I have a couple of questions however about the structure of these ancient Wills

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Q. I have a couple of questions however about the structure of these ancient Wills that perhaps someone with better knowledge can answer. 1) Were all Wills written in a common book, together with others, and retained by a lawyer? Or were copies of Wills, rather like Bishops Transcripts lodged elsewhere, and maybe this is one of those. I ask this because the document downloaded contains several Will written consecutively. It seems that these Wills were not individual documents, to be retained, but just entries in a book. 2) The Will starts with 'In The Name of God Amen', followed by the requirements of the testator. The last paragraph, which states 'This Will was proved at London'..... refers to a date one year after the first date. This would be to do with Probate, I assume. So when was that part added to the document? Only after the demise?

A. -The answers to both questions are closely connected. What the archive contains is the probate copies, not the original wills, which were not preserved. The executor would take the will to the office of the appropriate court (usually the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, which, in spite of its name, was in London) to "prove" its contents (which is where the word "probate" comes from). The date at the end is the date this was done, and that paragraph is not part of the will. -Each person had a will written individually on one or more sheets of paper. These wills were exhibited by the executor/s to the Bishop or Atchdeacon's officer. The officer or a clerk then copied them into a register book - these are the versions of wills you have seen. and this was the standard form, not indicating any allegiance to the church or religion, but because wills were proved in church courts. An unusually long interval. Wills tended to be made very close to the death date (unless the person was really aged, like over 70) and the proof of the will followed the death pretty closely. So either yer man was 70 (or going on a perilous journey) or the family left the probate until someone was going to London. you can't prove a will and dispose of someone's estate while he is alive

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