Will Probate Districts & Records, 1858+
Where were wills proved?
Following the Probate Act (1857), the Church of Ireland consistorial courts in each diocese and the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Armagh no longer had the authority to prove wills or issue letters of administration. A new Principal Registry was formed in Dublin and 11 District Registries replaced those in the dioceses, namely;
(LDS Microfilm ranges) (PRONI images)
Following the Probate Act (1857), the Church of Ireland consistorial courts in each diocese and the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Armagh no longer had the authority to prove wills or issue letters of administration. A new Principal Registry was formed in Dublin and 11 District Registries replaced those in the dioceses, namely;
(LDS Microfilm ranges) (PRONI images)
- Armagh (1858-1900) (1858-1918)
Excerpt from Will Calendar - image from NAI
How do you find out if any of your ancestors left a will?
Calendars were issued annually indexed by name - the years 1858-1920 for all Ireland are available to search on-line for free via both FamilySearch (1858-1920) and the National Archives of Ireland Will Calendars, 1858-1922 and you can download images of the calendar pages too. To access the calendars post 1920, there are some fairly convoluted instructions on the National Archives of Ireland Guide to Testamentary Records page, or you could raise a glass to Chris Paton, who has made the whole process much less painful by publishing chronological links to the 1923-1981 calendars on the Irish Probate page of his GENES Blog. The CIGO (Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations) website also has some very good first-hand advice on its Wills and Administrations page, especially on what is not there and has annual links to the same post 1922 files.
For Northern Ireland, the PRONI Will Calendars application apparently has indexed calendar entries for the Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry probate districts from 1858-1965.
It is also worth checking the Probate Calendars for England & Wales (1858-1966) (Ancestry - subscription required) too, as any assets or investments held in these countries would require a separate legal process for probate to be granted. Remember, all these calendars were published to reflect the business of that year and complex or contentious wills may have taken years to be proved, so search well after any known death date for records for your ancestors. Be sure to check out all likely entries that appear in later calendars as these may be codicils to the original will.
What can you learn from the calendars?
The calendar entry will provide brief details of the deceased - date and place of death, last usual residence if different, occupation and the value of the deceased's property in Ireland. Executors will usually be named, sometimes including their relationship to the deceased. It should also state (usually in bold) which of the registries named above any will was proved at. If there was no will and the deceased died intestate, you will generally see the word "Admons" or the phrase "administration granted to" and a person named to administer the estate according to inheritance law.
One curious annotation I still haven't figured out is the significance of the numbers that appear in square brackets below the name - can anyone enlighten me? Perhaps page references to the original Will Books that sadly no longer survive?
Calendars were issued annually indexed by name - the years 1858-1920 for all Ireland are available to search on-line for free via both FamilySearch (1858-1920) and the National Archives of Ireland Will Calendars, 1858-1922 and you can download images of the calendar pages too. To access the calendars post 1920, there are some fairly convoluted instructions on the National Archives of Ireland Guide to Testamentary Records page, or you could raise a glass to Chris Paton, who has made the whole process much less painful by publishing chronological links to the 1923-1981 calendars on the Irish Probate page of his GENES Blog. The CIGO (Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations) website also has some very good first-hand advice on its Wills and Administrations page, especially on what is not there and has annual links to the same post 1922 files.
For Northern Ireland, the PRONI Will Calendars application apparently has indexed calendar entries for the Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry probate districts from 1858-1965.
It is also worth checking the Probate Calendars for England & Wales (1858-1966) (Ancestry - subscription required) too, as any assets or investments held in these countries would require a separate legal process for probate to be granted. Remember, all these calendars were published to reflect the business of that year and complex or contentious wills may have taken years to be proved, so search well after any known death date for records for your ancestors. Be sure to check out all likely entries that appear in later calendars as these may be codicils to the original will.
What can you learn from the calendars?
The calendar entry will provide brief details of the deceased - date and place of death, last usual residence if different, occupation and the value of the deceased's property in Ireland. Executors will usually be named, sometimes including their relationship to the deceased. It should also state (usually in bold) which of the registries named above any will was proved at. If there was no will and the deceased died intestate, you will generally see the word "Admons" or the phrase "administration granted to" and a person named to administer the estate according to inheritance law.
