Wording at bottom of will

[grisel]

How can you tell that? From the church? My ancestor was definitely Church of England. We think he even worked for the Archbishop of Canterbury as a House Steward.

FMP gave a burial in 1834 London for a Richard May b 1748 ,England and Wales non conformist registers. Then looking at Family Search there was a non conformist burial 12 Oct 1834 Lambeth though no age given. RG 4/4158. Also in BMD registers website for non conformists.
You would really need to check the actual record to be sure that the Lambeth burial is the 86 year old from FMP but it looks likely.

[Ambersand]

We can rule out the Lambeth (will) one because he had a brother and the wife’s name Is wrong.
As for religion. I had assumed. We have the marriage certificate from St Marylebone, Westminster and it matches what their son knew.

All the other baptisms and funerals were in Church of England. St James Piccadilly for a baby’s christening and St Mary Lambeth for the babies’s funeral.

Plus the son was reported to be a regular church goer and used to sing in the choir at the Church of England cathedral when he came to Australia.

[Ambersand]

Thanks for that feedback. I suspect the eighty year old is the will writer. There is a burial for a 41 year old at St Sepulchre on the 11th June which I think is C of E.
Does Find my Past have different lists than Ancestry?
I still don’t get that eighty year old when I put in 1834 death date.

[grisel]

Thanks for that feedback. I suspect the eighty year old is the will writer. There is a burial for a 41 year old at St Sepulchre on the 11th June which I think is C of E.
Does Find my Past have different lists than Ancestry?
I still don’t get that eighty year old when I put in 1834 death date.

I don't subscribe to any at the moment but they do have different datasets. It's always worth looking on Family Search which is free, or the free searches on FMP, or freereg and cross referencing. BMD registers also have non conformist records.

[arthurk]

As for religion. I had assumed. We have the marriage certificate from St Marylebone, Westminster and it matches what their son knew.

All the other baptisms and funerals were in Church of England. St James Piccadilly for a baby’s christening and St Mary Lambeth for the babies’s funeral.

Fair enough - but remember that between 1752 and 1837 the only non-conformists that could legally perform marriages were Quakers (Jews could too), so most non-C of E people will show up in C of E marriage registers.

Does Find my Past have different lists than Ancestry?

Yes. There's some overlap, but some sets of records can only be found in one or the other.

[Ambersand]

Thank you for recommending Family Search! It is so quick and I can export the details to a spreadsheet and filters are clear to see.

[Ambersand]

Thanks I am a newbie and had just been using Ancestry and FreeBMD, Family Search has already proved helpful, will check out FMAP

[Ambersand]

I'm pleased to report that persistance finally paid off. I was browsing through the different collections in Find My Past and came upon a Death Duties index. I put in the name, and one popped up at an address I'd seen on a certificate relating to one of his children. So, I checked it out. Turned out he went to Devon to die in 1832 (aged 34) being "weak in body but of sound mind, memory and understanding". He died soon after and is buried in Torquay. His wife and 5 year old child had remained in London. I also discovered that he'd been using Henry as his middle name, but his will explains that he just did that and wasn't christened that! So much time had been wasted there!
His mother, Elizabeth, was alive at time of death and living in Addington where he'd been working as House steward in the summer residence of the archbishop of Canterbury, so that might help work out other things like his birth date and father..
Now on to research Long Annuities, whether they ever reached eighteen pounds and what 3 and a half Consols are.... and where he got all this money from in the first place!

[grisel]

I'm pleased to report that persistance finally paid off.

Excellent news! Thanks for sharing.

[Ambersand]

I’ve come to realise there are three entries regarding wills and they changed around that time. There is an actual Will, released when Probate is granted. Death Duties and Bank of England extracts.
The latter can be a treasure trove of information. Apparently the Bank employed a man to visit the will record office and take notes of all wills that included money invested in the Bank in the form of Annuities. He didn’t record bequests of jewellery etc, just the legal parts regarding the will writer, the executors, the benefactors and what to do with the money. This extract is attached to the relevant Bank account.
Some of these were published and can be checked online in Find My Past.
As circumstances change, notes are made in the margins.
The Bank of England archives can retrieve these ledgers if you have enough information about the Bank Account.
In our case, the eventual recipient of the money held by the bank was only 5 when his father died, and he would not receive the principal until he was 21. Theoretically any change (eg his mother dying) during that time will be noted as that would effect how the yearly interest was paid out. Keeping our fingers crossed.
So far this is a free service, and they have been very helpful.

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/archive