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• Pettigrew & Oulton Directories available online May 2013
• South London Burials 1545-1905 added to Greater London Burials March 2013
• Thom's Irish Directories 1845-1900 available online March 2013
• Chester Wills Collection 1519-1940 - Original Documents Available Online March 2013
• Oxfordshire Wills - Images Available Online March 2013
• Pre-1858 Probate Jurisdictions: Where To Look For Wills December 2012
• Additional Burials and Baptisms for Middlesex and London November 2012
• Dublin Directories October 2012
• Lancashire Wills Index (1457-1812) September 2012
• Surrey PCC Will Abstracts (1736-1794) September 2012
• Court of Husting Will Abstracts 1258-1688 August 2012
• London & Middlesex Will Abstracts 1700-1704 July 2012
• Surrey Peculiars Probate Index 1660-1794 June 2012
• Somerset Medieval Wills Abstracts 1385-1558 June 2012
• New Origins.net ImageViewer June 2012
• Additonal Kent Probate Indexes 1440-1857 May 2012
• Kent Probate Indexes 1571-1857 on the National Wills Index March 2012
• Middlesex & City of London Burials 1538-1904 on British Origins March 2012

Irish Directories collection now includes Pettigrew and Oulton's Dublin Almanack and General Register of Ireland 1835-37, 1839, 1841, 1843-45, available under the Dublin Directories search.

Pettigrew and Oulton's Dublin Almanack and General Register of Ireland includes street lists supplemented by alphabetical lists of individuals, making it possible to track an individual around the city, an important feature, since changes of address were much more frequent in the nineteenth century, when the common practice was to rent rather than purchase.

Pettigrew and Oulton records officers of virtually every Dublin institution, club and society, as well as clergy of all denominations. Coverage extended outside Dublin, noting names of many officials, administrators and clergy in large towns. This is particularly useful for areas which were not served by a local directory, or for which none has survived.

Just as importantly these directories contain a tremendous amount of information on day-to-day activities and services, giving an insight into life in Ireland in past times.
Well over half a million burials are indexed in Greater London Burials, which include the City of London, Middlesex and South London (metropolitan Surrey) parishes. The indexes are covered by two searches: Middlesex & City of London Burials Index 1560-1909 and newly added, South London Burials Index 1545-1905.

South London Burials Index lists over 389,000 burials for the period 1545-1905, with a handful (18) up to 1957 and 1 for 1980.

The index contains Surname, Forename, Relationship, Abode, Occupation, Age, Died, Where Buried, Maiden Name, Notes.

Of the total 389,530 records, 231,765 have an abode mentioned. Of these, 6,915 refer to counties other than Surrey, 5,863 refer to places in Middlesex or City of London, and 626 mention places in Kent, but these are mainly places in South London, just over the border from Surrey, e.g. Blackheath, Deptford, Greenwich.
Irish directories currently available are Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory 1845-1900.

Irish directories are an excellent source, often supplying information not readily available elsewhere. These directories are often the only source that actually states someone’s exact occupation. A will may describe them as a 'merchant' whereas the directory will identify them as an 'ironmonger', 'grocer' or 'wine merchant' etc. Precise address and parish of residence are also commonly given. The only people generally excluded from these directories are the poorest members of society small tenant farmers, landless labourers and servants.

This collection will grow into more than 400 Irish directories making it the largest online collection of Irish directories. Sign up to our newsletter to keep updated

The Chester Wills Collection comprises the Chester Wills Index and the Cheshire Wills Images.

• Chester Wills Index includes indexes to all wills proved at Chester up to 1858 and indexes to wills of Cheshire people from 1858-1940. These are held at Cheshire Record Office.
  Plus, as jurisdiction covered south Lancashire, the index also includes Lancashire wills proved at Chester. These are held at Lancashire Record Office.
• Cheshire Wills Images conists of digitised images of the probate documents held at Cheshire Record Office.

