Prerogative Court of Canterbury
The wills are now available online at
The
National Archives web site. For a reasonable fee you can download a
copy of the will.
Inventories and Accounts are not available online and would need to be
obtained from the TNA.Archdeaconry and Consistory Courts of Canterbury
These wills, inventories and accounts are held at Maidstone in the
Centre for Kentish Studies (CKS). They can be viewed on film and
prints taken. Some of the films are of poor quality while others are
excellent. I have always found the staff there exceptionally helpful. If
you intend to visit the CKS, have a look at their website first. You
will need a readers ticket and to book a seat in the film room.
Copies of the film are also held at the Canterbury Archives and at the
Society of Genealogist. The Family History Library of the IGI also has
copies of these films and you should be able to view these at your local
Family History Centre.
There are also possibilities of finding some of these wills online. The
Kent Archaeology Society
has transcriptions of some Medieval and Tudor wills online including 16
for Staplehurst. These are particularly useful as these very early wills
were often in Latin. The
Kent Genealogy site has an increasing number of will transcriptions.
For those unable to use any of the above facilities to get copies,
the CKS will create copies for you or you can visit my
personal
website for details on lookups done.
|