Finding a Will of an English Earl or What's in a Name?

In our genealogy and family history research we've all probably come across challenges with finding someone in the records when searching for them by their name. The issue could be a problem with the transcription used to create the index such as what I found for the household of Thomas S. Pattillo inthe 1911 Census of Canada where the surname was originally transcribed as "Pattires" by the folks at Ancestry.

1911 Census of Canada, population schedule, Nova Scotia, Colchester district (41), Truro sub-district (25), p. 13, dwelling 113, family 125, household of Thomas S. Pattires [Thomas S. Pattillo], digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 13 Nov 2024); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm T-20358.

Maybe the civil or church authority who recorded the name in an official document spelled the name as they heard it. I came across that challenge for the household of John Haughton in the 1881 Census of Canada where the enumerator recorded the name as "Hutton".

1881 Census of Canada, population schedule, Ontario, Simcoe North district (139), Tiny sub-district (H), division 2, p. 61, dwelling 250, family 254, household of John Hutton, digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 13 Nov 2024); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-13251.

We might even come across cases where a nickname or diminutive of the name is recorded. Possibly someone was named after their great-aunt Agnes but they go by the name Nancy since they think that Agnes sounds old-fashioned.

Then there is the interesting case a patron at a recent joint Ottawa Public Library - Ottawa Branch of Ontario Ancestors Genealogy Drop-In brought to the group. She was looking for help in locating the will of the 12th or 13th Earl of Derby as part of her efforts to confirm a family story of a possible undocumented child of one of those two Earls.

It should be easy to find the will I thought.

The first thing I did was to look up the details about the 12th and 13th Earls of Derby using Wikipedia to find out their birth names and when they died. I could also have looked up the entries in Burke's A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage. 

I learned the following details:

• 12th Earl of Derby: born Edward Smith-Stanley and died 21 Oct 1834
• 13th Earl of Derby: born Edward Smith-Stanley and died 30 Jun 1851

Since both of the Earls died before 1857, I can't use the "Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales)" site. At the drop-in, John Reid, one of our subject matter experts, suggested that we need to look in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) records since they cover the years 1384 to 1858. Since Ancestry has indexed and made available the images from the PCC wills in their "England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858" collection that's where I started.

And got absolutely nowhere!

I searched for any "Edward Smith-Stanley" who died around 1834 or 1851. I even searched for Edward Smith Stanley". I searched for all kinds of variations on the name and expanded the year range but there was no one who matched what I was looking for.

Since we only have an hour to help those dropping in, I put the searching aside and the group continued with the next question. But this was an itch that I just couldn't scratch. So at around 11 p.m. that night (it was one of those "I can't sleep" research itches) I dived back in this problem.

Might the will had been proved in another court such as the Prerogative Court of York or at a local court in England?

But first there was one other place I wanted to check for the Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills. That is The National Archives (England) "Wills 1384-1858" research guide since it has a search box. Instead of searching by name I searched for the keyword "Earl of Derby" (without quotes). I got back 18 results and two results got my immediate attention:

Reference:     PROB 11/1853/415
Description:     Will of The Right Honorable Edward Earl of Derby of Chester , Cheshire
Date:     25 November 1835
Held by:     The National Archives, Kew

and

Reference:     PROB 11/2140/271
Description:     Will of The Right Honorable Edward Earl of Derby of Angel Inn, John Street, Minories , City of London
Date:     22 October 1851
Held by:     The National Archives, Kew

So it seems that the wills for both the 12th and 13th Earls of Derby were proven in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. I could even download a digitized copy of both of those wills for free from The National Archives if I sign in with my free account.

Yet why couldn't I find these wills on Ancestry?

I puzzled over that for a few minutes and then noticed that nowhere in the description is his birth surname "Smith-Stanley" recorded. Could Ancestry have taken his title and used it as his last name?

In searching for any "Edward" with the last name of "Earl" who died around 1834 only one entry was returned in the results:

Screen capture of the entry from Ancestry of the "England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858" collection index page found by searching for the first name "Edward", last name "Earl", who died around 1834.

