Wills: England

Who Do You Think You Are November 2014 Issue has the main front cover article of '10 Simple Steps to Track Down Wills' which covers a wide range of information and hints about finding wills.

A will can contain a huge range of information, including date, burial wishes, bequests (especially useful if to other family members), executors and witnesses. The latter two elements can also reveal members of the family.

The basic problem with wills is that they greatly favoured the wealthy - if your ancestors were not wealthy they are highly unlikely to have left a will and it was not until 1882 that women could leave a will in their own right without the husband's permission.  Even less frequent are disputed wills, though the resulting court cases in Chancery could generate a lot of additional information.  (Many such cases are searchable on-line through The National Archives website.)

1848 is a crucial date for wills in England and Wales.  Before this the location of the will could be at county or city level or one of the two main church courts (Canterbury or York), but after this wills were registered in England and Wales in the Court of Probate.  Scotland had a different system, and fortunately all the wills between 1514 and 1925 have been digitised at the Scotland's People website,

I have put links to many of the major will collections (including the holdings of Origins's National Wills Index, Ancestry, Findmypast, The Genealogist and the Society of Genealogists) at

http://www.familyhistoryrecordsonline.com/index.html#nationalwillcollectionlist

The National Archives has two guides covering England and Wales

Pre1848 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/willbefore1858.htm
and post1848 
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/willafter1858.htm

The National Archives of Scotland has the following guide

http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/wills.asp


The Who Do you Think You Are website also has a list of websites 

http://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/blog/12-best-websites-finding-your-ancestors-wills-online

The magazine article is also an excellent starting point and the sections of the Who Do You Think You Are article (pages 17-23),written by Elizabeth Norton  are:

Introduction
Step 1 When did your ancestor die
Step 2 Are they likely to have left a will
Step 3 Where did your ancestor die?
Disputed Wills
Will of James Turner 1781 (an example of a will with comment boxes)
Step 4 Finding wills in England
Step 5 Finding wills in Wales
Step 6 Find Scottish testaments
Step 7 Finding wills overseas
12 Best Wills Websites
Step 8 Other Sources of Wills
Step 9 Post-1858 wills
Step 10 Interpret a will
Glossary

Chris