South Africa Probate Records: Difference between revisions

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== Wills and Probates  ==
== Wills and Probates  ==


Research use: Mainly to show relationships and to verify information in church records. Also to provide pedigree connections and names of living children and children’s spouses, which sometimes cannot be found elsewhere.
Probate records includedeath notices and estate records. They were kept from 1834 to present. Death notices includes name, birth date and place, names of parents, age of deceased, marital status, date and place of death, names of children, and property.  Wills include name of testator, residence, heirs, relationships, description of land and property, date of will and probate, signatures of witnesses’ and executors, etc. These records are found at provincial archives and the various masters of the Supreme Court.
 
Probate records : death notices/estate records
 
Record type: Death notices, wills, probate packets.
 
Time period: 1834 to present.
 
Contents: Death notices - name, birth date and place, names of parents, age of deceased, marital status, date and place of death, names of children, and property.  Wills - name of testator, residence, heirs, relationships, description of land and property, date of will and probate, signatures of witnesses’ and executors, etc.
 
Location: Provincial archives and the various masters of the Supreme Court.
 
Population coverage: 50% of Whites and also many Coloreds, Asians, and Africans.
 
Reliability: Highly accurate. The records had to be proved in a court of law.<ref name="profile">The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Family History Record Profile: Southern Africa,” Word document, private files of the FamilySearch Content Strategy Team, 1987-1998.</ref>
*[http://forebears.io/south-africa Forebears] South Africa Wills and Probate Records.


== Death Notices ==
== Death Notices ==

Revision as of 22:04, 3 March 2024

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Online Resources[edit | edit source]

Wills and Probates[edit | edit source]

Probate records includedeath notices and estate records. They were kept from 1834 to present. Death notices includes name, birth date and place, names of parents, age of deceased, marital status, date and place of death, names of children, and property. Wills include name of testator, residence, heirs, relationships, description of land and property, date of will and probate, signatures of witnesses’ and executors, etc. These records are found at provincial archives and the various masters of the Supreme Court.

Death Notices[edit | edit source]

Death notices are essential documents for research in South Africa. These important documents typically supply age, date, and place of death, whether married nor not, names of children, and, if known, the names of the parents of the deceased, so are of great value. Death notices were held under the jurisdiction for which they were created. Prior to 1994, death notices were created under the following five jurisdictions:

Cape Province
Kimberley (Cape Province)
Natal
Orange Free State
Transvaal

Click on the name of the province for more information on the death notices available for that province.

Orphan Chamber Records[edit | edit source]

These records include testaments, inventories, Pupillen Register (register of wards - children under the protection of a guardian), and death registers. The records are from 1689 to 1834. Testaments include certified copies of wills. Inventories - inventories of estates of deceased persons. Pupillen Register includes full names of wards and their parents, birth dates, and who the ward married. Death registers includes name of deceased, occupation, place of birth, burial and death; age. These records are found at the Cape Archives, 62 Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town, South Africa.

References[edit | edit source]