DEVON WILLS

Almost all of Devon's Wills were destroyed during the bombing of Exeter. Just a handful  have survived, either in the form of copies  made by the Inland Revenue for legacy tax purposes or by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury during the probate completion process.

Inland Revenue copies can be accessed through

www.a2a.org.uk.

Go to the WELCOME TO a2a box. Choose SEARCH THESE CATALOGUES.

This takes you to the STANDARD search form.

In the KEYWORD box, put the surname you are searching for.

In the LOCATION OF ARCHIVES box, choose Devon Record Office from the selection on offer.

Press the red SEARCH box.

From the catalogues which will then be offered to you, choose ESTATE DUTY OFFICE WILLS  which will show you a number of HITS.

Select HITS  for a listing of surviving Will copies held in the Devon Record Office at Exeter.

Details of DRO photocopying service can be found at

http://www.devon.gov.uk

To trace surviving wills from the Prerogative Court, go to

 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline.

Choose WILLS  from the left hand column headed FAMILY HISTORY.

When the next page appears, under the heading  ABOUT THE WILLS select the fourth word SEARCH.

Simply fill in the LAST NAME box with the name of your choice and a list of available documents will appear.

Click the SEE DETAILS box - the following page will  explain how to purchase copies of these documents online for £3.50 each.

gtl.tree@yahoo.com