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View Full Version : Where would I find Dorothy Ridgway's will?



DianaCanada
14-06-2011, 9:02 PM
Today I downloaded a will from the National Archives for one Elizabeth Irvin Scholfield - the will was dated 1 Jan 1808 in Manchester. I think she may be a relative. In the will she mentions property left to her by "my aunt Dorothy Ridgway".
Try as I might, I cannot find a will for Dorothy (have tried several spellings) on the NA site. Any suggestions?
The family appears to have ties with Yorkshire.
Any help appreciated!

Kerrywood
14-06-2011, 11:21 PM
The wills held at TNA (indexed at Documents Online) are only those proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Many other wills went through the lower church courts, and wills from the north of England were more likely to be proved in one of the York courts.

The index of wills proved in the Prerogative and Exchequer Courts of York is available on the pay/subscription site Origins.net. This includes a will for Dorothy RIDGWAY, which may fit the bill

You can get 72 hour access to Origins.net for £7.00 (the site has several other useful resources). The index will provide you with the date of probate and the reference number, enabling you to order a copy of the will from the Borthwick Institute in York. You can order either through Origins.net, or direct from York. But I doubt if York will service the order without the index reference.

www.
origins.net

www.
york.ac.uk/library/borthwick/copying/remote-copy-services/digitisation-service/

DianaCanada
15-06-2011, 12:24 AM
Thanks so much Kerrywood, will look into that. You've recently helped me on a census question on my Hervin/Irvin folk in Huddersfield. If i've got the right family here, Dorothy's will may open the whole thing up!
Diana.

Waitabit
15-06-2011, 12:26 AM
Not to discourage you Diana,..might things have been 'left' to Family members by word & not in a will? Just in case you don't find one, won't necessarily mean she wasn't your relative.

DianaCanada
15-06-2011, 12:42 AM
Waitabit, it does refer in Elizabeth's will to property that "by the virtue of the will of my late Aunt Dorothy Ridgway"....
There are things in the will I can't read but I am going to keep working at it (the writing is atrocious) - it took me hours to decipher the first name of one Jonathan Bingley - and I had to laugh because Jonathan is my son's name... this Bingley is a brother of some sort...step, half, mother's...am not sure, the scrawl is very bad. Fortunately Dorothy's name was quite easy to read.

Waitabit
15-06-2011, 1:00 AM
"by the virtue of the will of my late Aunt Dorothy Ridgway"....

Excellent,Diana. I didn't catch on to that earlier. Love the Jonathan bit. Good luck with it. :)