Digitized Wills of Historic Names

History buffs now have the opportunity to explore the wills of some of the most influential figures of the past 150 years at the click of a mouse. 

The government of England and Wales has digitized its archive of 41 million wills, dating back to 1858.  People will also be able to search the database to find out more about their relatives. 

Among these archived wills are the last wishes of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, economist John Maynard Keynes, and war time code breaker Alan Turning.  Also in the archive is Charles Dickens’ will, who stipulated there should be no monuments erected to him, rather, “I rest my claims to the remembrance of my country upon my published works.”

People will have the luxury of searching the database of wills from their home, instead of visiting the probate registry to search the archives in person.  However, it still takes ten days to receive an electronic copy after requesting a specific will.  The move to digitize the database of wills follows the department’s digitizing of the archive of soldiers’ wills last year. 

See Nick Clark, New Digital Archive Will Allow Public to View Wills of Historic Names, The Independent, Dec. 27, 2014.