Norfolk Probate Records: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:31, 6 January 2010

The following article is about probate records in the county of Norfolk. For general information about English probate records, click here.

Description[edit | edit source]

Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. The term probate refers to a collection of documents, including wills, administrations (also called admons), inventories, and act books. The Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process until to 1858. This article explains about probates and how to get started to search for a will.

Beginning in 1858, authority over probate matters was taken from ecclesiastical courts and put under the civil authority of the Principal Probate Registry. The Probates After 1857 section below has a link to an article about probates after 1857.

Getting Started[edit | edit source]

Follow these steps to look for a probate record before 1858:

Discover when and where your ancestor died. If you don’t know, use the approximate date and place where they lived.
Go to the Court Jurisdictions section below.
Click a letter or span of letters for your place. This opens an article showing a table of places and the courts that had jurisdiction over them.
Follow the steps at the top of the table to search for a will.

Court Jurisdictions by Parish[edit | edit source]

Before 1858, every town and parish in Norfolk was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary ecclesiastical court and one or more secondary ecclesiastical courts.

To see a list of Norfolk places and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them, click on a letter link:

A

B

C-F

G-H

I-N

O-S

T-Z

Norfolk Probate Courts[edit | edit source]

These courts had some pre-1858 jurisdiction over the county of Norfolk. Click on a court name for more information. See also the Indexes section below. Click on a court name to learn more about the records available and how to find the probate of your ancestor in the court's records.

In addition, the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury had jurisdiction over the whole of England and specifically in the following cases.

Wealthy individuals
People who owned property in more than one county
Military and naval personnel
People who lived or owned property outside England

Appeals Courts[edit | edit source]

Any probate that was disputed and could not be settled by the county courts could be sent to these higher appeals courts:

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

Probate Indexes Online[edit | edit source]

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

All the indexes of pre-1858 probate records are included in the Norfolk Record Office's online catalogue, NROCAT. Some pre-1858 wills were proved by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury and these can be searched via The National Archives documents online web page. [1]

An index to probate records for 1800-1857 is found at:

http://www.norfolksources.norfolk.gov.uk/

Probate Indexes[edit | edit source]

England, Norfolk - Probate records - Indexes [2]

Wills and administrations, 1469-1857 Church of England. Archdeaconry of Norwich.[3] Court
Index to Norfolk (England) wills, 1838-1858[4]

Norfolk peculiar jurisdictions Contents: Index to probate records, 1416-1857[5]

Some Explanatory Notes on the Norfolk Probate Courts[edit | edit source]

Estate Duty Records
[edit | edit source]

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.

Probates After 1857[edit | edit source]

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.

