A collection of the Genealogical Office volumes of Betham’s Will Abstracts have been published online by the National Library of Ireland. Betham’s Will Abstracts are abstracts of wills proved in the Prerogative Court, records which were largely destroyed in 1922. Prerogative Court Before the establishment of the Probate Court in 1857, the Church
Read MoreIrish Wills
I recently found a transcript of an Irish will in the District Registry Wills Books in the National Archives of Ireland. These are an often forgotten source for testamentary records because the assumption is that all Irish wills and letters of administration were destroyed in 1922, but this is not the case. District Registry Will Books Will books survive
Read MoreBetham’s Sketch Pedigrees
In a previous blog, the work of Sir William Betham and his collection of Genealogical Abstracts held at the National Archives was discussed. In conjunction with the Genealogical Abstracts, Betham compiled an extensive collection of sketch pedigrees. In large part these pedigrees were sketched from the material extracted from the Betham’s abstracts
Read MoreBetham’s Genealogical Abstracts
Sir William Betham (1779-1853) was appointed deputy Ulster King of Arms in 1807 and Ulster King of Arms in 1820. Betham spent a lifetime collating indexes and abstracts of the manuscripts held in the Record Tower of Dublin Castle. Although Betham was a polymath, it is his work in the Records Tower for which Irish genealogists and family historians
Read MoreA Will Proved a Century Ago: What Can be Done Online?
As an exercise in what can be achieved in online research I recently randomly opened-up a copy of the Calendar of Wills & Administrations for a century ago and read the following calendar entry: HOPKINS, Miles Richard. 10th January 1912. Probate of Will of Miles Richard Hopkins late of 1 Lower Sackville Street, Dublin and 1 Brighton Terrace,
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