DEVON-L Archives

Archiver > DEVON > 2010-07 > 1278246008


From: Brian Randell <>
Subject: [DEV] Searching Ancestry for Devon wills
Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2010 13:20:08 +0100


Hi:

We are seeking advice - or better still help - in searching Ancestry
for Devon wills.

I have had little experience of using Ancestry, and it is a long time
since I have been subscribed to it. The impression I've gained is
that it is geared very much towards finding information about
particular named people. However, for the Devon Wills Project we are
seeking details about any and all pre-1858 will transcripts and
abstracts that relate to anywhere in Devon, no matter what the
surname. Advice from experienced Ancestry-users could therefore be of
considerable help.

DWP has already searched a large number of possible sources - see:

http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/DevonWillsProject/MiscSources.html
and
http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/DevonWillsProject/

The evidently-relevant sources I could discover as a non-subscriber
to Ancestry were:

Calendars of wills and administrations relating to the counties of
Devon and Cornwall : proved in the Court of the Principal Registry of
the bishop of Exeter, 1559-1799 : and of Devon only, proved in the
Court of the Archdeaconry of Exeter, 1540-1799 : all now preserved in
the Probate Registry at Exeter. London: British Record Society, 1908.

Calendar of wills and administrations relating to the counties of
Devon and Cornwall : proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of
Exeter, 1532-1800, now preserved in the Probate Registry at Exeter.
London: British Record Society, 1914.

and

Calendar of wills, administrations and accounts relating to the
counties of Cornwall and Devon in the Connotorial Archidiaconal Court
of Cornwall : (with which are included the records of the royal
peculiar of St. Burian) now preserved in the District Probate
Registry at Bodmin. London: British Record Society, 1929.

However we already have access to these calendars.

Are there other Ancestry sources that might prove fruitful?

Cheers

Brian Randell

PS Are any of the rival sites to Ancestry ones that we should investigate?


--
School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell

This thread: