Well, it looks like life got
busy and my poor little blog went unnoticed for a while. A lot has happened in
the last 6 months. I left a job that I loved to take the scary and exciting
plunge to start my own business with a like-minded, passionate historian.
Together, Lee Hooper and I have established ‘Born and Bred Historical Research’, which does just that – historical research. And what a ride it has
been thus far. We have helped solve mysteries, broken down brick walls,
presented to eager and enthusiastic local history groups, and aided people in
their unique and exciting historical research. So, I thought it was only
fitting to talk about some of the accessible and valuable records that can be
utilised in family history research. And sometimes the juiciest!
Will and probate records can
be one of the richest sources of information when it comes to genealogical
research. The death of a person can help to paint a picture of the life that
was lived. An individuals’ Last Will and Testament can and often is the final
‘say’ from the deceased, and sometimes that final word can be eye-opening,
horrifying, illuminating, fascinating and hilarious.
In Victoria we are lucky
enough to have access to will and probate files through the Public RecordOffice Victoria (PROV) from 1852 to 2010 (and digitised from 1852-1926), which
are easily accessible to the general public. Anything from 2011-present day is
still held with the Supreme Court of Victoria.
I have unearthed wills for
circus performers, bitter ex-spouses and even a Scottish Knight. I have
discovered large land holdings, family heirlooms and family rifts just by
reading will and probate records. However, it was only recently when I was
undertaking some research for a few friends, who had little interest in their
family history (in fact they thought it was a bore and a fairly dry line of
work). Always trying to make a convert, I said that I would do a little
preliminary research into their families. Wouldn’t you know it, I struck
‘family skeleton’ gold almost immediately.
Mr Watson, Mrs Watson & Mrs Parker
Mrs Watson passed away in the
early 1990’s. She was a kind woman, with a strong will that had dealt with much
in her 66 years. She and Mr Watson, along with their 3 children had been part
of the post-World War 2 Migration Scheme from the UK when they arrived in
Melbourne in 1964 to start a new life. Living out their latter years in Geelong
the couple overcame the death of a child and welcomed several grandchildren to
the fold. When Mrs Watson died in June 1991 she left a will made three years
prior. The standard clauses applied with money going to several grandchildren
and possessions given to her surviving daughter. However, it was the last few
lines of the will that dropped a bombshell and opened up another avenue for
researching an already tricky genealogical puzzle. It read:
“My husband is not entitled to any of this [estate]. If
he is still living I will ask my daughter, after this is all settled to grant
him $1,000 to return to Burnley and carry on where he left off in Feb-Mar 1986.
I’m sure Mrs Parker will be glad to see him even if her husband isn’t.”
Who was Mrs Parker? And what
did Mr Parker make of this? We know that Mr Watson did in fact return to the UK
after the death of his wife (and the court case to contest her will), however
did he meet with Mrs Parker before his own death in 1994? That’s a mystery I
will keep trying to solve.
A scandal hits the papers
 |
| Spry vs. Spry Divorce, 1916 |
Research for another friend
unearthed a scandal. After beginning the search doing basic births, deaths and
marriages, I went on to confirm branches with will and probate files. Searching
through her maternal side unearthed a will that didn’t seem to fit. It appeared
that her great great grandfather, upon his death, left his entire estate to his
wife, which is not unusual. However, this wife did not happen to be the woman
he had married in 1892, nor the ancestor of my friend. Not being able to
establish a death date that fit with the marriage of another woman, it appeared
that there was something fishy going on. Hopefully ruling out bigotry, the next
step was the investigate divorce cases. Bingo! It seemed that her great great
grandparents, Mr and Mrs Spry had divorced in 1916. What a scandal! Being able
to access the divorce records unearthed and few more pieces of the family tree
and helped put some more branches into place.
A matriarch's final wishes
 |
| Mr & Mrs Russell, with Erica and friends at Barwon Heads, c. 1938 |
My own (paternal) great
grandmother left a will that unearthed a few skeletons. It wasn’t so much the
will that left family members questioning the past, but the court proceedings
that followed. When my great grandmother passed away in 1989 she left
provisions for her grandchildren, great grandchildren but only one of her two
children - her daughter – my grandmother. It had been stated explicitly in her
last will and testament that her son was to receive nothing of her estate when
she died as he had been fairly well provided for in his adult life. Her son’s
children and their children were recipients in the will, however he was not. Yet,
Thomas was not happy with the decision his mother had made about the final
statements in her will. So he contested on the grounds that he had not been
adequately provided for in his life or in his mother’s death (his father had
pre-deceased his mother by more than a decade, and their wills reflected one another).
In the legal proceedings statements were made by members of the family in
favour of the wishes of the deceased, however Thomas, in his greed and battle
for money declared that he was not provided for in his father’s will because he
had caught him in an adulterous affair, therefore money was being withheld.
Whether this is in fact true has never been determined, however Thomas won his
battle to gain funds from his deceased mother’s estate.
So, whilst will and probate
files are an amazing resource when it comes to your family history research,
opening up avenues you may not have dreamed of, putting branches in place and
knocking down brick walls, they can also be confronting if there is something
unexpected written within it’s sheaths. But, if you’re willing to take that
risk, you may just come out the other side with a few family treasures.
Back to the search!
Phoebe
References:
PROV, VA 2549 Supreme Court of Victoria, VPRS 283/P0 Divorce Case Files Melbourne, Unit 240, 1916/15, Spry vs. Spry Divorce.
PROV, VA 2620 Registrar of Probates, Supreme Court, VPRS 28/P21 Probate and Administration Files, Unit 284, 1046/946, Watson, E., 1991.
PROV, VPRS 28/P19, Unit 52, 1006/318
Trove digitised newspapers
