Wills

[Gigi]

Hello,

Are all Westmorland wills pre 1858 held at Carlisle Records Office?

Do you have to go there in person or would they send by post?

Thanks,

Gillian

[Deborah Boss]

Gillian
They send wills by post and the service is very quick.  I usually e-mail them with my request and receive them within a few working days of the email and then send a cheque on receipt.

It might have been a bit slower the first time.  I might have had to send the cheque and a copyright declaration before they sent the wills - even then it was quick.
regards
Deborah

[behindthefrogs]

The answer is no.  If they held property outside the diocese then the will would have been proved and so held either at York or Canterbury (London).

The York wills are for property entirely in the north of England.  The Canterbury wills are at the National Archives and can be searched for online.

The records used to be at the Cumbria record office at Kendall, has this moved?

David

[Gigi]

Hi Deborah & David,

Thanks for your replies.

David, I was told that wills are all at Carlisle and other records at Kendal.

Have googled and found Carlisle's email and have sent a message so will see what happens.

I did find a will on documentonline but that was exceptional as that was during the Cromwell era (will dated 1654).

Gillian

[behindthefrogs]

I wasn't sure about Kendall.  I know I had found other records there.

In the south of England I have found many of my wills at Canterbury, often as the result of just a small plot of land just over the border in another diocese, sometimes because the neighbouring parish was a "peculiar".  Ravenstonedale was the only parish in Westmoreland which was a peculiar.  You should not rule out York as a possibility. 

I have further confusion about Westmoreland because the southern half of the county was in the Archdeaconry of Richmond and as such part of the diocese of Chester and while the local wills are probably with the rest in Carlisle some may have been proved in York as a result of this division.

David

[Gigi]

Hi,

Have had a reply from the Carlisle Record's office:

"COPIES  OF  PROBATE  RECORDS
 
Thank you for your e-mail of 8 January.
 
Probate records for north Westmorland are deposited here for 1564-1857; probate records for the whole of Westmorland are deposited here 1858-1941.  We can supply you with copies at 50p per sheet plus £25 per hour (pro rata) for the time taken and second class postage.  "

Gillian

[behindthefrogs]

From your reply I would suggest that you need to look in Cheshire record office at Chester if you are looking for wills for the south of Westmoreland prior to 1858 as Ardeaconry records are usually archived at the Diocese, although Kendall is a possibilty.

The dividing line runs from the north of Grassmere to Burrow Dale.  The northern half of the county was in the Archdeaconry and Diocese of Carlisle which explains why their wills are at Carlisle.

David

[Gigi]

Hello,

I spoke to Lynda on the phone at Carlisle record's office & she was very helpful. She was able to give me a list of all Ellwood wills of Dufton with dates from her wills database.

Gillian

[Half Pint]

Hi Gigi

Sorry to hijack your thread but my 3 x gr grandparents were John and Eleanor Ellwood nee Harrington.  John was born in Gosforth in 1800c.  Their daughter Margaret married William Harrison from Elslack in Yorkshire in Gosforth in 1853.

My research is through the Harrison line.

Do you think we are connected.

Regards

Half Pint