Author Topic: Missing will - Berwickshire, 1677  (Read 179 times)

Offline MatthewG

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Missing will - Berwickshire, 1677
« on: Saturday 03 February 24 16:54 GMT (UK) »
The testament of my ancestor Agnes Gilchrist (from Whitsome) is listed in the Commissariot Record of Lauder (3 October 1677). But she doesn't come up under any spelling form on the Scotland's People Database. Does this mean the document has been lost? Is there any way I can search for it other than through Scotland's People? Would be grateful for any thoughts.

Offline Forfarian

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Re: Missing will - Berwickshire, 1677
« Reply #1 on: Saturday 03 February 24 17:36 GMT (UK) »
You'd be best to address the question to the National Records of Scotland
https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/ because I believe it was they who originally published the printed books from which that listing is extracted.
Never trust anything you find online (especially submitted trees and transcriptions on Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and other commercial web sites) unless it's an image of an original document - and even then be wary because errors can and do occur.

Offline GR2

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Re: Missing will - Berwickshire, 1677
« Reply #2 on: Saturday 03 February 24 18:35 GMT (UK) »
I have attached a link to the preface of the printed index. In the index itself, the date for Agnes is given as "T. 3 Oct 1677". As you see from the preface, this means her testament is not recorded in the  Register, but is amongst loose items. I assume that ScotlandsPeople digitised the testaments in the ten volumes of the Register, but not the loose documents. Perhaps looking up Commissariot of Lauder in the catalogue of the NRS will indicate where the loose testaments are.

https://www.electricscotland.com/history/records/scottishrecords10scot.pdf

Offline MatthewG

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Re: Missing will - Berwickshire, 1677
« Reply #3 on: Sunday 04 February 24 11:35 GMT (UK) »
Thanks very much - I'd completely missed that. Looks as though a lot of wills from the Duns and Eccles parishes feature in that category. Much appreciated.