Warwickshire Probate Records

England  Warwickshire

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 Warwickshire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and one or more secondary court.  When looking for the will of an ancestor in Warwickshire, search the courts in the order given.  Search indexes first.  For indexes, click on the link for a court name above.

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

PARISH	PRIMARY COURT	SECONDARY COURTS - IN SEARCH ORDER
Alcester	Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Allesley	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Alne, Great	Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Alveston	Pre-1851 - Court of the Peculiar of Hampton Lucy; Post-1850 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester	Pre-1851 2 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory) Post-185 2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Ansley	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Ansty	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Arley	Court of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield (Cathedral)	2 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory)
Arrow	Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Ashow	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Astley	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Aston Cantlow	Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Aston juxta Birmingham	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Atherstone	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Atherstone on Stour	Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Attleborough	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Austrey	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury

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.

Probate Indexes

The Episcopal Consistory Court of The Bishop of Worcester Covers the southwestern third of this county.

Episcopal Consistory Court of the Bishop of Worcester Calendar of wills administrations, 1661-1858 Family History Library Books 942.47 P2e Contents : v. 1. 1661-1699 -- v. 2. 1700-1749 -- v. 3. 1750-1799 -- v. 4. 1800-1858.

Worcestershire wills index, 1858-1928
"The index is arranged in alphabetical order of surname followed by the forename. Then the date of probate is cited, thus leading one to the register concerned, together with the relevant page number. It will be noted that there is some slight variation in style of the date of probate quoted. This is because this index was compiled from the existing indexes in each register and the amount of detail in each varied slightly, particularly in the first few volumes." -- from foreword.
CD-ROM no. 1671 at The Family History Library<br

Calendar of wills and administrations in the Consistory court of the Bishop of Worcester, 1451-1652 : also marriage licenses and sequestrations now deposited in the Probate registry at Worcester
The Index library (British Record Society) : v. 31, 39
Family History Library Call Numbers
942 B4b v. 31 1968 942 B4b v. 39 1968
Contents: v. 31. 1451-1600 -- v. 39. 1601-1652.

Also available 942.47 S2c [1]

Family History Library

A calendar of wills and administrations preserved in the consistory court of the bishop of Worcester, l45l-(l652) [2]

Index of Probate from January-March 1660 for the Bishop of Worcester Original Wills

Name Place Date

John Allen Wixelsford 6 Mar

William Averill Broadway 20 Mar

Thomas Baker Juichfieh? 28 Feb

Roger Barnard Stratford Upon Avon 16 Mar

William Beaver Combrook, Warwickshire 8 Mar

Ferdinand Bentley Wick by Pershore 27 Feb

Thomas Bonnar Alderminster 13 Feb

Francis Buck Oddingley 28 Feb

John Butler Swale 6 Feb

William Butler Cateshill, Bromsgrove 28 Feb

Robert Caldecote or Coldecott or Colicoal Hunington 28 Feb

Thomas Clarke City of Worcester 21 Feb

William Climer Shenston in Stone 23 Feb

Mathew Collet Alderminster or Aldermarston 7 Mar

John Cooke St Peter, Worcester 28 Feb

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.