Wills, Administrations, Probate and Inventories: Difference between revisions

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FIBIS resources

Bengal Wills in the India Office Records 1780 to 1866 Complete, 1867-1909 surnames beginning ‘A’ only.
Officers Wills in the India Office Records an index and extract from the IOR series L/AG/34/30/30. The wills of only 37 officers are included. They cover all three presidencies over the years 1831 to 1875
Administration Act Books Administrations relating to India 1764 to 1857
Limited Administration Act Books relating to India 1830 to 1839
Sylvia Murphy, "Some Sources of Probate and Estate Records for India," FIBIS Journal, No 8 (Autumn 2002). For details of how to access this article online, see FIBIS Journals.

Obtaining a copy of a will

To obtain a copy of a will indexed in the above FIBIS resources you have the following options:

Copies of British India Office Wills & Probate 1774-1948 are available from findmypast
Contact the British Library
Order a LDS film (refer below) or LDS photocopy. See Family History Centres.
FIBIS members can also take advantage of the FIBIS research service to obtain a photocopy of a microfilmed will from the British Library (and, indeed, details from other records ) where a reference has been found on the website. A search can also be made for wills, probates and inventories which may not yet be listed on the site. Members should contact the research co-ordinator - research@fibis.org - for details of this service.

Records

The British Library webpage Wills and Administration lists sources in the India Office Records.

The records include Wills, probates, administrations and inventories of estates of persons who died in India and Burma IOR/L/AG/34/29 which include

Bengal wills IOR/L/AG/34/29/4-184 Calcutta Supreme/High Court
Madras wills and administrations IOR/L/AG/34/29/185-340 Madras Supreme/High Court
Bombay wills and administrations IOR/L/AG/34/29/341-380 Bombay Supreme/High Court

These records, with images, are available for download on the findmypast website.

Note that if you are searching for a person who lived outside of Calcutta and the other capitals, up-country, in the Mofussil, they will probably be found in the records of the District Courts, not the Supreme Courts. The District Court records start from 1865, as explained in this summary of L/AG/34 contents. The only information available in relation to wills proved in District Courts are the summaries of grants made which are contained in the District Court Calendars of Probate. Unlike wills proved in the Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, copies of the actual wills were not sent to the India Office in London. These records do NOT appear to have been digitised by FindMy Past. At this point (December 2009) it appears most likely that the Indian Courts, rather than Regional State Archives in India would be most likely to hold the probated wills, if copies still exist. Details of both these sources may be found in Indian Libraries and Archives.

Some wills proved in England relate to persons with links to India or, indeed, those who have actually died in India. Maybe property was held at home and abroad and, therefore, the will was proved in both places. Where this happened before 1858 a will held in the British Library may also be mirrored in the Documents Online section of the National Archives website – from where it can be downloaded at nominal cost. National Archives.

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1861-1941 is now available through Ancestry.co.uk. Note there are a few gaps in records. If you wish to order a copy of a will or grant mentioned in this collection, you can do so for a fee from the Principal Probate Registry or any district probate registry, or you can make a request by mail. Read how to do this in the Guide to obtaining probate records from 1858 in England and Wales by Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS) part of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

External Links

findmypast
Microfilms in the Family History Library - a list obtained by a keyword search ('probate, India') of filmed India Office records in the LDS (Mormon) Family History Library Catalogue.
Wills and Where to find them in England and Wales by Gillian Stevens and Chad Hanna sog.org.uk upload 2013

