Transcribing 1717 Will of Lancashire Yeoman

[AbroadintheYard]

You might be aware of Lancashire Will Search, but has anyone used it to get their hands on a copy of an old will?  Census and BMD info are good, but if you track down and get your mitts on a copy of your ancestor's will, it's like they're actually talking to you - describing their wordly goods and how they want them to be divvied up.

I've written a post on our site about finding the will of my ancestor, Nicholas Rimmer - or Rimer - (1657-1717), a yeoman farmer from Allerton, Liverpool.  There's also some other stuff on my Rimmers from Blackburn which beginners might find interesting, as well as links to other posts on DNA testing (for when the records run dry!).

http://www.abroadintheyard.com/tracing-my-lancashire-family-history/

Hope you find it interesting and of some use.  Interested to hear of other experiences with wills.

Cheers

Lee 

[clayton bradley]

I enjoyed reading your experiences, especially as my mother's family were from Clayton le Moors near Accrington and before that from Darwen. Like you, I am stuck in the 1650s, undoubtedly because of the Civil War, but have met some lovely cousins. I usually buy my wills from Lancashire Record Office, now Lancashire Archives, I think, for about a fiver, claytonbradley

[AbroadintheYard]

Thanks for your reply.  I was born in Accrington and went to school there - my best freind had a chip shop in Clayton, so many a happy lunchtime there in the 80s!  My parents still live nearby in Oswaldtwistle, but I don't get back home to Lancs as often as I'd like.

Lee