Goodies from FindMyPast probate index 1858-1959

These snippets were all gathered from the useful FindMyPast probate index 1858-1959 released Friday 21 August 2015, which as I have commented is excellent for ‘search’ for not yet for ‘browse’.  Several surprises were had.  (Ones in red are doubtful).  Each page in turn:

Summary pages

The two above gentlemen are brothers of my direct line.  I am sad but perhaps relieved to see they do not appear elsewhere in the index.  The surprise rogue entry 1930 was what inspired me to index grantees in the first place... as did the sighting of Airey in 1892 administering his grandmother’s estate.  We had taken a very circuitous route to discover this line ourselves.

Wales

John Hughes – I had searched for a will for him under his full name (David John), but the index showing Incline Terrace confirms he’s a relative.  The widow's details lead to a previously unknown marriage for John.

Northcountry

Typing in Northumberland villages yielded results for this Gibson family.  Interesting to see 14 years elapsing before Joseph's will was proved, very unusual!  Again, Ancestry's index could allow me to have missed this, coupled with uncertainty about exactly when Joseph died.

 
Cornwall

Marshall - a big surprise to find a relative still living at the old family hamlet of Nanstallon.  Coincidentally its gravestone transcriptions have recently been indexed on Cornwall-opc.  (I must confess this one entry came from browsing Tom's Wills, not from FindMyPast's index!)

A really big surprise to see Harriet Blowers once again meddling in others' affairs, having taken in my 3xgreat-grandfather, she is now given administration for a destitute labourer (for reason unknown).

 

A massive shock to see my forebear Mary Ann listed in the index.  I had no idea her estate had been settled.  We see that barely 12 weeks after she died, the widower had already moved to Suffolk.  Being 3 years after her death, I wouldn't have picked this up through Ancestry.