I'm just working through searching British Origins for all my likely names before my 72-hr sub expires, and I've found an entry for a Francis Freemantle in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills Index 1717-1845 (or maybe 1750-1800 depending which screen you look at). The date given is July 1784, and it says "Foreign Parts" for the place (of residence). It would cost me £10 for a copy from there, and I'm not 100% certain that it means a copy of the actual will rather than of the calendar entry! (In the information for that dataset, it says "Order hard copies of licence allegations by clicking the Add to cart button..." which probably means they copied that bit from the info about marriage licence allegations and forgot to change the words, which doesn't help.)
I thought that TNA Documents Online had all the PCC wills but I can't find any matches for Francis Freemantle. Looking for just Francis in July 1784 comes up with 3 matches which don't look anything like Freemantle, and looking for just Freemantle in that month comes up with nothing. Leaving the name out and using "foreign" as a keyword or a place name finds nothing. Leaving the name out and just specifying July 1784 comes up with about 600 results - is there nothing I can do except plough through them all looking for one that looks a bit like Francis Freemantle (or cough up the £10, which I would have to do quickly before my 72 hrs is up)? Normally I would check on the Index to Death Duty Registers on findmypast, but that only starts in 1796.
I have no reason to think that my Francis Freemantle would have been in foreign parts anyway, so I would be loath to spend £10 on a red herring. But I would spend £3.50 or a few findmypast credits on one!
Any ideas?
I thought that TNA Documents Online had all the PCC wills but I can't find any matches for Francis Freemantle. Looking for just Francis in July 1784 comes up with 3 matches which don't look anything like Freemantle, and looking for just Freemantle in that month comes up with nothing. Leaving the name out and using "foreign" as a keyword or a place name finds nothing. Leaving the name out and just specifying July 1784 comes up with about 600 results - is there nothing I can do except plough through them all looking for one that looks a bit like Francis Freemantle (or cough up the £10, which I would have to do quickly before my 72 hrs is up)? Normally I would check on the Index to Death Duty Registers on findmypast, but that only starts in 1796.
I have no reason to think that my Francis Freemantle would have been in foreign parts anyway, so I would be loath to spend £10 on a red herring. But I would spend £3.50 or a few findmypast credits on one!
Any ideas?
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