Nature of Source
Introduction to Wills and Probate
Wills and probate records are invaluable resources offering insights into the lives and relationships of ancestors. They provide detailed information about family relationships, including names of heirs, spouses and other relatives and give an insight into the social status, property ownership, wealth and occupations of our ancestors. This guide explores the historical processes and legal frameworks surrounding wills, probate and inheritance in England and Wales
Probate and the Proving of Wills
When an individual passed away, the execution of their will was overseen by an executor or executrix, as named in the will. Before the executor could act, the will needed to be proved in a legal process known as probate and validated by one of the 300 or so ecclesiastical (church) probate courts or courts under ‘peculiar’ jurisdiction. The process confirmed the will was genuine and represented the deceased’s final wishes. If a person died without leaving a will (intestate), the court issued Letters of Administration (or Admons), allowing for the estate to be managed and distributed according to the law.
Understanding Wills and Testaments
Originally a will consisted of two separate documents, namely the ‘will’ and the ‘testament’. Under the feudal system it was not possible to will (devise) property (reality) that had been acquired by inheritance and not by purchase. Common law stated that property (real estate) and land should pass automatically to the deceased heir; the eldest son (primogeniture). Exceptions to this rule existed in cases of gavelkind (where all sons inherited equally) and Borough English (where the youngest son inherited). The testament, on the other hand, dealt with movable personal property (personality) or chattels which could be bequeathed more freely with the proviso that one third passed to the widow and one third to the children.
Only about one in ten people left a registered will, so do not assume the deceased left a will. Wills entirely in the writing of the testator are known as ‘holograph’ wills. Spoken wills were known as ‘nuncupative’ wills and usually made shortly before death. They were legally acceptable providing three witnesses were in attendance and remain valid for those on active service. During the interregnum between 1649 to 1660, the Civil Probate Court held probate jurisdiction over the whole country.
Peculiar Jurisdictions
Peculiars remain a remnant of the power structures of medieval England and were exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop in whose diocese it lay. These areas handled their own probate matters and could cover a single parish or several non-adjacent parishes stretching across county boundaries. Types of peculiars included:
- Ecclesiastical/Cathedral: Under the authority of a Dean or Dean and Chapter of a cathedral.
- Manorial: Overseen by a lord of the manor.
- Liberties: Former abbeys and monasteries.
- Parish/Town: Specific localities.
- University: Universities granted the right of self-government.
- Royal Peculiars: Under direct control of the monarchy.
Key Statutes Affecting Wills and Inheritance
Statute of Uses (1535)
Before the act it was possible to circumvent devising property under primogeniture by transferring property to trustees who could alter inheritance by deed. This practice was made illegal by the parliamentary act passed in 1535 and after an outcry the Statute of Wills act was passed to rectify the situation.
Statute of Wills (1540)
The Statute of Wills restored the right to devise property (up to two thirds of the land) amongst sons other than just the eldest. After 1661 all freehold property could be freely devised. It also set age thresholds for creating a will (14 for males, 12 for females) and barred certain individuals such as lunatics and criminals from making wills. The statute effectively ended the need for two documents and both combined were known as a will. These rules applied only to those who held land in fee simple, meaning absolute ownership. Fee simple land was considered freehold and passed to the common law heir upon the owner’s death. Land held by copyhold became devisable in 1815 and land held in fee tail in 1925.The statute allowed only spinsters or widows over the age of 21 to make a will. A wife typically had a life interest in her husband’s property and was therefore not mentioned in the will. Similarly, a son, as the common heir, had an automatic right to a portion of the property and might not be mentioned.
Statute of Distributions (1670)
The statute ensured a fair distribution of property amongst family members and especially the spouse in the event of intestacy. The statute stipulated that the widow should receive one third with the remainder divided between the children. If there was no issue, the spouse then received a half with the remainder going to the next of kin.
