Finding a Will

[tenterfieldjulie]

When my ancestor Robert Ford was buried on 22 February 1838 at Perranuthnoe in Cornwall his address is given as Lancomshire. I did not think my Cornish family would have left wills, but I find 1866-1878 - Lancomshire is a farm being leased. I am now wondering if he may have left a will. I am a novice at finding wills and would appreciate advice at the best place to look. Thank you. Julie

[Merry]

There's some info on where to find probate stuff for Cornwall on Genuki (towards the bottom of the page):

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/

I looked at the link for will abstracts, but there was no Robert Ford (though there were a few other Fords)

As you see, anything stored in Devon was destroyed by enemy action.

I was going to look at the death duty records on FMP but the site is down. :(

[Merry]

Oh and there was no will proved through the PCC

Here's the search page for those:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/browse-refine.asp?CatID=6&searchType=browserefine&pagenumber=1&query=*&queryType=1

[tenterfieldjulie]

Thanks Merry for looking. I remember hearing that some records were lost in bombing raids but didn't realise what. I tried TNA but didn't think it would be there as it wouldn't be large enough. I'll keep these references just in case I have family with enough to leave a will lol

[Mary from Italy]

Do you mean he was the tenant or the landlord of the farm?

If he only leased it from somebody else, then probate wouldn't be necessary as far as I know (unless he had other assets), whereas if he was the owner, it would.

[tenterfieldjulie]

I was hoping that a will would tell me Mary. I'm not sure if he was a worker that they would have noted his place of residence on his burial as Lancomshire. I think the farm was only a few acres. I will have to go and see what else I can find. Apart from the later leases, his burial address is the only reference I have so far found to Lancomshire in Perranuthnoe.

[Merry]

I was hoping that a will would tell me Mary. I'm not sure if he was a worker that they would have noted his place of residence on his burial as Lancomshire. I think the farm was only a few acres. I will have to go and see what else I can find. Apart from the later leases, his burial address is the only reference I have so far found to Lancomshire in Perranuthnoe.

Do you have access to other burials entered in the register by the same vicar to see if he goes everyone's addresses or not? I wouldn't have expected ownership of a property to make any difference to the burial entry, but you might have a clue in the way others are recorded.

[tenterfieldjulie]

I'll contact the OPC and see what she says Merry. I haven't come across the name of Lancomshire with any of the others in the family and I have lots of family there. When his wife died ten years earlier it says Perran and I have seen that quite a lot of times. I'm now thinking he was just living there, unless he got rich mining!! When he marries in 1800 he states he is a miner and also when his dau Anna is born in 1818.