Staffordshire Probate Records

England  Staffordshire

For an explanation of probate records in England, click here. [Page is under Construction]

Getting Started

Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. The Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process until to 1858. Beginning in 1858, authority over probate matters was taken from ecclesiastical courts and put under the civil authority of the Principal Probate Registry. The Post-1857 Probate Records section below contains links to additional information about the records of this court.

To look for a probate record before 1858:

1. Discover when and where your ancestor died. If you don’t know, use the approximate date and place where they lived.
   
2. Go to Court Jurisdictions section below.
   
3. Click a letter or span of letters for your place name. This opens a jurisdictions table.
   
4. Follow the instructions on the jurisdictions table page.
   

Staffordshire Probate Courts

The following probate courts had some jurisdiction over the county of Staffordshire prior to 1858:

• Episcopal Consistory Court of Lichfield
• Court of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield
• Peculiar Court of Lichfield
• Peculiar Court of the Dean of Lichfield
• Peculiar Court of Alrewas and Weeford
• Peculiar Court of Bishops Itchington
• Peculiar Court of Bishops Tachbrook
• Peculiar Court of Burton on Trent
• Peculiar Court of Colwich
• Peculiar Court of Eccleshall
• Peculiar Court of the Manor of Gnosall
• Peculiar Court of Hansacre and Armitage
• Peculiar Court of Hartington
• Peculiar Court of High Offley anad Flixton
• Peculiar Court of Longdon
• Peculiar Court of Merevale
• Peculiar Court of Peak Forest
• Peculiar Court of Penkridge
• Peculiar Court of Prees or Pipe Manor
• Peculiar Court of Sawley
• Peculiar Court of Tettenhall
• Peculiar Court of Whittington and Baswich
• Peculiar Court of Wolverhampton

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

Appeals Courts

There were two appeals courts within the Prerogative Court of Canterbury which heard disputes over the administration or probate of an estate. They were the:

• Court of Arches which held jurisdiction over 13 parishes in the City of London and concurrent jurisdiction over the whole of the provinces of York and Canterbury (records are at Lambeth Palace Library, London; an index from 1660-1857 was compiled by the British Record Society, vol. 85) 
• High Court of Delegates or sometimes known as the Court of Delegates, also heard appeals cases regarding probates and administrations.

Some Explanatory Notes on the Courts in Staffordshire

Probate records for the first nine courts listed above are located at the Staffordshire Record Office.

Records and indexes for each court are also available in the collection of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  Search the Family History Library Catalog for the title of the court or the court as an author. 

Staffordshire Parishes and Their Probate Jurisdictions

[This section should be combined with the similar section below.]  Here are links to an alphabetical list of Staffordshire parishes containing a prioritized list of courts with jurisdiction over each.  To see which courts to search for probates of persons living in or owning property in particular parish, click on the letter the parish name begins with.

A

B-G

H-K

L

M-N

O-R

S

T-V

W-Z

Probate Indexes

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

Online Indexes

A general will index for the Diocese of Lichfield exists online, a scanned edition of P.W. Phillimore's publicationby the British Record Society in 1892,Calendars of wills administrations in the Consistory court of the bishop of Lichfield.  This single index consolidates most Staffordshire wills of the various probate court jurisdictions from 1514-1652 for the Diocese of Lichfield and to 1790 for Staffordshire smaller peculiar courts. 

Printed Indexes

See the above online indexes available at Google.books which is copy of a printed will index for Staffordshire.

The Smethwick Local history Society has published the Probate inventories of Smethwick residents, 1647-1747 : in the Lichfield Joint Record Office.

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 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.

Court Jurisdictions by Parish

[This section should be combined with the similar section above.  Move this up.]  Before 1858, every town and parish in Staffordshire fell under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts.  When looking for the will of an ancestor, you should search the courts in the order given. For an authoritative treatise on each Staffordshire probate court and the parishes comprising them in pre-1858, see Anthony J. Camp's publication, Wills and Their Whereabouts; also available at the Family History Library, FHL book call #942 S2wa. Search indexes first.  For indexes, click on the court name links above [soon to be constructed]. When looking for the will of an ancester, you should search the courts in the order given.  Search indexes first.  For indexes, click on the court name links above.

Here is a list of Staffordshire parishes beginning with the letter A and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them.  For other parishes, click on a letter link:  B-G, H-L, M-S, T-Z.

[Consider moving the A parishes to their own page.]

PARISH	PRIMARY COURT	SECONDARY COURTS - IN SEARCH ORDER
Abbots Bromley	Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Adbaston	Peculiar of the Dean of Lichfield	2 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)
Acton Trussel	Peculiar Court of Whittington and Baswich	2 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)
Aldridge	Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Alrewas	Peculiar Court of Alrewas and Weeford	2 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)
Alstonefield	Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Alton	Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Armitage	Peculiar Court of Hansacrea and Armitage	2 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)
Ashford	Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield	2 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)
Ashley	Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Aston	Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Audley	Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury

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 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)