Testators of wills proved in Jamaica

Film number 1937926: 1756 - 1882

The FHL catalogue states that the date range for this film starts at 1725, but the first will on the film is dated 1775 (though a date of 1725 is written in modern writing on the outside of the document). The earliest will in this set is dated 1756.

Nearly all the documents are hand-written. For some people there are variations in the spelling of the name; the spelling used in the following lists is usually the one that occurs most frequently or that the testator himself or testatrix herself actually wrote. In some cases an unresolved variation in spelling is indicated by brackets.

The will documents are in a range of conditions. Some are damaged, with tears and holes, and in some cases pieces are missing. Quite a few wills have suffered from bleed-through of the ink, and are difficult to read.

In too many cases, it also appears that a portion of a document - for example one side of a sheet of paper - has not been filmed and so sometimes the full text of a will is not available on the film.

There are various dates associated with each document or group of documents. There are the date of the will, the date the will was lodged, the date of death of the testator, the date probate was applied for, the date of probate, and the date of recording of the will or probate. From 1880 on, the year under which a will is listed appears to be the year in which its details were entered in the District Courts Will Book.

Note: the order of each list is that of the documents or document groups on the film.

There are only the original will (and codicil) documents. They are listed in roughly chronological order. [Is the order that in which probate was applied for?]

Note: the documents of Stephen LAINGLEY are misfiled and belong with the wills of 1883.

There are only the original will (and codicil) documents. They are listed in roughly chronological order. [Is the order that in which probate was applied for?] However, the sequence is interrupted at about year 1812 with a collection of wills dating from 1765 to about 1818; these wills are essentially for testators whose surnames start with the letters D and O, which leads to questions about the completeness of all these collections of wills.

Note: the documents of Eleanor WILLIAMS are misfiled and belong with the wills of 1882;
the documents of John THOMAS belong with the wills of 1888;
the documents of George McGRATH belong with the wills of 1881;
the documents of John HINSHELWOOD belong with the wills of 1881;
the documents of Henry Forbes COLTHIRST belong with the wills of 1881.

The wills and associated probate documents are in two groups, each listed in approximate alphabetical order by testator's surname.

At the start there is a list of probate cases with the following note, dated 4 Aug 1880:

Schedule of Original Wills sent herewith on which Probate or Administration with the Will annexed has been granted by the Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica, since the Coming into operation of the Judicature Law 1879. (Law 24 of 1879.)

There are wills and probate documents. They are listed in approximate alphabetical order by testator's surname. For each group of documents (relating to a single case) there is usually a single page headed "Particulars" which gives the name of the testator, date of death, last place of residence, where the will was proved, the name of the executor(s), and the date of probate. "[n.d.]" means no date, and indicates that the "Particulars" page was not present to give the date of probate.

Note: see item 2 for the misfiled documents of George McGRATH, John HINSHELWOOD, and Henry Forbes COLTHIRST.

There are wills and probate documents. They are listed in approximate alphabetical order by testator's surname. For each group of documents (relating to a single case) there is usually a single page headed "Particulars" which gives the name of the testator, date of death, last place of residence, where the will was proved, the name of the executor(s), and the date of probate. "[n.d.]" means no date, and indicates that the "Particulars" page was not present to give the date of probate.

At the start there are 2 letters and 2 lists of wills delivered. Half the leaf is missing from the longer list, and so the names of the testators on the list are not available.

Note: see item 2 for the misfiled documents of Eleanor WILLIAMS.

I make no claim as to the completeness or accuracy of the above information. Any comment, addition, or correction to the data is welcomed.