Newfoundland's Grand Banks Message Board

I am wondering if the wills that are indexed at Harbour Grace are different from those that are indexed at St John's. All assistance or leads will be greatly appreciated.

Yours in genealogy,
Mark

The location of Conception Bay probate records depends upon the era in which they were written. Some of the wills of the 1600s are in England or Boston. In the 1700s they may be found in England, the Newfoundland Registry of Deeds, the Court Records, or CO 194. Some wills were never brought before a court and are passed down in families (often tucked away in Bibles). In the 1800s the court system was divided into districts and sometimes the districts changed. In the 1980s many of the records in the Harbour Grace courthouse were tossed in a dumpster. Most were rescued and tranferred to St. John's.

The provincial archives has a collection called GN 170 which is little used but a goldmine of information. The microfilms are a challenge to read, semi-indexed, and poorly organized.