John Burgoyne Fernell - oldminer.co.uk

In case you are not familiar with Wills etc dating from the period, I should explain. If you already know - sorry.

 

Before the creation of the Probate Office in more recent times, Probate was granted by a Church Court. Wills under a certain value were dealt with by the Consistory Court of the local Diocese. Most of the Adlington Wills were of this nature and all of those that I have found are of the actual original Will with the Probate record attached. Wills of a higher value had to be dealt with by a Prerogative Church Court. The south of the Country was dealt with by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury and for the north of the Country by the Prerogative Court of York. Any Wills that I have found of this nature are Court Transcripts rather that the original. The Will was read in Court and then transcribed into the Court Ledgers by the Court Scribe. Presumably due to pressure of work, the transcript generally omitted paragraphs, all punctuation, was erratic in the use of initial Capital letters etc. etc. For neatness, and to give a similar appearance to what we refer to as 'Justified' text, the Scribe generally added little squiggles in gaps at the end of lines which if not careful, can appear to be words. The style of hand-writing differed very much from the present day which can make reading more difficult. - I hope I am not telling you something you already know.

Neil McKay.