Hi Elizabeth, Congratulations on finding his details. A difficult name! The England and Wales National Probate Calendar covers 1858-1966 but unfortunately your death is slightly earlier. Wills prior to 1858 can sometimes be on the British National Archive site. I've done a search and haven't been able to locate anything. If you contact the Society of Genealogists in the UK (http://www.sog.org.uk/) they hold the Ledgers of the Bank of England will abstracts for between 1717 and 1845. They may be able to assist you. Alternatively they may be able to locate further information for you on your 3x great grandfather. Have a great new year. Best wishes, Cathryn Australia On 30/12/2013 7:51 PM, 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 >

Hi Elizabeth The East Kent Wills Indexes are on the Kent Archaeological Society’s website and cover Canterbury Archdeaconry and Consistory Court wills pre 1858 and you can search either by name or place. The quickest way to locate the indexes is to search for East Kent Wills Indexes. I did look but could only find a reference to a John Maud Smith of Canterbury who made a will in 1844 which was probated in 1846. The images and the originals of the wills are held at the Kent History and Library Centre at Maidstone. If you want I could have a look at the will the next time I am in there. Best wishes Libby West Malling Kent UK On 30 Dec 2013, at 10:02, Cathryn Warren <cathryn@uandidirect.com.au> wrote: > Hi Elizabeth, > > Congratulations on finding his details. A difficult name! The England > and Wales National Probate Calendar covers 1858-1966 but unfortunately > your death is slightly earlier. Wills prior to 1858 can sometimes be on > the British National Archive site. I've done a search and haven't been > able to locate anything. > > If you contact the Society of Genealogists in the UK > (http://www.sog.org.uk/) they hold the Ledgers of the Bank of England > will abstracts for between 1717 and 1845. > > They may be able to assist you. Alternatively they may be able to locate > further information for you on your 3x great grandfather. > > Have a great new year. > > Best wishes, > Cathryn > Australia > > > On 30/12/2013 7:51 PM, 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 >> > > > ------------------------------- > 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

Thank you so much Cathryn. I hadn't thought about the SOG so I will give them a look. All the best for your own research in 2014. Many thanks again Eliz. O'C On 30/12/2013, at 11:02 PM, Cathryn Warren <cathryn@uandidirect.com.au> wrote: > Hi Elizabeth, > > Congratulations on finding his details. A difficult name! The England > and Wales National Probate Calendar covers 1858-1966 but unfortunately > your death is slightly earlier. Wills prior to 1858 can sometimes be on > the British National Archive site. I've done a search and haven't been > able to locate anything. > > If you contact the Society of Genealogists in the UK > (http://www.sog.org.uk/) they hold the Ledgers of the Bank of England > will abstracts for between 1717 and 1845. > > They may be able to assist you. Alternatively they may be able to locate > further information for you on your 3x great grandfather. > > Have a great new year. > > Best wishes, > Cathryn > Australia > > > On 30/12/2013 7:51 PM, 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 >> > > > ------------------------------- > 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