Wills Act (1837)
The Act raised the age for making a will to 21 (‘full age’) for males and females and barred traitors, heretics, lunatics, slaves or prisoners from making a will. The Act invalidated nuncupative (oral) wills. About a third of wills made were oral with women often using this method. These oral wills made by a testator often led to disputes, so the Act invalidated this method. An earlier law, the Statute of Frauds, had already severely restricted their use. The only exception being those serving the military who were on active service. However, soldiers confined to barracks were subject to the laws on nuncupative wills.
Married Women’s Property Act (1882)
The Act essentially recognised married women as separate legal entities from their husbands. The Act raised a wife’s status to that of a single female free from the coverture of her husband.
Before the Act
- Only unmarried women and widows enjoyed the right to freely will their property, but only property held by copyhold tenure and not freehold land held in fee simple.
- Any subsequent marriage invalidated the previous will.
- Husband and wife were, in the eyes of the law, a single entity with the husband the dominant partner. Upon marriage, a woman’s property automatically transferred to her husband.
- Married women rarely made wills, and if they did, it required their husband’s consent sometimes following a formal agreement or settlement at the time of the marriage.
After the Act
- A women could own and control property in her own right before marriage and after marriage in her own right and for her separate use.
- A women gained the right to freely dispose of her property.
- A father could leave money to his daughters for their sole and separate use and benefit, providing them with a separate income independent of the husband’s control.
By 1893, married women gained complete control over their property.
Hierarchy of Ecclesiastical Courts
The court where a will was proved depended on the location and value of the deceased’s property with most probate matters dealt with by the Archdeacon’s court.
Probate Court
- Archdeacon’s Court: Handled probate within an archdeaconry, which comprised several rural deaneries and parishes.
- Bishop’s Court (Consistory or Commissary Court): Covered an entire diocese which consisted of one or more archdeaconries.
Archbishop’s Courts
- Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Held jurisdiction over the Province of Canterbury covering the south of England and Wales or for those that held property or lands in both Provinces or were resident in England or Wales but died abroad.
- Prerogative Court of York: Held jurisdiction over the Province of York covering the north of England.
A person holding goods and cash to the value of £5 or more (£10 in London) in one or more diocese was known as ‘bona notabilia’. In this instance the will was proved in a higher court such as the Consistory Court or the Prerogative Court. Wealthier individuals and nonconformists often used the Prerogative Court of Canterbury or York, especially if they held land in multiple jurisdictions. The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers is an excellent resource for identifying ecclesiastical jurisdictions.
Probate Act Books
Probate act books covered the day-to-day activity of the probate courts and contain unregistered wills (wills not proved in court). These wills have vital additional information not found in the will itself and can be consulted at The National Archives in series PROB 10 or at the local archives. Some family members might not be mentioned in the will, which could indicate they were already dead or had been dealt with by other means such as an earlier property settlement. The wording in a will ‘all the rest remainder and residue of my estate and effects’ refers to the remainder of the estate once expenses and bequests have been paid out. The wording is followed by a named individual known as the ‘residuary legatee’ who is often the testator’s wife or eldest son.
Probate Inventories
From 1529 to 1782 it was a legal obligation of the executor to compile a probate inventory of the deceased’s personal or moveable goods, assets and chattels, not including real estate or land. The assessors compiled a detailed listing of the entire contents of the deceased’s dwelling with the estimated value of each item. The objective of the exercise was to ensure that any unpaid debts owing at death could be paid and have survived in great numbers. They are likely to be found attached to the will at the local archives. Inventories filed with wills proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury are housed at The Nations Archives and those filed between 1660 and 1782 are searchable online via TNA’s Catalogue.
Bank of England Will Extracts
Also search the Bank of England will extracts. These extracts were drawn up by bank officials from 1717 to keep track of those who held investments in government or public funds. The officials also compiled extracts to record changes of ownership in these investments as a result of sales or transfers, death, bankruptcy or being declared a lunatic. Most of the wills extracted in the index were proved by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The index to the extracts is available online at Findmypast.co.uk or at the Society of Genealogists member’s area.
