Scottish wills

[hilarykellis]

Please forgive my ignorance. I know in England, only certain wills were proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, and that many were proved in local courts and can only be found in local records offices.

Is this true of Scottish wills? I noticed that there are very few wills before 1800 in the Scotland's People Wills index. My ancestor refers to a will left by her husband in her own will, and I can't find his will in the index. Of course it may be lost, but I wanted to make sure there weren't other places for me to check. The man in question lived in Inverness-shire, but his wife wrote her will in the Elgin sheriff court in 1833. He died between 1797 and 1833.

Are there wills kept elsewhere in Scotland that do not appear on the Scotland's People index?

Thanks!

[Little Nell]

Not that I know of.

Perhaps his wife was living in the Elgin area after his death, hence why it was registered there.  What was your ancestor's name?  How likely is it that it was not spelled as you might expect?  Sometimes when searching 'less' can equal more.

Might his death have been reported in a local newspaper?  It might help narrow down the search parameters.

Nell

[hilarykellis]

Thanks Nell.

His wife's name was Isobel Fraser McNicol. His name was John McNicol. I do not think she was living in Elgin, as she was buried in Petty, Inverness-shire where she got married and had her children. So am still not sure what happened there.

I've seen his surname spelled McNicol, Macnicol, McNichol, McNickol, and McNickal by the parish clerk. I think I have tried most of these but open to alternatives!

[hilarykellis]

Also wanted to add I have not been successful in locating a newspaper announcement - do you have suggestions for a good place to search?

[Little Nell]

British Newspaper Archive/FindMyPast for an announcement if there was one.  FindMyPast has free access this weekend.

What was John's occupation?

The parish of Petty was under the jurisdiction of the Moray (Elgin) Commissary Court prior to 1825 so I would imagine that it remained so once testaments were registered by the Sheriff Court.

Nell

[Forfarian]

Are there wills kept elsewhere in Scotland that do not appear on the Scotland's People index?

Generally speaking, no. The occasional one does turn up elsewhere - for example in a collection of estate papers - and I have seen one in a kirk session record, but if it's not in the SP index you will be very lucky to come across it.

Have you tried LIBINDX http://libindx.moray.gov.uk/mainmenu.asp ?

Do I take it that she was Isabel Fraser married to John McNicol, not Isabel McNicol with a middle name of Fraser? If so she will be listed in any documents as Isabel Fraser or McNicol, making it plain that one is her maiden surname and the other her husband's surname.

[RJ_Paton]

From the NRS site

Before 1868, wills could transfer only moveable property (money, clothes, household goods etc), while land and buildings could be inherited either by the separate retour (or services of heirs) procedure or by the mechanism of a trust disposition and settlement (sometimes called a 'deed of settlement').

Also if he lived or had businesses outwith Scotland the Commissary Court in Edinburgh once took precedence over any local court.

[Skoosh]

National Records of Scotland has the Soldiers Wills.

Skoosh.

[carolineasb]

At present time, it is not mandatory for Confirmation to be issued in a Deceased's Estate and also, Wills and other Deeds are very rarely actually registered for safekeeping reasons. If they are registered, they are normally registered in Edinburgh.

My legal knowledge doesn't cover this far back in history, but it may be that there was no reason for the Will to be registered. Nowadays, many people think that because someone left a Will, it will be "registered" somewhere but as I have said that is not always the case.