11 August 2016

Ancestry updates England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995

The period 1973-1995 has been added to Ancestry's coverage of probate calendars for England and Wales.
In this later period these calendars become shorter and less informative. The person granted administration is not named and instead of giving the value of the estate you find statements like "not exceeding £40,000", and later £125,000.
Don't forget that findmypast also have these calendars up to 1959 with the bonus that the whole entry is searchable, so to whom administration was granted, and even locations, are searchable.
Looking for free access? Try the Probate Service site at https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills which fills in the gap in Ancestry coverage and has even later index records.

1 comment:

Gil C said...

John:

The Probate Service site gives records from 1996 to 2015
Format is
Surname: First name: Date of probate: Probate number: Date of death: Document type: e.g. (Grant and will) or (Grant only) Registry:

Gil