Every soldier provided a will, specifying what should happen to his effects should he die while in service.
For most men this was an “informal will”, on a form provided by the army and often completed just before the man went overseas. They contained personal, family and address information that can be of great value to researchers and family historians.
A page from an example will, with thanks to the National Archives of Ireland: the only organisation to make access to soldier’s wills free of charge and well done to them! Michael McGarrity signed his will just as he joined his battalion in France. Sadly, he was killed in early 1916.
Some of the wills can be found online. They are only the wills of men who died while in service, for (in theory) the man’s will was returned to him if he survived and was discharged. The wills that can be found are, however, only a sample of those that once existed.
English and Welsh soldiers’ wills
These wills are held by the UK Probate Service. Searching is free but there is a fee to obtain a copy of the will.
Scottish soldiers’ wills
These wills can be found at the ScotlandsPeople website, which is maintained by the National Records of Scotland. Searching is free but there is a fee to obtain a copy of the will.
Irish soldiers’ wills
These wills are available free of charge from the National Archives of Ireland.
Related records
Calculations of monies owed to a soldier, and the war gratuity that his family received in 1919, were held in the “effects register”. The original document is held by the National Army Museum and a digitised copy can be searched and found only via Ancestry.
Links
Records of men who lost their lives
Casualty of war: what happened to the dead