Devon Wills Project

Contents & Search

These three volumes provide very detailed accounts of investigations into the origins, and subsequent activities, of numerous Devon charities. The accounts are organised by Hundred, and within Hundred by Parish, and in many cases indicate or imply that a given charity originated from a bequest in a will. An entry is provided in this index for each such will whose testator is named.

In some cases little information is provided in these volumes other than the amount and purpose of a bequest. However they sometimes provide extensive information, naming numerous individuals, concerning the charitable bequests, and also about how these bequests have been disbursed, any ensuing court cases over them, etc. (On occasion such extracts often provide useful information concerning the testator's family.)

When the testator's parish of residence is not given then the name of the parish receiving the bequest is provided here instead, in square brackets; the fact that such a parish name concerns a bequest and so is not necessarily the testator's residence is noted in the Reference column. (When several parishes are involved all are noted in the Reference column but just the one that appears to be the principal one is given in the placename column.)

Many charities were set up by indentures or deeds, rather than wills; such charities are not listed in this index.

Copies of these volumes are held in the Westcountry Studies Library in Exeter, the Society of Genealogists, London, and at other major reference libraries. As of December 2009, just Vol. 3 was available online in Google Books.