WILL-SEARCHING
Having proceeded thus far, the great subject of Wills, which form one
of the strongest features in pedigree-hunting, should be now approached.
The searcher will presumably now have new ancestors to note; so, before
he starts will-hunting, he should have some idea as to how to record
them on a family “tree.”
And, as a help towards this, he cannot do better than provide himself
with a work by William Whitmore, entitled _Ancestral Tablets_.[1]
These are a collection of Diagrams and Pedigrees, so arranged that
eight generations of ancestors can be recorded in a manner which is
plain, simple, and easily understood. It is difficult to explain this
ingenious system on paper, but a glance at it is almost sufficient to
show its method of working.
The merest tyros in genealogy, or those more advanced in the study,
will find these tablets invaluable, as they do away with the difficulty
of having to draw up a family tree for themselves.
But, whatever kind of “tree” is adopted or worked out, the study of
wills should be productive of new ancestors with which to embellish it.
If working in London, Somerset House will be the happy hunting-ground
of the will-searcher, and in various parts of England there are
District Registries at which old wills are also kept.
Perhaps, in a sense, the searcher in Ireland has most need of all to
be grateful to the powers that be with regard to this aspect of his
pedigree work, for, practically speaking, all Irish wills can be found
in Dublin. The later ones are in the Probate Office, and the earlier,
with which searchers will be mainly interested, in the Dublin Record
Office, both these offices being situated in the “Four Courts.”
But, wherever he is working, the wills will naturally divide themselves
into those proved in the Prerogative and Diocesan Courts.
In England, up to 1858, wills were proved in the Prerogative Courts
of Canterbury and York, or were to be found in the various Diocesan
Courts. There were also a large number (nearly four hundred) of
“peculiar courts,” which were depositories of such documents. Later
wills are all kept at Somerset House, and a great number of earlier
ones, in ponderously bound volumes of copies, can also be consulted
there.
Suitable indexes are everywhere provided, and the searcher should study
the contents of these, under the name for which he is looking.
Let us suppose he has traced the ancestry of a family of the name of
Grey down to a certain Thomas Grey of Larchfield, Blankshire, who died
in 1790.
His next step is to find Thomas Grey’s father, and afterwards he will
trace his line farther back.
To do this, he will look through any Prerogative or Diocesan Indexes
connected with Blankshire, and then go through all wills of Greys of
Larchfield before 1790; and, if he is not acquainted with the names
of Thomas’ brothers and sisters (which might probably be needed to
fully identify Thomas himself), and he has not full details of his
later family history, he will also consult those of succeeding dates.
In fact, under any circumstances, he should certainly, at one time or
another, look through every will connected with the family in that
district.
If he discovers wills of Greys of Larchfield of the required date, one
of them will probably reveal Thomas’ parentage. Should he not find
such wills, or should they not reveal what he is looking for, he might
search for other wills of the name in the County of Blankshire, and
afterwards for wills in other countries, for in pedigree-hunting no
will which is possibly connected with the family should be ignored.
When all such wills proved in the Prerogative and Diocesan Courts
have been looked up, some degree of new information--probably a large
amount--will almost certainly have been acquired by the expenditure of
more or less time and trouble, as the case may be.
Here again, if the family name is an uncommon one, it would probably
take less time to trace the ancestry than if the name was Jones or
Smith, and here again the variations in the old spelling should be
remembered.
Also, it must not be forgotten that an individual sometimes adopts an
_entirely different surname_. This may not very frequently occur, but
the possible contingency should not be ignored.
An old Statute, 4 Edward IV., enacted that all Irishmen who lived
within the English pale (Dublin, Kildare, etc.) should adopt an English
surname, to be derived from the name of an office, trade, place, or
colour.
It may also be noted that a very uncommon _Christian_ name is often a
great help to the searcher, as, if he comes across this uncommon name
in connection with the required surname, the chances are that he is
on the right track, and has discovered a new twig emanating from the
family tree.
Having searched through wills of the required surname (unless he has
been most singularly unfortunate), the pedigree-hunter, besides having
discovered new ancestors, will have come across many relations of the
family bearing other surnames. The wills of the most likely of these
should be consulted in the same way, as they may reveal much.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Published by Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, E.C.