The present index is the most comprehensive available for Cheshire probate records.

All Chester probate records held at Cheshire Record Office have been digitised, and these images can be purchased and viewed directly from the index records.

The digitised documents include administrations, administration bonds, inventories, tuitions and other documents. The online index generally states which of the main types of documents are present (wills & codicils, administrations, inventories), although there can be other types of unspecified documents also present (e.g. accounts, tuitions, depositions, correspondence, etc).
This dataset indexes all the surviving probate records of the bishop and archdeacon of Oxford, covering the period 1516 to 1857, and of the Oxfordshire Peculiars, covering the period 1547-1856.

All the records indexed here are now housed in Oxfordshire Record Office. Digitisation of these documents has now been completed, and these digitised images are available to purchase and view online.
For help negotiating the labyrinth of over 300 pre 1858 probate courts explore our collection of Jeremy Gibson’s probate jurisdiction maps.

Prior to 1858, probate was handled by the ecclesiastical or church courts with jurisdiction in archdeaconries, dioceses of bishops (consistory courts) and provinces of the archbishops of Canterbury and York. There were also areas exempt from archdiaconal and episcopal jurisdictions known as "peculiars".

The jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts was by archdeaconries and dioceses which often - but not always - coincided with county boundaries. There are however, numerous exceptions and this series of probate jurisdiction maps will help simplify the process of finding your way around the 300 or so pre-1858 probate courts functioning at one time or another.

Each map, based on the pre-1974 counties, is accompanied by a detailed legend giving a breakdown of the jurisdictions for each county. As each map is unique it is important to look at a map in conjunction with its own legend.

The county maps are based upon those created by Jeremy Gibson for his book Probate Jurisdictions: Where to Look for Wills and are used with his kind permission.
Middlesex & London Baptisms Index 1538-1882
The collection records over 140,000 baptisms (over 399,700 names) in Middlesex and London which are not included with the IGI. In nearly all cases the names of the parents are given, and often the maiden name of the mother. Middlesex & City of London Burials 1560-1909
The index covers over 169,100 burials in Middlesex and the City of London. Records include the last name, first name, age, year of burial, place name, and sometimes additional info such as parent names or addresses. . The first 25 of 176 Irish directories are now available for searching on www.origins.net.

Irish directories are an excellent source, often supplying information not readily available elsewhere. These directories are often the only source that actually states someone’s exact occupation. A will may describe them as a 'merchant' whereas the directory will identify them as an 'ironmonger', 'grocer' or 'wine merchant' etc. Precise address and parish of residence are also commonly given. The only people generally excluded from these directories are the poorest members of society small tenant farmers, landless labourers and servants. 

Over 32,600 testators are now available for searching online within the Lancashire Wills Index. The Archdeaconry of Richmond comprised that part of Lancashire north of the River Ribble, and parts of Cumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. It was further subdivided into deaneries. Wills from the western deaneries from following Lancashire & Cheshire Record Society volumes are included in this collection:

• Volume 10 - Index to wills proved in the western deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Richmond 1457-1680, plus index to abstracts (summary) of wills 1531-1652 proved in the Archdeaconry of Richmond (mainly deanery of Amounderness) where the original wills no longer survive. Published 1884.
• Volume 13 - Index to Wills proved in the western deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Richmond 1681-1748. Published 1886.
• Volume 23 - Index to Wills proved in the western deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Richmond 1748-1792, and the peculiar of the Manor of Halton 1615-1792. Published 1891.
• Volume 66 - Index to Wills proved in the western deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Richmond, and the peculiar of the Manor of Halton 1793-1812. Published 1913.

The index includes testator's name, place of residence, year/date of will and deanery in which the will was filed.  Our growing collection of Surrey records now includes abstracts to wills for Surrey testators proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) 1736-1794. Over 15,300 testators are included.

