Hi Cornelia Prior to 1858, the proving of wills was a matter for ecclesiastical (church) courts, of which there were a great many. After that date, the state took over and the system became a national, rather than a local one. The ERO leaflet at http://tinyurl.com/3tt7w9k may be helpful to you. Don't forget, though, that the likelihood of your ancestors having made wills decreases as you go back in time. Best wishes Caroline > > > Ancestry has a probate calender for 1861-1941 and I've spent some > time playing in it today and finding many wills and probates that I > failed to find either at SEAX during previous visits or A2A during > previous and current visits. a lovely tool, though I haven't > succeeded in finding all of my cousins so am not sure I've found all > of the wills and probates. > > my question, do earlier calenders exist, and if so, are any > online > and where do I find them. I need them into the 1500's. > > thank you, > > Cornelia > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: Essex-UK- > [email protected] > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ESSEX-UK- > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in > the subject and the body of the message