Libraries and leisure

Wills

Wills are one of the most useful sources for local and family historians, not least for the evidence they can provide for family relationships, but also for the fascinating insight they can give to everyday life in times past. Thousands of these documents survive, although Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies does not hold the will of every Hertfordshire person who may have made one. People with little or no land or possessions may not have made a will at all, although during the medieval period wills of some of the very poorest people do survive copied into some Hertfordshire manorial court rolls.

Read on for more information about wills and a list of holdings at HALS.

Index to Wills at Hertford, 1415-1858

The British Record Society is delighted to announce the publication of its index to Wills at Hertford, 1415-1858 which covers some 30,000 wills held at Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies. Price £40.00.