Cheltenham Probate Abstracts from 1660-1740 have been added to the National Wills Index.
The probate records that have been added to the National Wills Index are a most valuable primary source for the study of social history, local history and family history. Wills and inventories comprise the main probate records, and are supplemented by administrations, accounts and other documents created when disputes arose.
Inventories and valuations were part of the process of proving wills, but relatively few have survived. There is a reasonably high survival rate for inventories in the period 1660 to 1740 amounting to about 50% in Gloucestershire, but outside this period there are very few. Wills and inventories give a colourful snapshot of the lives of our ancestors, providing an insight into household arrangements, household and occupational goods, lifestyle, wealth and status, providing evidence of kinship, family sizes, occupations and landholdings.
There is a wealth of rich information included in these Cheltenham abstracts, including wills from yeomen, cordwainers (cobblers), blacksmiths, feltmakers and many more occupations, listing hugely detailed inventories.
Records can be searched by first name/last name and also by ‘free text’ search.
