Abstracts of wills in early 1800s

[ElizabethHerts]

I have found this abstract on the NA website by searching Discovery.

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7163112

Reference: IR 26/299/31
Description: Abstract of Will of John Ford, Carpenter of Orlestone, Kent.
Proved in the Court of Canterbury.
Date: May 15 1805
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record

Will there be a full copy somewhere? I tried searching Ancestry but no luck there.

[Merry]

It shows on this site but I haven't read about copies:

http://wills.canterbury-cathedral.org/

Will Ford John Orlestone 1804 1805 PRC/17/103/639b PRC/16/482 F/6 1805

Note it's the Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury not the PCC

[Merry]

Ah:

All of the wills contained in this database can be viewed on microfilm in the reading room at Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library. If you would like to visit, please see our website for opening hours, ID requirements and details of forthcoming closures: http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/conservation/library/visits/

Alternatively we can send copies by post. Please provide full details including names, dates and reference numbers to [email protected]. The charge for this service is £0.50 per A4 page plus handling (based on a rate of £30 an hour, usually £7.50), inclusive of VAT, with postage added for overseas orders only.

[kiterunner]

It's the Consistory Court of Canterbury, Elizabeth, not the Prerogative one. It comes up in the probate search on the Canterbury Cathedral Archives website - which I hadn't seen before:
http://wills.canterbury-cathedral.org/
If you click on the "copies" tab, there is info about how to order a copy. I think I might be ordering a few!

Edit - I see Merry beat me to it!

[ElizabethHerts]

Merry, many thanks. I was going round in circles trying to find it as the Kent RO site was no use.

I can see I'm going to have to order the will.
I'm clutching at straws. My elusive 3x-great-grandmother states on one census she was from Rye, Sussex and another Appledore, Kent. Appledore and Orlestone are about 5 miles apart, and a John Ford had a daughter Mary at the right time.

[tenterfieldjulie]

Liza when I was at the new Maidstone Library in Kent (I think it is the RO) they have wills there on microfilm. Bother I wish I could remember what wills they were.

[ElizabethHerts]

Thanks too, Kate. I must have been typing when you posted.

Hi Julie! *waves* Now, as you know, Maidstone isn't too far from Chislehurst...

[kiterunner]

FamilySearch have images of Kent wills to browse, including the Archdeaconry of Canterbury, and including 1805, but you have to go to a FamilySearch Centre to access them.

[ElizabethHerts]

That's interesting, Kate, but it's probably cheaper for me to order it, unless I had a lot to look at.

By the way, Family Search have Cornwall wills on film at Salt Lake City. A stalwart of Cornwall OPC goes virtually every year and this year he has come back with some wills on film, which are starting to be transcribed and will appear on the Cornwall OPC website in transcribed form.

[Lindsay]

Thanks for the Canterbury Cathedral Archives link - it looks like there are several of interest to me.

If only I'd known a few months ago - my daughter was at Uni in Canterbury until this summer!

[tenterfieldjulie]

The library at Maidstone have a system I haven't seen anywhere else whereby you put the microfilm on the filmreader but you view it on the computer which has the capacity to enhance the microfilm either lighter or darker, smaller larger etc.
There are different people on the desk in the fh section and some don't have a lot of idea of fh, but Michael is the man that I've been fortunate to find twice and he is very interested in fh . Met him at the fh fair. He also knows how to get the best out of the sources and equipment. There is also a secure room to view original documents.

[ElizabethHerts]

When you print out at Portsmouth History Centre the machines are pretty good at making the image lighter/darker etc. I printed out about 20 images from St Mary Portsea registers, and they commented on how many there were. But then I told them that is just the tip of the iceberg...

Lindsay, how frustrating for you to find this information now!