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-{{breadcrumb
+''[[England]]&nbsp;[[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[Norfolk]]''
-| link1=[[England Genealogy|England]]
-| link2=[[Norfolk, England Genealogy|Norfolk]]
-| link3=
-| link4=
-| link5=[[Norfolk_Probate_Records|Probate Records]]
-}}{{Norfolk-sidebar}}
-{| style="float:right; margin-right:200px"
+The following article is about probate records in the county of Norfolk. For general information about English probate records, click [[England Probate Records|here]].
-|-
-| style="padding-right:0px" |
+<br>
-|[[Image:All Saints, Bircham Newton, Norfolk .jpg|right|thumb|240x220px|<center>All Saints, Bircham Newton, Norfolk<center>]]
-|}
+== Description  ==
+''Probate'' is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. The term ''probate'' refers to a collection of documents, including [[W genealogical glossary terms|wills]], [[A genealogical glossary terms|administrations]] (also called admons), [[I genealogical glossary terms|inventories]], and [[A genealogical glossary terms|act books]]. The Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process until to 1858. This article explains about probates and how to get started to search for a will.
+Beginning in 1858, authority over probate matters was taken from ecclesiastical courts and put under the civil authority of the Principal Probate Registry. The '''Probates After 1857'''&nbsp;section below has a link to an article about probates after 1857.
-==Getting Started==
+<br>
-''Probate'' is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. Probate records include [[W genealogical glossary terms|wills]] and [[A genealogical glossary terms|administrations]]. This article is about probate records in Norfolk. See [[England Probate Records]] for a general description of probate records in England.
+== Getting Started  ==
-===1858 to the Present===
+Follow these steps to look for a probate record before 1858:<br>
-Beginning in 1858, the [[Principal Probate Registry|Principal Probate Registry]] had the authority for probating estates. Click on the link to learn more.
+#Discover when and where your ancestor died. If you don’t know, use the approximate date and place where they lived. <br>
+#Go to the Court Jurisdictions section below.<br>
+#Click a letter or span of letters for your place. This opens an article showing a table of places and the courts that had jurisdiction over them.<br>
+#Follow the steps at the top of the table to search for a will.<br>
-====Online Records====
+<br>
-*'''1371-1858''' [https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62679 Norfolk, England, Indexes to Wills, Probate, Administrations and Marriage Licence Bonds, 1371-1858] at Ancestry ($)
+== Court Jurisdictions by Parish  ==
-*'''1858-1957''' {{RecordSearch|2451051|England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957}} at FamilySearch - [[England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index
-*[https://search.findmypast.com/search-world-records/norfolk-wills-and-probate Norfolk Wills & Probate] at Findmypast — index & images ($)
-===Before 1858===
+Before 1858, every town and parish in Norfolk was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary ecclesiastical court and one or more secondary ecclesiastical courts.
-Before 1858, Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process. To search for a pre-1858 probate record in Norfolk, follow these steps:
+To see a list of Norfolk places and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them, click on a letter link:
-====Step 1. Search Indexes====
+{| cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="272" border="1"
+|-
+| &nbsp;[[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions, Parishes beginning with A|A]]
+| &nbsp;[[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes B|B]]
+| &nbsp;[[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes C through F|C-F]]
+| &nbsp;[[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes G through H|G-H]]
+| &nbsp;[[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes I through N|I-N]]
+| &nbsp;[[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes O through S|O-S]]
+| &nbsp;[[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes T through Z|T-Z]]
+|}
-Here are some online indexes to probate records that include individuals who lived in Norfolk. Search these indexes first:
+<br>
-*All the indexes of pre-1858 probate records are included in the Norfolk Record Office's online catalogue, [http://nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk/DServe/DServe.exe?NS&dsqServer=NCC3CL01&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Index.tcl NROCAT]. Click '''Browse''' and then select '''Archival descriptions'''. Narrow your results by '''Genre''' and then select either '''Probate''' (for all kinds of probate documents) or '''Wills''' (for wills specifically). Then click on Advanced search options and type the name in the first search field. Also, sometimes better results are achieved if only the surname is entered. Creative search terms is the key to finding results in this database. ''Make note of the probate court listed''.
+== Norfolk Probate Courts  ==
-*[[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]]
-Probate Indexes available at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City:
+These courts had some pre-1858 jurisdiction over the county of Norfolk.&nbsp; Click on a court name for more information.&nbsp; See also the Indexes section below.&nbsp;Click on a court name to learn more about the records available and how to find the probate of your ancestor in the court's records. <br>
-*{{FSC|198646|title-id|disp=Index to Norfolk (England) wills, 1838-1858}}
+*[[Court of the Archdeaconry of Norfolk]]
-*{{FSC|226098|title-id|disp=Norfolk peculiar jurisdictions, Index to probate records, 1416-1857}}
+*[[Court of Norwich (Episcopal Consistory)]]&nbsp;
+*[[Court of the Archdeaconry of Norwich]]
+*[[Court of the Peculiar of the Dean & Chapter of Norwich]]
+*[[Court of the Peculiar of Castle Rising]]
+*[[Court of the Peculiar of Great Cressingham]]
+*[[Court of the City of Norwich]]
-Did you find a reference to a probate record?
+In addition, the [[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]] had jurisdiction over the whole of England and specifically in the following cases.
-*If ''yes'', go to '''Step 4''' below.
+*Wealthy individuals
-*If ''no'', go to '''Step 2''' below.
+*People who owned property in more than one county
