This was posted to another list and I thought it might be of interest. ---------------Original Message--------------- Taken from PRONI : Your Family Tree 7 Wills are an extremely important source of genealogical information on the property owning class in Ireland. They contain, not only the name, address and occupation of the testator, but also details of the larger family network, such as cousins, nephews etc. Many wills also include the addresses and occupations of the beneficaries, witnesses and executors. The Public Record Office of NI has in its custody all probated Wills for Northern Ireland, 1900 - 1994. After 1900 the original and their associated papers are available filed in a separate envelope for each testator. If the person did not make a Will there may be letters of Administration which as well as containing the name, address etc of the person appointed to administer the personal estate of the deceased, will give the name, residence and occupation of the deceased. There are bound annual indexes to the Wills, covering the years, 1858 - 1984, on the shelves of the Waiting Area. In using these you should note that the date of the Will is not the date when it was made or the date when the person died. The official date of a Will is the `date of probate`, that is, the date when it was officially proved in the Probate Registry of the High Court. This date of probate is normally a few months after a person died, but can be up to ten years later. When ordering out an original Will (1900 - 1984) on a Single Docket Request Form, the name of the deceased, and the date and place of probate should be written down as the reference. Generally speaking all original Wills prior to 1900 were destroyed in Dublin in 1922. However, before the original Wills had been sent to Dublin, each local registry had copied each Will into books which have since been put on microfilm PRONI Ref. MIC/15C. In addition, bound, printed and manuscript indexes to pre-1858 Wills, Administrations and Administration Bonds exist and are available in the Public Search Room. They are useful for genealogical searching; for although the Will cannot now be produced, the index sometimes contains some information about persons and that their Will was proved at a certain date. These indexes relate to a diocese and not to a county. This is because, prior to 1858, Wills were probated by the Diocesan Bishops of the Established Church. The following dioceses cover the Northern Ireland Counties; Diocese of Armagh (Most of Armagh, south Co Londonderry and part of Co Tyrone) Diocese of Clogher (South Co Tyrone, most of Co Fermanagh,part of Co Donegal and part of Co Louth) Diocese of Connor (Most of Co Antrim and part of Cos Down and Londonderry) Diocese of Derry and Raphoe (Central and north Co Londonderry and part of Cos Donegal, Antrim and Tyrone) Diocese of Down (Eastern Co Down and part of Co Antrim) Diocese of Dromore (Western Co Down and part of Cos Antrim and Armagh) It is important to note that although the Wills prior to 1858 were destroyed in 1922, some copies of them are often found in other records. These can be traced in the pre 1858 Will Cards Index, located in the Subject Index Section of the Public Search Room. In addition, small `family trees` compiled from almost all pre 1858 prerogative Wills are to be found in the Burke Collection, PRONI Ref. T/559, to which there is a typescript catalogue index. Probate Wills cannto take effect until after the death of a person and after they have been proved in a court of probate. The grant of probate authenticates the will and confers on the executors the power to administer the estate. Probate can take weeks,months or even years. When the will did not specify any executors, or the executors were unable to act or renounced their intention to act, or had died, a grant of letters of administration with will annexed was granted, usually to the residuary legatees (who may be next of kin). For further information see PRONI`s `Guide to Probate Records`, also available in the Public Search Room. Alex Hughes >from Ayrshire, Scotland Searching for Duncan,Bruce,Kilpatrick,Campbell,Fairley,Milne,McKechan, Jamphray,Strathern,Kelso,Smith & Auld in Scotland Searching for Hughes, Graham, McCutcheon, Donaghy, Irvine, Dorian, Kelley & Black in Ireland ----------End of Original Message----------