Search will calendars

Before you start

To carry out a search, input the search criteria in the relevant field(s) and then follow the 'search' link.

The will calendar database can be searched by any of the following criteria, however surname and/ or forename is usually the most straightforward search to begin with:

• surname
• forename
• registry
• date of death range
• date of grant range
• full abstract

If you see a 'view image' link next to an entry on the will calendars application, this means that you can see a digital copy of the transcribed will by following this link. 

Additional information

Get background information about wills and will calendars. 

To find surviving wills before 1858 in Northern Ireland go to:

• Use Name Search to find early family history records

Using surname and forename searches

The search facility allows you to search for all or part of a name. For example, if you are unsure whether ‘Brown’ or ‘Browne’ is the right spelling, inputting Brown will return entries for Brown and Browne.

If you only know the initial of the forename, you can search using just this letter. Entering ‘B’ in the forename field will return all entries with a forename beginning with B.  

Search the abstract

You can search for words, names or phrases within the full abstract.

This search tool is quite powerful, as you can narrow down searches for a person’s will by:

• title - for example private, lieutenant
• address of the deceased - for example street or townland name
• place of death - for example France, USA
• significant event - for example the sinking of the Princess Victoria
• names of executors

Adding in this context may narrow your search, particularly if the name you are searching for is common and a name search may return many pages of entries.

Date entry

You may enter a specific date or date ranges in both the 'Date of Death' and the 'Date of Grant' fields:

'From' date

If you enter only a year in the 'from' date (for example 1860), the system searches from the first date of the year (for example 01 Jan 1860) onwards.

If you enter a year and month in the 'from' date (for example Feb 1860), the system searches from the first date of the month within that year (for example 01 Feb 1860) onwards.

'To' date

If you enter only a year in the 'to' date (for example 1860), the system searches up to the last date of the year (for example 31 Dec 1860)

If you enter a year and a month in the 'from' date (for example Feb 1860), the system searches up to the last date of the month within that year (for example 29 Feb 1860)

Searching for an exact date

To search for an exact date, you should enter the day, month and year in both the 'from' and 'to' fields.

Refining your search

You may enter more than one search criterion. Refining your search is recommended in order to restrict results to a manageable number. For example,  searching simply for the surname Burns returns more than 350 hits while searching for surname Burns and forename D (returning forenames beginning with the letter D) would return six hits.

Results display options

Results per page

You can display 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 results per page. The default setting is 10.

Sorting results

You can sort your results by surname, forename or date of death. The default setting is surname.