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More than a quarter of Aussies are related to royalty. Are you?

Family History
5 June 2015
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Head of the Class: Do Certain Surnames Indicate Nobility?

Could you be related to royalty, living as an unknown heir to a famous fortune?

Ancestry’s archives are filled with fascinating records, but few garner as much interest as those showing who does–and does not–have royal blood running through their veins.

Included amongst these records is the England and Wales National Probate Calendar, 1858-1966, which catalogues a combined fortune of £23 billion (over AU$1 trillion in today’s money), an average of £3,406 per will (approximately AU$151,861 today).

Also featured is the England and Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) Wills, 1384-1858, a collection that documents five centuries worth of history and details how much people owned and who they chose to leave it to.

With over a quarter of Australians claiming British ancestry, it is possible that a number of families could trace wealth or possessions within the wills and probate packets of their ancestors.

Some famous Aussies with links to these collections include Hugh Jackman and Karl Stefanovic. The records show that Jackman’s great-grandfather, Nicholas Isador Bellas left the small sum of £35 (approximately AU$3,821 today) when he passed away in 1926, and Karl Stefanovic’s 2x Great Grandfather, Charles George Topping, had £164 (just under AU$19,721 today) to his name when he died.

In addition, some of the famous names within the collections include:

Winston Churchill

The former British Prime Minister left behind effects totalling £304,044, equivalent to AU$10.4 million today, to his beloved wife Clementine in 1965. Churchill was bankrupt at one point in his life, making this rise to wealth all the more impressive.

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)

In 1950, it is known that the famed author had but £9,908 (nearly AU$601,000 today) to his name. The family saw a slow and steady fall from fortune, with Orwell’s 3x Great Grandfather, Thomas Fane, being the 8th Earl of Westmorland.

Beatrix Potter

The successful female author left £211,636 to her husband William in 1943, approximately over AU$17 million today.

Jane Austen

Upon her death on 18th July 1817, the Pride and Prejudice author possessed assets totalling around £800, approximately AU$121,300 today, of which the majority was given to her beloved sister, Cassandra.

Charles Darwin

The acclaimed naturalist is listed as having left a personal estate worth £146,911 when he died in 1882, which is around AU$31 million today.

Try researching your own ties to British ancestry today with a free trial of Ancestry. You may discover that your ancestors owned an estate in the English countryside, a priceless heirloom, or even Shakespeare’s best bed (having left the pleasure of his ‘second best bed’ to his wife).

After all, wills provide a last chance to have an impact on those we leave behind. Probate records like these provide a unique insight into the parting wishes of our ancestors and can help us stitch together the stories of the past and the material wealth of family members gone.

 

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