Letters of Administration (Admons)
These were usually issued only if property was over £5 in value and enabled family members to dispose of the estate in the absence of a will. The administrator of the estate drew up a probate account which detailed the assets and the benefactors of the estate. Admons contain little of genealogical value, however they may name several family members and provide insights into the estate’s distribution. They will usually be found in the administration act book or the probate act book and can now be found in local archives.
The Probate Act of 1857
The probate act of 1857 marked a significant change in probate matters severing the powers and jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical and the chancery court. From 11 January 1858, a new civil court of probate was established with a principal probate registry in London and forty district probate registries covering the rest of England and Wales.
Also see
Death/Estate Duty Records (Wills)
Land and Property Records including Title Deeds
Monumental Inscriptions
Palaeography/Handwriting
Parish Registers-Burials
Where Found
The National Archives
Series PROB 11, Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Will Registers. Digital copies of these wills can be searched and downloaded at TNA Online Collections
The National Archives
Series PROB 10, Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Bundles of Original Wills. PROB 10/639 to PROB 10/642 are available to download free of charge as part of the Digital Microfilm Records
The Nations Archives
Series PROB 3-5, Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Eighteenth Century Inventories; PROB 16, Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Court: Muniment Books, including inventories; PROB 32, Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Files of Exhibits pre 1722, including inventories; PROB 31, Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Exhibits, including inventories
County Record Offices
Local archives generally hold pre-1858 original wills and registered copies from Archdeaconry courts, Consistory courts (diocesan courts) and Peculiar courts. The archives also hold Administration bonds and act books, Probate inventories and Indexes to wills, administrations and inventories. Many local archives have digitised their probate collections and made them searchable online or through their own online catalogue.
Borthwick Institute for Archives
The institute houses the York Diocesan Archive which includes original wills, will registers and probate act books from 1316 to 1858 including probate records from the Prerogative Court of York.
Society of Genealogists
Wills Collection including some Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Prerogative Court of York indexes; Bank of England Will Extracts; Death/Estate Duty Will Indexes; Copies of wills collected by F.A. Crisp.
British Record Society
Indexes to PCY and PCC wills.
Period Covered
1250 – 1858
Genealogical Value
- Name, address (parish) and occupation of testator.
- Land and other possessions of testator.
- Names of legatees including family relationships.
- Names of executors and witnesses.
- Date of will and probate.
- Useful for house history research.
Further References
- Arkell, Tom & Evans, Nesta & Goose, Nigel. When Death Do Us Part: Understanding and Interpreting the Probate Records of Early Modern England: Leopard’s Head Press, 2000
- Camp, Anthony & Bouwens, B. G. Wills and their Whereabouts: Society of Genealogists, 1963 (Available to view online at Family History Books)
- Camp, Anthony. Wills and their Whereabouts. The Author, 1974
- Chapman, Colin. How Heavy, How Much and How Long?: Weights, Money and Other Measures Used by Our Ancestors: Lochin Publishing, 1995
- Cox, Jane. An Introduction to Wills Probate and Death Duty Records: Federation of Family History Societies, 1993
- Cox, Jane. Affection Defying the Power of Death: Wills, Probate and Death Duty Records. Federation of Family History Societies, 1998
- Durie, Bruce. Documents for Genealogy & Local History: The History Press, 2013
- Faraday, Michael. 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: Michael Faraday, 2009
- Gibson, Jeremy & Churchill, Else. Probate Jurisdictions: Where to Look for Wills: Federation of Family History Societies, 2002 (Preview available from Google Books)
- Gibson, Jeremy & Raymond, Stuart. Probate Jurisdictions: Where to look for Wills: The Family History Partnership, sixth ed. 2016)
- Grannum, Karen. Using Wills: PRO Pocket Guides to Family History: PRO Publications, 2001
