Cheshire Probate Records

England  Cheshire

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 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.
   

Cheshire Probate Courts

• Court of the Bishop of Chester (Episcopal Consistory)
• Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York
• Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York
• Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York
• Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury

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

Historical Background

Probate records of Cheshire, incorporating Cheshire and Lancashire commence from as early as 1474 up to 1857. Cheshire has one central probate court jurisdiction, which holds extensive probate record coverage for the county. There are no smaller or peculiar court jurisdictions in the county. There are several higher probate court jurisdictions which hold concurrent jurisdiction over Chesire. To identify these courts, see the "Cheshire Probate Courts" links above to each Cheshire probate court jurisdictions in order to obtain further information for researching each probate court for a will.

Probate Indexes

Cheshire's probate jurisdictions are well-covered with indexes; look in this section in each court jurisdiction to find valuable indexes to Cheshire's probate records.

Starting Your Search in Indexes

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 the "Probate Records of This Court" (below) to determine what original probate records exist for this court.

3. Contact or visit the Chester Record Office, 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 Family History Library, or, one of its 4,500 satellite family history centers worldwide and search indexes to probate records then with the information obtained from the index[es] you can search more quickly the original wills and admons also on microfilm via any family history center near you.

Probate Indexes Online 1492-1940

Before looking for a will, be certain to search the comprehensive and county-wide Wills index compiled by the Cheshire local government.

This index covers the years 1492 - 1940 and contains 130,000 entries. It covers probate documents proved at Chester mainly for Cheshire residents.

The following website specifically covers the parishes of Disley, Lyme Handley; Taxal & Whaley in Cheshire:
http://www.disley.net

Printed Indexes

Cheshire has a significant portion of its probate records in printed indexes for most its probate court jurisdictions. 

The original will indexes 1545-1858 are available in print by both the Lancashire & Cheshire Record Society and the Chetham Society. These two large publications series contain for both Cheshire and Lancashire counties, helpful indexes to most of the wills and administrations for this major probate court jurisdiction. These volume series are often available at many major archives in the United Kingdom such as at the British Library, and Guildhall Library, London, and other like institutions. The Family History Library likewise has most all of these volumed indexes in these series available. See these under the Courts section (above).

Original Handwritten Indexes

Indexes and calendars to the Probate Acts of Wills and Administrations (Admons) exist from 1492-1857. Calendars are a kind of index (of the first letter of each surname) to the probate records and admons (administrations).

 

Microfilmed Indexes at the Family History Library

The Family History Library has many will and admon (Administration) indexes and calendars which are available on microfilm at the Family History Library covering the years as above mentioned 1492-1858. These microfilms may be circulated to any of its 4,500 satellite Family History Centers worldwide. To determine film numbers, go to this Family History Library Catalog [page]

Some Explanatory Notes on the Cheshire Courts

1. Probate research has become more simplified in recent years with the availability of wonderful indexes covering most of Cheshire's probate records. 

2. Only four probate courts held concurrent jurisdiction with one another over Cheshire's parishes. The single largest and most likely one to search first is the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Chester.

3. The Consistory Court of the Bishop of Chester is sub-divided into basically two courts--a higher or what is termed, a "Supra" court and, a lower or "Infra" court. A majority of Cheshire wills and admons were probated in the "Infra" court.

3. To identify the names of all courts holding jurisdiction over the whole of Cheshire, see the "Cheshire Parishes and Their Probate Jurisdictions" section (below) in order to determine in which probate court jurisdiction to search.

Cheshire Parishes and Their Probate Jurisdictions

Before 1858, all of Cheshire was under the primary probate jurisdiction of the Court of the Bishop of Cheshire.  Secondary courts are also listed in the table below.  When looking for the will of an ancestor in Cheshire, search the courts in the order given.  Search indexes first.  For an online index to Cheshire wills, click here.

PARISH	PRIMARY COURT	SECONDARY COURTS - IN SEARCH ORDER
All parishes	Pre-1541 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory) Post-1540 - Court of the Bishop of Chester (Episcopal Consistory)	Pre-1541 2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury Post-1540 2 - Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York 4 - Court of the Chancery of the Archbishop of York

Estate or Death Duty Wills and Administrations

Beginning in 1796 a tax was levied on probates of estates valued over £10. Copies of the probate documents were filed with the Estate Duty Office in London when the tax was paid.  These records are especially helpful for research in counties  where local probate records have been destroyed.

For more information, see England Probate Records.

Estate Duty Records

Starting in 1796, a tax or death duty was payable on estates over a certain value. Estate duty abstracts may add considerable information not found elsewhere. Between 1813-1858 estate duty indexes may help locate a will. For more information, go to Estate Duty Records.

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.