Where and when
England and Wales
From the 14th century until 1858, wills were granted probate by ecclesiastical courts.
The value of the will and the location of the property bequeathed determined which court would prove the will.
If the property was:
- all within one archdeaconry, the will would have been proved in an Archdeacon’s court.
- in more than one archdeaconry but within one diocese it would have been proved in a Bishop’s diocesan court.
- in more than one diocese it would have been proved by an Archbishop’s prerogative court.
There were two Archbishops’ courts responsible for proving wills, covering different parts of the country: The Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of York.
The Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury covered the South of England and Wales. The Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of York covered York, Durham, Northumberland, Westmorland, Cumberland, Lancashire, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire and the Isle of Man. Only wills bequeathing land or property over the value of £5 were proved in these central courts. In the 14th century, this was a huge sum of money, but over time more and more people had their wills proved in the central courts. You can search The National Archives DocumentsOnline
for wills proved by the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
In 1858 a new secular Court of Probate was created and the proving of wills was no longer under the jurisdiction of the church.
Scotland
Testaments for the years 1514 to 1901 inclusive have been digitally imaged by the Scottish Archive Network. This is a Heritage Lottery funded project in which NAS and the Genealogical Society of Utah are partners. Copies of most of these images are available for purchase at ScotlandsPeople. You can register at this site to receive updates about progress. The site currently contains a full index to these testaments.
From 1901, to search for the will and/or inventory of someone who died in Scotland or, someone with Scottish connections who died outside Scotland, you need to know:
- the person’s name
- where they lived
- when they died
Ireland
Before 1858 wills were proved and letters of administration were issued either in the Prerogative Court or in the consistorial or diocesan courts of the Church of Ireland (the State Church at the time).
In 1858 testamentary jurisdiction passed to the civil courts to the Principal Probate Registry in Dublin and the 11 District Probate Registries that made up the new Court of Probate. In 1877 the Probate Court and the Court for Matrimonial Causes were merged into the Probate and Matrimonial Division of the High Court. From 1922, the Principal Probate Registry in Belfast and the Londonderry District Probate Registry of Probate and Matrimonial Division of the High Court assumed this responsibility for Northern Ireland.
India
The British Library OIOC (Oriental and India Office Collections) holds wills and related records for British India and related countries (Burma, Malacca, St Helena, Penang, Singapore, Sumatra) 1618-1948. For more information go to the OIOC (Oriental and India Office Collections) on the British Library website.