- Grannum, Karen & Taylor, Nigel. Wills and Other Probate Records: A Practical Guide to Researching Your Ancestors’ Last Documents: PRO Publications, 2004
- Grannum, Karen & Taylor, Nigel. Wills & Probate Records: A Guide For Family Historians: The National Archives, 2009
- Halliwell, James. A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases, Proverbs, and Ancient Customs, from the Fourteenth Century: London, 1874 (Available to view at Google Books and to download Volume A-I at the Internet Archive)
- Holton, Viki. A Woman’s Will: The Changing Lives of British Women: Told Through the Things They Have Left Behind: Amberley Publishing, 2023
- Humphrey-Smith, Cecil. The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers: Phillimore, 2003
- Jacob, Giles. A New Law-Dictionary: Containing The Interpretation and Definition of Words and Terms Used in the Law: London, 1729 five editions (Some editions available to read online or download from Google Books and the Internet Archive)
- McLaughlin, Eve. Wills Before 1858: Varneys Press, 1995
- Medlycott, M.T. Somerset Wills Index: Printed and Manuscript Copies: Harry Galloway, 1993
- Milward, Rosemary (comp). A Glossary of Household Farming & Trade Terms from 17th-century Probate Inventories: Derbyshire Record Society, 1986
- Raymond, Stuart. Words from Wills and other Probate Records: Federation of Family History Societies, 2004
- Raymond, Stuart. The Wills of Our Ancestors: A Guide for Family & Local Historians: Pen and Sword Books, 2012
- Tollerton, Linda. Wills and Will-Making in Anglo-Saxon England: York Medieval Press, 2011
- Webb, Clifford. Dates and Calendars for the Genealogist: Society of Genealogists, 2013
- Westcott, Brooke. Making Sense Of Latin Documents For Family And Local Historians: Family History Partnership, 2014
TNA Research Guides:
Wills 1384-1858
Wills and Probate: Further Research
The EurekA Partnership: Various titles containing transcriptions of The Peculiar Court probate records covering Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Warwickshire and Worcestershire
Websites
The National Archives Research Guide
How to look for records of Wills or administrations before 1858. This guide provides advice on how to search for a will or administration in England and Wales proved or granted before 1858.
Borthwick Institute for Archives
Guide to Probate Courts. An introduction to the various courts and their jurisdictions.
Findmypast
The Church of England Courts. Hierarchy of the Church of England Courts.
BYU Discovering English Ancestors
Probate Records. Detailed and in-depth guide to finding probate records county by county and for London and the whereabouts and availability of records
Medieval English Genealogy
Wills. Guide to researching and interpreting medieval English wills and probate.
Society of Genealogists Guide
How to use Probate records.
Dorset History Centre
Probate Records: Wills, Letters of Administration and Inventories.
Devon Heritage Centre Information Leaflet
Wills and Probate Records.
Family Tree Magazine
The Genealogist’s Guide to Estate Records, by Sunny Jane Morton and Cheryl Felix McClellan.
Tracing Ancestors In The UK
Reading Wills and Inventories.
Tracing Ancestors In The UK
How to Search for Wills and Probate in England.
Family History
Glossary of Wills and Probate Terms.
Dorchester & Fordington
Glossary and Index of Terms. Terms used in 17th & 18th Century Wills, Inventories and other Documents.
The London Archives
Wills for London, Middlesex and Surrey before 1858.
FamilySearch
Historical Maps. Maps showing the administrative areas and units of England. For each place name the parish is shown and gives start date for parish registers and Bishop Transcripts. The name of the appropriate Probate Court, Diocese, Province, Poor Law Union and Hundred is shown. Contiguous parishes and parishes within a specified radius can be displayed. In addition map layers can be displayed showing boundaries for the Civil Registration District, the Parish, the County, the Diocese and other administrative areas.
English Ancestors
Finding a pre-1858 Will.
FamilySearch Research Wiki
England Probate Records.
FamilySearch Research Wiki
England Probates: Locating the Records.
National Library of Wales
Information Leaflet: Probate Records.
Price Genealogy
Accessing England’s Probate Records Online.
Ancestry Solutions
Dictionary of legal terms found in Probate and Estate Records
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks
Locating Cornish Wills. Guide and background to locating and understanding Cornish wills.
Airedale & Wharfedale FHS
Glossary of Terms Found in Wills.
Findmypast
Glossary of Probate Terms.
