Why is he “heir at law” and why two wills?

[Davedrave]

The will of George Godfrey, Gentleman of Scraptoft, of 1813, leaves legacies to a large number of individuals. I think he was either childless or possibly a bachelor. Some of the legatees are first cousins, but he names John Godfrey, his cousin-german twice removed, as his heir-at-law. My understanding is that an heir-at-law is the individual who would inherit an estate if the deceased died intestate, but why would this seemingly distant relative be the heir-at-law?

Also, there are two wills, one in Leicester Archdeaconry (Leicester Record Office) and a PCC will in the National Archives. Is this unusual?

[KGarrad]

1. An heir-at-law is anyone who's entitled to inherit from someone who dies without leaving a last will and testament or other estate plans.

2. Cousin-german is simply a cousin. The child of one's aunt or uncle.

[horselydown86]

Also, there are two wills, one in Leicester Archdeaconry (Leicester Record Office) and a PCC will in the National Archives. Is this unusual?

Have you seen the documents for the Leicester Archdeaconry one or is it known only from an index record?

I have a case of a will proved in the PCC which also has an entry in one of the Oxfordshire Courts.

The Oxfordshire version proved to be a jacket containing a note that the will was proved in the PCC, There being Divers Debts to the amount of 5^li in divers diocesses.

That is, the case was elevated to the PCC because these debts took it beyond the jurisdiction of the Oxfordshire Court.

[Davedrave]

Also, there are two wills, one in Leicester Archdeaconry (Leicester Record Office) and a PCC will in the National Archives. Is this unusual?

Have you seen the documents for the Leicester Archdeaconry one or is it known only from an index record?

I have a case of a will proved in the PCC which also has an entry in one of the Oxfordshire Courts.

The Oxfordshire version proved to be a jacket containing a note that the will was proved in the PCC, There being Divers Debts to the amount of 5^li in divers diocesses.

That is, the case was elevated to the PCC because these debts took it beyond the jurisdiction of the Oxfordshire Court.

They are both full wills. The Leicester version is many pages long and is available on FindMyPast and the PCC version is currently free from the NA, also pages long (but I can’t read much of it, because it’s the “photocopy” type of reproduction).

[Davedrave]

1. An heir-at-law is anyone who's entitled to inherit from someone who dies without leaving a last will and testament or other estate plans.

2. Cousin-german is simply a cousin. The child of one's aunt or uncle.

I thought it was odd, in view of the above, that a cousin twice removed would inherit rather than a first cousin.

Dave

[horselydown86]

They are both full wills. The Leicester version is many pages long and is available on FindMyPast and the PCC version is currently free from the NA, also pages long (but I can’t read much of it, because it’s the “photocopy” type of reproduction).

I have glanced at the PCC will of Thomas Godfrey, Gentleman of Scraptoft, Leicestershire, proved 24  May 1814.

There's nothing unusual in the probate section.

The will has a codicil.  In it he (among other things) revokes the gift and devise of the lands at Barton in the Beans to John Godfrey the cousin german etc and instead gives and devises the same to George Godfrey, younger brother of John and also a cousin german etc.

That may help illuminate the matter, or not.  I don't have FindMyPast access so can't advise further.

[Davedrave]

Thanks horsleydown86. The Leicester Archdeaconry will also contains the codicil, so unfortunately that doesn’t seem to illuminate matters a great deal. Frustratingly for me Thomas Godfrey left a legacy to my 4x great grandfather without clarifying his relationship. Some description of cousin, presumably.

Dave

[Rena]

A cousin twice removed, is a cousin two generations older, or two generations younger.

Hard luck sorting that out.  The older generations had children where the oldest and youngest children could be born some thirty years apart!    My own mother was older than one of her aunts.  My mother's maternal grandfather was her aunt's father.

[Bookbox]

Also, there are two wills, one in Leicester Archdeaconry (Leicester Record Office) and a PCC will in the National Archives. Is this unusual?

Have you seen the documents for the Leicester Archdeaconry one or is it known only from an index record?

I have a case of a will proved in the PCC which also has an entry in one of the Oxfordshire Courts.

The Oxfordshire version proved to be a jacket containing a note that the will was proved in the PCC, There being Divers Debts to the amount of 5^li in divers diocesses.

That is, the case was elevated to the PCC because these debts took it beyond the jurisdiction of the Oxfordshire Court.

They are both full wills. The Leicester version is many pages long and is available on FindMyPast and the PCC version is currently free from the NA, also pages long (but I can’t read much of it, because it’s the “photocopy” type of reproduction).

The Leicester will on FindMyPast is clearly marked on the last page as a true copy, made on 18 May 1814. I would suggest that the copy was made when the original will was sent up to the PCC, because it was proved there only a few days later, 24 May 1814.

I can see no evidence on FindMyPast that it was proved in Leicester, and the index reference there states Doctors' Commons, where the London office for PCC business was situated.

As in the Oxfordshire case referenced by Horselydown86, it is most likely that some element of the deceased's estate took it outside the jurisdiction of the archdeaconry.