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CORNWALL WILLS

Not all of the ecclesiastical parishes in Cornwall were subject to the Archdeaconry Court of Cornwall. Some came under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Exeter while others came under the jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter cathedral. The probate records for these parishes were stored in Exeter, rather than Bodmin, and were destroyed by bombing in 1942.

Cornwall Archdeaconry Wills and Administrations, Vol 1, Part 1, 1569-1699 [British Record Society; Ancestry.com]
Steary or Sterry, Philip, Zennor, 1594 [marked missing]
Steary or Sterry, John the elder, St Ives 1616 [Cornwall Archives advise this is not a Sterry]
Steary or Sterry, Jas, St Ives 1631
Steary or Sterry, Joan, St Ives 1633

Cornwall Record Office is now Cornwall Archive Centre at Kresen Kernow. It lists the following Wills available:
1616 Will of John Storie alias Stoury, senior, fisherman, of St Ives [Will, inventory Ref AP/S/329-checked by Cornwall Archives]
1631 Will of James Stearie, mercer, of St Ives [Will, admin and inventory, 3 pieces Ref AP/S/672]
1633 Will of Joan Stearye, widow, of St Ives [Will Ref AP/S/696, 1 piece]

Cornwall Archives notes "most of the pre 1600 wills for Cornwall were discarded in the 1700s so the 1594 one does not survive. We only know of its former existence because of a surviving manuscript index book, beginning in 1569."

Walter Smith in The Sterry Family lists the following Wills:

1594 Philip STERRY Philip of Zennor, Will proved

1616 Jul 5 John STERRY "the elder" Will proved. John STERRY of St Ives. Will written Jun 2, 1616 and proved Jul 5. John mentions in will a nameless wife, daughters Agnes, Margaret and Alson, and son-in-law Richard Pers. John was a fisherman of St Ives who spoke Celtic. [Cornwall Archives advise this is not a Sterry]

1631 Nov 6 James STERRY Will proved. James of St Ives. Written Oct 13, 1631 and proved Nov 6. Mercer of St Ives. Mentioned his wife Joan, daughters Joan and Marie, the daughters of Walter Hocken (their son-in-law according to the will of James' widow, proved in 1633) and son Thomas, a minor.

1633 Joan STERRY Will proved. Joan of St Ives.