Same with searching for any "Edward" with the last name of "Earl" who died around 1851:

Screen capture of the entry from Ancestry of the "England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858" collection index page found by searching for the first name "Edward", last name "Earl", who died around 1851.

After reviewing the images, I was certain that was them. It only took me less than two hours of effort to find the will and to understand why I couldn't find the information during our drop-in.

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Now that we know how those copies of the wills of the peerage of the United Kingdom have been possibly recorded in the index of the "England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858" database on Ancestry we can try our hand at finding other wills of nobility proven in that court.

We can find other interesting wills of the English and Welsh peerage in this Ancestry collection by searching on the rank of nobility such as Earl/Countess, Viscount/Viscountess, Marquess/Marchioness, or Duke/Duchess, as their last name. But Duke and Earl are also possible actual last names. How do we filter out the non-peerage? By adding an exact Keyword match of "Honorable" or "Noble". You can even leave off the rank of nobility and just search use the exact match Keyword of "Highness" to find wills of some princes and princesses. I even came across the copy of the will of Her Most Excellent Majesty Charlotte, Queen of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland by just using the exact Keyword search of "Majesty" and leaving out all the other details.

Start of the will of Charlotte, Queen of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, probated 26 Jan 1819; "England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858," Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 Nov 2024); citing The National Archives (Kew), PROB 11/1612.

So be creative when you are doing your searches by name, especially when it comes to those of who are Peers of the United Kingdom!

The Harry Creagen Fonds of Canadian RFC and RNAS Airmen

During my visit to the Library and Archives at the Ingenium Centre in Ottawa to look at the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, the archivist, Adele Torrance, mentioned that part of a collection held by the Library and Archives at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum (CASM) in Ottawa had been digitized by Ancestry. Just a note, this is not the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) that we often use in our Canadian research.

The Harry Creagen Fonds were pulled together by Mr. Creagen between 1938 and the 1990s. Mr. Creagen had a life long interest in aviation and he created a collection mainly concerning Canadians who served during the First World War in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), and also the Royal Air Force which was created by merging the RFC and RNAS in 1918.

McKinlay, Ken, Stack one of three of banker boxes of the Harry Creagen Collection, Photograph, 10 Oct 2024, Canada Aviation and Space Museum Library and Archives.

What the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Library and Archives received were a number of files organized by subjects and placed in bankers boxes. The files are still in those boxes at the archives and haven't been added into their catalogue...yet. It's a long process and there is limited staff to do all that work. 

I had the fun and pleasure of actually looking through those boxes when I visited the Library and Archives at the CASM when I was looking for information about the Royal Naval Air Service Wing No. 3 and one of their pilots, Gordon Stuart Harrower, a Canadian from the Montreal area. 

Honestly, it really was fun!

It's not often that one gets to explore a collection with no idea of what may be found. With the aid of the archivist, Adele, we spent about an hour looking in the boxes and file folders to understand how the material was filed and finding material of specific interest to my research task for the day. Remember, this material hasn't been entered into the CASM catalogue and all we had to go on were the labels on the boxes and a subject matter list of the material that is organized by Mr. Creagen's filing cabinet drawers. 

McKinlay, Ken, File folders found in one box from the Harry Creagen Collection, Photograph, 10 Oct 2024, Canada Aviation and Space Museum Library and Archives.

One sort of offbeat file I came across was what I'm guessing is an English transcription or abstract of the Jagdgeschwader Nr. 1 Victory Log. You might be asking why this might be of interest. This is the German squadron sometimes referred to as "The Flying Circus" that was led by Manfred von Richthofen, AKA the Red Baron. These pages list the date, pilot, the type of allied aircraft shot down, where it happened and the kill number for that pilot. It also records when a German pilot of JG 1 was wounded or killed. As with any collection, until you start to dive into the records, you just never know what you will come across.

Then there are the boxes of the index cards created by Mr. Creagen.

McKinlay, Ken, Boxes of index cards from the Harry Creagen Collection, Photograph, 10 Oct 2024, Canada Aviation and Space Museum Library and Archives.

It is this part of the collection that has been digitized by Ancestry.

