Thursday, 20 February 2020

Killing Off Ancestors From the Comfort of Home, Part 2


Inkpot, pen, and folded legal document

In Part 1 I covered death certificates, church death and burial records, interment registers, and monumental inscriptions – all great sources for identifying when and where your forebears died.

Here, in Part 2, I’ll discuss a few more tried and trusted methods of locating your ancestors who have gone to join the choir invisible.

First of all, probate records.  In order for heirs to inherit property, many legal systems require a written record; this is called a will, or a testament in Scots law.  Also included may be an inventory of the deceased’s moveable possessions.

To find testaments or inventories of someone dying in Scotland, search the free index at ScotlandsPeople (1513-1925).  The results provide details of the deceased, such as their occupation or residence, which may help narrow down your search. 

Probate records at the National Archives of Ireland’s website are grouped into three sections: Prerogative and diocesan wills 1596-1858, Calendars of wills and administrations 1858-1922, and Will registers 1858-1900 

In England and Wales, the majority of wills were administered by the Church of England’s Prerogative Court of Canterbury from 1384 to the beginning of 1858.  You can learn about these documents and how to access them online at The National Archives.  Their index is free to use (charges apply if you wish to download a copy of a will, although they are free to view onsite at Kew). 

Probate records from around the world can be found via FamilySearch – tick the “Probate” box and any other options which would help your search.  Images of many records are available, and all are free to view.

FamilySearch record search page, world map


At home, you might find funeral-related documents among the family papers: undertakers’ bills, memorial programmes, mourning cards, etc.  Other useful items could include military memorabilia such as telegrams or paybooks.  For British and Commonwealth forces, not only burial locations and photographs but grave registration, headstone, and other documents can be found in individual entries at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s website.

Newspaper family announcements can be a valuable source of information when tracking down deceased relatives, particularly in more recent times when online tributes are becoming popular.

A few examples of these are

For earlier centuries, the official UK government newspaper, the easily-searched Gazette (and its regional editions) carried family and probate notices, as well as military promotions.  PDF images of its pages can be viewed and downloaded.

Also check out my two previous posts on free searchable newspapers:

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