Devon Wills Project

Contents & Search

Glencross, R.M. Calendar of Wills, Administrations and Accounts relating to the Counties of Cornwall and Devon in the Connotorial Archdiaconal Court of Cornwall (1669-1699) [Index Library Vol. 56, British Record Society, 1929-32]. Copies are held by SOG, the LDS Family History Library, and a number of major reference libraries and various record offices.
Devon-related wills that are indicated as having been lost have been extracted from this volume. (The companion volume, Index Library Vo. 59, which covers 1700-1799, has been searched in vain for any such entries.)

For reasons that seem not to have been recorded all the wills and administrations that were proved or granted at Bodmin before the year 1600 were lost or destroyed a very long time ago. However, when Glencross compiled his calendar of wills proved up to 1699, he was able to consult lists that showed pre-1600 wills. He included these in his calendar, marking each lost will or administration with an asterisk. He also marked with an asterisk those post-1600 wills that had been lost.

Those items marked with an asterisk in Glencross's Calendar were searched for mentions of the parishes of North Petherwin, Werrington and St. Giles in the Heath, and any 'stray' Devon parishes. The list compiled was checked against another list, found at the Devon Record Office, which showed 'Devon' Wills proved in Cornwall. A few very minor discrepancies between the two lists were noted. Thus, the present list includes a handful of items that either Glencross failed to mark with an asterisk or were omitted from the list at the Devon Record Office.

The GLEN index provided here serves only to convey the information that such and such a person did in fact leave a will, now sadly lost. For all the post-1600 wills and administrations that have survived from the three parishes mentioned above, see the source CRO.

Last updated: 29 Apr 2011 - Brian Randell

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