Court of the Peculiar of Bibury


Step By Step

1. First search each index (see below) to help you more quickly find the will, writing down each detail cited in the indexed entry.

2. Proceed to "Records" (below) to determine what probate records exist for this court. Also see "FamilySearch Library Records."

3. Contact or visit the Gloucestershire Record Office (see below address) or, hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf. Officials may send upon request a list of record searchers.

4. Visit The FamilySearch Library, or, one of its 4,500 satellite FamilySearch centers worldwide and search indexes to probate records. The information obtained from the index[es] help you access the original wills and admons which can be viewed at a FamilySearch centre or a FamilySearch affiliate library near you.

Indexes

Online Indexes

The Gloucestershire Archives has an online index to wills for 1541-1858 in their Genealogical Database.

Printed and Published Indexes

Indexes available at the FamilySearch Library include:

  • Dickinson, Michael G. Wills Proved in Gloucestershire Peculiar Courts. Gloucester City Libraries, local history pamphlet no. 2. Gloucester: A.E. Smith, 1960. (FS Library book 942.41 P22dm)

Records

Archives Location

Original records are deposited at the Gloucestershire Archives.

Archive Records

Add information about the manuscript, printed and digital records in this location.

They include:

  • Original wills, 1611-1649, 1672-1833
  • Registered wills, 1665-1833
  • Administrations, 1679-1800
  • Inventories, 1685-1696, 1758-1793

FamilySearch Library Records

Records have been digitized and many are available at a FamilySearch centre or a FamilySearch affiliate library near you. They include:


Jurisdiction

This court had primary jurisdiction over the parishes of Bibury and Barnsley and the chapelries of Aldsworth and Winson.

This was a peculiar under the superior authority of the Diocese of Worcester before 1541 and from that time under the authority of the Diocese of Gloucester.

Between 1640 and 1660, probate records may also be found in the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury.