Search the Wills index records for people with Isle of Wight connections
This searchable index contains references to Wills and Transcriptions.
Transcriptions
The Transcriptions comprise a small selection of Wills relating to Island men and women from the 17th and 18th centuries. The wills may be searched by the name of the testator, or any keywords for people and places mentioned in the body of the Wills.
We are indebted to Member Anne Vinnicombe for providing the transcriptions, and the late Don Hayward who sketched rudimentary family trees based on the information contained.
Reports of Probate
There are also a small selection of entries relating to notices from The Times newspaper of London, which gave the principal beneficiaries and amounts in a number of Probate reports. In these cases, where a link to the National Probate Calendar entry has been located on Ancestry, the link to that entry is given. You will need an Ancestry subscription to view these Calendar entries.
Links to National Probate Calendar
The majority (almost 32,000 entries) of the links reference the Ancestry records which are based on the National Probate Calendar (1858-1966). You will need an Ancestry subscription to view these Calendar entries. These records give the actual date of death of the person, so are useful in adding this information to your family research, and with the Ancestry records, you will find details of residence and to whom probate was granted.
Links to National Probate Calendar on gov.uk
The National Archives has available the Indexes, Calendars, and copies of Wills and Grants of Administration. This may be a better option for those without Ancestry subscriptions. Wills can be downloaded for a fee. The search options fall into three categories :
Will or probate of any person in the UK who died between 1858 and 1996 Will or probate of any person in the UK who died in or after 1996 Will of a soldier who died while serving in the British armed forces between 1850 and 1986
Please enter a Surname or first part thereof. The wildcard character % may be used anywhere within the search field. Entering the name e.g. Brown, will extract all surnames starting with Brown i.e. Brown, Browning, Brownsdon etc.