One curious annotation I still haven't figured out is the significance of the numbers that appear in square brackets below the name - can anyone enlighten me? Perhaps page references to the original Will Books that sadly no longer survive?
Excerpt from Kilkenny Will register - image from NAI
Where can you find copies of the original wills?
If the calendar entry states that probate was granted, there would have been an original will. Whilst sadly it is well known that many of these, especially those proved in Dublin, were destroyed in the Four Courts fire in 1922, copies of proven wills were also made in other district registry will books, many of which were microfilmed by the LDS. Click on any of the date ranges appended to districts in bold green above to be taken to the catalogue entry to find out the relevant microfilm reference numbers to order. I understand that all of these physical microfilms have been donated to the Society of Genealogists in London, so if you want to view them you will have to visit their library in London, and presumably pay for the privilege as a guest if you are not an SOG member? But don't despair - read on ....!
As of September 2016, the National Archives of Ireland have also released over 500,000 digital images of what must be these same registers for free online which you can access via Will Registers, 1858-1900 The search screen lets you search by a number of different options including names, dates and location - note this location is not the District Registry office but the address of the deceased as given in the will. One really useful feature of this site, is that when you are searching for a particular name, you will first get the results where the name appears as the "Deceased", followed by where the same name may have appeared as an heir or executor in someone else's will or grant of administration. The index results also helpfully list all the named heirs or executors too, which should make it easier to identify which candidate is your man or woman in a list of more common names.
The PRONI Will Calendars application will also allow you to see a digital image of the will copied into the will book for selected date ranges - these are detailed above in bold purple for reference only - I cannot link directly to them. If there is an image for your ancestors will, you will be able to open it from the calendar entry.
If the calendar entry states that probate was granted, there would have been an original will. Whilst sadly it is well known that many of these, especially those proved in Dublin, were destroyed in the Four Courts fire in 1922, copies of proven wills were also made in other district registry will books, many of which were microfilmed by the LDS. Click on any of the date ranges appended to districts in bold green above to be taken to the catalogue entry to find out the relevant microfilm reference numbers to order. I understand that all of these physical microfilms have been donated to the Society of Genealogists in London, so if you want to view them you will have to visit their library in London, and presumably pay for the privilege as a guest if you are not an SOG member? But don't despair - read on ....!
As of September 2016, the National Archives of Ireland have also released over 500,000 digital images of what must be these same registers for free online which you can access via Will Registers, 1858-1900 The search screen lets you search by a number of different options including names, dates and location - note this location is not the District Registry office but the address of the deceased as given in the will. One really useful feature of this site, is that when you are searching for a particular name, you will first get the results where the name appears as the "Deceased", followed by where the same name may have appeared as an heir or executor in someone else's will or grant of administration. The index results also helpfully list all the named heirs or executors too, which should make it easier to identify which candidate is your man or woman in a list of more common names.
The PRONI Will Calendars application will also allow you to see a digital image of the will copied into the will book for selected date ranges - these are detailed above in bold purple for reference only - I cannot link directly to them. If there is an image for your ancestors will, you will be able to open it from the calendar entry.
How do I find the entry in the District Will Book on microfilm?
This is somewhat superceded advice given the September 2016 release of images by NAI, but if you are using the LDS microfilms then here are my observations. Based on the Kilkenny books I've studied, you should find a name index at the front of the volume referring you to a numbered page. However, if you don't find your ancestor in the index at the front, scroll through the film as the volume may be divided into sections, each with their own index - I found one ledger that actually consisted of 3 separately indexed sections. Following the transcript of the will there will generally be a short section detailing the circumstances of the deceased's demise and a formal annotation of probate.
This is somewhat superceded advice given the September 2016 release of images by NAI, but if you are using the LDS microfilms then here are my observations. Based on the Kilkenny books I've studied, you should find a name index at the front of the volume referring you to a numbered page. However, if you don't find your ancestor in the index at the front, scroll through the film as the volume may be divided into sections, each with their own index - I found one ledger that actually consisted of 3 separately indexed sections. Following the transcript of the will there will generally be a short section detailing the circumstances of the deceased's demise and a formal annotation of probate.