The Gazette
Wills and probate glossary of terms.
Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine
Where are wills kept? Paul Blake explains how to use online Probate Calendars.
Gloucestershire Archives Research Guide
Wills, inventories and probate records.
Researching Historic Buildings
Using wills and probate inventories in building history.
University of Exeter
The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790. The project seeks to understand how people’s attitudes towards material objects changed between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Researchers from the University of Exeter and The National Archives use wills to explore the importance and meanings of material culture and examine changing attitudes to material culture in England in the 250 years before the Industrial Revolution.
FamilySearch Digital Library
Digital Books. Access digital books such as family histories, yearbooks, biographies, local histories, other genealogical books.
Parish Finder
Locate a UK parish. Locate parishes and surrounding parishes and calculate distances between parishes.
Weights and Measures
The National Archives
Currency converter: 1270-2017.
Calculator – UK Inflation
Calculate purchasing power. How much is British money really worth now compared to the past.
English Weights and Measures
Guide to Money & Coins.
Project Britain
Old English Money.
University of Nottingham
Introduction to Weights and Measures and Money.
Measuring Worth
Tools for measuring the historic values of money.
Roy Davies
Money: Past, Present & Future.
Elizabethan Era
Elizabethan Currency, Money and Coinage.
Elizabethan Era
Elizabethan Period Money and Currency.
Chards
Common Names of British Coin Denominations.
Online Databases
National Collections
Findmypast
Findmypast offers a comprehensive and extensive collection of wills and probate records covering all geographical areas across England and Wales. The records offer a unique insight into the lives and relative wealth of your forebears and date back as far as 1462. Expect to find records from the Bank of England, British Record Society indexes, calendars, transcripts and records from the Prerogative Courts of Canterbury and York as well a substantial collection of Wales probate records. To restrict and filter your search to a county or place or dataset click on ‘Browse Record Set’ on the Wills and Probate search page.
Findmypast
Inheritance Disputes Index, 1574-1714. Find out if there really is a relative where there’s a will in our records of inheritance disputes between 1574 and 1714. Search more than 77,000 names of those involved in over 26,000 law suits at the English Court of Chancery.
Ancestry
Ancestry offers a comprehensive and extensive collection of wills extracted probate records from various sources and ecclesiastical courts across England and Wales. The collections include indexes from a variety of places and sources including those from specific counties like Gloucestershire, Cheshire, Hampshire, Shropshire, Yorkshire and a number of courts covering London. Ancestry collections include Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 and Prerogative and Exchequer Court of York Wills, 1389-1858. The collections have indexes with references from a variety of places and sources which will help you track down the original documents. To view all the wills and probate collections, click on ‘United Kingdom’ under ‘Browse Catalogue’ in the wills start page.
The Genealogist
The collection of Wills, Probates and Testaments includes access to the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, giving you access to the original will record images. Also available are various will indexes which cover most areas of the country.
Society of Genealogists Data Online
The society offers access to national collections including Bank of England Will Extracts; British Record Association Wills; Index to Crisps Wills; Index to Document Collection Wills; Index to Special Collection Wills; Index to Prerogative Court of York Wills 1800-1842. County coverage includes Bristol, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Middlesex, Sussex, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.
FamilySearch
Collections include: Wales Probate Abstracts and a variety of counties including Kent, Surrey, Somerset and Durham.
British History Online
Access to various transcribed will and calendars.
FamilySearch Digital Library
Search over 500,000 genealogy books including calendars of wills, family histories, maps, and yearbooks.
Local Collections
Gloucestershire Archives’ Genealogical Search
All wills and inventories proved at Gloucester, 1541-1858
London Lives
Search transcribed PCC Abstracts of Wills, 1680-1819.
Cornwall OPC Database
Search Wills Transcriptions and Indexes
Bath Ancestors
Wills, 1603-1990. A collection of wills from various sources such as solicitors’ collections and family papers.
Calderdale History
Images of Halifax wills.
