Nottinghamshire Probate Records

England  Nottinghamshire.

For an explanation of probate records in England, click here.

Getting Started

Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his/her heirs. 

In order to find a probate record for your ancestor, you must answer two questions:

1. When did your ancestor die?
2. Where did your ancestor live or own property?

A key date is 1858, when probate authority was taken from the ecclesiatical courts of the Church of England and given to the civil government. 

• If your ancestor died before 1858, his/her probate would have been proven by an ecclesiatical court and it is important to know where he/she lived, as that will determine which courts had jurisdiction. 
• If you know where your ancestor lived before 1858, you should go to the Court Jurisdictions section below to determine what courts had jurisdiction over your ancestor's place of residence. 
• Beginning in 1858, probate authority was vested in the Principal Probate Registry system.  For more information, scroll to the Post-1857 Probate Records section at the bottom of the page.

Once you have answered the two questions and determined the courts, look for indexes. Indexes will be found on the individual court pages (when you click on a court name) or in the Probate Indexes section below.

Court Jurisdictions

Before 1858, every town and parish in Nottinghamshire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts.  Search the courts in the order given.  Search indexes first.  For indexes, click on a court name.

Here is a list of Nottinghamshire towns and parishes beginning with A and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them. 

For other places, click on a link:  B-H, K-Z.

PARISH	PRIMARY COURT	SECONDARY COURTS - IN SEARCH ORDER
Annesley	Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York	2 - Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York
Arnold	Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York	2 - Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York
Askham	Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York	2 - Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York
Attenborough	Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York	2 - Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York
Averham with Kelham	Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York	2 - Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York
Awsworth	Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York	2 - Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York

Post-1857 Probate Records

Beginning in 1858, the government took over the settlement of estates and all wills are now probated through the Principal Probate Registry system.  The system consists of 11 district registry offices and 18 sub-district registries, located throughout England and Wales, and the principal registry office located in London.  The records are available through the office of Her Majesty's Courts Service.  To learn more, go to the HMCS website.

A country-wide surname index to the records is available, so it is much easier to look for post-1857 wills.  The indexes for 1858-1957 and the records for the Principal Registry and the District Registries for 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.