Wills, codicils, sentences

[witchetty]

I am finding some (posh) people for whom there is not just the probate of their main will, but also of a codicil (probated separately) and something called a "sentence".

All of these are filed as separate entries under PROB11 in the National Archives.

What on earth is a "sentence" in this context?

For example:
PROB 11/155/607 Will of Georg Lord Carew Baron of Clopton
PROB 11/155/733 Sentence of George Lord Carew Baron of Clopton or Earl of Totnes

[majm]

If this is for a court in NSW, Australia, well here there would have been a court case over the will and/or codicil, as a sentence is basically the formal wording of the outcome ( the determination/judgement) of a court.

JM

[horselydown86]

PROB 11 is the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.  The research guide is here:

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/wills-1384-1858/

As the guide and majm say, a Sentence is a judgement of the PCC where a will has been disputed after probate.

Sentences from the Court's Register look impressive but say very little beyond the decision of the Court.  TNA may hold more information in the boxes of court documents, but you will need to gamble on a visit or a custom order to see what is there.

Codicils are not probated separately.  They are signed, witnessed and dated separately but thereafter become part of the will.  The will and any codicils are probated together in one Act of the Court.  That Act may subsequently be altered by a Sentence.

[witchetty]

Thanks for that, horselydown86

I wish the TNA made their help pages a little more obvious.

On the probate page there's text that says "Need more context? View the catalogue description for PROB 11", but that just brings up a search form for PROB11. There's also a link for "How to use this catalogue", but that just goes to a general help page for the whole site.

I only seem to stumble on more particular help pages by chance after a google search.

Anyway, all sorted now.

[GrahamSimons]

I can strongly recommend the book Tracing Your Ancestors in the National Archives by Amanda Bevan. Informative and clear.

[Little Nell]

I wish the TNA made their help pages a little more obvious.

On the Home page ( https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ ), there is a set of three 'link' buttons across the top, just under the "Explore 1,000 years of history" splash line.  The left hand one is entitled "Help with your research" (see attached images)

If you click on that, it takes you to another page with links to various research guides, plus a link to the A-Z list and a search box for all their research guides.  Admittedly some might be more useful than others.

Nell

[Bookbox]

On the probate page there's text that says "Need more context? View the catalogue description for PROB 11", but that just brings up a search form for PROB 11.

The Catalogue Description for PROB 11 is below that search form. You just need to scroll down.

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C12122