Obtaining a copy of a birth, marriage or death certificate is the next step in gaining further
information on the family you are researching. At the General Register Office website at "gro.gov.uk" you can order
certificates on-line for delivery by post. Various local registration offices have there records on-line and these
can be a great help in researching a common surname in a particular area, you can also order certificates over the
internet from some offices. Scottish certificates can be viewed online for events up to 100 years ago for births, 75 years ago for
marriages and 50 years ago for deaths. Copies of certificates for later years can be obtained from by telephone from New Register House Edinburgh using their Certificate Ordering Service
(Tel no: +44 131 314 4411).You will need to quote your Credit Card Details and Expiry Date.
Copies of Wills
To find out if somebody left a will you will need to search the Probate Calendar
which is the National Index of wills. This is not yet on the internet but soon will be. You will need to visit First Avenue House, 42 - 49 High Holborn, London WC1V 6NP
Tel 020 7947 7000
A search of the Probate Calendar will reveal whether a grant has issued.
There is a calendar for every year from 1858 up to date. Prior to 1993, the calendars were in book form but after that
they were recorded on microfiche. Since 1998, the calendar from 1996 onwards is kept on computer. Entries are made in
the calendar in the year in which the grant issued [which is not necessarily the year in which the deceased died] and
are arranged in alphabetical order by the surname of the deceased.
The amount of information given in the calendars has changed slightly over the years,
but every entry will include the following details:
full name and last address
the date of death
the type of grant issued
the Registry at which the grant issued and the date of issue
the gross value of the estate
The calendars include all grants issued throughout England and Wales.
There is no charge for you to search the calendars yourself.
If you need any help, staff will explain how you can do this.