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Messages - AntonyMMM

Pages: 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 ... 142
28
The Common Room / Re: Two part question re:wills
« on: Thursday 07 March 24 09:41 GMT (UK)  »
I believe that (In E/W) beneficiaries who are left a specific bequest, or a set sum of money, are not automatically entitled to a copy of the estate accounts, but a "residuary beneficiary" who is to receive a share of the estate is entitled to see such an account so that they are able to confirm they have received the correct amount.

When I asked a solicitor about dealing with my father's estate they wanted to charge their hourly rate ( about £150ph I think it was at the time - probably much more now) AND 2% of the estate value. I declined their offer and dealt with the estate myself which is a surprisingly simple thing to do.

In that, and another case since, in which I have acted as an executor I have provided each beneficiary with a simple spreadsheet showing the estate assets/expenses and distribution calculation.

Ask the solicitor to provide a copy of the estate accounts.

29
The Lighter Side / Re: 2011 Census Computer database?
« on: Thursday 07 March 24 09:13 GMT (UK)  »
I retired 12 years ago (from the Met Police), but did a lot of computer related work, and things do change rapidly, but I never heard of getting access to census data, and it wouldn't be that useful anyway, being a snapshot that doesn't get regularly updated.

There are much better databases available to find people ( HMRC, DWP, full electoral roll, phone subscribers etc.), but most such external databases would need a good reason, and authorisation given, to access.

Of course there are departments - counter-terrorism & security services for instance - who may have enhanced access to other systems.

I enjoy watching Silent Witness, and had the pleasure of chatting to Emilia Fox at the WDYTYA Live show some years ago, but it is a very, very long way removed from reality.

30
The Common Room / Re: UK court records
« on: Tuesday 05 March 24 12:11 GMT (UK)  »
You have to start with a copy of the will,  and grant of probate, to see what is mentioned on there.

Also check different copies of the probate register - I have an example from 1952 where the probate entry on the page image on the Gov site has a handwritten amendment relating to a Chancery court case taken out by a supposed ex (but not divorced) wife. That amendment isn't on the register image shown on Ancestry.

If there is Chancery involved, then records are at TNA - but may still be closed ( although you can try an application under FOI to get them opened)

31
Civil reg starting in 1837 probably extended the time between death and burial as a death cert had to be given for a burial to commence.

It has never been an absolute legal requirement for a death to be registered before burial/cremation ( although most obviously were).

Although saying that the registrar would confirm the registration to the undertaker, both the 1836 B&D Act and the later 1874 Act had provision for burials that did take place before registration. Such deaths were supposed to be notified to the registrar within 7 days after the burial, with the responsibility on the person conduction the burial. I'm sure in many cases the vicar would tell the family to make sure they did it, but they didn't bother and that probably accounts for some burials being recorded in parish registers that don't seem to have a corresponding death registration.

Funerals still can happen before registration, most commonly in cases where the coroner is involved although a registrar can also issue the necessary permission.

32
The Common Room / Re: Bigamy
« on: Friday 01 March 24 10:50 GMT (UK)  »
Yes it would be recorded in the index (in E/W).


33
The Common Room / Re: Death registered 4 months after death
« on: Friday 01 March 24 10:19 GMT (UK)  »

Family folklore said that one of my great-uncles 'put his head in a gas oven' some time around 1903/4, probably in the Liverpool area, but I can find no record of any such event.  He just vanishes from all the records I have looked at - he worked for an insurance company, whose successors can find nothing.  Who would be responsible for recording a suicide, and where might any 'irregular' deaths be recorded ?

The circumstances of the death, if correct, would have led to an inquest. For inquest deaths, the coroner is always the informant who instructs the registrar to register the death and that can't happen until after the inquest is concluded - historically that wouldn't usually mean much of a delay but now can be months (or occasionally years) later.

The registration will appear in the usual death register though - so perhaps the family story has got confused over the years ( or was invented in the first place).

34
England / Re: Adoption - Wards of Chancery - 1840s
« on: Wednesday 21 February 24 11:29 GMT (UK)  »
Very difficult to find evidence of this kind of family story - they often have a grain of truth, but can also sometimes have become mixed up and connected to the wrong person over time.

It sounds like the birth certificate, census records and her marriage (entry available on FindMyPast) all name her parents as William & Amelia Weatherby.

I would look at the wills of those involved - this Dr Stocker perhaps, although as she with her "parents" in 1851/61 and her husband in 1871 it isn't clear when she may have been living with him (if at all).

Chancery records are at Kew and full of family information but can be difficult to find and research in because of the way they are grouped and indexed (if at all).  They are not available on-line. If you do find them they can be a goldmine of information - I have one in my family from the 1730s relating to a probate dispute which on a single page details the whole family tree ( and the properties owned) back to the  mid 1600s.

Susan Moore is the expert I always go to with any Chancery problem - start with her very good books on the subject.

https://www.susanmooreresearch.co.uk/publications

DNA may also be something to look at.


35
The Common Room / Re: Change of name in Victorian times…how easy?
« on: Tuesday 20 February 24 17:26 GMT (UK)  »
Anyone is free to use whatever name they want - even today.

I can't think of any occasion  a person at that time would be required to produce a birth, or marriage, certificate.

( with the exception possibly of  the need to prove a child was old enough to work, under the later Factory Acts)

36
The Common Room / Re: Arrow
« on: Tuesday 20 February 24 09:45 GMT (UK)  »
She appears to be a waitress in Brighton in 1939 ( using the name Elphick and claiming to be married).


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