Genealogy Chat

Have been aimlessly flapping about, trying to find a backward link to a family and not really sure what I was looking for. Just looked on A2A and some gorgeous solicitor in Salisbury has documented two Wills he holds and Title Deeds from 1722 to 1889 - they are mine! Linking a specific property to a specific family. A2A never fails me! Olde Crone

congrats. Hopefully it will also give you some names to add to your tree.

Wonderful! :-) Joy

Olde Crone How lovely! I've been a fan of a2a since I found my gt gt gt grandfather on it. It was fantastic to go to the records office and read his statement about how many pigs he kept, etc. A real snapshot of his life in 1819, and I know more about him than other relatives nearer me in time. It's great that a2a gives you a brief idea about what the document IS, so that you can see if its likely to be useful or not. nell

I must be doing something wrong I actually had a couple of wealthy rellies and cannot even find their wills on there or anything, and I would have expected to. Is there a knack???

Valerie People's names will only appear if they have been indexed. You find what has been put on, if it hasn't been put on, you won't find it. nell

yes I realised that but wondered why they hadnt been put on , are you saying not everybodys will ever been on there thanks

I am told by a solicitor friend that legal firms are now eager to dispose of older documents and so more and more are finding their way to CRO's, which is wonderful news for family historians. I would never have thought of going round all the local solicitors to ask them if they'd got anything. And they wouldn't have told us antway! Jay

I'm chuffed with the a2z 'documents on line' thing, found 4 wills related to my tree:) - cost £3.50 each mind, which could get expensive for the more common names in my tree!

Valerie, I have 3 generations of James Hansons who all had their own thriving businesses (until one bankrupt and he topped himself, but thats another story). I would expect one of them at least to make a will but I get zilcho too. Someone kindly looked up an index for me of probates but they still didnt appear. Cant make it out.

hi Heather hope you are okay, one of mine went bankrupt and Merry kindly found the info in The Times , why dont you ask her ,but I know when he died he had lots of money so am surprised he isnt on there.

Valerie If not everything is on there, its because it hasn't been put on. A2A is NOT comprehensive, there are many documents I have with my relies on, that aren't on A2A. You might also have to look at the National Archives catalogues, or records offices catalogues, or go to places and browse. Indexing and cataloguing are very time-consuming and I doubt whether there will ever be a time when everything is indexed and online (let alone indexed correctly!) nell

thats a shame Helen was hoping one day!!!!!I have done all sorts of googling and I have not been very lucky maybe my google is dodgy

Please what is this A2A and where can you access it? Thanx Alan

its got all sorts of archive material try (www.)a2a.org.(uk) remove brackets

I would not normally look at A2A for Wills as my first port of call - it was because I couldn't find anything on the more usual sites. If you think of the National Archives as holding all the 'important' and 'official' stuff, then A2A is a directory to all the stuff that hasnt made its way to TNA for one reason or another. Many important papers are still in private hands, as are many Church Records, including Wills, Bastardy Orders, Rent and Land Agreements, Church Court proceedings (I found what must have been one of the earliest divorces ever, in the 1600s, amongst the Consistory Court Papers of the Western Deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Richmond - phew! WDA also holds thousands of Wills, because they were one of the great Landowners in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and if you died intestate, the Church got the lot). My problem is deciding what to buy, out of the 800+ documents relating to my family. By the way, £3.50 for a Will is generally money well spent - I recently bought 5 Wills, which cost £17.50 and I got information out of those which probably saved me hundreds of ££ in certificates. So, remember - if your family are not interested in your Family History, consider leaving it all, including your Road Safety Cert, your Tufty Club Badge etc, to either the County Records Office or to the local Archives - someone. one day, will be entranced, and truly grateful to you! Olde Crone