Devon Wills Project
Index of Devon wills, administrations and inventories. The index shows where copies, transcripts, abstracts or extracts of such original testamentary documents may be found and in many cases the whereabouts of the original documents. Many Devon probate records were destroyed in Exeter by enemy action in 1942.
Findmypast
Devon Wills Index, 1163-1999. This collection has been made available by the Devon Wills Project as a free resource.
Somerset Heritage Centre
Transcripts and abstracts including of Estate Duty Wills, 1812-1857 and Somerset Wills and Deeds, 1784-1930. Please note most of the county’s original probate records before 1858 were destroyed in 1942 by German bombing on the Exeter Principal Registry which housed both Somerset and Devon wills. The indexed transcripts are available in book form compiled by D. T. Hawkings ‘Index to Somerset Estate Duty Office Wills 1812-1857’ or at the Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries website.
Staffordshire Name Indexes
Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry Wills Index, 1650-1730.
Essex Archives Online
Lists of all the original wills held by the Essex Record Office covering Essex and eastern Hertfordshire from the pre-1858 probate courts. Digitised images of 175,000 original wills are available to purchase online.
Cheshire Archives and Local Studies
Search the indexes to over 70,000 original Cheshire wills and probate records proved in the Archdeaconry of Chester between 1487 and 1857.
Hampshire Archives
Search the online catalogue for brief descriptions for Hampshire wills and other probate, 1398-1858 and Hampshire registered copy wills from 1858 to 1941.
Hertfordshire Names Online
Hertfordshire Will Index 1413-1857
Yesterdays Journey
Transcriptions dealing primarily with Derbyshire
York’s Archbishops Registers
Free access to over 20,000 images of registers with a searchable index of names, subjects, places and organisations dealing with wills and probate dating from early as 1267.
UKBMD
The volunteer led site provides links to websites that offer on-line transcriptions of GRO and local births, marriages and deaths indexes as well as censuses returns. A wide range of other indexes and transcriptions are also available for most counties. These may include parish records, wills and monumental inscriptions.
Wolverhampton History
Transcribed index of wills at Wolverhampton Archives & Local Studies
David Wright: Historian and Genealogist
City of Canterbury Consolidated Probate Index. The index brings together grants of probate and administration from all courts including the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, the Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury and the Consistory Court of Canterbury.
Durham University Library
North East Inheritance Database. Pre-1858 Durham and Northumberland Probate Records.
Oxfordshire Family History Society
Transcribed texts of wills, administrations and other testamentary documents, relating to Oxfordshire.
Historical Manuscript Society
Index of Probate Inventories, Oxfordshire 1550-1590
Buckinghamshire Studies
Wills proved in the Archdeaconry of Buckingham between 1483 and 1858.
Surrey Family And Local History
The Surrey Plus Wills Index. Search an index to names of all people appearing in the wills of testators residing in the county of Surrey and nine other counties in south-eastern England.
Pickard’s Pink Pages for Warwickshire
Warwickshire probate indexes.
CD Roms
Anguline Research
Various Will records and Haliwells Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words and How to Decipher and Study Old Documents.
Anguline Research
Halifax Wills: Abstracts and Translations of the Wills Registered at York from the Parish of Halifax, 1389-1544. Edited by E.W. Crossley.
David Wright: Historian and Genealogist
City of Canterbury Consolidated Probate Index. The index brings together grants of probate and administration from all courts including the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, the Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury and the Consistory Court of Canterbury. The pdf indexes covers the seventeen ancient parishes and all extra-parochial places both within and without the walls.
Hathi Trust
Abstracts and Translations of the Wills Registered at York from the Parish of Halifax, 1389-1544. Edited by E.W. Crossley.
GenFair
Browse tens of thousands of family history products including probate records, indexes and inventories from hundreds of suppliers. The largest range of products covering the British Isles.
Stepping Stones
PCC wills.
West Country Books
Devon Wills; Abstracts Of Somerset Wills.
Berkshire Family History Society
Berkshire Probate Index, 1480-1857: The CD is an index to 39,000 probate records of the Archdeaconry of Berkshire.
