Why wait 37 years to finalise a will?

[iluleah]

Maybe the wife ( or someone else) had lifetime residency and use of the property so lived for another 37yr before she died then the heirs to the Will inherited and could sell the property .... so any outstanding debts could then be found/paid

[Forfarian]

Thanks, Arthur and Alan. That is progress.

I could not, and still cannot, find Mary Jane O'Brien or Black's probate on FindMyPast but thanks to you I have found the original on the government Find a Will web site.

[Tickettyboo]

Thanks, Arthur and Alan. That is progress.

I could not, and still cannot, find Mary Jane O'Brien or Black's probate on FindMyPast but thanks to you I have found the original on the government Find a Will web site.

It is there on FindMyPast, Mary Jane BLACK died 1923, probate date 1924. Unlike in Scotland you won't find her in the England & Wales Probate index with any mention of her maiden name.
On the upside her will and grant of probate from the Govt wills site is  £1 cheaper than the Scottish probate records on Scotlands People

Boo

[Forfarian]

Yes, thanks, Boo, I got it from the gov.uk web site - no idea why it's missing from the FindMyPast index.

I suspect that her husband's will might be more useful to me, but of course I'll need to wait a bit until I can get at that.

[Tickettyboo]

Yes, thanks, Boo, I got it from the gov.uk web site - no idea why it's missing from the FindMyPast index.

My point was that it IS in the FindMyPast index :-)

https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/results?sourcecategory=life+events+%28bmds%29&collection=civil+deaths+%26+burials&sid=102&firstname=mary+jane&firstname_variants=true&lastname=black&yearofdeath=1923&yearofdeath_offset=2&keywordsplace_proximity=5&sourcecountry=great+britain

Boo

[Forfarian]

Thank you, Boo.

I now see why I couldn't find her on FindMyPast. Naïvely, I had ticked the box for 'Wills and Probate', because I thought that that was what I needed to do to find her probate. I see now that I should have ticked 'Civil Deaths and Burials' even though I was actually looking for her probate, not for her death or burial.

FindMyPast still produces the same non-result if I search for Mary Black, death date 1923 plus or minus 2 years, "Wills and Probate". It does, as you say, find her probate if I untick "Wills and Probate" and tick "Civil Deaths and Burials".

So for future reference I shall know that if I want to find a will or probate record, I must at all costs avoid ticking the box that says "Wills and Probate"

[Tickettyboo]

I may be wrong but I think the Wills and Probate records on FindMyPast are primarily pre 1858 and, in a lot of cases, will have images.

The England & Wales Probate Calendars that Mary Jane Black appears on are all post 1858 (and none of those Wills/ Grants are online as images -  anywhere).
For many years the Calendars included a date of death which is, I assume, why FindMyPast call the database England & Wales Government Probate Death Index though the images are of the Probate Calendars.

So don't discount the Wills and Probate databases, if you need to find one pre 1858 they are very useful.

Boo

[arthurk]

I suspect that her husband's will might be more useful to me, but of course I'll need to wait a bit until I can get at that.

Joseph's will is indexed on the government site too. I searched for Black in 1887, and it's on page 2 of 12.

[Forfarian]

So don't discount the Wills and Probate databases, if you need to find one pre 1858 they are very useful.

Noted.

As I said, it was entirely my own fault for naïvely imagining that to find a probate record I needed to search in 'Wills and Probate'.