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 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.
   

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.

Warwickshire Probate Courts

Most of Warwickshire 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 Lichfield and Coventry (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 Bishop of Gloucester (Episcopal Consistory)
• Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield
• Peculiar Court of the Manor of Baddesley-Clinton
• Peculiar Court of the Manor of Barston
• Peculiar Court of the Manor of Bishop's Ichington, Chadshunt and Gaydon
• Peculiar Court of the Prebendal of Hampton-Lucy with Alveston Parish and its chapelry, Charlcote, and Wasperton Parish
• Peculiar Court of the Manor of Knowle
• Peculiar Court of the Manor of Merevale
• Peculiar Court of the Manor of Packwood
• Peculiar Court of the Manor of Tachbrook
• Peculiar Court of the Manor of Temple Balsall; also see Baddesley-Clinton
• Peculiar Court of the Prebend of Ufton
• Court of the Peculiar of Stratford-upon-Avon

Some Explanatory Notes on Warwickshire Probate Courts 

• From 1837, the whole of the Warwickshire's parishes came under the probate court jurisdiction of the Bishop of Worcester
• In pre-1837 only north, east and northwestern Warwickshire parishes came under the authority and jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lichfield.
• The rest of the of Warwickshire (south-west portion) in pre-1837 came under the Diocese of the Bishop of Worcester.

 

Here's the List of Warwickshire Parishes which in pre-1837, came under the court jurisdiction of the Diocese of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory).

Court Jurisdictions

Before 1858, every town and parish in Warwickshire came under the jurisdiction of a primary probate court and one or more secondary courts. When looking for the pre-1858 will of an ancestor in Warwickshire, you need to determine what courts had jurisdiction over the place where your ancestor died or had property.  Click on a link below for the letter your parish of interest begins with and follow the instructions given on the next page. 

A,

B,

C,

D-L,

M-P,

Q-S,

T-Z.

If you do not know a parish, start with the largest courts listed above.

Probate Indexes

Registered wills and original wills, administrations and inventories, 1494-1860, and, act books, 1532-1638 for Diocese of Lichfield Episcopal Consistory Court [1] These are calendars   This diocese covers the northern and eastern parts of county Warwick.

A general will index for the Diocese of Lichfield exists online, a scanned edition of P.W. Phillimore's publication by 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 Warwickshire's smaller peculiar courts.

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 and administrations, 1661-1858 is a typscript and is available at The Family History Library, (FHL)  book call no. 942.47 P2e vols 1-4. Contents : v. 1. 1661-1699 -- v. 2. 1700-1749 -- v. 3. 1750-1799 -- v. 4. 1800-1858; or, it is available via microfilm at its 4,600 Family History Centers worldwide. [2]

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 [3]

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. [4]

Also available 942.47 S2c [5]

Family History Library

A calendar of wills and administrations preserved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Worcester, l45l-(l652) [6]

Index of Probate from January-March 1660-1 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
Anne Jennings	Moseley	21 Mar
Robert Knight	Charlecott, Warwickshire	20 Mar
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. 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. For more information, go to Principal Probate Registry.

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