Andrew Millard's Genealogy

Recent Indexes to English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Probate Records

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WARNING: The information here should be read in conjunction with the fifth edition of Probate Jurisdictions: where to look for wills by Jeremy Gibson and Else Churchill (Federation of Family History Societies, Bury, 2002). It is designed to supplement that publication and probably can't be understood fully without it.

This is intended to be a listing of indexes to English, Welsh and Scottish probate indexes which have been produced since the publication of Gibson & Churchill's book. Many other indexes are listed in that volume and should also be consulted by genealogists seeking probate records. I'd be interested to hear of other new indexes, but I do not intend to list those mentioned in Gibson & Churchill unless they appear in a new version, so please check there first before telling me about anything published before 2001.

It should also be noted that Ancestry have scanned and indexed many of the printed volumes of indexes, especially the earlier ones. The volumes covered for a particular county can be found by going to the Parish and Probate Records for that county, but they don't list the publisher, volume number in a series, the editor or publication date, so it is difficult to make comparisons with the statements about accuracy and coverage in Gibson and Churchill, which are mostly by publisher and volume number only. Some of the titles listed on Ancestry do not correspond exactly to those on the BRS list, which further hampers comparisons. Chris Phillips' site Some Notes on Medieval Genealogy provides a list which attempts to correlate the records on Ancestry with the published book titles. They are not listed here.

Contents

England
PCC - PCY - Bedfordshire - Berkshire - Buckinghamshire - Cambridgeshire - Cornwall - Cumberland and Westmorland - Derbyshire - Devon - Dorset - Durham and Northumberland - Essex - Gloucestershire and Bristol - Hampshire - Herefordshire - Hertfordshire - Huntingdonshire - Kent - Lancashire - Leicestershire - Lincolnshire - London and Middlesex - Norfolk - Northamptonshire and Rutland - Northumberland - Nottinghamshire - Oxfordshire - Rutland - Shropshire - Somerset - Staffordshire and Derbyshire - Suffolk - Surrey - Sussex - Warwickshire - Westmorland - Wiltshire - Worcestershire - Yorkshire

Wales

Scotland

Ireland

National indexes for England and Wales

A partial index to wills and administrations 1796-1811 is provided by the Death Duty Registers. The National Archives provides an index for 1796-1811. This covers courts other than PCC for this period, but liability for duties affected only about 25% of estates coming before the courts from 1796 to 1805 and about 75% from 1805 to 1815. FindMyPast have images of the calendars of the Death Duty Registers for both 'country' courts and PCC 1796- 1858 and for the civil probate courts 1858-1903.

The National Wills Index includes Index to the Probate Accounts of England and Wales, Vols I & II (BRS 112 & 113).

Ancestry have scanned and indexed the National Probate Calendars for England and Wales 1861 to 1941, although there are some gaps for the years 1863, 1868, 1873, 1876, 1877, 1883, 1888, 1899-1903 and 1910-1911.

Prerogative Court of Canterbury

All wills are covered by the National Archives DocumentsOnline service. This does not, however, cover administrations or other probate documents.

A full transcript of the of PCC wills 1479-1486 (in the original English, or Latin with translation) is given in:
Boatwright, L., Habberjam, M., and Hammond, P. (eds), The Logge Register of PCC Wills, 1479 to 1486, 2 volumes ( Richard III Society, Knaphill, 2008).

Some scanned versions of the older printed indexes are available online at Brigham Young University library's Family History Archives (BYU) and the Internet Archive:

FindMyPast includes about 85% of the PCC Wills Index 1750-1800 produced by the Society of Genealogists. The same index is also available through the SoG members area, along with an index to administrations for the same period.

The National Wills Index includes:

High Court of Delegates

The Internet Archive has a scan of The Genealogist volume 12, including pp.97-101 Wills and Administrations in the High Court of Delegates, Offley-Z.

Prerogative Court of York

The National Wills Index includes:

Brigham Young University library's Family History Archives has scans of some of the printed indexes in the Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series:

See also Colin Blanshard Withers' book Yorkshire Probate described below under Yorkshire.

Bedfordshire

The National Wills Index includes Bedfordshire Probate Records, 1484-1858 (BRS 104 & 105), covering the Archdeaconry of Bedford and the two Peculiars of Biggleswade and Leighton Buzzard.

Bedfordshire Family History Society has published Bedfordshire Wills 1531-1539 transcribed by Patricia Bell. This gives transcriptions of the Probate Registers of the Court of the Archdeaconry of Bedford with indexes of people, places and subjects.