+*Military and naval personnel
+*People who lived or owned property outside England
-====Step 2. Identify when and where your ancestor died====
+=== Appeals Courts  ===
-Determine ''when'' your ancestor died. If you aren't sure, use an approximate date.  The on-line will index at [http://nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk/DServe/DServe.exe?NS&dsqServer=NCC3CL01&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Index.tcl NROCAT] is very helpful in finding wills in Norfolk for pre-1858 wills.  It is not always necessary to know where or when an ancestor died when using nrocat.  Since spelling of names in early records was not consistent, entering only the surname of your ancestor will generate the most posibilities of identifying your ancestor. Searches using spelling variations of the surname will also be helpful in finding possible entries for your ancestor.  If you cannot identify an entry for your ancestor in this on-line index, you will want to try to determine at least an approximate death date and place.
+Any probate that was disputed and could not be settled by the county courts could be sent to these higher appeals courts:
-Determine ''where'' your ancestor died. It is easier to find a probate record if you know whether the place where your ancestor lived or died is a [[P genealogical glossary terms|parish]]. To learn whether it is a parish, look it up in a gazetteer. Here is a link to the 1872 ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' online:
+*[[Court of Arches]]
+*[[High Court of Delegates]]
-*[https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/index.jsp Vision of Britain]
+The [[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]] also served as an appeals court.
-The gazetteer will either tell you:
+== Probate Indexes Online  ==
-*A place is a parish, or
+Before looking for a will, you should search an index.
-*What parish it is a part of, or
-*What place it is near.
-If the latter, look that place up in the gazetteer and see if it is a parish.
+All the indexes of pre-1858 probate records are included in the Norfolk Record Office's online catalogue,&nbsp;[http://nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk/DServe/DServe.exe?dsqServer=128.60.0.31&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Index.tcl NROCAT]. Some pre-1858 wills were proved by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury and these can be searched via The National Archives documents online web page. [http://nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk/DServe/public/searches/nroprobate.htm]
-Once you have identified the parish, go to '''Step 3'''.
+An index to probate records for 1800-1857 is found at:
+*[http://www.norfolksources.norfolk.gov.uk/ http://www.norfolksources.norfolk.gov.uk/]&nbsp;&nbsp;
-====Step 3. Identify court jurisdictions by parish====
+== Probate Indexes  ==
-Once you have identified the parish where your ancestor lived or died, learn which courts had jurisdiction over it then search indexes for those courts. Every town and parish in Norfolk fell under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts. Click on a link below for the letter the parish begins with.
+England, Norfolk - Probate records - Indexes [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=topicdetails&subject=437912&subject_disp=England%2C+Norfolk+%2D+Probate+records+%2D+Indexes&columns=*,0,0]
-To see a list of Norfolk places and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them, click on a letter link:
+Wills and administrations, 1469-1857&nbsp;Church of England. Archdeaconry of Norwich.[http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlefilmnotes&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=504379&disp=Wills+and+administrations++] Court <br>Index to Norfolk (England) wills, 1838-1858[http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=198646&disp=Index+to+Norfolk+%28England%29+wills%2C+%20%20&columns=*,0,0]
-{| width="272" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
+Norfolk peculiar jurisdictions&nbsp;Contents: Index to probate records, 1416-1857[http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=226098&disp=Norfolk+peculiar+jurisdictions%20%20&columns=*,0,0]
-|-
-| [[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions, Parishes beginning with A|A]]
-| [[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes B|B]]
-| [[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes C through F|C-F]]
-| [[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes G through H|G-H]]
-| [[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes I through N|I-N]]
-| [[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes O through S|O-S]]
-| [[Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes T through Z|T-Z]]
-|}
-<br>
+== Some Explanatory Notes on the Norfolk Probate Courts  ==
-====Step 4. Obtain a copy of the probate record====
+== Estate Duty Records<br> ==
-Once you have found an index reference to a probate, obtain a copy of the record. Do so by one of these methods:
+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]].<br>
-*{{FSC|England, Norfolk - Probate records|subject|subject-id=123567734|disp=Norfolk England Probate Records}}(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - some images may only be available at a [https://www.familysearch.org/centers/locations/ FamilySearch Center or FamilySearch Affiliate Library.]<br>
+<br><br>
-*Visit or contact the record office that has the original records in its collection.
-==Norfolk Probate Courts==
+== Probates&nbsp;After 1857  ==
-These courts had some pre-1858 jurisdiction over the county of Norfolk.  Click on a court name for more information about the records available and how to find the probate of your ancestor in the court's records. <br>
+Beginning in 1858, the government took over the&nbsp;settlement of estates and all&nbsp;wills are now probated through the Principal Probate Registry system. For more information, go to [[Principal Probate Registry]].<br>
-*[[Court of the Archdeaconry of Norfolk]]
+<br>
-*[[Court of Norwich (Episcopal Consistory)|Court of the Bishop of Norwich (Episcopal Consistory)]]
-*[[Court of the Archdeaconry of Norwich]]
-*[[Court of the Peculiar of the Dean & Chapter of Norwich]]
-*[[Court of the Peculiar of Castle Rising]]
-*[[Court of the Peculiar of Great Cressingham]]
-*[[Court of the City of Norwich]]
-*[[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]]
-[[Category:Norfolk Probate Records]]
+[[Category:Norfolk]]