Died one place, lived another

[Spangle]

My G G Grandfather, Edward Victor Robbins, died in 1903 in Matlock, Derbyshire, whilst at Smedley's Hydro. His home however was in Camberwell, London.

I don't know if he made a will but although he was only an iron monger's clerk he was also high up in the Ancient Order of Foresters and Ancient Order of Shepherds, so it is possible I suppose. I would like to find out, not least as he cut my G Grandad off from the family and I am interested to see if G Grandad is mentioned.

Can someone please tell me who I should contact, assuming a will can be identified when I search in either my local office records or the main one in London - i.e. do I need to contact his home area of Lambeth, which covers Camberwell, or Derbyshire where he died?

Thank you.

[v.wells]

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1176.htm is a how to guide in obtaining wills from 1858 onwards. The Will would have been read and executed in the locale that it was lodged at. A death cert would have been deemed necessary in order to have the Will go to probate, if he had one.

[Spangle]

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1176.htm is a how to guide in obtaining wills from 1858 onwards. The Will would have been read and executed in the locale that it was lodged at. A death cert would have been deemed necessary in order to have the Will go to probate, if he had one.

Thank you ever so much. Oh, and it seems we both keep late hours!

[Geoffers]

assuming a will can be identified when I search in either my local office records or the main one in London.

Do try your local record office to see if they have the Probate Calendar in film for the period of his death.

It is easy to use with entries arranged alphabetically by name each year. Entries in the calendar contain a lot more information than something like the GRO index. Normally you should expect to find:

Name, when and where died, sometimes a home address is different, value of estate, whether probate or admon was granted, when and to whom. The person granted probate or admon often has a little more detail included such as occupation, relationship or home town.

Admon is short for Letters of Administration; usually granted where someone died without leaving a will. If in the calendar you see mention of Admon, just note down the full detail from the calendar - the actual admon rarely contains any more information and so you can save yourself some money by not applying for a copy.

If probate was granted then you should apply for a copy of the will from the Court Service.

Do remember to check for a few years after someone's death; probate/admon sometimes took a while to sort out.

Do remember to check for variant spellings.

Do try a search of the London Gazette in case any legal notices about the death and estate were published.

[hughar]

My G G Grandfather, Edward Victor Robbins, died in 1903 in Matlock, Derbyshire, whilst at Smedley's Hydro. His home however was in Camberwell, London.

I don't know if he made a will

FMP has the Index to Death Duty Registers 1796-1903, and in that last year there is an entry for Edward Victor Robbins of Camberwell who died 18 June 1903. The executor is listed as E.A.E.Robbins, and it was a will rather than an admon. The reference number in the entry is Principal Probate Registry 3343. The registers are held at TNA under reference IR26. For more information about them see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=107

So when you find the will it might also be worth getting a copy of the entry from the Death Duty Register to see what was paid out and to whom.

[Spangle]

FMP has the Index to Death Duty Registers 1796-1903, and in that last year there is an entry for Edward Victor Robbins of Camberwell who died 18 June 1903. The executor is listed as E.A.E.Robbins, and it was a will rather than an admon. The reference number in the entry is Principal Probate Registry 3343. The registers are held at TNA under reference IR26. For more information about them see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=107

So when you find the will it might also be worth getting a copy of the entry from the Death Duty Register to see what was paid out and to whom.

Hughar, what a star you are! Thank you so very much!

I started out believing that Edward was a wrong-un, which is what my late Grandad assumed from the fact that Edward died in a Northern institution. Grandad went to his resting place 4 years ago not knowing that Edward was in fact a much respected and loved member of his community as it was only a year after Grandad's passing that I discovered the real story... and only seconds before I made my post that I realised that Edward may well have written a will.

I can't wait to find out what it says, I'm as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve!

THANK YOU!