FamilySearch yesterday added a new database, Manitoba Probate Records, 1871-1930, a collection of 802,992 images that can be easily searched by name or browsed.
These records contain images of estate files, application books, and indexes.
A quick search of some family names uncovered several interesting documents. The first page will likely be an image of the outside of the file folder that holds the document. Click to the next page to start seeing the contents of the file.
To best search these records, FamilySearch advises you visit the Archives of Manitoba, which has placed probate indexes for Manitoba online. “Using that tool to identify the desired probate file number will make searching this collection for a specific probate file much simpler.”
The Probate Index at the Archives of Manitoba site can be confusing. For example, I was looking for the name “Coultry” in 1963, and thought it wasn’t there because it did not appear in the first group of “C” surnames for 1963. Then I realized that those were only for “Ca- to perhaps Ce-” names. There was a second batch of “Ci- ” names, organized by year; and then finally names starting with “Co- “in a further batch. So don’t assume they are not there if not in the first batch of surnames.