THOUSANDS of Hampshire’s records, spanning back 500 years, are now available on Ancestry® and in the county’s libraries and record office.

Hampshire County Council has collaborated with Ancestry, the global leader in family history, to make nearly 100,000 of Hampshire and Isle of Wight wills and probates available online for the first time.

As well as being digitised for Ancestry.co.uk the probate records will be freely accessible from Hampshire Record Office in Winchester and in public libraries across the county.

Online and in person visitors will be able to discover Hampshire residents like Thomas Hancock of Hawley, Yateley who died of the plague in 1604. The records show that his will was handed to Alexander Read on a nine-foot pole because Hancock was afraid of passing on the infection to his witnesses.

The registers also features Church of England baptisms, marriages and burials for Hampshire parishes in Winchester Diocese dating from 1536 to 1921.

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The council’s executive member for countryside, culture and communities, Cllr Russell Oppenheimer, said: “It’s really exciting to be able to have Hampshire’s wills and probate records professionally digitised and made available online for the first time on Ancestry.

“The agreement between Ancestry and the council is helping to preserve the rich history of our county and making it more widely accessible. I am very pleased that people can access Ancestry without charge at our public libraries, and at Hampshire Record Office in Winchester."

“We are really proud to have worked with such an innovative team to digitise another important collection on Ancestry.’’

Content acquisition manager at Ancestry®, Kristian Lafferty, said: ‘’Our team of experts have worked with Hampshire Record Office to make the records digitally available for the first time ever, giving people the opportunity to learn more about their roots in Hampshire and even spot some prominent faces from the region too.’’

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Probate records are official court documents on the settlement of a person's estate after they die. The most important of these is usually a will, which lists the deceased's property and outlines who it has been left to, meaning these records will give insight to ancestors' daily lives and valued possessions. 

Hampshire Record Office is home to 1000 years of history and includes Hampshire Archives and Local Studies and Wessex Film and Sound Archive. The landmark building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993.

The collections are kept in purpose-built accommodation with eight miles of shelving. The facility is Tuesday to Thursday from 9.30am until 4pm, with document retrievals until 12 noon. For more go to hants.gov.uk/archives.

And for more on family history and stories of ancestors go to ancestry.co.uk.