Genealogia Bedfordiensis 1538-1700 by F.A. Blaydes is available through the Internet Archive. It includes "abstracts of, and references to, some 800 wills", arranged by parish.

Everton in Bedfordshire fell within the jurisdiction of the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon - see under Huntingdonshire.

Berkshire

The Berkshire Archdeaconry Probate Index, 1480-1652 is a new and comprehensive index to the Berkshire Archdeaconry probate records held at Berkshire Record Office, superseding BRS 8 mentioned below, with an index to personal names, place-names and occupations. Full details are available from the Berkshire Family History Society website. It is available as three printed volumes or on CD from Berkshire Record Society, Berkshire Family History Society, Berkshire Record Office and Oxfordshire Family History Society. The CD can also be purchased by mail order or online from the BFHS.

The National Wills Index includes Berkshire Wills & Administrations 1508-1710 (BRS 8 & 87).

Brigham Young University Library's Family History Archives has a scan of BRS 8: Index to wills proved and administrations granted in the Court of the Archdeacon of Berks, 1508 to 1652. The Internet Archive also has five separate scanned copies: one, two, three, four (Oxford Historical Society 23) (this scan seems to have pages missing) and five.

Berkshire Record Office have a probate index for Peculiar of Faringdon (1547-1853).

Buckinghamshire

The National Wills Index includes Buckinghamshire Probate Records, 1483-1660, and Buckinghamshire Peculiars, 1420-1660 (BRS 114).

Archdeaconry of Buckingham wills and some administrations 1483-1858 have been indexed in a project by The Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, in partnership with Buckinghamshire Family History Society.

Cambridgeshire

For the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, in addition to British Record Society volumes 95 and 96 for 1354-1700, there is also now volume 118 for 1801-1858.

The National Wills Index includes:

Cheshire

The Cheshire Archives Wills Database covers all probate documents proved at Chester, 1492-1940. It should therefore cover all areas within the jurisdiction of the Consistory Court of Chester until 1858.

Cornwall

The Cornwall Record Office catalogue, CROcat indexes all wills in the Record Office by name, but does not include administrations. The CRO holds records of the Archdeaconry of Cornwall and the Peculiar of St Buryan.

The National Wills Index includes:

Cumberland and Westmorland

The National Wills Index includes Index to the Wills proved in the Consistory Court of Carlisle, 1661-1750 (BRS 110).

For that part of Cumberland falling within the jurisdiction of the Palatine and Consistory Court of Durham, see under Durham.

For those parts of Cumberland and Westmorland within the jurisdiction of the Western Deaneries of Archdeaconry of Richmond there is an index to the wills and related documents available on a subscription basis through the University of Central Lancashire Institute of local and family history.

Derbyshire

- see Staffordshire

Devon

The records of the Exeter Probate Registry were destroyed in the Blitz, so there has been an ongoing process of trying to identify alternative sources. These are well described on the GENUKI Devon page, including online sources. In particular the Devon Wills Project is creating a consolidated index of Devon wills, administrations and inventories.

The Internet Archive has scanned versions of BRS 46: Devon Wills and Administrations Volume II Consistory Court of Exeter 1532-1800, and BRS 35: Exeter Principal Registry 1559-1799 and Archdeaconry of Exeter 1540-1799.

The National Wills Index includes:

Dorset

Brigham Young University's Family History Archive has scanned BRS 22: Dorset Wills and Administrations 1568-1799.

The National Wills Index includes:

Durham and Northumberland

The Palatine and Consistory Court of Durham covered almost all of these two counties, and all probate and administration records are indexed by the North East Inheritance project. Eventually digital images of all the documents will be made freely available on the Genealogical Society of Utah Family Search website. A printed version of the index will be produced by the British Record Society. The manuscript calendars are available on microfilm at the NDFHS Library at Percy House, Newcastle.

The National Wills Index includes the York Peculiars Probate Index which indexes all the records of the Peculiar of the Archbishop of York in Hexham and Hexhamshire 1593-1602, and the Peculiar of the Prebend of Tockerington 1741-1744. These were the only peculiars in Northumberland, and there were none in Durham.

Essex

The Essex Record Office online service SEAX includes wills from their collection, both from the London Commissary Court (Essex and Hertfordshire Division) and peculiars. The documentation on what is included is minimal, but browsing the catalogue suggests an almost complete run of the wills is indexed and many original wills are available as scans. Whether this index includes register copy wills or just originals is not clear. Grants of administration and other probate documents are not included. To find wills amongst the other documents in the catalogue search on the surname or place and the word 'will': there is guidance some way down the family history guidance page.

