What would you do? Re using Wills to try to break down Brick Walls

[Velveteen]

Ok, this is possibly an odd kind of question, but keeping in mind that this brick wall is...a good 20 years old(between the first person do do research on this family line, and others that have picked up and continued...I've been researching seriously for about 3 years), would this be worth trying?

I have the earliest male member of my direct ancestry, my distant grandfather, James Choppin(and I had great luck with HIS will, but he was an old man, so it took me no further back), born 1751, died 1824. He is buried in St Swithin Walcot, Bath, Somerset. Now also buried in St Swithin Walcot are two other Choppin's, each buried (separate graves from each other)in a wall grave or vault, each paired in their respective graves with Giradote's(also seems to have been spelt Girardot) One is a memorial to Anna Giradote, late of Belmont, died 1st Oct 1767 aged 79. She is buried(or possibly it is just a memorial, and she herself isn't buried there -not sure) with (Charles? This first name isn't clear, apparently) Choppin of the Island of Saint Vincent d. 182?. To put the significance of that plot together, my man James Choppin was from St Vincent, and I suppose given the poor state of the vault inscription, this could be him, not a Charles. Either way, why is he buried with a Giradote?

The second is incredibly badly preserved, and all that can be made out is: <illegible>180?  Giradote <date> Choppin<date>

Obviously I haven't the foggiest what the family connection there is, but there must be a strong one, as two separate groups of Giradote/Choppin's were buried or commemorated together. Based on this, would it be worth buying a Will of a particular Giradote who died in 1810, in Bath in the hopes that it miiiight shed some light? Or is this such a long shot it's not worth paying for? The hope is that it might break through to a previous generation, OR explain the ongoing link between the two families.

[Marmalady]

Yes - it is certainly worth trying! Particularly with the very strong St Vincent connection - which would not have been common in Bath at any time
I was stuck on trying to connect one ancestor to the family in Derbyshire with whom he was living - untill i found a will that mentiond "my brother Robert of Liverpool". Bingo - Robert had moved to Liverpool to have his family and the son had moved back to Derbyshire to work on a relative's farm

I presume you have already looked at the parish register entries for all the burials concerned? That may also have snippets of info such as their address - or if you're lucky, relationships to other people either already buries or still alive at the time

[Velveteen]

Actually, Bath being fairly close to Bristol, which was a major port to the West Indies, there were more Caribbean-linked families than you might think. HOWEVER...Saint Vincent plus Choppin would be a different matter, I think. A fairly unusual name. Actually Belmont is a place in St Vincent too...but it's also an area of Bath, and I think in this case it's referring to Bath.

I have, of course, trawled through all the Bath church records of the relevant time range that I have access to. I belong to the Bath Hundred group. Giradote marriages, yes. Choppin marriages, yes, but to each other? No. Not even using alternate spellings of either, but one of them falls in a timeframe that hasn't been transcribed yet. I'm considering trying Bristol next. None for the families I'm looking for seem to have any additional info, just the basics.

[newburychap]

The problem with wills is that they don't often take you back in time - obviously it is far more common to find children of the deceased than parents.  So you have to get hold of earlier wills in the hope that there will be a link to someone you recognise.

I am fortunate in being able to get most of the wills I have used without huge expense (though the fuel to get me to the CROs and TNA is heading in that direction).  Once you are at the TNA or a CRO it always pays to collect every will you think might be of interest - trust me you will probably still need some more!

If you are lucky you will find a nice chain of wills connecting many generations but usually they are just part of the story - other documents can help put together a more complete picture.

One example is a sort of blog of my efforts to link a Buckinghamshire ancestor with a commonish name to a Berkshire family 50 miles away: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,207359.0.html

[behindthefrogs]

The other advantage of using wills beyond the obvious one of children and relatives being named is that they frequently confirm information which is difficult to find elsewhere.  This can include the married names of daughters.  Also a family can be confirmed by the property which passes down the generations.

Even if you don't purchase all the wills involved it is a good idea to make your searches as wide as possible.  I broke a huge brickwall by finding the will of a remote relative who left bequests to a huge number of great nephews and nieces.

[coombs]

Never, ever underestimate wills. They can be very helpful and I have broken down several brickwalls using wills.

[Velveteen]

Sorry it's taken me awhile to get back. I had no luck with the Will I was considering. It was a long shot, but i did decide to give it a go, not knowing what else to try next.

[Redroger]

The new LDS site has BMD records for the West Indies if that is helpful.

[VincyBabe]

it may sound like an unusual name but there were many Choppins in St Vincent. There still are to this day. There is even a place named as such there. I'm looking into the descendants, immediate family and ancestors of James Clement Choppin. His brother (name unknown) was accused of murdering a coloured labourer in 1862. Don't know if there were ever any consequences for that.  Any leads?