Before rushing over to Ancestry to look for these digitized index cards, they aren't on Ancestry. Instead you will find them on Fold3 or Forces War Records. These two sites hold many of the military collections digitized by Ancestry and they may be pointed to from indexes on Ancestry. Where you will find the digitized index cards online is in the Canada, WWI, RCAF Pilot Cards on Forces War Records. You will also find it on Fold3 in their Canada, WWI, RCAF Pilot Cards collection. Basically, the same collection but on two different Ancestry owned sites.

So what will you possibly find written on those index cards?

As I mentioned, I was curious about Gordon Stuart Harrower of Montreal. One of his daughters married into a branch in my family tree. I had stumbled across a mention of Mr. Harrower serving in the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War and the research itch took hold.

Here are the cards I found by searching for his name in that collection on Forces War Records.

If I didn't already know the date of his death, I now have it. But the index cards for Mr. Harrower held other clues such as the squadrons he served in, when he left the service, and even that he trained in Texas. I also found out that he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. Maybe some day I'll do a blog post about Mr. Harrower since, in addition to his service, he was trained at Wright Brothers Field and is mentioned on a plaque at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Dayton, Ohio, USA.

Along with looking at the Harry Creagen Fonds, the archivist also took the time to look through the CASM catalogue of books for material that may have shed light into the Royal Naval Air Service and Canadians aviators in the First World War.

McKinlay, Ken, A selection of books from the CASM Library concerning the RNAS and other topics of interest, Photograph, 10 Oct 2024, Canada Aviation and Space Museum Library and Archives.

They have a wonderful library in addition to their archives and I know I could easily spend a full afternoon just perusing the books on the shelves. They even have a flight log book copy collection of log books that have been donated to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Archives of military and civilian pilots.

I really can't thank Adele Torrance enough for taking the time out of her day to show me the Harry Creagen Fonds in the CASM vault and also searching the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Library and Archives catalogue for additional books and material. 

If you are looking to visit the Library and Archives at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, check out their page at https://ingeniumcanada.org/aviation/library-and-archives for the opening hours, location, and contact information. Don't forget to get an admission ticket to explore all the neat exhibits after you finish your research!

Researching Those Who Served Canada in the First and Second World Wars

McKinlay, Ken, "Cross of Sacrifice, National Military Cemetery," Photograph, 10 November 2018, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

With Remembrance Day rapidly approaching I've updated my two pages under my "Links of Interest" that I use in my own research:

• First World War: Researching a Canadian Soldier of the Great War
• Second World War: Researching the Canadians Who Served 

I am also giving several talks in the next few weeks concerning researching those who served Canada in the First and Second World Wars:

Researching a Canadian Soldier of the Great War - Join me online for an exploration into the process of uncovering the military service of our Canadian ancestors who served in the First World War. Through real-life case studies, this presentation will guide you through the rich array of resources available for tracing the military history of your relatives. Learn about the contents of the service files, additional archival records, and other invaluable tools to bring the past to life and gain a deeper understanding of your family's wartime legacy. 

• 11 Nov 2024 at 7 pm ET: Bruce County Genealogical Society - Register via Zoom at Researching a Canadian Soldier of the Great War (https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UEPUe3QRSwem1kW6CA1cLA#/registration)

 

Second World War: Researching the Canadians Who Served - This presentation delves into the wealth of records available for researching Canadians who served during the Second World War. We’ll explore both the poignant records of those who gave their lives in service to Canada and the rich archival resources that reveal the stories of those who survived. Whether your interest lies in uncovering military service details, personal narratives, or broader historical insights, this session hopefully provides the tools and guidance to deepen your understanding of those who served Canada.

• 18 Nov 2024 at 7 pm ET: Sudbury District Branch of Ontario Ancestors: https://sudbury.ogs.on.ca/events/world-war-ii/
• 24 Nov 2024 at 2 pm ET: Halton-Peel Branch of Ontario Ancestors: https://haltonpeel.ogs.on.ca/

 

 

McKinlay, Ken, "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, National War Memorial," Photograph, 26 June 2022, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.