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

http://prov.vic.gov.au/research/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. 

• Read more in Clyde Victoria 3978 - History
        http://clydehistory.blogspot.com/
• Editor - clydehistory@gmail.com

Electoral Rolls and Clyde Residents

If you refer to Electoral Rolls you may confused about the whereabouts of your ancestors. Hoping that this page might be helpful to you.

A: Electorally Clyde was split across into two parts- North of Ballarto Road and South of Ballarto Road.

So if you are checking Electoral Rolls via Ancestry.com (or other sources) you first need to know where your ancestors actually lived. If their home was south of Ballarto Road then you will have lots of difficulty in finding their name as the electoral boundaries changed often and had different names. Not all Clyde people were enrolled for the same Polling Station/Electoral Subdivision.

B: Earliest District Roll 1856

Properties that would eventually become Clyde are listed under Cranbourne.

Electoral District - Evelyn and Mornington, Subdistrict- Mornington

C: Years and Names of Electoral Subdivisions.
1903 –1977 All Clyde listings are in the Division of Flinders

	Electoral Subdivision	Electoral Subdivision
Year	North of Ballarto Road	South of Ballarto Road
1903	information unavailable	Tooradin / Langwarrin
1905-06	Cranbourne Polling Place	Tooradin Polling Place
1909-27	Dandenong	Lang Lang
1928-43	Berwick	Frankston
1954	Cranbourne	Frankston
1963-77	South Eastern	Hastings

D: From 1963-1977 Clyde Voters were separated into different electoral districts.

1977-1980

If Clyde people lived SOUTH of Ballarto Road then their electoral divisions were as follow

1977
District	Holt
Subdivision	Cranbourne South

1949-1977

If Clyde people lived NORTH of Ballarto Road then their electoral divisions were as follows

	1963	1968	1972	1977	1977
District	Bruce	Holt	Holt	Holt	South Eastern
Sub-division	Berwick	Berwick	Berwick	Cranbourne	Cranbourne

1980 -
1. Voters  NORTH of Ballarto Road were in the District of  Holt,
Subdivision of  Cranbourne.
1980 Electoral Roll

2. Voters SOUTH of Ballarto Road were in the District of Holt,
Subdivision of Cranbourne South

E: To unravel the confusion it is good to know:-
a) About streets and roads
Streets and roads are listed below as they are today. Prior to early 1960’s/late 1950’s property owners did not always use street names as being their residential addresses. As the postman didn’t deliver mail to homes Clyde people would go to the Clyde Post Office to collect their mail. Besides almost every adult in the town knew where everyone else lived. Some property owners added a property name to their address eg St Germains, Pine Grove, Hiltonwood. Simply put, there was no practical need to record one’s self by using a street name.

b) Some Clyde people registered themselves as living in Cranbourne, Berwick or Tooradin. Examples of this include the Lineham family who lived on the corner of Patterson and Fisheries Road- definitely in Clyde to all of us who knew them. We understood why they registered themselves that way.

Many of us would have the postal address as c/- Clyde Post Office, via Cranbourne. When asked ”Clyde? Where is Clyde?” we often answered “Near Cranbourne” as most other people didn't know about Clyde but had heard of Cranbourne.

c) On which side of Ballarto Road lived your relatives - north or south? Ballarto Road is the dividing line between the electoral boundaries.

Streets/Roads north of Ballarto Road

Bells Road (Mel 135 H, 9)	Pound Road (Mel 131 J,12)
Grices Road (Mel 131 B,7)	Railway Road (Mel 134 J,10)
Hardys Road (Mel 135 A,3)	Soldiers Road (Mel 131 J,12)
McCormicks Road (Mel Key Map 14 P,15)	Thompsons Road (Mel 131 A,11)
Muddy Gates Lane (Mel Key Map 14 P,15)	Tuckers Road (Mel 135 C,12)
Oroya Grove (Mel 134 K,11)	Twyfords Road (Mel 134 K,9)
Pattersons Road (Mel 134 K,7)	Valetta Street (Mel 134 K,11)

Streets/Roads South of Ballarto Road

Bakers Road (Mel 136 K,2)	Manks Road (Mel 138 H,7)
Beechers Road (Mel 134 J,1)	Moores Road (Mel 138 H,3)
Campbells Road (Mel 138 K, 1) Clyde-Five Ways Road (Fisheries Road) (Mel 134 J, 1)	Muddy Gates Lane (also north of Ballarto Road) (Mel 139 K,9) Ridgway Road (Mel 134 K,12)
Derricks Road (Mel 139 B,1)	Tooradin Station Road (Key Map 14 P, 16)
Fisheries Road (Clyde -Five Ways Road) (Mel 134 J,1)	Yallambee Road (Mel 135 A,12)
Graham Road (Mel 139 J,1)

(Mel = Melways Street Directory)  Editor - clydehistory@gmail.com

Cranbourne Shire Rate Books 1863-1950

Clyde Property Owners are listed in the Cranbourne Shire Rate Books.

Some guidance is offered below on how to understand the Shire Rate Books.

A. Location of Cranbourne Shire Rate Books
Copies of the Cranbourne Shire Rates are found ONLY at the following libraries. Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Pakenham

Researchers need to have a Casey Cardinia Library card and make a booking for use of computer and Cranbourne Rate Books. (It is not essential to live in the area in order to obtain a library card)

B. Rate Books and Parish/Riding Names

The Cranbourne Shire Rate books cover the period of 1863-1950 The Shire was divided into Ridings (Wards) and given the following names.  Cranbourne Township Cranbourne Parish Sherwood Parish Eummemering,  Langwarren Lyndhurst,  Yallock

Cranbourne Parish
   -mostly Clyde farmers from the Grices Road down to Ballarto Road

Sherwood Parish
    -Tooradin area that included Clyde, from Manks Road  up to Ballarto Road

There doesn't seem to be a discernable consistant pattern in the order of listing the parishes. Generally Cranbourne township came first followed by Clyde North in the Cranbourne Parish. Sometimes Clyde in Sherwood was following and other times it was way down the list. 

