RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Wiltshire => Topic started by: QueenoftheWest on Thursday 27 October 22 19:44 BST (UK)
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Hi everyone,
Bit of an odd one.
A while back I was trying to figure out who the father of my ancestor (Hannah) was. I found this will, which matched up with the name of a possible father, but wasn't certain I was on the correct path.
Later, through DNA and finding the witnesses at Hannah's wedding, I figured out that this was, in fact, the correct father. I went back to add his will to my tree and I couldn't find it - it was like it had disappeared!
I am sure I saw it on Ancestry, as they have digitised most of the Wiltshire wills. I looked at the Wiltshire archives website, which confirmed this will does exist, so why can I no longer find it? Does Ancestry delete records sometimes, by accident?
If anyone can find it, I would be very grateful, as I starting to feel like my mind is playing tricks on me!
Here are the details:
Vincent Head, labourer, lived in Marlborough in Wiltshire, died in 1822 (but his will was written in 1821).
Thanks in advance!
Queenie :)
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Hi everyone,
Vincent Head, labourer, lived in Marlborough in Wiltshire, died in 1822 (but his will was written in 1821).
Thanks in advance!
Queenie :)
Have you been looking in the correct century because on RC you state 19th century but online it states the 18th century
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Head-4422
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Hi everyone,
Vincent Head, labourer, lived in Marlborough in Wiltshire, died in 1822 (but his will was written in 1821).
Thanks in advance!
Queenie :)
Have you been looking in the correct century because on RC you state 19th century but online it states the 18th century
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Head-4422
Hi Rena,
That’s his grandfather, after whom he was named.
This is Vincent’s profile:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Head-3896
I am the person who has written these profiles.
Queenie :)
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Hi
I've searched on a couple of sites but the only Will that I can find is the one in 1783.
There is a burial listed for him:
Buried 12 Feb 1822, St Peter and St Paul, Marlborough, aged 58
Gadget
Add - the only Head that comes up for that date +/- 2 is a Robert Head, Yeoman, of Whaddon
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Hi
I've searched on a couple of sites but the only Will that I can find is the one in 1783.
There is a burial listed for him:
Buried 12 Feb 1822, St Peter and St Paul, Marlborough, aged 58
Gadget
Add - the only Head that comes up for that date +/- 2 is a Robert Head, Yeoman, of Whaddon
Thanks for looking. I think Ancestry must have deleted the will... that will teach me a lesson about not saving records!
Queenie :)
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If Wiltshire Archives have the will, then perhaps obtain a copy from them. :-\
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Thanks for looking. I think Ancestry must have deleted the will... that will teach me a lesson about not saving records!
Queenie :)
You're welcome :)
I looked in both Ancestry and F M P, which also has them. I didn't see anything on Family Search apart from his death and various of his children's baptisms.
I think, as BB says, it might be best to get it from the archives.
Gadget
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If Wiltshire Archives have the will, then perhaps obtain a copy from them. :-\
I was hoping I could avoid an additional cost, as I already pay for both Ancestry and FindMyPast :'(
To all who are reading this, save documents to your computer! Don't make the same mistake I did!
Queenie :)
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It seems that Wiltshire Archives think that Ancestry has on-line copies of the wills :)
https://wshc.org.uk/wiltshire-wills-project.html
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It seems that Wiltshire Archives think that Ancestry has on-line copies of the wills :)
https://wshc.org.uk/wiltshire-wills-project.html
QoftheW - Better tell them then as we've both checked.
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The WSHC 'Catalogues' page includes this: "It is possible to search the catalogue of wills using our catalogue site" - the last two words being a link to the catalogue.
Going there, and then switching to Advanced Search (http://calmview.wiltshire.gov.uk/CalmView/Advanced.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog) I put Vincent Head in the Personal Name field, and got 6 results, all probate-related. However, none of them were from 1821-2.
I tried again with Vincent Head in the Any Text field; this time there were 20 results, but still no sign of this will.
EDIT: Any Text does bring up the result - see my reply #16 below, inspired by goldie61 at #13
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Could they have confused the will that you needed with one of the others? There are quite a few mention of that name spanning the centuries.
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Here is the link to the will on the Wiltshire Archives site:
http://calmview.wiltshire.gov.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog
I have seen the will, so it definitely exists. I just don't understand why Ancestry would delete it!
Queenie :)
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That link just takes you to the search page for Wiltshire Archives Qofthe W.
