Emma Explores… Finding and Reading Wills and Probate in the Cattley, Cox, Upcott and Edwards Families » August 2025

Thank you David Shaw, Bill Moore, Kathy Stone, Linda Teather, Karen Harrison and so many others for joining us today during Emma Cox’s live presentation. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Truly, thank you!

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You won’t want to miss today’s episode, as Emma explains how to sort through and interpret wills, the role of probate, and sources in the UK. Our discussion also includes American and Canadian perspectives.

Resources:

These resources are listed in Emma’s slides, which makes it handy to scroll through them. In the recording, you’ll hear Emma’s guidance on each resource.

Tip: You can use the “Transcript” button above to search the transcript and get to the specific spot in the video where she talks about each resource.

National Archives (UK)

* www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/wills-or-administrations-before-1858

* www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/famous-wills-1552-1854

Ancestry

* National Probate Calendar www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1904/?redirectFor=db.aspx

* Ancestry Wills and Probate www.ancestry.co.uk/search/categories/clp_wills/?srsltid=AfmBOophk9gljgUYCPfnhxr6m3azo1qOF0Sf4fhiaBphC6oGeA7Setri

* Court, Land, Wills & Financial

www.ancestry.co.uk/search/categories/36/?srsltid=AfmBOoohGBmRmLIf9W4WWD8fprcOcd0fYYKib33JkfqLh3oJHq_HHo2e

* UK, Extracted Probate Records, 1269-1975

www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1610

FindMyPast

* Where to find family wills – Find My Past

www.findmypast.co.uk/discover/birth-marriage-death-and-parish-records/wills-and-probate

Probate Search (UK)

* Find family wills: General Register Office

probatesearch.service.gov.uk

Transcription Tips

* Transcript Freeware: www.jacobboerema.nl/en/Freeware.htm (Windows application download.)

* Courses:

* www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/reading-old-documents

* webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20230801144244/

* https:/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/

* Society of Genealogists Presentations

* Palaeography Part 1: How to Create Abstracts from Old Documents: www.sog.org.uk/education/learning-hub/guides-tips/palaeography-part-1

* Secretary Hand: www.sog.org.uk/education/learning-hub/guides-tips/palaeography-part-2

* Family Tree Magazine

* 6 Tips from Family Tree Magazine: www.family-tree.co.uk/how-to-guides/read-old-handwriting-paleography

* AI:

* www.transkribus.org

Recommended Reading

* “The Wills of Our Ancestors” – A Guide for Family & Local Historians by Stuart A Raymond.

Kindle edition: amzn.to/3GIW99a

* “Probate Jurisdictions: Where to Look for Wills” by Jeremy Gibson and Stuart Raymond

Familyhistorybooksonline.com/probate-jurisdictions-where-to-look-for-wills-by-jeremy-gibson-stuart-raymond-170

* “Examples of handwriting 1550-1650” by W.S.B. Buck

www.goodreads.com/book/show/20997444-examples-of-handwriting-1550-1650

* “Wills before 1858” by Eve McLaughlin

goodreads.com/book/show/3867060-wills-before-1858

* “Reading old handwriting” by Eve McLaughlin

goodreads.com/book/show/161233332-reading-old-handwriting

* “Wills and Other Probate Records” by Karen Granum and Nigel Taylor

Published by the UK National Archives. May need to view in a library.

* “Words from Wills and Other Probate Records” by Stuart A Raymond

goodreads.com/book/show/21290046-words-from-wills-and-other-probate-records-1500-1800

Many of you will already know Emma for her Journeys into Genealogy podcast, where she interviews guests worldwide. As Substack publishers and readers, you can explore her full catalog and get previews of different episodes by subscribing to her publication:

I know Emma - Journeys into Genealogy joins me in hoping you can join us for our program and the Substack live preview next month. You can see all upcoming episodes and when they are scheduled in our events calendar listing. See you then. 👋