SEAX - Further digital copies of Original Wills Uploaded

[nannyj]

Lol. I think my husband is a genealogy widower since I found all the genealogy sites!

[Diblet]

I know how you feel Helvissa. I've got my eye on quite a few wills that should help solve a lot of outstanding queries. I don't think much housework'll get done for a while! 

[smudwhisk]

I've been putting my surnames of interest into Seax, with the word 'will', and 'images' selected - it's been brilliant! I might never see any of my friends and family again once they upload the rest of the wills!!! 

I've found that more appear searching that route than if you use the Name Index Searches.  I don't usually select images but probably worth doing if just searching for those with images, otherwise you can get some very large search result lists.

[smudwhisk]

Oh, and something else to point about wills at ERO - the ones on Seax are the originals that have survived. Some haven't, but they've got the official copy (is it called a probate copy? they look like the PCC ones in that near-impenetrable handwriting) on microfilm. So if you think someone did leave a will and you can't see it on their catalogue, email them to ask if it's in their little red books that they've got at the info desk - they're the index for the microfilm. It might even be helpful to order a digital copy of the page covering the surname and period you're researching.

Those index books are British Record Society Publications.  They have been searchable on Origins.net for some years but FindMyPast released them last week - http://www.rootschat.com/links/01e5k/.  If you put Essex in the Publication Title, it allows you to search against all or any of the three volumes.  The results are a pdf of each page with include the reference for the registered Will.

The pre-1700 Archdeaconry of Sudbury and Archdeaconry of Suffolk Wills Indexes and the 1800-1858 Archdeaconry of Sudbury Wills Index are also on there now.  I've had the books for some years and they've been useful.

[helvissa]

Oooh, I didn't know they'd made it to Find My Past!

I wish indices for Suffolk wills were more available though - I find wills are most useful for trying to find my way about in the 1700s! And there doesn't appear to be an index available. :-/

[smudwhisk]

Ipswich RO apparently have a card index which they will sometimes check if you email them.  I know they've checked a couple of names for me in the past.

I've always used the microfilm index for post 1700 Wills at Bury St E RO, but I've just recently found out there is a card index upstairs for Wills.   Wish I'd known that years ago as much easier that trawling through the microfilm.  Mind you the pre1700 indexes have served us well over the years.

It is a bit strange that the British Records Society indexed all of Essex but only pre1700 for both Suffolk Archdeaconries and 1800-1858 for the Sudbury Archdeaconry only.  You'd have thought they'd have done the lot as with Essex.

I'm still hoping perhaps that Suffolk would digitise their Wills as well as the parish registers but I've not heard anything about that, just hoping.

[smudwhisk]

Essex Wills - the registered copies, as opposed to the original Wills which SEAX are digitising, tend to not be as good quality as the originals.  We've had a few over the years and they've tended to not be very good quality, often with bleed through from the back or very dark patches across them.  Not sure if the paper copies aren't in good condition or it was just poor microfilming.  I've only had paper copies that were prints from microfilm so don't know if they would digitise a paper copy of a registered Will or not.

Mind you we've found the same problem with Archdeaconry of Suffolk and Norwich Consistory Court registered Wills.  Yet the Archdeaconry of Sudbury registered Wills are generally OK.

As a personal choice, I have subsequently always tried to get a photocopy of the original Will, these are the copies that SEAX are digitising.  Although, as Helvissa has said, not all original Wills survive so sometimes you do have to put up with a registered copy.

[helvissa]

Quite true. I was able to check the original of one they've just digitised the other day (in the thread about the Cleere and Griggs families) - the registered copy was very hard to read so someone's surname looked like Grimwood, but the original clearly shows it's Garrod! (or vice verse, I forget...).

I've just found on Find My Past a reference to a will for John Cardinall/Cardnall of Manningtree, 1529. I can't see it on Seax, so I think I'll have to go with the registered copy.... It's 216 CR 2 (so D/ACR 2/216).

[helvissa]

Yes, Ipswich and Bury seem happy to email you back with stuff, but with my Nunn one-name study, there's so many people in Suffolk with that surname that I think eventually I'll have to buckle under and just *go to Suffolk* to make my own Nunn index.

Do they have indices for both RO's at each? Bury looked up some Cardinalls the other day for me - they had none, but sent me details of four which were held at Ipswich. Just wondering so that if I do decide to go to Suffolk, I can do one RO rather than visit two. I'm sure both are lovely, but...!