There can be few more useful records for sorting out the traces of a family, than a will.
Family trees get a little difficult to untangle when there are multiple uses of the same name. For example, in Kirdford in 1642, there were 12 Henry Strudwicke’s.
The parish records provide clues of family structure, invaluable when dealing with families who lived back in the 16th and 17th centuries, but often in these early registers there may only be a father mentioned on a birth record, and matching husbands and wives with fathers and children can be almost impossible.
A will can quickly fill in those details, and often provide other relations, property details, or occupations that bring life to otherwise repetitive records.
There are many wills that I have transcribed on this site, and each one tells a story of a family and a life.
Its well worth taking a look!
