Sunday, 28 August 2011

Wills and Probate Records

Is your ancestor's will available via the internet?

 Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV) has made public the Wills and Probate records from 1841 to 1925.

Listed below are the Wills of people who were recorded as being Clyde residents when they died. All are available on-line. There are more than 40 names listed on the PROV website

Wm S. Allars
Richard A Fountain
Charlotte Lineham
Mary A.Stewart
Peter Atkinson
George Gates
James Lineham
John Stick
George Bissett
James Gates
Thomas Lineham
Catherine Talbot
William B Brunt
Embling Hardy
Ernest Rickey
Adelaide Thomas
William R Burnside
John Henderson
Anthony Ridgway
George Thomas
Eliza Cadd
John A Hodges
George Ridgway
Hedley Thomas
Thomas Cadd d.1887
Isaac Hook
Sophia Ridgway
James Thornell
Thomas Cadd d.1898
Sarah J Ibison
Richard Robins
Margaret J Tucker
Alfred E Cam
Samuel J Ladd
Annetta Smith
Thomas Werrett
James F Cromb
Thomas McC Lighton
Francis G. Smith
Thomas H Williams

Wills of other people who once lived in Clyde can be read on-line from the Public Records Office. Some of these include:
Ann Churchill 
Andrew Henderson
William E Manks
Benjamin Rossiter
Colin C Cadd 
James  Henderson
Edward North
John R Rutter
Richard Feehan
Alexander  Kennedy
Terrence O'Connor
William Sykes
Henry J  Grayson
Timothy  Lynch
Alexander Patterson
Charles C  Wadey

These documents contain information about beneficiaries, family members, addresses, and possessions.
A longer list of "Clyde" names can be found on the Clyde History website

You can read the digitised versions of Wills from the (PROV) Victorian Public Records Office.

Step 1. Open up PROV website for Wills and Probate
Step 2. Select Online Index to Wills, Probate and Administrative Records
Step 3. In the Search boxes, to begin you could add Family Name or Residence.[Clyde] then click Search 
Step 4. On the new page,  under View order record, select the underlined numbers on the right hand side. eg VPRS 28/P33, unit 290 to see the page Item Details
Step 5. On the Item Details page, select View digitised Item. This will open up into a pdf  version of a Will.

 Can't find your ancestor's Will online?
  • Your ancestor who once lived at Clyde may have died elsewhere or his/her death was registered as being in Cranbourne or Berwick.
  • Your ancestor may have died after 1925. In this case you can read his/her Will at the PROV (Public Records Office Victoria) in North Melbourne.

 The Public Records Office of Victoria provides the following information:-

Terminology

A will is the legal instrument that permits a person, the testator or testatrix, to make decisions on how their estate will be managed and distributed after death. The will usually names one or more persons, the executor or executrix, to carry out the wishes and directions in relation to the estate.

A person who dies leaving a will is referred as having died testate. If a person does not leave a will, or the will is declared invalid, the person will have died ‘intestate’, resulting in the distribution of the estate according to the legislation of the state in which the person resided.

Probate is the process of proving to the court the validity of a will. The grant of probate is the official document issued to the executor of the estate to pay all debts, collect any monies due and to distribute any remaining assets in accordance with the wishes of the deceased as expressed in the will. 

Letters of administration are issued when a person dies without a valid will.  This is the alternate grant to granting of probate.  The grant is normally made to next-of-kin and the estate is distributed on the basis of a formula laid down by legislation. 
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