Worcestershire Probate Records

England  Worcestershire

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 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.
   

Worcestershire Probate Courts

Most of Worcestershire was under the pre-1858 probate jurisdiction of either the Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory) or the Court of the Bishop of Hereford (Episcopal Consistory).  The majority of probate searches will be in the records of these two courts and their superior courts.  However, the following smaller courts also had some pre-1858 jurisdiction within the county. Click on a court name to learn about records and indexes.

• Court of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester
• Court of the Peculiar of Evesham
• Court of the Peculiar of the Rector of Alvechurch or Allchurch
• Court ot the Peculiar of the Rector of Bredon with Norton and Cutsdean
• Court of the Peculiar of the Rector of Fladbury
• Court of the Peculiar of the Rector of Hartlebury
• Court of the Peculiar of the Rector of Ripple with Queenhill and Holdfast
• Court of the Peculiar of the Rector of Tredington with Shipston upon Stour

In addition, the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury had jurisdiction over the whole of England, particularly in cases of wealthy individuals, people who owned property in more than one county or court's jurisdiction, people who lived or owned property outside of England, and military and Naval personnel.

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

The Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury also served as an appeals court.

Courts Jurisdictions

Before 1858, every town and parish in Worcestershire fell under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts.  When looking for the will of an ancestor, determine what courts had jurisdiction over the parish where your ancestor died or owned property, and search the courts in order.

For a list of Worcestershire parishes and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them, click on a letter link:

A,  B,  C,  D-G,  H-J,  K-N,  O-R,  S,  T-V,  W-Z.

Probate Indexes

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.

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 online at [1]
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 [2]

Family History Library

A calendar of wills and administrations preserved in the consistory court of the bishop of Worcester, l45l-(l652) [3]

 

Episcopal Consistory Court of Hereford covers these parishes in Worcestershire: Abberley, Bayton, Bewdley, Bockleton, Burford, Clifton Upton Teme, Dowles, Eastham, Edvin Loach, Great Kyre, Hanley Child, Hanley William, Knighton on Teme, Lindridge, Mamble, Orelton, Pensax, Ribbesford, Rochford, Rock, Lower Sapey, Shelsey Walsh, Stanford on Teme, Stockton on Teme, Tenbury  [4]

PECULIAR COURTS

Many Counties have peculiar court records.  These records can cover just one parish or many parishes.  They cover pre-1858 probate records.  The following is an index to these Worcestershire Peculiar Probate Court records. 
Index to Wills Proved in Peculiars 1712-1788 [5]

Contents: Fladbury, 1721-1775 -- Ripple, 1721-1729 -- Hanbury, 1720-1769 -- Bredon, 1717-1772 -- Tredington with Shipston (upon Stour), 1717-1788 -- Hartlebury, 1720-1784 -- Allchurch [i.e., Alvechurch], 1718-1773 -- Stratford, 1718-1773 -- Hampton, 1712-1760.

Some of the Peculiar Courts have indexed and undexed portions of the records.  The following follows this:

Wills and administrations, 1441-1788 of the Court of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester which covers Berrow, Kempsey, Norton near Kempsey, St Michael In Bedwardine and College Precincts, Stoulton, and Tibberton. [6]

Not all the peculiar court records are indexed and need to be located differently. The following links can help in finding these unindexed peculiar probate records
Wills for the Peculiar Court of Bredon, 1668-1791 which covers the parishes of Bredon, Norton (Bredons Norton) and Cutsdean. [7]

Wills and administrations for the Peculiar Court of Fladbury, 1662-1795 This covers the parish of Fladbury and its chapelries of Stock and Bradley, Throckmorton and Wyre Piddle. [8]

Wills for the Peculiar Court of Ripple, 1663-1771 which covers the parishes of Holdfast, Queenhill and Ripple [9]

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	Hunington	28 Feb
Thomas Clarke	City of Worcester	21 Feb
William Climer	Shenston in Stone	23 Feb
Robert Coldecott or Colicoal	Hunington	28 Feb
Mathew Collet	Alderminster or Aldermarston	7 Mar
John Cooke	St Peter, Worcester	8 Feb
John Cookes	Stoke Prior	25 Feb
Symon Corbett	Defford	6 Feb
Thomas Crowe	Chadwich, Bromsgrove	16 Feb
Richard Dannce	Wick by Pershore	20 Feb
Mary Dawks or Dawlks	Himbleton	23 Feb
Henry Day	Pinvin	27 Feb
Margaret Desmastres	Pershore	20 Feb
Thomas Edgcock	Kinerton, Warwickshire	16 Mar
Frances Elcoxe	St Martins, Worcester	22 Mar
Elizabeth George	Eckington	8 Mar
Thomas George the Elder	Naunton in Severn Stoke	2 Mar
Gyles Gilbert	Longdon	18 Mar
William Griffin	Clifton in Severn Stoke	16 Mar
Thomas Gyles	Powick	7 Feb
George Hall	Broadway	7 Mar
John Hall	Tarbecke	10 Mar
Ellinor Hay	Eckington	13 Mar
John Hay	Alchurch	28 Feb
William Hopkins	Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire	16 Mar
Anne Horsham	Wicke in Pershore	27 Feb
Richard Hurlston	Ilmington, Warwickshire	28 Feb
Katherine Inones or Jnones	? Mathon	28 Feb 1660
Anne Jennings	Moseley	21 Mar
Robert Knight	Charlecott, Warwickshire	20 Mar 1660
Cicilia Lee	Alveston	6 Feb
Edmond Ligon		12 Mar
Richard Marshall	Inkberrow	27 Feb
Anthony Morrice	Icomb	14 Mar
John Moseley	Northwich, Blockley	14 Mar
William Moseley	Puddington or Huddington?	27 Feb
Thomas Munsloe	Tibberton	9 Feb
Edward Nicholls	Hunnington	8 Mar
John Oldmole or Oldnall	Chaddestly Corbett	7 Feb
Thomas Ordway	Bengworth	12 Mar
John Pearsall	Whitley Barne, Halesowen, Salop	1 Mar
William Phillips	Church Lench	28 Feb
Maria or Mary Phipps	Aldermarston or Alderminster	10 Feb
Alice Pratt	Wick near Pershore	6 Feb
William Quinton	Hunnington, Warwickshire	27 Feb
John Rainolds or Reynolds	Kidderminster	27 Feb
John Richardson	Shottery in Stratford on Avon Warwickshire	20 Mar
Julie Shawe	Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire	16 Feb
Stephen Sitch	Shefferie, Warwickshire	13 Mar
Mary Smith	Eckington (Eskington)	11 Mar
Thomas Smith	Vifford	9 Mar
Margery Symonds	Elmley Castle	14 Mar
William Taverner	Pinvin or Pembry	27 Feb
Mary Tonerton or Towerton	Holt	6 Mar
Richard Walker	Ridmington	8 Mar
Michael Warne	Alvechurch or Alchurch	28 Feb
William Washborne	Tibberton	23 Feb
Henry Whatley	Tanworth, Warwickshire	9 Mar
Thomas Whopper	Tibberton	23 Feb

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