Devon Probate Records

England > Devon

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.

Devonshire Probate Courts

• Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Archdeaconry of Barnstable
• Court of the Archdeaconry of Cornwall
• Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Archdeaconry of Exeter
• Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Archdeaconry of Totnes
• Court of the Peculiar of the Bishop of Exeter (Episcopal Consistory)
• Peculiar of the Court of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter
• Court of the Peculiar of the Manor of Cockington
  
• Court of the Peculiar of the Manor of Templeton
• Court of the Peculiar of the Custos and College of Vicars Choral in Exeter
• Court of the Peculiar of the Dean of Exeter
• Court of the Archdeaconry of Dorset

Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury

In addition, the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury had jurisdiction over the whole of England. Wealthier individuals, people who owned property in more than one county or lower court's jurisdiction, people who died overseas but owned property in Britain, and Naval personnel often had their estates proven through the Archbishop's court.

Appeals Courts

Any probate that was disputed and could not be settled by the county courts could be sent to these higher appeals courts:

• Court of Arches
• High Court of Delegates
• Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury also served as an appeals court.

Court Jurisdictions

Before 1858, every Devonshire town and parish was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary ecclesiastical court and one or more secondary ecclesiastical courts.

To see a list of places in Devonshire and courts that had pre-1858 probate jurisdiction over them, click on a link for the letter a place name begins with: A, B, C, D-E, F-H, I-K, L-M, N-O, P-R, S, T-V, W-Z.

Probate Indexes Online

Before looking for a will, you should search an index. 

• http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/heritage/index.php pre-1858 for CHARDSTOCK and UFFCULME parishes, and a few other wills from other parishes.

This catalogue gives access to wills and other probate records of the diocese of Salisbury which used to cover not only Wiltshire but also Berkshire (under certain circumstances) and parts of Dorset and Devon. You can search for people by name, place, occupation and date. The collection covers 1540-1858. Searching the catalogue is FREE. In addition there are digital images for some of the documents (just over 25%) which can be viewed following on-line payment or free of charge by people visiting the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre. Wills and inventories give useful information about people’s financial status and property, and also their family relationships and friendships, which make them a wonderful resource for family and local history.

• http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/democracycommunities/neighbourhoods-villages/record office/family history 3/wills records.htm -- This website provides information about Devon wills.

• http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/democracycommunities/people/family_history/family history 3/wills records/locating wills and admin.htm -- This website provides information about Devon wills.

• http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/DevonWills/index.html -- Devon Names in the Calendars of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1383-1700

Post-1858 Probate Records

Category: England