Testing or Testing my Patience

My favorite genealogy program is Ancestral Quest; I have been using it since its inception. My spare computer has been turned into an Ubuntu operating system, which is Linux based. So I decided to evaluate different genealogy software programs on my Ubuntu machine:

Gramps is probably one of the best linux-based genealogy programs. It was a fairly easy install and opened up with my 6000+ gedcom file with no problems. It can produce some cool reports and has a nice look. Some graph reports (.dot), however did not show up properly. It also lacks the ability to move quickly around to various names and families.

Lifelines a text-based package which reminded me of an old 8088 software program. After download and installation, I soon found out it only runs in terminal. Then I tried entering my name and it took five minutes. This program is not even worth the effort it took to uninstall it.

GeneWeb is an html-based program. After installing the three packages geneweb, gwsetup and gwtb, I then converted my gedcom file in terminal to where? I don’t know. Two hours later, I still couldn’t bring up my database. I consider myself a bit of a geek, but this was a total waste of time. If anyone finds my genealogy database somewhere on the net, please let me know.

There might be other genealogy software for Linux systems that I haven’t heard of yet, please let me know if you are aware of any. As for the above three, Gramps is workable, but the other two programs are impractical.

Word of the Week:
Brandwithe: A fence around a well, used to prevent people and animals from falling into it.

Pyramid of Confusion

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of English Probate Courts
In England the Anglican Church had jurisdiction over probate from 1537 to 1858. The highest ecclesiastical court was the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC). It had authority over all of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the colonies, foreign soldiers and mariners. The next level was the provincial courts, at the time of the early wills there were only two: Once again the PCC and the Prerogative Court of York (PCY). The PCY included the northern counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Westmorland and Yorkshire. All the remaining counties in the south were under the jurisdiction of the PCC. The third level was the Diocese, Bishop or Episcopal jurisdiction, similar to county boundaries except some counties had more than one diocese and yet some dioceses included more than one county. The fourth level was the Archdeaconry, as the diocese was broken down further into smaller units. The fifth level was the Rural Deanery consisting of parish groups of twelve and more. And the lowest level was the Parish and Peculiars. As for parishes, most wills were proved in higher courts, but peculiars had certain rights not bound by some higher courts, many of them were the Dean and Chapter, Manor courts, Prebends, Chancellor, Sub-Dean, Succentor, Vicarial and various other titles.

If a testator owned land in different jurisdictions, then the probate was most likely certified in the court that included both jurisdictions. (Example: if the testator owned a messuage north of the Humber River and a farm south of Humber then the higher court of PCC would have authority over the said properties).

Word of the Week: Cordwainer is a shoemaker who worked with new leather, as opposed to a cobbler who made shoes generally from used materials.

Die Another Day

Nuncupative wills are usually deathbed type wills, statements orally declared before an acceptable number of witnesses, before the death of the testator. In the Act Books they are usually found with a header of "Nuncupative" or "Memorandum". Not all nuncupative wills are deathbed related, a good example of one is James Hall who died in 1637 who stated three times that he wanted a certain piece of land to go to his oldest son. Apparently he had signed over the land previously to his second wive’ s children. There was also a caveat filed by his second wife and another relative named as executrix.

A Caveat is where a creditor or family member requested of the courts that no action of a testator’s estate be taken without notification of the former parties. Caveats are also frequently entered in the Act Books, although there may also be a Caveat Book.

Word of the Week:
Masarde: A drinking cup originally made of maple wood, later made of silver or pewter.

Merry Christmas

Tradition is a very important part of genealogy. At our family, we show up at somebody's house at about 10:00 AM Christmas morning. We then proceed to make pigs of ourselves eating appleskivers, little round golf-ball shaped pancakes of Scandinavian cuisine. My father started this tradition from an old family recipe. Recipes can be handed down through many generations. What our ancestors ate and tasted is just as important as a good picture, don't let them be lost. Have someone gather all the family recipes and put them in a book.

Word of the week:
Æbelskiver (Danish), Ebelskiver (Norwegian), Äppleskiver (Swedish): A round pancake filled with apple pieces, butter, powdered sugar and other goodies.

Obscure Probate Record

Probate Accounts
Probate Accounts are financial records of disbursement of assets after someone has died whether intestate or with last will and testament. It usually lists creditors and debtors of the decease, and sometimes the heirs and other relatives.
England and Wales have two volumes of indexes in the British Record Series, A-J, Vol. 112 and K-Z, Vol. 113. In the Family History Library in Salt Lake City they are listed as cat# 942 B4b v.112, 113, they are also listed in Google books (search for “British Record Series” “probate accounts”) however they are only listed and not available for full view. Most of the names in these two indexes are mainly in Kent and Lincolnshire but are scattered throughout England and Wales, with only two from Rutland and none from Westmorland. The years range from 1521 to 1851, with the majority in the middle between the years of 1581 and 1701. The actual records are all filmed and referenced in the indexes.
Sometimes this is the only record for a certain person and can be a great source of information.

Word of the Week:
Bink: a bench

What Will Happen to the Kids?

Guardianship over minors
Curations and tuitions allowed minors to have adequate room, food, drink, clothes and education during their minorities, when one or both of the parents had deceased.
A curation arises primarily for male children between the ages of 14 to 21 and for female children between the ages of 12 to 21.
A tuition arises for children younger than the age of curation; there is some overlap of ages.
Curations and tuitions were filled out on individual papers, sometimes found mixed in with original wills and administration boxes. Some were then submitted to the Act Books. A few courts maintained separate boxes for the curations and tuitions.
If you’re lucky enough to find a curation or tuition, it can indicate approximate age, guardianship or apprenticeship. Many times a curation or tuition was not needed as the widow or relict was given default custody. But as in the case where the widow remarried, a Bond of Tuition or Curation was sometimes issued to protect the assets and welfare of the child or children.

Word of the week:
Codware: pillowcases

Last Will and Testament

Wills, Administrations, Codicils and Sentences

Searching of probate records are an essential part of genealogical research. No research is complete till thoroughly perusing one of the best sources available. Many dead end lines have continued, through the stumbling block of the Commonwealth time period and through the beginning boundary of the parish records and Bishop’s Transcripts. Most lines couldn’t possibly go beyond 1550 if not for probate records.

Will and Testament
In medieval times a will was the legal statement of a person pertaining to the disbursement of land, real estate or land interests, while a testament was related to the disposition of movable property, goods and chattels. Gradually they were combined, but even in the sixteen hundreds some were still separate documents.

Administration or Admons
Administrations are documents relating to a will or an intestate person (one who has left no will), naming the administrator or administrators of the estate or goods of the deceased. The probate court would grant Letters of Administration or Administrative Bonds to the testator’s executors or as in intestate to next-of-kin, friend or principal creditor. The Bonds or Letters of Administration were then entered into an Act Book.

Codicil
A codicil is an addition or supplement to a will adding to, taking from or an alteration of the provisions.

Sentence
A sentence is a decree or judgment pertaining to a will or administration.

Word of the Week:
Messuage: A parcel of land with a cottage or dwelling house and all adjoining buildings.