The National Wills Index includes Wills at Chelmsford 1400-1858 (BRS 78, 79 & 84).

Gloucestershire and Bristol

Gloucestershire Archives provides an index of all wills proved at Gloucester between 1541 and 1858, with a brief description of coverage. This includes the Consistory Court of Gloucester plus peculiars, except that part of Gloucestershire covered by the Bristol Court (below).

BRS 12: Gloucester Wills 1541-1650 is available from Brigham Young University's Family History Archive and the Internet Archive.

The National Wills Index includes Gloucester Wills 1541-1800 (BRS 12 & 34), plus an additional index coveing 1801-1858, and wills of Cheltenham parish residents 1660-1740 (Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, vol. 12 [1999]).

The Bristol Wills Index 1781-1858 is a complete re-indexing of all wills held at the Bristol Record Office, covering all parishes under the jurisdiction of the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Bristol in the Deanery of Bristol. Earlier years are gradually being added.

The National Wills Index includes Bristol Consistory Wills 1572-1792, with wills in the Great Orphan Books 1379-1674 (BRS 17).

Hampshire

The Hampshire Record Office Catalogue includes all wills and administrations proved in the courts of Winchester Diocese to 1858. This therefore covers all Hampshire wills.

Herefordshire

Faraday, Michael A. (editor) Calendar of Probate and Administration Acts 1407-1550 in the Consistory Court of the Bishops of Hereford with an appendix of abstracts of registered copy-wills 1552-1581 (2009. Walton-on-Thames: the editor). This book revises and supplements the British Record Society Microfiche 2.

Bloom, J. H. Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica 5th series, vol. 4, pp.3-11: this gives a list of about 450 wills from 1444-1578, and is superseded by the book above.

An index to wills proved at Hereford is in preparation for publication by the British Record Society, and will also appear in the National Wills Index.

Hertfordshire

British Record Society 120 Wills at Hertford 1415-1858 edited by Beryl Crawley covers all 30,000 wills relating to Hertfordshire held at Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies. Coverage includes the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon (Hitchin Division) wills 1557-1857, registers 1557-1843, inventories, 1568-1789, and administrations 1609-1857, together with the Archdeaconry of St Albans wills and administrations 1518-1857, registers 1415-1857, inventories 1518-1764. This index is available online as the Hertfordshire Will Index 1413-1857 on Hertfordshire Names Online. The National Wills Index has the same material as Hertfordshire Wills Index: 1415-1857.

Huntingdonshire

The National Wills Index includes Huntingdonshire Wills 1479-1652 (BRS 42).

Kent

East Kent was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Canterbury. The East Kent wills and probate records 1396-1858 covers the original wills and registered copies for both the Consistory Court of Canterbury and the Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury 1550-1858.

The National Wills Index includes Wills and Administrations at Canterbury 1396-1558 and 1640-50 (BRS 50) and Wills and Administrations at Canterbury 1558-1577 (BRS 65). These volumes cover both the Consistory and Archdeaconry Courts. It also includes inventories for the Archdeaconry Court 1571-1842 and the Consistory Court 1596-1748 in classes PRC 11 and PRC 27 respectively at the Centre for Kentish Studies, but there are other 16th-17th century inventories in classes PRC 10, PRC 21 and PRC 28, not yet indexed.

West Kent was mostly under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rochester and the Deanery of Shoreham. Indexes to West Kent wills include:

The Kent Genealogy website's Probate Records section gives links to a variety of other transcripts and resources.

Lancashire

Those parts of Lancashire under the jurisdiction of the Peculiar Court of the Dean and Chapter of York should be indexed by the National Wills Index in its York Peculiars Probate Index 1383-1883.

The northern part of the County was covered by the Western Deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Richmond, and the catalogue of the Lancashire Record Office holdings on Access to Archives (A2A) seems to index the names for wills, administrations and bonds. An index to the wills and related documents of the Western Deaneries of Archdeaconry of Richmond is also available on a subscription basis through the University of Central Lancashire Institute of local and family history.

Leicestershire

The Internet Archive has a scanned version of BRS 27: Leicestershire Wills and Administrations 1495-1649.

The National Wills Index includes Leicester Wills & Administrations 1495-1649, 1660-1750 (BRS 27 & 51).

Lincolnshire

British History Online has a transcription of Lincoln Wills (edited by C W Foster): volume 1: 1271-1526 (Lincoln Record Society volume 5, 1914), volume 2: 1505-1530 (Lincoln Record Society volume 10, 1918), and volume 3: 1530-1532 (Lincoln Record Society volume 24, 1930). The Internet Archive also has two copies of volume 1: first, second.

