Before 1858 English wills were proved at a variety of church courts, the main one being the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. There were local courts such as Archdiaconal Courts and Peculiars. From the beginning of 1858 all English wills have been proved at the Principal Probate Registry. The pre-1858 wills have now nearly all been indexed and can be searched online by going to http://www.documentsonline.pro.gov.uk A rare surname may work with the Quick Search but otherwise try the Advanced Search putting in surname, county and date range. If you find one that looks relevant you can download the image for three pounds (GBP 3). Generally the reading is not too much of a problem as the wills are not originals in a variety of hands but are copies in the register carefully written in a fairly standard hand. If you have problems reading them look for key words such as "item," "bequeath," "executor,"etc. and work from there This tip is from the latest Rootsweb review. Bette