued by my 3xgt grandfather, the last of a long line of yeoman farmers of some importance in their local community, all apparently with egos to match. My unfortunate ancestor was the last of his line to bear his surname, as he left 8 adult daughters. He did have a son who died as a teenager.

              In his will of 1836, he leaves £50, his watch, gun and wearing apparel, to "my natural son John"

              It was a shock to see this, as I'd had no idea that he'd had an illlegitimate child. Its taken me 3 years, but I've finally found a probable candidate, thanks to the vicar's foresight in naming the father (albeit mis-spelled) of an illegitimate child born in a neighbouring village.
              He was baptised exactly 9 months after my 3x gt grandfather married. Presumably a last fling before he tied the knot!
              Vicky

              Comment


              • #8
                it's not hard to find my australian rellies wills. but i cabt find any wills for my english ancestors!!

                Comment


                • #9
                  I cracked a mystery through a Will - such a mystery, I didn't even know it WAS a mystery, lol!!!

                  A careful, wordy Will, leaving bits and pieces to various members of the family, then the remainder of a hefty estate to two named people, with absolutely no reference to their relationship to him, and different surnames.

                  It transpired they were his illegitimate children, born to him and his second wife, whilst both were still married to other people! The children had been registered in false names, but their baptisms gave the game away, and I found them on the census with their mother, who described them as "visitors" lol.

                  I would never have had an inkling about this unless I had seen the will. Incidentally, the person who sent me this will, hadn't questioned why these two apparent strangers had copped for the lot!

                  OC

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by kylejustin View Post
                    it's not hard to find my australian rellies wills. but i cabt find any wills for my english ancestors!!
                    Where do you find them, Kyle? I read something about probate packages on the NSW State Records site, but I couldn't make head nor tail of it.
                    Last edited by Mary from Italy; 01-09-08, 11:48.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I'm in London tomorrow looking for post 1858 wills. I'll do some lookups for people, (scuse me for hijacking your thread, I'll put one of my own up)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I haven't found any wills for my lot!!
                        Wendy



                        PLEASE SCAN AT 300-600 DPI FOR RESTORATION PURPOSES. THANK YOU!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I've done quite well with some of my lines, and found nothing at all for others.

                          Farmers nearly always leave wills, so if any of yours were the owners or tenants of land, you should find something.

                          Not all pre-1858 wills are on the National Archives site; if you don't find anything there, try the local Records Office.

                          Comment

                          Working...
                          X