THE KENT GENEALOGICAL CO-OPERATIVE SEARCH GROUP
Based upon the idea developed by Messrs Bernau and Bernau in the 1920's it has
been decided to re-start the system of co-operative searches, but at this stage
confining the area of the research to the records of the county of Kent.
The scheme will make it possible for subscribers to have a large volume of material
searched for the names in which they are interested for a low cost. The scheme
in the 1920's operated on a guinea per surname. .However, the modern -day
equivalent was felt to be too high and we are starting with the more modest
sum of £5 ~ in many instances the cost of one hour of professional research.
The first search will cover the wills for the Archdeaconry and Consistory_§burts
or Canterbury for the perie; 1700-1257, when the courts terminated and their
function was taken over by the Frincipal Probate Registry. The ‘indexes’
available for research are arranged under initial letter only for the two courts.
Thus to search for entries of a surname, say Harrington, it is necessary to
search through all the entries beginning with the letter H. The entries within
each letter are arranged in chronological order and are in Latin before 1?33
and written in contemporary script. Thus some difficulty can be experienced
in reading these records. The original ‘indexes’ appear in the following
arrangement:-
A folio LIBER S8
1706 23 Roberti Joshuae Dovor
24 Reynalls Thomas Hawkherst
24 Reynolds Richardi ' Hawkherst
25 Reynolds Thomae u Hawkherst
26 Relfe willi[el]mi Cranbrooke
The entries will be typed up in the following manner giving the modern
references to the records. .
PRC 32/ 1
1706 58/26 Relfe, William Cranbrooke~
In $u¢h Cases Where the wills are not given an exact date in the ‘indexes’ the
years of the will register will be sneer. For instance the Consistory Court
will register 58 covers the years 170641712 and the following volume 59 covers
the years 1713-1722. _Where the 'indexes' have been damaged and the entries
lost the original register will be examined to establish the names, dates and
folios.
From the listings provided to subscribers they will be able to examine the wills
at the Kent Archives Office, Maidstone without recourse to anything further or
to order photocopies. Arrangements can also be made to provide full genealogical
abstracts where required. It has been suggested for future searches that complete
will registers are searched for any reference to subscribers names. You will
note that amongst the immediate proposals for future searches there is one for
the PROBATE ACT BOOKS so that subscribers may obtain a complete listing of wills
(there may be wills that have been proved but not registered, and thus amongst
the boxes of original wills) and administrations. '
SUBSCRIPTIONS WILL CLOSE ON THE 1st JULY 1983. Please complete the form over-
leaf and return this together with the appropriate remittance to 143 Sturry
Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1 1DF, England.
ROPO for future searches.
P SALS 1
The following searches haveabeen proposed and you are asked to indicate your
preference for the searches and to suggest any other records you would like
covered by the group. Subscription application forms for these future searches
will be circulated at the completion of the first search. Please send S.A.E.
for details if not participating in this first search.
[A] PROBATE ACT ooxs 1750-1857 for the Archdeaconry and Consistory Courts of
Canterbury. Whilst each book is individually indexed for the testator or intestate
some of the indexes are defective and there is no overall index for the series.
Itiis anticipated that all names of testators, intestates, executors, administrators
and stray names would be extracted for subscribers. Two examples from an Act Book
aié shqq overleaf to demonstrate the information given in the original
ea;e;a”ee this period.