Forest of Dean Wills & Administrations Index 1858-1941

Forest of Dean Wills & Administrations Index 1858-1941
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/?Wills_Index

General Information
The Index is now completed and consists of 8,416 Wills & Administrations of Forest of Dean people. The information in this database has been taken from the annual Will books held at Gloucestershire Archives. These Will books contain handwritten copies of wills granted probate at Gloucester between 1858 and 1941.

Beneficiaries and Others
While wills always provide information about the deceased and his or her heirs, many of these will also mention other family members by name and often by relationship. You may find siblings, children, illegitimate children, nephews or nieces whose existence you never suspected.

As the names of other people mentioned in the Wills is of great value to the family history researchers we are also in the process of extracting the names of these people and putting them in an additional Index database and referencing them to the Will they appear in.

Extracting the names of the other people that are mentioned in the Wills is of course going to take much longer to complete. So far the following years have been completed 1858-1891. Futher years will be added periodically.

A Special thanks to David Drinkwater together with Glenn & Lynne Robertson for creating these Indexes

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Here is a good example that shows how useful the Wills Index can be and how it adds information to a recent thread of Barzilla MEEK.
http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?mode=thread&id=27511

In looking at the index of Beneficiaries and Others that were mentioned in the 1863 Will of Barzilla Meek the following people are mentioned.

At this stage you cannot access these details as quicly as I can but soon you will be able to as I am in the process of adding a further facility on the website which will enable you to do so.

HOLT Thomas - Witness
FROWEN Amos - John - Drybrook - Witness
STERRY Eliza - Beneficiary - Daughter
MEEK Ann - Beneficiary - Daughter
MORGAN Elizabeth - Beneficiary - Daughter
WEAVER Maria - Beneficiary - Daughter
HALE Charlotte - Beneficiary - Daughter
MEEK Barzilla - Beneficiary - Son
WELSH Maryann - Beneficiary
HODGES Harriet - Beneficiary
MEEK Charles - Executor
STERRY Abraham - Executor
MARFELL John - Witness

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Three different ways of Searching the Wills Index

There are now three ways you can use the Wills search facility to gather information contained in the Wills Indexes.

Testator
Typically the following information is available about the testator:

Probate date
Full name of the deceased
Death date
Occupation
Abode
Value of estate

Beneficiaries and Others
These are the people that are name on the Will, such as beneficiaries, witnesses and executors.Typically the following information is available about the Beneficiaries:

Probate date
Full name of the person
Role
Occupation
Relationship
Abode

Beneficiaries and Others mentioned in a Will
If you have found a Will of interest in the Index, make a note of the Will number and insert it in the form to bring up a list of all the people mentioned in that Will.

Note: only a small proportion of the Wills have so far had the names of the 'Beneficiaries and Others' extracted and put into the database, as more names are extracted the database will be updated.

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Will of LOWE Thomas: The Slade East Dean [Yorkley Slade West Dean] 1863

Will Number 00420 with 65 beneficiaries etc. named.

Search for a list of people

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Glenn & Lynne Robertson have extracted a number of "Items of Interest" while Indexing the beneficiaries of some of the 1858-1941 Wills.

Here is an example:
Taken from the 1864 Will of WICKENDEN William, Reverend Clerk B.A. (Will Number 00537)

William Wickenden was a poet and writer. The son of a farmer, he was born at Etloe, near Blakeney. His talents attracted the favourable notice of Dr. Jenner, Dr. Baron and the Rev. Dr. Fosbroke, and was sent to St. John's College, Cambridge. Works include "Poems and Tales, an autobiographical sketch of his early life and "The Bard of the Forest," published in 1851, being "affectionately inscribed to the memory of that great benefactor of the human race Edward Jenner, M.D.," and introduced by a preface written by the Rev. Dr. H. Stebbing.

Yor can view more Items of Interest

1858-1941 Wills: Items of Interest
http://www.forest-of-dean.net//wills/interests/items.html

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Beneficiaries and Others

Currently all the names of of the 'Beneficiaries and Others' mentioned in Forest of Dean Wills from 1858-1890 are now available to search and as more names are extracted the database will be updated.

http://www.forest-of-dean.net/?Wills_Index_Search_Wills_Index

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Forest of Dean FHT Forum

Forest of Dean Wills & Administrations Index 1858-1941 (Announce)

Example - Will of Barzilla MEEK 1863

Three different ways of Searching the Wills Index

Of interest is Thomas Lowe's Will

1858-1941 Wills: Items of Interest

Beneficiaries and Others