The PCC was the senior and most important of the pre 1858 ecclesiastical courts claiming over-riding jurisdiction over the whole of England and Wales. Wills of those dying overseas were also usually proved in the PPC.

The abstracts include all names and places appearing in the will, plus incidental information such as occupations etc where found in the original document. This information is both rich and valuable to the family historian.

The court of Husting was a civil court, which had probate jurisdiction within the ancient City of London from medieval times through most of the 17th century when it became obsolete.

This volume contains indexed abstracts (summaries) to wills proved in the Court of Husting 1258–1688. These wills are detailed abstracts (summaries) of the original wills and contain the key information given in the original probate material. Copies of the original wills held at The London Metropolitan Archives.

The 3857 abstracts (containing over 10,000 names), include all personal names (testator, beneficiaries etc) with their relationships, place names, occupations, bequests of money and, in most cases, bequests of furniture, livestock, clothes and other possessions, and descriptions of lands. Also includes place of burial. 

This dataset contains indexed abstracts to London and Middlesex 1700-1704. These abstracts contain a complete summary of all details contained within each will.

They are all taken from original wills (as opposed to register copies) and cover the following courts: Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex, Archdeaconry Court of London, Commissary Court of London, Consistory Court of London and Peculiar Court of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral.

An index to Wills, Administrations and inventories in the Peculiar Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Deanery of Croydon (Surrey) 1660-1794. 

The Peculiar Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Deanery of Croydon included the Surrey parishes of Barnes, Burstow, Charlwood, Cheam, Croydon, East Horsley, Merstham, Mortlake, Church Newington, Putney, Roehampton, Walworth St Peter and Wimbledon. For more detail see map of Surrey Parishes also seeHierarchy of Surrey Church Courts.

This volume contains full abstracts (summaries) to wills for Somerset testators proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. These abstracts contain a complete summary of the details contained within each will and includes all names and places (testators, executors, witnesses and beneficiaries) plus incidental information such as relationships and occupations where found in the original documents.

 More about Somerset Medieval Wills Abstracts 1385-1558

Over the past few months, we have listened to customer feedback and have developed a new image viewer for Origins.net. This allows easier searching for all users, including those accessing Origins.net from a Mac.

One of the best ways to check out the ImageViewer is to browse the Children’s Employment Commission of 1842.

This huge government publication contains evidence on the employment of children. Evidence is given by interviews with employers, adult workers and children, relating to work and lifestyle conditions. This fascinating and vivid resource provides detailed information on early 19th century social conditions in the manufacturing areas of Great Britain and Ireland. 

Kent probate indexes now available on the National Wills Index include:

• 28,031 wills - West Kent Wills Index, 1440-1857
• 27,812 inventories - Kent inventories 1571-1842.

The following courts are covered:

• Diocese of Canterbury, Archdeaconry Court
• Diocese of Canterbury, Consistory Court
• Diocese of Rochester, Archdeaconry Court
• Diocese of Rochester, Consistory Court
• Peculiar of Cliffe

Future updates will include the Deanery of Shoreham and East Kent probate indexes.

Kent has the largest collection of probate records of any English county but there are as yet no published indexes to much of this material. Indexes to all of these records will become available on the National Wills Index (NWI) in 2012.

The first Kent probate indexes to become available on the NWI include:

• 13,413 wills from the Archdeaconry and Consistory Courts of Rochester,
• 27,812 surviving paper inventories of Kent testators.

Additional Middlesex burials added to this collection which now includes over 116,000 burials in Middlesex and the City of London. The Index includes surname, forename, age, year of burial, parish, and often additional information such as parents names or address.

The Middlesex & City of London Burials can help you locate individuals who were living in London or Middlesex at a particular time, ie before the date of their death. It is also likely (though you cannot be 100% sure) that they had been living in the area where they were buried. So if you suspect an ancestor might have been living in London or Middlesex, searching these records may help confirm this.

For information about material found on Origins.net contact pr@origins.net

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