Genealogy Chat

This particular family name is Goulson,and Page Goulson appears in several generations,although this particular one is slightly further off my main line than any other will i have so far. The surname is the one i have traced the furthest backwards and has the highest number of appearances in my tree.In fact on GR i have around 10% of the total of the name. Strangely though i haven't really looked that closely at any of them except via census and baptism/bmd records. Glen

I think wills are much better value than birth certificates. I found one recently for an ancestor from 1809 that named all his children including a daughter I had missed and even left a small legacy to his wife's brother which enabled me to confirm her parents and place of birth. I am not sure what hapened to his barrels of liquor and pewter tankard but I am sure my ancestor celebrated his good fortune. It is well worth getting wills for unmarried sons and daughters. I have one from a great aunt who left me a small bequest that names all her many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews and also confirms who was alive in 1965 and what their married name was. I was also left a small bequest from a great uncle I did not know existed. He had lost touch with his family when he moved to yorkshire. The solicitor had to hire professional geneological researchers to track down all his nieces and nephews and they even put us back in touch with descendents of my grandmother's sister who had emigrated to Australia. As to what hapened to the money. I think it was the large victorian families. Even quite large estates did not go far when divided between ten children and the taxman. All the wills I have found have been at least signed by the person so you can also see a sample of their handwriting.

None of mine were rich, but they were all involved in the land in some way or another - farmers, yeomen and a few ag labs. The ag labs hadnt got a penny to leave, but they DID have a 'three lifetimes' lease on a bit of land, which they carefully passed on, along with the bed, bedding, 2 pigs and a horse and cart! Personally, I find this just as fascinating as the ones who left oodles of cash. I DID indirectly benefit from the Will of my 5 x GGF. He left modest amounts of money (£20) which got passed down the generations and I benefitted from the three remaining unmarried women of this family who carefully scrimped and saved in order for me to receive, some 190 years later, the sum of £1000. OC

Hi Glen I chanced upon my gggg grandfathers will a few months ago and was staggered to find he left 18 houses, a pigsty & yard, 2 fields, a mortgage of £100 secured on the 'Old Mill', £85 split between 5 grandchildren, 2 shillings a week to one daughter, 1 and a half share in 'Union Mill', worktools and linen! All his 11 children were named as well as their spouses and the grandchildren. It was a gem of a find! Debby

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk Wills up to c1858. After that, you need to get them from York, I believe. Angela

Would anyone be kind enough to link me the wills site, I cannot navigate that site if my life depended on it Thank you

Tis her credit card though (see i'm not daft) Oh well,the supper was worth the expense just to keep the peace. Catch you all tomorrow Glen (now nursing a well fed lady)

It's credit card - does it matter if it's now or next week? Angela

Sorry - thought it was double barrelled!!! Or is that just the shotgun Glen's coming after me with?

Snowdrops - Please be polite - That's Mrs. Tinsel - NOT Mrs. Knickers !!! - Sounds SSooo much better don't you think?? Tee hee, Dea x P.S. - I do agree about the mushy peas though!! Dea Xxx

Glen don't you dare buy it - get Mrs Knickers her sausage supper and, as she's still recouperating, buy her some mushy peas too. As you say, it will still be there next week!!

get it! hang the expense, throw the cat a goldfish! (buy both)

Well she is recuperating,and the will isn't going to vanish is it,best leave it till next week.LOL Glen

I know it's only £3.50,but to my other half that is best part of a sausage supper and she feels quite partial to one tonight.! Decisions decisions........... Glen

re Ang's question about where's all the dosh... another rellie who died in 1871 left a farm that was sold, and the money was to be kept in trust and eventually to pass to several grandchildren. My rellie didn't inherit until 46 years later. No idea where the money went after that; she died before her husband & HE remarried (at the age of 73) & died before his new wife but without making a will...

its so easy saying Oh its only £3.50 - all these odd amounts soon add up! I found 2 - that's £7.00! - for father & son who were step-father & step-brother to my rellie. It was worth it though, because there was a mention of his wife & her sons 'by her former husband' So somewhere in Kent there is a set of silver teaspoons with an engraved A that I'd love to see - they could so easily have been mine!

Now I know that you people must all be posh & rich! Oh how I wish for more than a pauper , I would happily splash out on the cost of Wills! Seriously , has anybody found lots of dosh ?? Although I suppose that raises more questions than it answers, like where has all the money gone?

Glen I would go for it too! If you dont you could regret it later. Out of interest I saw the thread the other night re Family Chest, are there any others i could look at? Thanks Claire

Glen, you know that little voice??? its saying 'go ON you know you want to' i would if it were me :)) Julie

Oh, gawd, Glen, its only 3.50! Go on! One of my recent Wills, (£3.50) confirmed ten children, the daughters married names, five grandchildren, the fact that the Solicitor was a family member (thus proving a link to another County, of which I had been unsure) and the provisions for burial, which again, were in a County I would never have thought of. Great value for money, I thought! OC