Dear Listers, I have recently received probate information on a number of relatives courtesy of Marjorie, and I now need someone to remind me how I obtain the relevant wills. A second, non connected question is regarding death information. My husband's grandparents, living in Blaenavon in the early 20th century lost 5 of their 8 children. This seemed a very high rate for the time and I would like to know cause of death, but that is just a very high number of certificates to buy. Can anyone advise me if the registry office might be willing to disclose this information for a smaller fee. I don't need the certificates just the information ie premature birth, childhood disease, cot death. I know conditions in Blaenavon may have been poor and polluted but the level of deaths seems excessive. I know two were twins which may have been one reason. Best wishes, Mary
Mary -- it depends what time frame you are looking at (ie pre- or post- 1858). The National Archives website has a very informative page on this topic -- look for Wills and Probate Records. If you are within commuting distance of London and your requirement is post 1858, then try Probate Dept., Principal Registry of the Family Division, First Avenue House, High Holburn, WC1 where you can look up the registers (called Calendars) and order a copy of the will (about £6 last time I was there). Much cheaper than going through any of the commercial organisations. I think they offer a telephone service if you have the dates of grant of probate. There should be other centres in the country offering the same facility. John Holmes ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Newbery" <marynewbery@yahoo.co.uk> To: <monmouthshire@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, June 08, 2012 8:56 AM Subject: [MON] probate and death information > Dear Listers, > I have recently received probate information on a number of relatives > courtesy of Marjorie, and I now need someone to remind me how I obtain the > relevant wills. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MONMOUTHSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message
see http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/probate/copies-of-grants-wills I googled obtaining wills On 08/06/2012 08:56, Mary Newbery wrote: > Dear Listers, > I have recently received probate information on a number of relatives courtesy of Marjorie, and I now need someone to remind me how I obtain the relevant wills. > -- Mike Fisher in Droitwich my family tree http://mjfisher.tribalpages.com
Sometimes Mary, researching the history of the town will give you clues to deaths - cholera outbreak etc. See what you can find out about the history of Blaenavon on the internet or in local history books. Then widen the search to a wider area or research infant mortality at that time period and you may find it is not so unusual. Regards Lyn In Oz. > -----Original Message----- > From: monmouthshire-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:monmouthshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Mary Newbery > Sent: Friday, 8 June 2012 5:57 PM > To: monmouthshire@rootsweb.com > Subject: [MON] probate and death information > > Dear Listers, > I have recently received probate information on a number of > relatives courtesy of Marjorie, and I now need someone to > remind me how I obtain the relevant wills. > A second, non connected question is regarding death information. > My husband's grandparents, living in Blaenavon in the early > 20th century lost 5 of their 8 children. This seemed a very > high rate for the time and I would like to know cause of > death, but that is just a very high number of certificates to > buy. Can anyone advise me if the registry office might be > willing to disclose this information for a smaller fee. I > don't need the certificates just the information ie premature > birth, childhood disease, cot death. I know conditions in > Blaenavon may have been poor and polluted but the level of > deaths seems excessive. I know two were twins which may have > been one reason. > Best wishes, > Mary > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MONMOUTHSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body > of the message