Wills
The last will and testament of a family member can hold the key to a person’s character. Whether he was a benevolent person, one who had a favourite family member or friend, or even a favourite pet can all be found in these records. The wealth of a person and his personal belongings can also be found among these pages and can add that bit of colour to a family tree.
Until 1858 it was the Church who granted probate for the deceased’s goods in order they could be distributed to those mentioned in the will. The distribution of the estate and its goods were normally made to the direct descendents, ie, wife, sons, daughters, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, etc, etc. There was also a male female gender order, where the male always came first.
If the will had been made some time before prior to the testator’s demise, then they may have had time to reconsider the original and altered it in some way. This alteration would have been made by the addition of a “codicil” and would accompany the original will.
Probate. Once a person had died the executors of the estate, those who had been named to oversee the distribution of that persons wealth, had to obtain legal permission in the form of “Probate “.
Prior to 1858 the Church carried out the business of administrating probate. The Church was paid a small fee for this work and it came to be a lucrative business for those involved. The Diocese of Llandaff became the Bishop’s Consistory Court for Monmouthshire although in special cases some were heard in London at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC). By 1858 civil jurisdiction took over from the Church authorities. All persons with proven wills are listed in alphabetical order in a book known as the Calendars of Probate and is available at the National Library of Wales(NLW) for the years 1858-1972. At the County Records Office, Cwmbran are held the Diocese of Llandaff Probate Index 1568 to 1857 of wills held at the NLW. The CRO also have a wills card index of hundreds of other wills.
EGGRA has not at present any indexes on database for wills, although this project is one that will be covered in the near future.