Peter Wilson Coldham did find and index a huge number of Wills with references to Americans from the PCC Court.? I’m sure he thought he had collected everything that was easily accessible out there when he did that work.

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I have come across one case in my research where the clue to a Swann going to America in the 1650s was buried in the middle of a Chancery Case document.? So, there will be such items hidden out there.? Even now, work by some colleagues in America are unearthing treasures from digitized microfilms at FamilySearch – some of which go back to being filmed in the 1940s but never indexed before.

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It is always worth remembering with PCC Wills – that the Original Wills are held at the PCC as well, in Class PROB 10.? The Original Wills start later – around about 1487 from memory – the very first Will in Class PROB 10 has been endorsed to that effect by a former PRO Official, probably when the Public Record Office was first set up in the 1830s.

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I have found a few occasions where some words which the copy clerks thought were irrelevant to the probate of the Will were ignored when it came to making the copy – especially if it was an addendum at the bottom of a Will or a comment or endorsement on the exterior of the folded Will.? I’m pretty certain Coldham also examined all of these original Wills as well when he compiled his indexes – but I’ve never checked specifically what he says in the Introduction sections of his books – the part that most family historians never read, especially on Ancestry.

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The Original Wills can be easier to read quite often and can enable words or phrases which can be difficult to read in the Copy Wills on Ancestry far easier to decipher.? But they are bundled into boxes arranged by month and year of probate and then arranged inside the box into alphabetical bundles by surname, usually tied together by tags which can be difficult to open as few researchers go there - by the initial letter of the testator’s name.? You can work out the box required using the ‘Discovery’ and ‘Advanced Search’ features on the TNA website. You find the precise month and year of probate using the online index to all PROB 11 probates at the TNA, then search for that same month and year of probate using the PROB 10 description field in the ‘Class’ section of the search field. Sometimes a month of probates can be split across two boxes – with designations like A-D and E-Z to define which box you need to order up.

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Brian

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There is currently a major project at Exeter University which is using AI to transcribe 25,000 wills from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. I am sure there will be many exciting discoveries. You can read about the project here:

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The project is highlighting interesting wills once a month on their blog:

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Debbie Kennett

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Genealogically speaking, when the English wills get transcribed (and some are being transcribed using AI) and made “available”, then turning AI loose with that info could do wonders for “Colonials” looking for British relatives.