RootsChat.Com

You might wonder what a Wiltshire Wills Project has to do with Berkshire - the answer is a lot.

The Bishop of Salisbury held sway over most of Berkshire and his Consistory Court proved many Berkshire wills. The Dean of Sarum was responsible for a significant chunk of Berks - his court also proved many wills.

Why mention it now? Because the project has born fruit. The probate records of some 30 probate jurisdictions including the two aforementioned are now searchable online - and some images are available for download.

See http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/heritage/index.php

Even better news - its all free!

For Electra.

Image (c) West Berkshire Museum - used by permission.

I have an aged Palm which I use to carry around my family history data for reference in record offices etc. The data is stored using PAF for Palm (I use PAF on my home PC). It is very useful but not perfect - so I am considering an upgrade (hardware and software).

The main reason for changing the software is that the Palm version of the data does not include all the information.  When I add sources of data I will often include a transcript in the source data - PAF has an 'Actual text' field which I use for this.  This field is not transferred to the Palm so I have to either do without or copy the transcript to a person note field (not ideal as a single source entry can be referred to from several persons (eg a will transcript).

I see there are several handheld solutions based around Palm OS and Pocket PC - does anyone have experience of these? Any recommendations?

I am descended from Mary HEAD who married Andrew HOLT in Edgcott in 1772.

While I suspect Mary came from Berkshire I have no firm evidence to prove this (only an 1812 poll book showing John HEAD from Grindon, Bucks as a freeholder in Peasemore, Berks - which makes it very, very likely she had connections to the Berks HEADs around Newbury - but no more). 

Obviously there is also the possibility that she was from one of the Buckinghamshire HEAD families.  If anyone is researching this name in Bucks and has linked my Mary to anyone it would be great to hear from you.

Records available from Berks FHS on CD, available from www.berksfhs.org:

PRs:
Barkham, Burghfield, Clewer, Combe, Compton, East Ilsley, East Lockinge, Hurst & Winnersh, Sparsholt, Swallowfield, Theale, Tilehurst, West Ilsley
plus OFHS CDs for north Berkshire parishes.

MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS:
Aldermaston, St Mary the Virgin
Caversham, St Peters
Knowl Hill

OTHER PARISH RECORDS
Berkshire Burial Index Iss 4 (400,000+ records from an ongoing project)
Overseers Calendars (details/names etc from all settlement papers, bastardy orders, removal orders, examinations etc. in Parish and Borough records in the Berkshire Record Office)

CENSUSES
Joseph Toomer's Census of Newbury, 1815 (yes that is 1815 and not a typo for 1851)
1851 Census transcript & index & gazetteer

POLL BOOKS & ELECTORAL ROLLS
Poll Book 1812
Poll Book 1818
Electoral Roll 1832

MAPS
Ordnance Survey 6" 1st series 1880s

DIRECTORIES
Snare's 1842 Directory of Reading

COMING VERY SOON (available within 6 weeks)
Monumental Inscriptions, Wokingham, All Saints
Parish Registers for Greyfriars, Reading

IN THE PIPELINE (Christmas presents perhaps?)
Kelly's Directory for Berks, Bucks & Oxon, 1887
Poll Book, Berkshire 1796
Berkshire Burial Index, 5th Ed.