Probate calendar look-up please

[lozaras]

Could someone look to see if there is a will to send for, for my relative:

Lawrence Randall 1768-1833 - Norfolk

Thanks.

[Margaret in Burton]

Could someone look to see if there is a will to send for, for my relative:

Lawrence Randall 1768-1833 - Norfolk

Thanks.

Probate calendar on Ancestry doesn't start until 1861 Sarah.

[ElizabethHerts]

Sarah, I've looked at the death duty registers on FMP but haven't found anything yet. I have looked up until 1838. I'll have another look later in case I missed anything.

[Phoenix]

I've looked on NOAH and the 1815 will is there, but no other Lawrence/Laurence Randalls

[lozaras]

Oh, I've misunderstood something. I thought you had to physically look for wills in a record office on the National Probate Calendar? Is that what you refer to, Marg? Is it on Ancestry too, then?

If there is no will reference on line, does it mean that there is no will?

So the Lawrence Randall that died in 1815 left a will, and his grandson, Lawrence Randall, that died in 1894 also left a will, but the Lawrence in the middle (son of the former & father of the latter) didn't leave a will?? Seems strange.

[kiterunner]

Sarah, the National Probate Calendar started in 1858 when the probate office took over from the church. So probate was granted by the church for nearly all wills made by people who died before 1858, and where those wills are held depends on which church body granted probate. But the Index to Death Duty Registers should have an entry if there is a will to be found. The Index to Death Duty Registers is on findmypast but you have to trawl through it. NOAH is Norfolk Access to Online Heritage and it has a lot of the Norfolk wills online.

[tenterfieldjulie]

Thanks Kate that is something I have never understood.

[ElizabethHerts]

For those who don't know about it, this is the link for the death duty records 1796-1903 on FMP:

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/DeathDutyStartSearchServlet

You find them on the menu under Life Events (BMDs) and then under Deaths and Burials.

After 1858 you get the Probate Calendar results. However, you have to trawl through the pages yourself.