Canada, British Columbia Wills - FamilySearch Historical Records

Canada British Columbia

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes probate records from 1861 to 1981.

Probate records were kept by probate or surrogate courts. Often the size of the estate determined which court held jurisdiction. Search the records of all probate courts in all places where the individual had property.

The Central Will Registry is maintained by the Department of the Attorney General for all wills probated in the province of British Columbia. Probate records before 1930 are usually at provincial archives, with microfilm copies at the appropriate court. More recent probate records are usually only at the court.

The Family History Library has microfilmed records from the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) (formerly known as the National Archives of Canada (NAC); and earlier known as the Public Archives of Canada (PAC)) and the provincial archives in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. It has vital records and probate records from British Columbia, homestead applications from Saskatchewan, land and property and probate records from Newfoundland, and probate records from Manitoba but few records from other Canadian archives. More information can be found at the Canada Archives and Libraries article.

A will is a written, legal expression of a person’s wishes for himself and his property at the time of his death. It usually describes the estate and gives the names and relationships of heirs or beneficiaries. The affidavit of the witnesses includes the date or proof of death. If accepted by the court, a copy of the will was sometimes recorded in a will book or register kept by the clerk of the court. The clerk may have made errors when he transcribed the will, but the original will is often kept in the probate packet.

Wills can be a great source to verify family information. Wills will often name relatives by name and relation, making it a great tool for genealogists who are trying to gather all members of a family. It can also be useful in figuring out extended familial relations. Wills also give a sense of the types of property your ancestor owned. This can help a researcher understand more about the living conditions certain ancestors lived under.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Records from the British Columbia Wills collection may include the following information:


 * Date of death
 * Names of heirs and guardians
 * Relationships
 * Residences
 * An inventory of the estate
 * Names of witnesses

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The name of a relative or date of the event

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then:
 * 1) Select Record Type
 * 2) Select  Index Year and Surname or Will Number Range

Important: There are indexes available in this collection of images. The indexes are located in the section titled, Index. Look for your ancestor's name and look for the will number by their name. You may need to look through a number of folders before you find your ancestor. The will number is listed under the column, Remarks and not the column, Will#. This will help you find the record you are looking for in the collection. Also, The number for each will is written in the upper right-hand corner of each page of the will in small script, be aware that some wills are missing from the collection. The Will Numbers are listed in the indexes under the "Remarks" column, and NOT the "Wills" column. Some letters of the alphabet are continued at the end of the index volume. The index to these wills is also the index to the Victoria Probate Registry district records.

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

I Found Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information found in the probate record to search for the family in census records.
 * Use the probate record to help identify family members.
 * Search the British Columbia Death registrations for the death record of your ancestor.
 * Use the information to find other records such as birth, christening, marriage and census.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.
 * It may be useful to check out Saskatchewan Archives Board to see if there are other records that may be of interest to you.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name, especially French versions.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of British Columbia, Canada Genealogy.
 * Search in the British Columbia Archives and Libraries.
 * Search in the FamilySearch Library Catalog

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Image Citation

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