(UFWI)

THE UFFCULME WILLS & INVENTORIES (DCRS Vol. 40, 1997)

Transcribed by Mary Fraser

Historical background and the Source (UFWI)

Though in Devon, Uffculme was a Peculiar Parish in the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Salisbury, and its probate records were held in Salisbury, rather than Exeter, and so escaped destruction during World War II. To quote their description of this book: "The Devon & Cornwall Record Society's volume for 1997 book contains transcriptions of all the 266 probate inventories that could be traced for the parish of Uffculme, Devon, together with abstracts of the accompanying wills and administrations which have survived. Added to these are 322 further abstracts of wills and administrations under the Salisbury jurisdiction (and now housed at the Wiltshire Record Office in Trowbridge) which have no surviving inventories. These further wills and administrations extend to the end of the year 1800 (with a few in the Dean of Salisbury's list beyond that date). Where possible, notes are included on related burial and marriage entries taken from the Parish Registers." The book The Uffculme Wills and Inventories includes a number of illustrations, showing some of the original inventories, wills and administrations which are transcribed in the text.

The clerks at the two probate courts that processed Uffculme wills, administration and inventories seem to have favoured old-fashioned spellings, e.g. frequently using 'y' rather than 'i'. The clerks who filled in the parish register on the whole favoured more modern versions.

DWP's editing process

For each testator or intestate the book shows all these different spelling variations. Consistency is rare. The version(s) of a name given here in this UFWI index is/are that recorded on the will/administration and/or inventory. Our set of UFWI source items indicates what additional information, over and above an abstract, is provided for each of the wills and administrations appearing in The Uffculme Wills and Inventories.

Our set of WSA source items, derived from the Wiltshire and Swindon Archive's wills database, provides an alternative listing of these Uffculme items, and confirmation of their present location and availability.

Locating the source and acquiring copies

Devon & Cornwall Record Society publications are held in major reference libraries. Those libraries will no doubt provide photocopies as requested.