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ==FIBIS resources==
-*Sylvia Murphy, "Some Sources of Probate and Estate Records for India," ''FIBIS Journal'', No 8 (Autumn 2002). For details of how to access this article online, see [[FIBIS Journals]].
-The following information is available on the FIBIS Search database.
 *[http://www.search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=153&s_id=139 Bengal Wills in the India Office Records] 1780 to 1866 Complete,  1867-1909 surnames beginning ‘A’ only.
 *[http://www.search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=158&s_id=139 Officers Wills in the India Office Records] an index and extract from the IOR series L/AG/34/30/30. The wills of only 37 officers are included. They cover all three presidencies over the years 1831 to 1875
 *[http://www.search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=13&s_id=30 Administration Act Books] Administrations relating to India 1764 to 1857
 *[http://www.search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=14&s_id=30 Limited Administration Act Books] relating to India 1830 to 1839
+*Sylvia Murphy, "Some Sources of Probate and Estate Records for India," ''FIBIS Journal'', No 8 (Autumn 2002). For details of how to access this article online, see [[FIBIS Journals]].
 ===Obtaining a copy of a will===
-If you want to obtain a copy of a will that you have found a reference for in FIBIS’s transcriptions, you can get copies of British India Office Wills & Probate 1774-1948 from [http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=2114&id=201071 findmypast], contact the [[British Library]], or order a LDS film (refer below) or LDS photocpy, details  [[Family History Centres|here]].
+To obtain a copy of a will indexed in the above FIBIS resources you have the following options:
-[http://www.fibis.org/membership.htm FIBIS members] can also take advantage of the FIBIS research service to obtain a photocopy of a microfilmed will from the [[British Library]] (and, indeed, details from other records ) where a reference has been found on the website. A search can also be made for wills, probates and inventories which may not yet be listed on the site. Members should contact the research co-ordinator - [mailto:research@fibis.org research@fibis.org] - for details of this service.
+* Copies of British India Office Wills & Probate 1774-1948 are available from [http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=2114&id=201071 findmypast]
+* Contact the [[British Library]]
+* Order a LDS film (refer below) or LDS photocopy. See [[Family History Centres]].
+* [http://www.fibis.org/membership.htm FIBIS members] can also take advantage of the FIBIS research service to obtain a photocopy of a microfilmed will from the [[British Library]] (and, indeed, details from other records ) where a reference has been found on the website. A search can also be made for wills, probates and inventories which may not yet be listed on the site. Members should contact the research co-ordinator - [mailto:research@fibis.org research@fibis.org] - for details of this service.
 ==Records==
@@ Line 22: / Line 23: @@
 *[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=059-iorlag_4&cid=1-60-4#1-60-4 Bombay wills and administrations '''IOR/L/AG/34/29/341-380'''] Bombay Supreme/High Court
-Note that if you are searching for a person who lived outside of Calcutta and the other capitals, up-country, in the Mofussil, they will probably be found in the records of the District Courts, not the Supreme Courts. The District Court records start from 1865, as explained in this [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=059-iorlag_4&cid=1-65#1-65 summary of L/AG/34 contents].  This Rootsweb India List [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/2009-10/1256029313 thread] advises that the only information available in relation to wills proved in District Courts are the summaries of grants made which are contained in the District Court Calendars of Probate. Unlike wills proved in the Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, copies of the actual wills were not sent to the India Office in London. These records do NOT appear to have been digitised by FindMy Past. At this point (December 2009) it appears most likely that the Indian Courts, rather than  Regional State Archives in India would be most likely to hold the probated wills, if copies still exist. Details of  both these sources may be found in [[Indian Libraries and Archives]].
+These records, with images, are available for download on the [http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=2114&id=201071 findmypast] website.
+Note that if you are searching for a person who lived outside of Calcutta and the other capitals, up-country, in the Mofussil, they will probably be found in the records of the District Courts, not the Supreme Courts. The District Court records start from 1865, as explained in this [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=059-iorlag_4&cid=1-65#1-65 summary of L/AG/34 contents].  The only information available in relation to wills proved in District Courts are the summaries of grants made which are contained in the District Court Calendars of Probate. Unlike wills proved in the Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, copies of the actual wills were not sent to the India Office in London. These records do NOT appear to have been digitised by FindMy Past. At this point (December 2009) it appears most likely that the Indian Courts, rather than  Regional State Archives in India would be most likely to hold the probated wills, if copies still exist. Details of  both these sources may be found in [[Indian Libraries and Archives]].
 Some wills proved in England relate to persons with links to India or, indeed,  those who have actually died in India. Maybe property was held at home and abroad and, therefore, the will was proved in both places. Where this happened before 1858 a will held in the British Library may also be mirrored in the Documents Online section of the National Archives website – from where it can be downloaded at nominal cost.   [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/willsdeathduties.asp National Archives].
-[http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1904 England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1861-1941] is now available through Ancestry.co.uk. Note there are a few gaps inrecords. If you wish to order a copy of a will or grant mentioned in this collection, you can do so for a fee from the Principal Probate Registry or any district probate registry, or you can make a request by mail.  Read how to do this in the [http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1176.htm Guide to obtaining probate records from 1858 in England and Wales]  by Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS)  part of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
+[http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1904 England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1861-1941] is now available through Ancestry.co.uk. Note there are a few gaps in records. If you wish to order a copy of a will or grant mentioned in this collection, you can do so for a fee from the Principal Probate Registry or any district probate registry, or you can make a request by mail.  Read how to do this in the [http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1176.htm Guide to obtaining probate records from 1858 in England and Wales]  by Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS)  part of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
-This India List [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/2011-01/1295666073 post] advises that contemporary newspapers are a good source of information, and mentions ''The Times'' (London}
-Wills may be a means of tracing family links through the beneficaries named.  This India List [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/2009-12/1261146747 post] says “I have a will from Bengal dated 1813 in which an ancestor of mine named his brother-in-law as a beneficiary. That is the only clue I have to his wife's identity”.
 ==External Links==
+*[http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=2114&id=201071 findmypast]
 *[http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlehitlist&columns=*%2C0%2C0&keyword=+Probate+India&prekeyword=+Probate+India Microfilms in the Family History Library] - a list obtained by a keyword search ('probate, India') of filmed India Office records in the [[LDS]] (Mormon) Family History Library Catalogue.
 *[http://www.sog.org.uk/uploads/Gillian_Stevens_and_Chad_Hanna_-Wills_and_Where_to_Find_Them.pdf Wills and Where to find them in England and Wales] by Gillian Stevens and Chad Hanna   sog.org.uk [http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/who-do-you-think-you-are-2013-speakers-handouts/ upload] 2013