IPM is the abbreviation I use for inquisitions post mortem (can also be abbreviated to Inq.p.m.).

This was not a post mortem into the cause of a death, but an enquiry into who was the heir to land held direct from the crown. These officially ceased from 1660, but in effect a few years earlier as they had not taken place during the interregnum.

Those on this tree for whom I am aware that an IPM was held are all part of my tree rather than the Go(a)tham ONS.

Although I have not found an IPM for any Go(a)tham, I have seen a Gotham listed as one of the jury for one. Also, many Goathams (including all those descended from Charles and Sybilla) have Halke ancestors who were borderline well-to-do yeomen / minor gentry, with IPMs for a couple of them.

The documents can be found in the records held at the National Archives, with up to 3 copies for each county in which the deceased held land: one in the Chancery records, the escheator for the county usually reporting to Chancery, then a copy was sent to the Exchequer records and (from 1540) to the Court of Ward and Liveries as well.

More details about this and what they contain is on TNA website.

I find it useful to take photographs of all that survive. Inevitably there may be sections which haven’t survived or have become illegible but by looking at 2 or 3 it may well be possible to fill the gaps from another copy. Compared with many documents at TNA, there are quick to locate, being bound into books and so don’t get out of order, and mostly quick and easy to photograph, though some which have been folded to fit in the book can take a bit of arranging to support them and the book! Should be no more than 10 minutes from collecting from to returning, so I don’t feel I’m wasting time I could be using to looking at other documents.

I read that early ones can be in English, but all I’ve seen are in Latin, except where citing a will, which will be in the language in which it was written (usually English). My Latin is limited but I have found ‘Making Sense of Latin Documents for Family & Local Historians’ by Brooke Westcott (2014) very helpful in translating those I have had time to study so far.

In time I plan to add more transcriptions and translations to this website, in full at least for direct ancestors, possibly just abstracts or extracts for others.

Where they contain will extracts the IPMs of Devonians can be particularly useful, as there may be no other copy of the will. That may be the case for some others too, especially for those who lived in Somerset, though at the time of writing I think the only Somerset ones of interest are for deceased whose wills were proved in the PCC (and so do survive). The wills of those who dwelt in Kent probably do survive in full.