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A collection of 232 transcripts of wills at the York Registry covering a period of twenty eight years from 1429 to 1467 which will have great appeal to those studying medieval history and genealogy

It should be noted that many of them remain untranslated in the original Latin and that as this volume is only one part of a set the index shows people who may actually appear in other volumes.

Testamenta Vetusta is a collection of 803 wills from the late 12th to 16th centuries:

Testamenta Vetusta was collected and edited by Nicholas Harris Nicholas and published by Nichols and Son, Parliament Street, London in 1826.

He took his wills from the British Museum, private collections, Dugdale's Baronage, Collins' Peerage, County histories, Memoirs of Families, etc (his preface, p. 14). He was not able to access the originals then held in Doctors' Commons because of the difficulties imposed by the staff of those premises (preface, page 13). Some of the wills are abstracts for genealogical purposes where only the people and their relationships are written. He acknowledged his debt to John Nichols' "Collection of Royal Wills".

Nicholas' prime purpose was to illustrate from those wills the manners and customs of their times; additionally he wished to include the descents and possessions of families. For every will he gives some footnotes to determine the person and other relevant information.

For anyone with an interest in medieval times, it is enthralling as an illustration of the manners and customs of their times. These wills describe what those persons held dear: what better introduction to their lifestyles can you imagine?

A calendar of wills lists the name and place of each person who left the will. (Not the full details). They are an invaluable aid for family historians, as most of the wills are preserved at either the Gloucestershire Record Office or the Bristol Record Office, from which copies may be ordered. Note: wills between 1653 and 1660 were proved at London, and are therefore not included in these volumes.

See above.

Volume 2 covers the period 1660-1800