Cornwall Soldiers’ Wills on New WWI Database

A new database was launched this morning, as part of the Government’s Probate and Wills Service. 230,000 Wills have been scanned individually and put online in a searchable database.

If you had an ancestor who died during the 1914-1918 War, then the Will was passed to their family, but if your ancestors survived the War then their Will was retained and has been stored for 100 years. WWI Soldiers Wills Database Launched

There is a charge for a will though! You can check here: WW1 Soldier Wills, UK Government Probate Service.

This is an invaluable source of fresh information and insight for genealogists and family history researchers, providing a snapshot insight into who each soldier would have left their goods and property to if they should die on the battlefields.

Having said that, I, personally, am struggling to get any proper results for it – but it is still in Beta. While the headline said that survivors’ wills were retained, the site only offers wills for those who died in service…. so something’s not right somewhere.

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