Hello Rootschatters,
I am after some thoughts and ideas rather than actual research help.
What possible reasons could there be for a delay of roughly 10 years before a will was proved?
I have an ancestor whose will was proved in 1807, cannot find a burial, but his wife is described as a widow from 1798 in land tax records. He was last sighted in 1795, with no intervening years.
A possible burial place in London doesn't have extant parish records for the time and he is not buried in the town of the land tax records.
But I am mainly perplexed on the delay. The only possible thing that I can see is there were no witnesses to the will, which had been written back in 1771. The wife was the sole beneficiary and executor. Two witnesses came forward in 1807 to verify it was my ancestors signature.
Any contributions welcome.
I have found Administrations and Wills delayed by many years.
Also found Second Grants for Probate for the same deceased person, where the Will was not fully settled on the first Grant of Probate. The Will said that our village Public House was to be sold when John Archer died and divided up between his Daughters. However, when John Archer died in 1812 his Widow Mrs Mary Archer continued to run the Holly Bush, Stockingford as Licensee and rename it The Plough. Around the time of The Plough Stockingford being advertised For Sale in 1821 (purchased by Stephen Arthrell), there was a "Second Grant" on John Archer's 1812 Will.
An old Admin or Will might not always be dealt with at the time; beneficiaries are minors (look for Trusts or Trustees names); possibly a family member still lived in the property; the person who should of dealt with the Will / Admin previously has now died; or some other reason, could cause the Admin/Will Probate application to be delayed.
A Will or a Trust in a Will may allow a business or a household (domestic) situation to continue as usual after a death. Also a Bankruptcy of a possible beneficiary, or their Assignment where a person might Assign property or a business for the Benefit of his / her Creditors (people owed money by the Beneficiary) might trigger the Will to be dealt with.
Perhaps the Will was found later when clearing a house or at the Solicitors.
In relation to a few Wills, there may be cases in the Court of Chancery to alter the terms of a Will or Trusts etc.
Missing Local BurialsThere might be no local Parish Church burial, but if they had money the body could be transported elsewhere for burial, buried in a Private or Nonconformist Cemetery.
Some Quakers (and others) who owned their own property with garden or land could be buried at their own property, or another property they owned.
Land TaxOur local Pub was subject to Tithe, also a Quit Rent to the Lord of the Manor (who had sold the Pub).
The Owner / Occupier might not always appear in surviving Land Tax records, because not every property was subject to Land Tax in England and some had paid the fee to Queen Anne's Bounty Office to redeem the property and be exonerated from Land Tax (See Redemption of / Redeemed Land Tax).
So if there are several of the same name in the locality, have you found your actual relative in the Land Tax, or someone else?
It depends on the detail in the Land Tax as to whether you can identify specific properties, some Land Tax Surveys were conducted more or less in Street order, then suddenly change to Alphabetical order by Proprietor or Occupier.
Mark