Free Will Research

Free copies of historical wills The National Archives (TNA) at Kew is currently closed to the public. While this continues, it is allowing people to download up to 50 digitised items per 30-day period free of charge. Usually the price is £3.50 per will. Only 10 items can be downloaded at a time, but when you have done so you can go back and collect some more (subject to the above limit). Scanned PDF images of the office copies of wills proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury are available on this basis from the TNA site. There are over a million wills to choose from – you can search for those of interest on this page: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/wills1384-1858/ In order to use the service, you have to sign up for a free TNA account (or use your existing one). Setting up an account is easy. The link to do so is: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/Register The Prerogative Court of Canterbury was the senior probate court for England and Wales until 1858.