PROB 11552-1854Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Wills of Selected Famous Persons
The wills in this series were removed from their positions in the files of original wills, which now form the series PROB 10, on account of the celebrity of the testators. They include the wills of Drake, Shakespeare, and Nelson. Nelson's will is accompanied by a private diary which he wrote in September and October 1805.
Some of the wills are accompanied by affidavits sworn by witnesses attesting their authenticity.
Some documents that are copies of original wills are identified as such. They have been identified either because they are annotated as copies, or because the signatures of witnesses and of the testator are in the same hands as the rest of the document. In the former cases it is clear that the originals were in the custody of the Court before the copies were made.