"Sandra Lewis" <slewi4@optusnet.com.au> wrote: Thanks to all who replied. I have searched the national archives and found that neither of them left a will. As I don't live in the UK, my next step is to order the films from the LDS and hope that I find some useful information there. ------------------------------------- Hello Sandra, The fact that you found nothing in The National Archives (TNA) certainly does not indicate that neither of them left a will. As far as I know, the wills found in National Archives Documents Online are PCC (Prerogative Court of Canterbury) wills (meaning that a testator left real estate in more than one Diocese). TNA does not include wills of the Archdeaconry Court of Leicester, which would usually be your first port of call (instructions for finding those wills from LDS films in my earlier e-mail). If you find nothing there, the Diocesan (or Consistorial or Bishops') Court of Peterborough would be the next source to try - these wills also filmed by LDS. (The Archdiocese of Leicester belonged to the Diocese of Peterborough). Also worth checking Phillimore's "Atlas & Index of Parish Registers" to check which probate jurisdiction your parishes of interest came under. Gibson's "Probate Jurisdictions: Where to Look for Wills" explains the ecclesiastical courts' system, or this page gives a basic explanation: http://www.thefamilyhistoryproject.co.uk/get_started.php?id=10 Hope you find something via the LDS films. Regards Blanche Charles Wellington New Zealand