19
votes
England - What are some possible reasons an ancestor would name his accountant in his will as a beneficiary?
That does not list the beneficiaries, it lists the people to whom probate was granted, which is the executors of the will. If there had been no will, or if they were not the named executors, then it ...
- 4,438
19
votes
England - what are some possible reasons that my ancestor only listed his daughters in his will and none of his sons?
The obvious thing to check is whether the other children had died prior to the will being drawn up.
Transcription
To help you in this case, I have transcribed the will below:
Extracted from the ...
- 5,165
16
votes
Accepted
England - What are some possible reasons an ancestor would name his accountant in his will as a beneficiary?
As Tom says in his answer, the people mentioned are the executors of the estate. The record you are looking at is the National Probate Calendar, which is basically a detailed index of probate and ...
- 18.7k
7
votes
Why name John Doe as surety?
Having thought it through a bit, Google helped and I found this article on the FamilySearch Wiki that is adapted from a print article by respected genealogist, Anthony Camp. Although it is about bonds ...
- 11.5k
7
votes
Accepted
Strange Probate record: Could this death record not be correct?
As Elwyn says, the bank getting the grant of probate is not a problem. However, her being a spinster definitely is. It is not impossible that a widow should declare herself a spinster, but pretty ...
- 236
6
votes
Accepted
Best practices for producing document abstracts or summaries?
Here's the link to a pdf article "Transcribing & Abstracting," by Linda Woodward Geiger that goes over abstracting that may be useful to you. In it, her example is in third person/past tense.
...
- 126
6
votes
Accepted
Reading words on old document relating to share of Will?
...the said share and an insurance of Two pounds and Sixteen
shillings...
...(and the receipt of which Alfred born...
...for their own respective use the said share...
I agree with the ...
- 18.7k
6
votes
Unknown Abbreviations in abstract of probate
"CH" refers to CHarles County, Maryland.
"A" (meaning "account") can be found in these documents: "Abstracts of the Administration Accounts of the Prerogative Court; (multiple editions, called "...
- 301
6
votes
Understanding the disposal of an estate in Jersey
There may have been letters of administration granted after Dorothy's death. If so, the letters granted for the period October 19th 1848 - May 26th 1906 are held in Volume D/Y/A2/1 at Jersey Archives....
- 5,165
6
votes
Strange Probate record: Could this death record not be correct?
You say “probate was awarded to Lloyds Bank when there was a living son and a younger daughter.” All that means is that she had appointed the bank as her executors. It doesn’t mean her children were ...
- 661
5
votes
Accepted
Would a Wife be mentioned in 18th Century English Will?
I have only experience dealing with colonial American wills, but those should be under the same norms as English. I've looked at dozens of wills from New England in the 17th and 18th centuries, and ...
- 670
4
votes
Accepted
Who are the Campbells in this document?
The first Campbell in this document is a man with the initials of "S.A." and close family or personal ties to Ida W. Smith. You can tell that S.A. Campbell is a man because in the second image the ...
- 56
4
votes
Understanding Index to Death Duty Registers 1796-1903 for 1799 death in Radnorshire, Wales?
A fairly important piece of information omitted is what IR 27/17 actually contains. As you know, it is an index to the Death Duty registers. But this particular piece (IR 27/17) is an index to the ...
- 18.7k
4
votes
Accepted
What relation could godson be, and brothers of another surname?
A godson does not have to be any relation at all to his godparents, and often is not.
I would think a godson is unlikely to also be a son-in-law, given godparents are named at the time of baptism (...
- 18.7k
3
votes
England - What are some possible reasons an ancestor would name his accountant in his will as a beneficiary?
As regards the value in today's money, one of the problems is that different things have changed in price at different rates. £4949 would have bought you a very nice house in Harrogate at that time; ...
- 131
3
votes
England - What are some possible reasons an ancestor would name his accountant in his will as a beneficiary?
As the earlier answers have said, the probate calendar entries list the executors of the will, who are not necessarily beneficiaries.
Having names of non-relatives may be useful for your research ...
- 25.4k
3
votes
Finding widow's relinquishment from 1844 Ohio probate record?
The FamilySearch Wiki article Glossary of United States Probate Terms says:
Relinquishment - Relinquishment is to waive one's rights.
To see an overview of how the law has changed over time, see ...
- 25.4k
3
votes
Interpreting names and abbreviations at the end of wills?
I realise this is an old question but as the correct answer has not yet been posted -
Section 1
Proved at London the 12t day of Febry 1817 before The Worshipful Richd
Henry Creswell Dr of Laws ...
- 18.7k
3
votes
Accuracy of place of death recorded in the National Probate Calendar?
It is true to say that a death can only be registered in the district in which it occurred.
What can happen is that the information can be given to a registrar in another district who completes a ...
- 1,356
3
votes
Accuracy of place of death recorded in the National Probate Calendar?
I can only say that when I submitted a Probate Application Form earlier this year, one of the documents required to go with it, was an "Official copy of death certificate or coroner's letter". The ...
- 11.5k
3
votes
Accepted
Identifying difficult words in 1651 will?
Kayer = A coarse sieve used to winnow corn (separate large from small)
https://books.google.com/books?id=tUYOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA31&dq=kayer++corn+-layer&hl=en&sa=X&ved=...
- 3,604
3
votes
Interpreting the year a 16th century will was written?
I responded earlier, but now am able to view this on a tablet and can actually enlarge the image on a brighter screen so that I can "see" rather than squint at the text. I revise my earlier thoughts. ...
- 121
3
votes
Accepted
Widow's probate in 18th century US?
Ann lived another 29 years, dying in 1779 in Morristown, NJ, having never remarried.
Check New Jersey historical state statutes if possible and find out what the laws about probate were at the time. ...
- 25.4k
2
votes
Interpreting the year a 16th century will was written?
Looking back at this again, I agree with the other answers insofar as the text reads: "one thousande five hundreth foure Schore and ___". That is, 1 thousand, 5 hundred, 4 score (80), and...
As to ...
- 18.7k
2
votes
Interpreting the year a 16th century will was written?
This is quite unclear text, but I'm going to have a proper go at this.
Here's the image again:
As @PolyGeo commented, after "year of our lorde god one thousande" appears to be "five hundrete". That ...
- 4,427
2
votes
Best practices for producing document abstracts or summaries?
Professional Genealogy (2002), ed. by Elizabeth Shown Mills, chapter 16 "Transcripts and Abstracts", by Mary McCampbell Bell. I found it to be (for me) the single most useful chapter in the book, as I ...
- 2,724
2
votes
Accepted
Where can I find Pennsylvania Archives Series II?
Fold3 has the Pennsylvania Archives available for free and it's searchable.
https://www.fold3.com/browse/246/h9Y02Zdgu
- 727
2
votes
Are these two signatures from the same person?
Are there any standard techniques for comparing signatures to determine the likelihood that they are or are not by the same person?
Yes, but they are based on comparing multiple examples. They form ...
- 5,165
2
votes
England - what are some possible reasons that my ancestor only listed his daughters in his will and none of his sons?
In addition to checking the deaths prior to the will.
Many times the 2nd and younger sons would join the military (army or navy). They may have attained certain rank to provide for themselves.
More ...
- 212
1
vote
Comparing currency in different time periods?
With regards to the 1949 devaluation, a book I have about the post-war London stock market refers to a US recession and a substantial reduction in exports to the US.
From The Post-War History of the ...
- 153
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible