From 1796 until 1903, copies of wills and administrations were sent from the English and Welsh probate courts and registries to the Inland Revenue, where any tax owing was calculated. Information about the payment of legacies and other details about the winding-up of estates can therefore often be found in the death-duty registers, documenting what today we would call inheritance tax. These record the levy of three successive taxes, namely legacy duty, succession duty and estate duty.
Many entries can be difficult to interpret,