Why Are Wills Useful For Family History?

Wills are a rich source of information for family historians. Documents that describe bequests made by testators from the present day back into the 16th century usually describe the immediate descendants, but can often give the names and family relationships of brothers, sisters, parents, grandchildren, married sisters, cousins and so on. Used in conjunction with the census data in the 19th century, wills can enable researchers to put together their own ancestry and than of several collateral lines. The problem is that people only made wills when they had something to leave ~ the more well-off the ancestor, the better the information will be.

It is possible to search for wills and obtain their contents in official records ~ at the Principal Registry of the Family Division in Holborn in London for wills after 1858, and then at the Family Records Centre, for wills proved in the Court of Canterbury, at the Borthwick Institute for wills proved at the Court of York, and at local record offices for wills proved in peculiar courts.