Page:The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire Part 2.djvu/824

 AN ALPHABETICAL HAND-LIST TO TRIXTED WILLS, ADMINISTRATIONS, Etc. I am anxious to inaugurate without delay the principle of systematic literary co- operation with my genealogical cojifreres, especially in the provinces, as laid down in my introduction to the Collectanea. I have, therefore, elected to commence with Wills, in ])reference to monumental inscriptions, or isolated extracts from parish registers, not so much because in their case the difficulties of co-operation are minim'zed, but rather because the subject is the most important of those named, and especially as it is hoped that this list will enable students to consult a will that may be in print on their shelves, instead of making application to one of the many Probate Courts, or at least to obtain the date of a will, and thus obviate the tedium of a search through the crabbed caligraphy of the original calendars ; these are manifest advantages. In placing an instalment of this list in the hands of my friends, T desire that it should be regarded as tentative. And as the interests of all genealogists are practically identical in requiring the best of working tools, so I trust that I may as soon as possible find representative men in each county, who, actuated by this spirit, will superintend the editing of good indices of wills, etc., from their respective county histories and local works : by this means only can this list be successfully and speedily completed ; for if it were left to a single individual, it would in all probability absorb a lifetime. In preparing this instalment, I have been greatly assisted by the co-operation of my friends, Miss Ada C. Gardner, whose services in compiling the list of marriages are now well known ; and also Miss Sharpe, I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without reverting to my favourite theme to reprint at least the early calendars in H.M. Probate Office, Somerset House. I maintain that it is impossible to over-estimate the boon which would be conferred upon the historian and the public by the adoption of the Abecedarian arrangement, and it is equally impossible to over-estimate the loss, not only to history but also the loss of time to every individual who has occasion to consult these ill-arranged calendars. To the biographer especially, the loss is simply beyond conception, and tantalizing beyond description, because he knows that to search for the will of every individual in whose history he is interested, would in itself doom him to the drudgery of a life, and it is not too much to say that this would be a waste of valuable time ; while in the case of the general public, an average delay of a quarter of an hour in searching for the name of a single testator by each person during the day, biings up " the delays of office " to an enormous total of what is undoubtedly a sheer waste of public time, which under the present state of things is likely to go on for ever. If the authorities have full confidence in the accuracy and completeness of their calendars, I would suggest that all the names should be taken out which are under the first letter, and arranged before the second is commenced, and so on with each subsequent letter until the alphabet is completed ; by this means the public would very soon begin to realize the benefits of the proposed alterations. The year 1799 might conclude the first series, and the year 1800 commence the second. If when this is done the expense of printing is found to be too great, these new MS. Calendars would in themselves have the merit of obviating much of the existing difficulty. A reference to them might very properly be made to carry a double search fee, and a special fee for general searches might be introduced, as in the office of the Registrar-General. It is devoutly to be wished that this simple though all-important reform may very soon have the careful consideration of the Treasury.