George Jacques and the National Probate Calendar

Recently, I discovered that Ancestry now has the National Probate Calendar online. The National Probate Calendar serves as an index to wills proved and administrations granted from 1858 until 1941. Using the calendar, I've been able to establish death dates and locations for many of my relations. Prior to this I had often only been able to establish the year of death using FreeBMD.

One of the more interesting finds in the National Probate Calendar is the entry for George JACQUES (1832-1895), a brother of my gg-grandfather Plateras Lawson JACQUES (1828-1870). Named after his uncle who is said to have died at the Battle of Waterloo, George began his career as a wool spinner in Keighley, Yorkshire. When the Waterloo Mills was built in nearby Silsden, George was one of the purchasers and soon became the sole owner. In the 1870s, George had a home called Springbank built on Howden Road in Silsden. Springbank is now a nursing home.

When George died in 1895, ownership of Waterloo Mills and Springbank passed to his son, Plateras Lawson JACQUES (1863-1935). According to the entry in the National Probate Calendar, George's estate was valued at just over £72,000. Today this would be worth over £4,000,000. When Plateras died in 1935 his worth had increased to over £350,000 (£13,000,000).

Plateras married late in life and had no children. He did, however, travel extensively. Records exist showing a passage from Japan to Vancouver in 1922 and a passage a few months from Quebec City to Southhampton.