Nick Wilson wrote: > I have, with a lot of outside help, been able to trace an > ancestor, who at the time of her marriage in 1812 as a minor was > the ward of her older half brother. > > Can anyone direct me to the laws of guardianship in force two > hundred years ago. Was the Government involved, or could everything > be done in a lawyer office? Was the cerificate of guardianship > then registered and if so where? There were no specific laws as far as I know. It was purely a private arrangement between the parent/s of the child in question and the proposed guardian that could be made just in a will without anything more formal being done. If there was a formal agreement, I think you'll find that only a solicitor (lawyer) was involved. There wasn't the Government interference in private matters then that there is today. A copy of it would have been held by the guardian concerned and another at the solicitor's office. You'd have to know the firm involved to find out whether or not any papers had been kept. If you're lucky they may be in the record office but it's more likely they were destroyed many years ago. Likewise the family copy would also have been destroyed once the guardianship had expired. -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Greinton and Clutton, SOM Asst OPC for Ashcott and Shapwick, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk