Erm....what about this dead McCrery then?
 

WD McCrery's will added to BK6

I've just found that one of my McCrerys was a widower when he died aged 23 in Feb 1826 :eek: I had thought he was probably single.

He was William Dennis McCrery and there are these two refs for him at TNA.

Item details PROB 31/1229/264
Context : quick reference
PROB Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
Division within PROB Exhibits
PROB 31
PROB 31/1229 254-373
Record Summary
Scope and content Exhibit: 1826/264. William Dennis McCrery, widower, coach lamp manufacturer of St George, Bloomsbury, London. Probate inventory, or declaration, of the estate of the same, deceased
Covering dates 1826 March
Availability Open Document, Open Description, Normal Closure before FOI Act: 30 years
Held by The National Archives, Kew

and:

Item details PROB 31/1262/1687
Context : quick reference
PROB Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
Division within PROB Exhibits
PROB 31
PROB 31/1262 1577-1754
Record Summary
Scope and content Exhibit: 1828/1687. William Dennis McCrery, widower, coach lamp manufacturer of St George, Bloomsbury, London. Probate inventory, or declaration, of the estate of the same, deceased
Covering dates 1828 December
Availability Open Document, Open Description, Normal Closure before FOI Act: 30 years
Held by The National Archives, Kew

I'm a bit confused about whether I'd find more info with one of these than the other and if so which one?

Any ideas please :D

It sounds as if the estate were valued at a certain value - possible not what was originally stated, and then was further revised.
You'd probably learn what they got wrong, and the names of the executor/principal creditor etc.
For this to be of interest, I assume that Death Duty had to be paid. Those registers would give more information, as they would show who was getting the loot, and how they were related.

Thanks Phoenix - Where do I find the death duty registers?

i think they are on FMP for that period.

That's just the index to Death Duty Registers. As far as I know, the only actual register entries that are online are on TNA but they only cover a few years and don't go forward as far as 1826.

OK, I'll have a look. Thanks.

Ah, I was wondering if they were indexes only.

The index might tell you who the executor was, or who one of the executors was, but nothing else.

OK, so if I was to order one of those TNA docs, would it be better to get the later, possibly amended, one or just take pot luck!??

So FMP doesn't have both bits?

TNA have the microfilms up to ( I think) 1858, but it's hugely complicated, as you have to get a ref from one to then go to the next, actual, register. I have notebooks covered in figures in squares & circles so I knew (at the time) what I was looking at.

If you go onto LMA's site, they have a database of some London wills, but I suspect not all of them.