Genealogy Chat

Could some kind person tell me how to find out if a relative left at will, they died in Cardiff, Wales in 1889
Many thanks,

ShelleyRose. xx

If the Will went to probate, there should be a record of it on Ancestry

If a Will was made, but it didn't go to Probate, there is no way of tracing it

Thanks for your quick reply Reggie, unfortunately I don't have a sub for Ancestry,

ShelleyRose. xx

Post the name here, ShelleyRose, many of us would be happy to look for the probate record.

Many Thanks Margee,

I'm looking for a will for a Moses Margam he died 1889 in Cardiff, Wales.
(he was born in 1819 in Margam, Wales).

Thanks for any help.

ShelleyRose. xx

Not seeing anything for him

Many thanks for taking the time to look for me Jax.

ShelleyRose. xx

The chap has certainly been well researched. Are you in contact with any other folk? Following is from a Rootsweb thread dated 18Aug1999 – though it’s possible that the email addresses will have changed the intervening years:-


I took a tour of the grounds at Margam when I was in Wales in 1994. The
place intrigues because of the name.

My grandfather, William Lloyd of Emlyn House, Mountain Ash, married twice.
His second marriage was to Maria Margam Lewis (1878-1950) the daughter of
Thomas Lewis, a colliery manager from Llanelli, and his wife, Edith Elizabeth
Margam who was the daughter of Moses Margam and Elizabeth Hutchinson, who
lived near Maesteg.

The story goes that this little baby was found on the doorstep of the Abbey
or the Church at Margam by the its minister. He was named Moses (no
bulrushes) and the Minister gave him a surname of Margam. As the little boy
grew up, whenever money was needed for him, it always came. Well, Moses
married and had children. He shows up on the 1881 census as Moses Morgan.
He was in Leadville, Lake Co., Co in the 1880's. One of his sons, Thomas
Margam, is listed on my grandfather's obit as Thomas Morgan of Maesteg.

Many years later, his great-grandson, took his family to the park at Margam
Abbey. There he found a photograph or painting of the man who owned Margam
Abbey at the time of Moses' birth. There was a resemblement. Who knows?

I thought the grounds of Margam Abbey were beautiful and so well kept.

The Crown Court Exeter has the probate office in the building if u want me to check for you

Thank you Val for your kind offer, it would be most appreciated.

ShellyRose. xx

I do not think Inky1 is related...that was copied off of rootschat

Thanks Jax,
Guess I didn't read his posting correctly, (time for my bed I think).

RE: Reggie’s post about Probate.

I have a copy of one of those non-Probate wills. A greatgreatgrandfather’s will, properly written and witnessed, merely stated that everything was passed to his wife. No money was stated, so 'everything' probably meant 'not much'.


THE LONDON GAZETTE, SEPTEMBER 4, 1857.

Whereas a Petition of Moses Margam, of Maesteg in the parish of Llangonoyd, in the county of Glamorgan, Sawyer, an insolvent debtor, having been filed in the County Court of Glamorganshire, at Bridgend, and an interim order for protection from process having been given to the said Moses Margam under the provisions of the Statutes in that case made and provided, the said Moses Margam is hereby required to appear before the said Court, on the 18th day of September instant, at ten of the clock in the forenoon precisely, for his first examination touching his debts, estate, and effects, and to be further dealt with according to the provisions of the said Statutes; and the choice of the creditors’ assignees at the time so appointed. All persons indebted to the said Moses Margam or that have any of his effects, are not to pay or deliver the same but to Mr. Thomas Tamplin Lewis, Registrar of the said Court, at his office, at Bridgend, the Official Assignee of the of the estate and effects of the said insolvent.


At death, even that many years later, your man too may not have had sufficient funds, etc. to warrant his will (if any) going to Probate.

Inky1

Many thanks for your imput, Moses was my gt. gt. grandfather, I was aware of the bancruptcy, (his wife d. 1864) I had just hoped he may have made a will, naming (family) who he had left something to

Checking back the Rootschat site, I had been in touch with the lady that had written the article.
Many thanks again for your help.

ShelleyRose. x