The National Wills Index includes Wills & Administrations at Lincoln 1320-1660 (BRS 28, 41, 52 & 57).

The Lincolnshire Archives have scanned the old typescript index to Lincoln Consistory Court Wills 1701-1800, and published it as a series of pdf files on their website. This complements the index published on CD and microfiche covering Wills 1800-1858 and Administrations 1801-1857 in the Lincoln Consistory Court, together with Archdeaconry of Stow wills and administrations 1700-1834.

London and Middlesex

Many of the relevant records for London and Middlesex are held at London Metropolitan Archives. They were formerly held at the Guildhall Library whose leaflet on Probate Records provides a useful description of the records.

David Wright's London Probate Index 1750-1858, covering all probate courts in London and Middlesex except PCC is now available through FindmyPast. who also provide a detailed description of the index.

Archdeaconry Court of London.

London Division of the Commissary Court of London

The Consistory Court of London had jurisdiction over much of London and Middlesex as well as parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.

The Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex had jurisdiction over 26 parishes in Middlesex.

The records of the Deanery of the Arches, 1620-1845, and the Peculiar Court of the Deanery of Croydon, 1664-1841, held at Lambeth Palace Library are indexed by their catalogue on Access to Archives (A2A) under reference AA/V/H/97.

Records from the Peculiar Court of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's are covered in Ancestry's London, England, Wills and Probate, 1525-1858 collection.

British History Online has transcribed versions of the Calendar of wills proved and enrolled in the Court of Husting, London: Part 1: 1258-1358 and Part 2: 1358-1688, edited by R R Sharpe (1889/1890). Brigham Young University's Family History Archive has scanned versions of these volumes: Part 1: 1258-1358 and Part 2: 1358-1688.

Norfolk

The Norfolk Record Office catalogue NROCAT contains an index to all pre-1858 probate records.

The National Wills Index includes Wills in the Consistory Court of Norwich 1370-1603 (BRS 69 & 73).

Northamptonshire and Rutland

FindMyPast's Probate and Wills records includes the Northamptonshire & Rutland Probate Index 1462-1857. This covers all Northamptonshire and Rutland wills and administrations proved in local courts, wherever the records are held.

The National Wills Index includes Northamptonshire & Rutland Wills 1510-1652 (BRS 1); and Northamptonshire Administrations 1677-1800 (BRS 70 & 92).

Northumberland

- see Durham

Nottinghamshire

The National Wills Index includes:

Oxfordshire

The National Wills Index includes Oxfordshire Wills Index 1516-1857 (BRS 93, 94 & 109) which indexes the probate records of the Bishop and Archdeacon of Oxford 1516 to 1857, and the Oxfordshire Peculiars (except the Court of the Chancellor of the University of Oxford) for 1547-1856.

All records of the Court of the Chancellor of the University of Oxford are indexed in An index to wills proved in the Court of the Chancellor of the University of Oxford available through Google books.

The Oxfordshire FHS have a section on their website which contains donations of transcribed Oxfordshire wills.

Rutland

- see Northamptonshire

Shropshire

Somerset

The National Wills Index includes:

Staffordshire and Derbyshire

Balterley, Staffordshire was within the jurisdiction of the Consistory Court of Chester and is covered by the Cheshire Record Office Wills Database

The Lichfield Wills Database indexes part of British Record Society volume 7, calendars of wills & administrations in the Lichfield Consistory Court 1516-1652, together with records of peculiars deposited at Lichfield (1529-1652), Birmingham (1675-1790) and Derby (1753-1790). Digital images of the pages from this volume are available from Eric Youle's Sheffield Local History site.

Brigham Young University library's Family History Archives has BRS 7: Lichfield wills and administrations, 1516-1652: also "peculiars" at Lichfield, Birmingham and Derby, 1529-1652; 1675-1790; 1753-1790. The Internet Archive also has a scanned version of the calendar (and a second copy).

BRS 125 Consistory Court of Lichfield, 1650-1700 was published in 2010.

The National Wills Index includes Wills and Administrations at Lichfield and Coventry 1516-1652 (BRS 7).

Suffolk

For the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, in addition to British Record Society volumes 95 and 96 for 1354-1700, there is also now volume 118 for 1801-1858.

The National Wills Index includes:

Surrey

The Surrey Plus Wills Index "provides an index to names of all people appearing in the wills of testators residing in the County of Surrey", but it is not (yet) an index to all Surrey wills.