C. Clyde straddled two Wards/Ridings/Parishes
The secret to searching the Rate Books is to know the names of Ridings/Wards where your ancestors once lived. Some Clyde people were listed in the Cranbourne Parish (north of Ballarto Rd) and the others in the Sherwood Parish (south of Ballarto Road)

D. Clyde's first land sales and designated property numbers.

Clyde history began with the sale of land formerly used by Alexander Cameron. It was subdivided into blocks and many were initially one mile square. 

In Clyde each were identified by a Crown Allottment Number beginning at No 28 up No 72. Property No 69 was divided again and known as 69B, (69)C, (69)D, (69)E, (69)F, (69)H. Sometimes it was  just referred to as H or D depending on the block.

These properties were north of Ballarto Road.
Have a look at First Land Buyers list that gives the crown allotment number for each buyer

E: Cranbourne Shire Map 1937  accessed via the Clyde History website clearly shows Crown Allotment numbers.

F. Sherwood properties are south of Ballarto Road

Clyde properties in the Sherwood Riding had the following numbers

From Fisheries Rd (Clyde Berwick Rd) to Muddy Gates Lane north of Manks Road: 3,4,7 to 19

From Muddy Gates Lane to Tooradin Station Road north of Manks Road: 57 to 64

South side of Manks Road from South Gippsland Highway to Muddy Gates Lane: 47 to 56

F: Bailey Estate Subdivision -South of Ballarto Road

Sometime in the 1900-1920 period the former Bakewell owned land was subdivided.  The editor is on the search for the Bailey Estate Map which is located in the Land Titles office, Melbourne. Roads named as a result of this subdivision are Derricks and Beechers. 

G. "A Clyde History", 1978,  by John Campbell lists the names of most property owners in Clyde. This information is now available on line " Who lived on your land?" and deals with the area from the north side of Ballarto Road until Grices Road.

You can now  download these lists and take to the library when you are researching Clyde properties in the Cranbourne Rate Books.

• More Clyde History can be found at the Clyde History Website
• Looking for Clyde news, conversation topics, reflections and photos?
  Read more in  the blog spot Clyde Victoria 3978 - History 
• Editor - clydehistory@gmail.com

Maps Online - Old and New

Original Parish maps are available showing who bought the land following the first land subdivisions.

Additions to the maps suggest that as original blocks were resubdivided new owner's names were added. Could this explain why some additions are dated in the 1900's?

A: Current Aerial Photo Maps

NearMaps www.nearmap.com/ Australian aerial photomap company. You will need to register and pay a fee to see their work. Photos are wonderfully clear. A strong feature of this company is that all previous photos are kept on line and Clyde can be viewed as far back as 2009. Enjoy!

B: 1885 Clyde - North of Ballarto Road as a part of the Cranbourne County of Mornington
1885. MAP RM 2596.Cranbourne Map -showing Clyde.
http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.map-rm2596-sd

C: 1926 Sherwood - Clyde - South of Ballarto Road and Tooradin

http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3513255
Victoria. Dept. of Crown Lands and Survey. Sherwood, County of Mornington [cartographic material]
1926. MAP RM 2741/433

D: 1890 Map of Cranbourne town

http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-rm2740-7
Victoria. Dept. of Crown Lands and Survey.
Township of Cranbourne, Parish of Cranbourne, County of Mornington [cartographic material]
1890. MAP RM 2740/7.

E: Map showing First Land Owners: date of purchase, size of property and address

First Land Owners

F: Further reading .....More Historical maps can be viewed via the Clyde History website on the following page. https://www.earlyhistory4clydevic.com/html/0705HistoricalMaps.html
G: Clyde's History portrayed in four maps - a PowerPoint slide presentation
  History Maps: Power Point Version 2010

• More Clyde History can be found at the
          https://www.earlyhistory4clydevic.com/
• Looking for  Clyde news, conversation topics, reflections and photos?
  Read more in Clyde Victoria 3978 - History
        http://clydehistory.blogspot.com/
• Editor - clydehistory@gmail.com

Registry Office BDM Free Search

Victorian Registry Office

Information available through this office

• births in Victoria from 1853 to 1916
• marriages in Victoria from 1853 to 1942
• deaths in Victoria from 1853 to 1988
• church baptisms, marriages and burials in Victoria from 1836 to 1853.

Births Death Marriages Family History
Press Start Search and go straight to the Family History Search
A Help Guide is useful if you are new to this page

1.A simple basic search is cost free
You can obtain the very basic details of certificates . 
You are not charged for the searching. In this way I can check if my data is correct eg. Who were the children born to William and Mary Sykes and year of birth?
I plan ahead to make sure that the search only gives the information that I am actually needing.

2. Complete Birth Death Marriage Certificates require payment.
See the details on the Victorian Registry Office website.

Some advice given to me about original certificates
Birth and Marriage certificates are more reliable than death certificates. This is because in some cases, remaining living family members (children, nieces, nephews cousins etc) may not have known much about the life of the deceased - the mother’s second name, the father’s birth place etc.

Hoping that this information will be of help to you.
(I have had no trouble paying by credit card online with this organisation)

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