Trouble finding a Will

[sally75]

Hi there

I am trying to find a Will for my ancestor, Robert Dent, who died in Norton, Durham on the 5 April 1857.  The Durham Probate Records can not find a Will in 1857, and the York Probate Sub-Registry office have searched from 1858 to 1861, and found nothing.  I am sure he must have left something, as he inherited properties from his father, and his son became a landowner too, several years after he died.  I live in Australia, so can't the indexes myself, but I was wondering if anyone knew how else I might be able to 'look' at the index for my ancestor?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Kind regards.

Sally.

[jinks]

Try the year the son inherited the land.

One of my ancestors died without making a will even though he
had land, this might be because he did not expext to die so
young he was only in his forties.


Jinks

[Mean_genie]

If someone died without leaving a will, but there was property that needed to be dealt with, the next of kin would have needed to apply for Letters of Administration, and these would be recorded with the wills.

If there is no trace of a will or administration in the expected time frame, there are a few possible explanations. Occasionally probate oe administration was delayed for a long time, sometimes even years, possibly in the case of a dispute. Some smart people managed to pass on their property to the next generation without a will at all, which might be well worth doing to avoid death duties.

If there was land involved, this might not be dealt with by a will at all, because it was not owned but rented (farmers were often tenants). Also, at some periods real estate (ie land) was treated differently from personal estate (pretty much everything else), but I'm getting out of my depth here because I can't remember quite when and how!

Mean_genie

[emmsthheight]

Hi there!

If he had property in more than one county/ country, it might have been proved in a higher court such as in London.  Again, not sure of all the details, especially in 1857.

However, for your own research, it may be that there arew useful details in the will of a relative, especially an unmarried sibling, who may have bequeathed to nephews and nieces.

Best wishes

Emms

[jinks]

Further to the post by mean_genie, this is what happened to
my family with letters of administration but it was quite a longer
time after death, but interesting because it showed the addresses
of the sons, there was also a later addition of extra money, so I
would presume that more property/land was discovered.


Jinks

[newburychap]

If he had property in more than one county/ country, it might have been proved in a higher court such as in London.  Again, not sure of all the details, especially in 1857.

For a Durham man this would probably be in the PCY (Prerogative Court of York) unless there was property down south as well - in which case PCC (PC Canterbury) would take precedence. PCC wills are available online at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/ (searches are free, images of the will cost).