Hi Paul & Jan
I suppose it could be confusing - perhaps I'll start a new thread! Anyway, I looked for Stockleys and there weren't any at all, or anything like it

Sorry about that Paul.
There were several Thomas Gales but they died well before 1858, so no luck there either, Jan. I did have a quick look in the Death Duty lists and found that your Thomas did indeed leave a will. I'm useless at interpreting the entries in the index, so someone else might need to help with that unless you already know, of course! The entry said -
(Testator) Gale Thomas (Residence) Shipton Gorge, Dorset (Executor) James S Gale op (or ap - It seems to be the executor's residence where sometimes a place name is given and sometimes this abbreviation) (Court) PR (Register) 1 (Folio) 293
Given that he died in the crossover period of 1858, I'd be tempted to send off to York for the will and keep my fingers crossed

I looked for your Stockleys in the Death Duty index as well, Paul but no luck there either
Regards
Angela
Angela