I wondered if someone could help me, I have great difficulty in finding anything on A2A, I think it is my age. The thing I am looking for is a Will for a John Ainsworth Horrocks he was a farmer and died in 1843 age 79 years 1 week and 3 days (that is how it is written on the death certificate) on the 23rd of August at Gabriels or Gaberels Farm Horwich. Thank you, Margaret
In message <[email protected]>, Margaret Horrocks <[email protected]> writes >I wondered if someone could help me, I have great difficulty in finding >anything on A2A, I think it is my age. The thing I am looking for is a >Will for a John Ainsworth Horrocks he was a farmer and died in 1843 age >79 years 1 week and 3 days (that is how it is written on the death >certificate) on the 23rd of August at Gabriels or Gaberels Farm >Horwich. Thank you, Margaret Most wills from southern Lancashire were proved locally (Cheshire diocese). They are held at the Lancashire Record Office but don't seem to show on the A2A site. There is an online index at the Lancashire Will Search site: http://www.xmission.com/~nelsonb/lws.htm Some wills were proved at Canterbury or York. The PCC (Canterbury) ones are available online from the National Archives. This site: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/wills.asp explains it all. Click on 'search' in the last paragraph of the Introduction to search the PCC wills. Unfortunately, neither of these seems to have a will for John Horrocks around 1843. (There is a John Horrocks, Gentleman of Derby, PCC 1846. Probate could be quite a while after death. Any chance your John retired to Derby?) He may not have left a will. Many farmers were tenants or, even if he owned his farm, he may have given it to his heirs before he died. Or maybe his will was proved at York. I think this was quite rare, unless he owned land north of the Ribble or in another county, but I don't really know. These wills are at the Borthwick Institue. They don't seem to have an online index. You have to pay for a search http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/bihr/PostalService/Copies.htm (or visit and do it yourself, I assume). -- David Hartley