Legacy: Wills, Burials, Monumental Inscriptions, Inheritance and Succession Records
This section covers the full spectrum of evidence relating to death, estate, lineage and family continuity.
Wills, probate records, burials and monumental inscriptions together tell a rich family story. Wills and probate documents reveal property, relationships and the shape of an estate, while burial registers and monumental inscriptions record a person’s final resting place and often link them to other family members
The Inquisitions Post Mortem add a further layer of certainty, documenting the legal transfer of land and identifying the rightful heir after a landholder’s death. For the Holt family, these inquiries create a clear, chronological record of succession and estate continuity across several branches of the Lancashire gentry.
There are a number of pages summarising the wills in date order, recorded in Rochdale Library. These documents provide major
bequests, details of personal estate, and valuable clues about family structure, including relationships, marital status,
and occasionally the more hidden aspects of family life. Wills can provide:-
- an indication of wealth and lifestyle of a person
- names and relationships of other relatives such as spouses, children, grandchildren, cousins, nephews, nieces etc
- details of family skeletons such as illegitimate children
- the marital status of a daughter and marriage details by giving her husband's surname
There is a page covering the Owen MSS which comprise of eighty volumes—mostly folio and quarto account books—in which Mr Owen recorded an extensive body local historical material in an exceptionally neat hand. Together, these volumes preserve monumental inscriptions, parish register extracts, genealogical notes, architectural and archaeological observations, and a wide range of miscellaneous historical memoranda.
Letters of Administration can also be helpful for deaths where the deceased left no will.
| Year | Testator | Bequests |
|---|---|---|
| 1610 | Adam Holt |
To his wife Marie – that bed which was given to him when he married her; also one silver spoon. To Henrie Holt – his hackneye saddle. |
| 1626 | Roger Holt |
To his eldest daughter – one brown cow, one bed and one chest; to his son‑in‑law – one blue jerkin and one pair of breeches. |
| 1663 | Roger Holt | To his wife Jennett and the child in her womb – all his goods. |
| 1718 | John Holt |
To his wife – all her wearing apparel; her spinning wheel; two pair of stock cards;
one desk which was her own before marriage; two Bibles and one sermon book; also one chest in which she lays her clothes; plus ten and one‑third of the residue. To his son – all his wearing apparel; books; one chest; one desk; and two‑thirds of the residue. |
| 1752 | Mary Holt |
To her daughter Alice – her best gown and coat; to her daughter Mary – one of her handkerchiefs and her woollen clothes; to her daughters Ann and Alice – her linen clothes. |
