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Wills and Probate Records

England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland: Probate Records

A collection of probate records in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland from the 1500s to the 1800s.

	England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland: Parish and Probate Records Search:
	First Name		About the Search: This is a collection of parish and probate records in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland from the 1500s to the 1800s. Powered by Ancestry.com
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These databases are a collection of historical probate registers from the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. More than 15 million names in this collection can range in date from the early 1500s to the mid- to late-1800s. All of the data was converted as it was originally presented in various published registers and books. For this reason, you will find interesting phonetic spellings and large descriptive tables of contents.

These records are a finding aid that help researchers locate an ancestor in a particular time and place in history. With a location and an approximate date, the microfilm number of pertinent corroborating records can often be found on the LDS Church's FamilySearch site (www.familysearch.org) in the Family History Library Catalog. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA has the largest collection.

Additional Information

British Wills and Probate Records
by Phil Westwood

Let's start with the more straightforward system which was established in 1858. After this date the State took over the administration of wills in England and Wales from the Church. All wills have since been proved at the Principal or District Probate Registries. These wills have been indexed by year alphabetically and these indexes are available to view at the Principal Registry, London.

Pre-1858 Probate in England and Wales: Tips for Distance Research, Part 1
by Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA

Up until January 11, 1858, probate was a matter for one of the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England. As there were more than 300, this creates research challenges for anyone, and in particular, for those working from a distance.

Pre-1858 Probate in England and Wales: Tips for Distance Research, Part 2
by Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA

Part 1 of this article made reference to the ecclesiastical court hierarchy that existed prior to 1858 and summarized several useful finding aids for the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. A search for probate at the local level focuses on the records of the consistory and archdeacon's courts. Some preparatory work will insure a search is complete, and reduce the chance of confusion.

U.K. Probate Wills Online
by Dick Eastman

The Public Record Office, the UK's national archive, has recently launched a new part to their website for genealogists. The new service allows users to view digital images of original documents online. The Public Record Office (PRO) presently is concentrating on probate (PCC wills). More than 200,000 wills are already available in two time ranges: 1820-1829 and 1840-1858.

Probate in Scotland, 1500 to 1901
by Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA

The Internet has transformed searching probate records in Scotland and the change is definitely for the better. The Web-based finding aids and images are excellent and a complex array of indexes no longer puzzles genealogists.

Probate Records: An Underutilized Source
by Donn Devine, CG, CGI

When a person dies, every state has laws that provide for public supervision over the estate that is left, whether or not there is a will. The term "probate records" broadly covers all the records produced by these laws, although, strictly speaking, "probate" applies only when there is a will.

 

 

See also: GenDirectory: Wills & Probate