However, I did manage to find Vincent Head's will 1821.
It is amongst the papers of 'Merriman, Porter and Long, Marlborough, solicitors'. 'Various clients' records'. 1710 - 1869
Ref 2027/2/1/563
(I entered Vincent Head into 'Title' instead of 'Personal Name'.)
The date of the will given here is 1821. If he didn't die until 1822, as you say, this 1821 copy will not have been probated. Hence it would not be with all the other wills probated in court(s), so it wouldn't have been filmed along with all those wills, and that's why you can't find it on Ancestry.
Do you remember seeing the actual will, or just that it did exist somewhere?
It looks as if you may well have to send for it from Wiltshire Archives.
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That link just takes you to the search page for Wiltshire Archives Qofthe W.
However, I did manage to find Vincent Head's will 1821.
It is amongst the papers of 'Merriman, Porter and Long, Marlborough, solicitors'. 'Various clients' records'. 1710 - 1869
Ref 2027/2/1/563
(I entered Vincent Head into 'Title' instead of 'Personal Name'.)
The date of the will given here is 1821. If he didn't die until 1822, as you say, this 1821 copy will not have been probated. Hence it would not be with all the other wills probated in court(s), so it wouldn't have been filmed along with all those wills, and that's why you can't find it on Ancestry.
Do you remember seeing the actual will, or just that it did exist somewhere?
It looks as if you may well have to send for it from Wiltshire Archives.
My apologies for not linking the record correctly; that is the one I meant to link.
I saw the actual will on Ancestry, alongside all the other Wiltshire wills. It was proved in 1822, but made in 1821.
I am really confused as to why it has disappeared.
Thanks everyone for your interest.
Queenie :)
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Trying to think laterally, have ALL Wiltshire Wills disappeared from ancestry? If not, is it worth searching for another with a similar ref and paging forward/back? I can remember viewing Wiltshire wills at wsro some years ago, they were on a series of cds and there was some sort of logical order to the reference numbers.
Jane :-)
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However, I did manage to find Vincent Head's will 1821.
It is amongst the papers of 'Merriman, Porter and Long, Marlborough, solicitors'. 'Various clients' records'. 1710 - 1869
Ref 2027/2/1/563
(I entered Vincent Head into 'Title' instead of 'Personal Name'.)
Well done - this is actually one of the results I got by putting Vincent Head in the Any Text field, but I didn't expand the search results to see the details.
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I read Queenie's posting that she had found this particular record.
However, regardless of finding the unproved will in the archives, the reason for it not being listed in the Ancestry set (or in the set on FindMyPast) , has not been solved. This was Queenie's original question.
Gadget
Add
Here is the link to the will on the Wiltshire Archives site:
http://calmview.wiltshire.gov.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog
I have seen the will, so it definitely exists. I just don't understand why Ancestry would delete it!
Queenie :)
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As it's not in the WSHC collection of probate documents, does either Ancestry or FindMyPast have any collections of non-probate Wiltshire documents?
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It should appear in the set starting here:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01rwc/
I've stepped through but don't see it. I found a Henry Bristow, Marlborough, 1822 in the index and then went to Page 1 and worked from there. It's only a part year.
It might be worth checking this one and others around it.
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It should appear in the set starting here:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01rwc/
I've stepped through but don't see it. I found a Henry Bristow, Marlborough, 1822 in the index and then went to Page 1 and worked from there. It's only a part year.
It might be worth checking this one and others around it.
Thank you so much, Gadget. I had a look too, but no luck. I also had a look in 1821, in case it was incorrectly filed, but still nothing.
Queenie :)
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I went to WSHC earlier this morning to consult the hard copy of their Wiltshire Wills Index. There are five Vincent HEADs indexed, the same five as on Ancestry.
Is it possible that the 1822 Vincent's Will was proved elsewhere, not Wiltshire?
Jane :-)
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I went to WSHC earlier this morning to consult the hard copy of their Wiltshire Wills Index. There are five Vincent HEADs indexed, the same five as on Ancestry.
Is it possible that the 1822 Vincent's Will was proved elsewhere, not Wiltshire?
Jane :-)
That's so kind of you, Jane, to have a look for me. I don't really know where else it could have been proved, as it was definitely not a PCC will.
Looks like I might have to take a trip to the Wiltshire Archives myself to see the 1821 copy!
Thanks again,
Queenie :)