Mystery Over 160-Year-Old Last Will and Testament Found in Abandoned House

A last will and testament dating back to 1860 has been discovered gathering dust in an unused mansion—and no one is entirely sure how it got there.

Wills are not as commonplace today as you might think. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, just 46 percent of U.S. adults have written up a will describing how they would like their money and other assets to be distributed after they die.

A last will and testament is usually the kind of document reserved for individuals with a substantial number of assets, financial or otherwise.

But they can nevertheless make for fascinating reading as historical documents of another life and time, as a recent discovery by Luca Gowrie-Smith at a family estate in Finland showed.

A last will and testament dating back to 1860. Quite how it ended up where it was found is a complete mystery. Luca Gowrie-Smith

"I found it in Finland when I was looking around an unused manor house. I found it at the top of the house in a room that was completely bare apart from this side table. It was underneath a pile of paper that consisted mostly of old photos," Gowrie-Smith told Newsweek.

"The house used to be a holiday home for my great-grandmother and her family and has been unused for ages. However, the roof was recently fixed by my cousin-in-law, who lives nearby."

Gowrie-Smith was immediately taken by the penmanship on display, written on vellum paper. "I found it very elegant," he said.

What intrigued him most, however, was how it got there. "I'm not sure how it ended up in the house. Sadly, my great-grandmother passed away so I can't ask her."

Eager for some answers, he posted a picture of the will to Reddit, hoping to gain some insight on how it ended up in the house.

Though they couldn't provide a complete picture of everything about the man behind the document, the hive mind of social media did not disappoint.

One user was able to identify the man behind the will as one Robert Smith Easter. Though he wasn't thought to be a notable person, the documents did explain that he was someone living in or around the Manor of Aldeburgh.

That helped Gowrie-Smith establish some link to his family. "My great-grandmother had a house in Aldeburgh so she could have found it in the house when she bought it."

Luca Gowrie-Smith's abandoned family home in Finland. The document was found gathering dust among a pile of old photos. Luca Gowrie-Smith

He still drew a blank on the surname though, leading him to posit one possible theory.

"As we don't have anyone in our family with the last name Easter I presume she found it in the house or bought it at a local antique shop and then brought it over to Finland and left it there," he said.

The condition of the document means it could have some value at resell, with one Redditor estimating its worth at around $50.

In any case, Gowrie-Smith has no plans to sell the document anytime soon. He intends to have it framed for others to read and enjoy in the same way he has, noticing fascinating details such as the fact Easter left one family member "£90 plus a house."

For now, the mystery of the 164-year-old will and testament looks set to remain exactly that: a mystery.