Someone who was "of London" when he died would be unlikely to have his will proved in Kent even though he died there. Also, his will may not have been proved in 1844 and, as a barrister, his occupation could appear in a wills index as gentleman. John Smith is a fiendishly difficult name to research as I know from personal experience. Do you have any more information about him that might help in identifying him - was his wife still living in 1844 and what was her name? Do you know the names of his surviving children, or at least that of his oldest surviving son (if he had one)? Was he a barrister in the City of London and do you know which parish, or was he was he more correctly of one of the Middlesex parishes near London? Answers to any or all of these questions may help in tracking down any will and help in eliminating the many wrong John Smiths. Pauline On 30/12/2013 08:51, EM OConnell wrote: > Hello > > I am new to this list because after many years of searching I have finally found the final details of my 3x gt grandfather, John Smith of London, "on 11 March 1844, at Dover, John Smith, esq., barrister at law, aged 61" (Kentish Gazette). > > Being a barrister I would expect that he would have had a will. To this end I have searched on Discovery online and findmypast but I do not have access to ancestry. I tried bringing up the Kent Wills and Probate 1440-1881, Archdeaconry of Canterbury on the familysearch site but only get 'Image not Available' as I am not able to search this at an LDS Centre. > > I believe Film 0189012 would be the correct film, however I also understand there are films of the indexes so I was hoping they may be printed somewhere. > > If so, could someone please advise where I may get a lookup of the index to determine whether my John Smith indeed has a will, and whether it would be worthwhile to order a film as I am a long way from the nearest LDS centre. Or, if there is any other way to access these Wills & Probates. > > Very many thanks in anticipation and best wishes to everyone for 2014. > > Elizabeth O'Connell > New Zealand > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to KENT-ENG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >