More great websites
Tracking down an ancestor’s will may depend on how your diocesan archive is partnered up. The probate collections at Cheshire Archives, for example, can be searched using the archive website ( archives. cheshire.gov.uk/searchand- shop/search-andshop.aspx), or there’s an index via FamilySearch ( bit.ly/ CheshireProbate) plus you can search and download copies via bit.ly/ CheshireCollection.
Hampshire’s county archives, featured in this month’s Around Britain, looks after wills and inventories dating back to the 15th century. And around 110,000 wills and 35,000 inventories can all be searched on its online catalogue at calm.hants.gov.uk.
One of the key resources available through PRONI’s NI Direct portal is indexes to Will Calendars ( nidirect.gov.uk/proni). Search indexes from the probate districts of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry (1858-1965), and view will copies (c1858-1909). Not all the entries lead to images, but those that do are free to view.
The National Archives of Ireland holds a collection of the wills of Irish soldiers who died while serving in the British Army (mainly dating from the First World War). The documents have been digitised and are free online at soldierswills.national archives.ie. You can also search Irish Calendars of Wills and Administrations (1858-1922) at willcalendars.nationalarchives. ie/search/cwa/home.jsp.
Wiltshire Wills ( history.wiltshire.gov.uk/heritage) gives access to the probate records of the diocese of Salisbury, and this wiki will lead to many more probate records ( familysearch.org/ wiki/en/ England_ Probate_ Records).
In 2015, Essex Record Office completed the digitisation and indexing of its entire probate collection – 175,000 images of wills from Essex and eastern Hertfordshire, dating between 1400 and 1858. Searching is free, but it costs to download images through Essex Archives Online ( seax.essexcc.gov.uk).
The National Records of Scotland ( NRS) has various guides to its probate holdings – this one focusing on Soldiers’ & Airmen’s wills ( nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/soldiers-andairmens-wills). The Society of Genealogists also has a useful guide at sog.org.uk/learn/help-getting- started-withgenealogy/guide-five. Other regional examples include Bristol wills indices 1781 to 1858 ( archive.today/ wZyL), Gloucestershire wills ( bit.ly/ GlosWills), and an index to the Borthwick Institute’s ( york. ac.uk/library/ borthwick) records of the Prerogative and Exchequer Courts of York (1688-1858) can be explored on the Findmypast website.