We are very fortunate that Victorian Wills and Probate Records are available online at the Public Record Office Victoria.
My Great Grandmother told her family that her father's name was Richard Foy. However, when we finally tracked down her birth record, there was no father listed.
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| Source: www.bdm.qld.gov.au |
Therefore it was a source of relief to many family members to see Agnes listed as Richard Foy's daughter in his Probate Records.
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| Source: www.prov.vic.gov.au |
Now if only I could translate the Will for my 4 X Great Grandfather, Donald Scott, I may be able to obtain some more insights into the family. This reminds me that you can search Wills on Scotlands People at no cost then pay a small fee to view the original record.
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I have given you for a 'Versatile Blogger' Award. http://msdeniseh553.blogspot.com/2013/04/v-is-also-for-versatile-blogger.html
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Denise
DeleteInteresting stuff! Imagine not seeing your father on the birth record, wow.
ReplyDeleteMy great grandmother was not alive when I started the family history research. Her birth was hard to track down as we were looking for her under Agnes Foy not Agnes Drayton and we had no idea that she was born in Queensland as she grew up in Victoria and then move to South Australia later in life.
DeleteIt was only through her sisters birth (also in Queensland) that we found her!
Don't they publish wills in the papers over there. I know some are in the UK
ReplyDeleteIs it the Will that is published or the notice of intention to apply for probate?
DeleteI can't imagine a full Will being published in the paper as it is so private.
I've got a few old wills from doing family research and they're fascinating to read, if a little difficult. I find the way they just wrote them in a book one after the other in the most cramped handwriting imaginable to be equal parts horrifying and hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI have one Will that was written the my Great Great Grandfather died. Someone else wrote it and he signed it but you could tell by the signature that he was very sick.
DeleteWills have been so very useful in my family research. I confirmed that my great great grandmother Bridget (Colbert) Gilmore had an uncle who also immigrated to Australia. The uncle mentioned Bridget and her brother in his Will as he had no children of his own. This helped me to take my Colberts back another generation in Ireland! Having ancestors Wills makes it so much easier to go back into the 1700s and 1600s in the UK too.
ReplyDeleteIrish research is so hard (well for me anyway).
DeleteI haven't be able to locate any UK Wills. Where did you go to find them? (Beside the National Archives)
I'll have to pass this tip along to my dad. I don't know if he's using wills & probate records or not.
ReplyDeleteOh, and you asked about my dogs on my blog. Only one of the dogs is mine, but the other four I'm also featuring belong to my immediate family members. It was sometimes fun and sometimes frustrating trying to get them to pose with the letters.
You have done a great job with the letters and dogs. I would imagine that there was more frustration than fun!
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