Wills - plain English required!

[dawnsh]

The calendar entries on Ancestry have been fully indexed by name.

The entries on the new HMCTS resource have only been fully indexed by name after 1996.

Prior to that, only the first letters of the surnames on the calendar pages are indexed.

There is an entry for Henry Sykes, it is on this page and you can order a copy for £10 and it will be sent to you by email as a PDF.

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=sykes&yearOfDeath=1869&page=2#calendar

There is more information about searching here

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=701158.0

[FraserandFraser]

I think it is on the GOV site

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=sykes&yearOfDeath=1869&page=2#calendar

[FraserandFraser]

In this case there is a Will that is proven in 1869 @ Hereford, what you found on Ancestry is a copy of the court index that is the "official" and only index listing wills and Admons from 1855

There will be a Will and A Grant of Probate that can be ordered and will probably have a lot more info than the entry in the index.

[charwatkin]

That was so confusing to me. I thought I had ordered one. It must have been from a bogus site because I never got it. Then, I thought that maybe he didn't have one. Being from over here and things working differently, I thought maybe I just didn't know how to order it correctly or that he didn't have a will.

He is my husband's 3rd Great Grandfather. Will have to go home (at work and getting off soon) and look at this step-by-step to be sure and get it right.

Thank you so much!! VERY excited to get this!!!

[dawnsh]

Until the 12th December 2014, those overseas who did not have access to a sterling bank account couldn't order copies of grants and wills unless they visited the counter at The Royal Courts of Justice in London and ordered there.

The service that is now being provided on the internet is brand new and it means that those overseas can search and order copies using their credit cards as well as those of us here.

[pinefamily]

Nothing like a government department keeping up with the times.