Durham and Northumberland wills 1540-1857 to go online by 2009

Durham University has announced the North East Inheritance project to make 150,000 pre-1858 wills from Durham and Northumberland available online. All wills proved by Church of England courts in the diocese of Durham will be included. A searchable catalog (to be completed in 2009) will be linked to images of the actual documents on the website of the Genealogical Society of Utah (presumably this means FamilySearch). Both searching the catalog and viewing the images will be free. Local volunteers are being sought to help with the cataloging. To volunteer, follow the first link above and look under the heading The staff and volunteers. See also the university's news release and a BBC news item.