It appears that the following resources between them do provide an index to all Surrey wills:

Wills from those parishes falling under the jurisdiction of the Peculiar of the Deanery of Croydon, 1664-1841, held at Lambeth Palace Library are indexed by testator in their catalogue on Access to Archives (A2A) under reference AA/V/H/97.

The National Wills Index includes:

Records from the Archdeaconry Court of Surrey and the Commissary Court of Bishop of Winchester are also covered in Ancestry's London, England, Wills and Probate, 1525-1858 collection.

Sussex

Not mentioned in Gibson & Churchill are the four volumes of Transcript of Sussex Wills by R. Garraway Rice, edited by Walter H. Godfrey, (Sussex Record Society vols. 41, 42, 43, and 45, 1935-1940). These volumes include all wills from before 1560 in all local jurisdictions, but only transcribe those parts relevant to ecclesiology. However as an index, they may nevertheless be useful genealogically.

The National Wills Index includes:

Warwickshire

For the 72 parishes under the jurisdiction of the Consistory Court of Worcester, see Worcestershire.

Westmorland

- see Cumberland.

Wiltshire

The Wiltshire and Swindon Archive Catalogue includes an index to all Salisbury Diocese probate records 1540-1858, and digital images are gradually being added. A printed version of the index has been produced by the British Record Society as volumes 122, 123 & 123A Wills at Salisbury 1464-1858.

The National Wills Index includes Wills at Salisbury 1464-1858 (BRS 122 & 123).

The Society of Genealogists' Members Area includes the Wiltshire Wills Beneficiaries Index covering 28 peculiars in Wiltshire with some Dorset and Berkshire wills.

The parishes of Kingswood and Marston Meysey in Wiltshire were under the jurisdiction of the Consistory Court of Gloucester and are included in the Gloucestershire Archives index of wills proved at Gloucester between 1541 and 1858

The parishes of Whitsbury and West Wellow in Wiltshire were under the jurisdiction of the Consistory Court of Winchester are included in the Hampshire Record Office Catalogue, which includes all wills proved in the courts of Winchester diocese to 1858.

Worcestershire

The National Wills Index includes Worcester Wills1451-1652 (BRS 31 & 39).

The Internet Archive has scanned versions of BRS: Calendar of Wills and Administrations in the Consistory Court of Worcester:

Yorkshire

Yorkshire Probate by Colin Blanshard Withers is a book and CD with descriptions of the legal processes for probate as they operated in over 30 different Yorkshire probate jurisdictions, an account of the surviving records, and descriptions of all known indexes to them, as well as new indexes for many previously unindexed records, which are so extensive that they are listed separately. The book and CD are available to buy from Yorkshire Ancestors. The same author has produced a list of all previous calendars and indexes to Yorkshire probates, which are available from GENUKI Yorkshire.

The National Wills Index includes:

Brigham Young University library's Family History Archives has some of the printed indexes in the Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series (see also under PCY above):

Early Swaledale wills are indexed in:
Berry, E.K. (ed.) Swaledale Wills and Inventories 1522-1600, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series, 152, Leeds, 1998.

An index to Marsden Peculiar Court Wills 1654-1855 was published in the Northern Genealogist volume 2, and scans of these are available on Steve Whitwam's site.

For that part of Yorkshire falling within the jurisdiction of the Palatine and Consistory Court of Durham, see under Durham.

Wales

All Welsh probate records 1521-1858 held at the National Library of Wales seem to be indexed by name in Access to Archives (A2A). Confine the search to the National Library of Wales and enter a keyword such as 'probate' or 'will' to limit the number of hits, as well entering the surname or place-name of interest as a keyword.

Those parts of Flintshire and Denbighshire falling in the jurisdiction of the Consistory Court of Chester are indexed in the Cheshire Record Office Wills Database.

Scotland

All Scottish probate records 1513-1901 are indexed and images are available online via Scotland's People.

Some of the older indexes are also available online:

Ireland

Irish Origins has a series of indexes to Irish probate material:

Brigham Young University Family History Archive has Index to the prerogative wills of Ireland, 1536-1810 (edited by A Vicars, 1897).

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has placed online an index to the will calendar entries for the District Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry, 1858-1919 and 1922-1943. As of July 2011 part of 1921 has also been added, with remaining entries for 1920-1921 to follow in the near future. Images of copy wills covering the period 1858-1900 are available.

The Calendar of Irish Wills & Admons since 1922 is published online in various places:

Last updated 17 May 2012.

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