Thank you , , , , and so many others for joining us today during Emma Cox’s live presentation. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Truly, thank you!
You won’t want to miss today’s episode, as Emma explains how to sort through and interpret wills, the role of probate, and sources in the UK. Our discussion also includes American and Canadian perspectives.
Resources:
These resources are listed in Emma’s slides, which makes it handy to scroll through them. In the recording, you’ll hear Emma’s guidance on each resource.
Tip: You can use the “Transcript” button above to search the transcript and get to the specific spot in the video where she talks about each resource.
National Archives (UK)
Ancestry
National Probate Calendar www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1904/?redirectFor=db.aspx
Ancestry Wills and Probate www.ancestry.co.uk/search/categories/clp_wills/?srsltid=AfmBOophk9gljgUYCPfnhxr6m3azo1qOF0Sf4fhiaBphC6oGeA7Setri
Court, Land, Wills & Financial
UK, Extracted Probate Records, 1269-1975
FindMyPast
Where to find family wills – Find My Past
www.findmypast.co.uk/discover/birth-marriage-death-and-parish-records/wills-and-probate
Probate Search (UK)
Find family wills: General Register Office
Transcription Tips
Transcript Freeware: www.jacobboerema.nl/en/Freeware.htm (Windows application download.)
Courses:
Society of Genealogists Presentations
Palaeography Part 1: How to Create Abstracts from Old Documents: www.sog.org.uk/education/learning-hub/guides-tips/palaeography-part-1
Secretary Hand: www.sog.org.uk/education/learning-hub/guides-tips/palaeography-part-2
Family Tree Magazine
6 Tips from Family Tree Magazine: www.family-tree.co.uk/how-to-guides/read-old-handwriting-paleography
AI:
Recommended Reading
“The Wills of Our Ancestors” – A Guide for Family & Local Historians by Stuart A Raymond.
Kindle edition: amzn.to/3GIW99a
“Probate Jurisdictions: Where to Look for Wills” by Jeremy Gibson and Stuart Raymond
“Examples of handwriting 1550-1650” by W.S.B. Buck
www.goodreads.com/book/show/20997444-examples-of-handwriting-1550-1650
“Wills before 1858” by Eve McLaughlin
“Reading old handwriting” by Eve McLaughlin
“Wills and Other Probate Records” by Karen Granum and Nigel Taylor
Published by the UK National Archives. May need to view in a library.
“Words from Wills and Other Probate Records” by Stuart A Raymond
goodreads.com/book/show/21290046-words-from-wills-and-other-probate-records-1500-1800
Many of you will already know Emma for her Journeys into Genealogy podcast, where she interviews guests worldwide. As Substack publishers and readers, you can explore her full catalog and get previews of different episodes by subscribing to her publication:
I know
joins me in hoping you can join us for our program and the Substack live preview next month. You can see all upcoming episodes and when they are scheduled in our events calendar listing. See you then. 👋