Will Calender on PRONI site

[kevarms]

Hi,
I've found my great-grandfather (John Hart, d. 1914 Armagh) on the Will Calendar section of the PRONI website. I see for some people it's possible to see an image of the actual will, whereas with my ancestor no image is available. It just gives details of who administration of the will was given to.
Does this mean there is no copy of the will existing any longer or is there another way I might be able to see it.
Thanks in advance,
Kevin

[aghadowey]

"Administration of the Estate of John Hart late of English Street Armagh Carpenter who died 22 December 1914 granted at Armagh to Catherine Hart the Widow."

"Administration of the Estate" means that there was no Will. PRONI may have paperwork pertaining to the settlement of the estate.

[gostelm1]

Hi,

I was in PRONI last month and where I had ancestors with 'Administration of the Estate' there was paperwork relating to it - usually a legal document verifying to whom the administation was granted and their relationship to the deceased.

As an aside, you might find it worthwhile to revisit the Will Calendar section at intervals as a member of PRONI staff told me that this is an ongoing project as they are still digitising public copies of wills.

Mary

[kevarms]

Thanks. I will see if PRONI can help me out further.

[Elwyn Soutter]

My understanding is that the wills and any admins that are on line only go up to 1900. So for a death after that date you need to ask PRONI to look the file out for you.

[aghadowey]

From past experience administration folders are vastly different than a simple Will. If there's a Will you can certainly get a copy from PRONI but administration files vary in what they contain (and the amount of useful information) depending on the individual case. To give some examples-
1) administration for a male relative, widower, with 2 small children- mentioned brothers in America (how long there, etc.), sisters in Ireland, letters from one of the sisters (married name, address) asking to look after the children
2) administration for another male relatives mentioned (on the form) there was only a surviving brother in U.S. (my great-grandfather) and a niece in Ireland who put in the application (her address included). Great-grandfather relinquished his share to niece so there was affidavit with his address in Philadelphia and signature. Paperwork also included inventory of farm, contents of house, etc. Most important of all it confirmed that a sister who I've been searching for years now died before her brother.