Derbyshire Probate Records: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:39, 3 February 2010

The following article is about probate records in the county of Derbyshire. 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 Derbyshire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary ecclesiastical court and one or more secondary ecclesiastical courts. Most of the county was under the primary jurisdiction of the Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory) and the secondary jurisdiction of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, which also was the highest court in the country. However there were some exceptions.

Click here for an alphabetical list of the parishes of Derbyshire that were exceptions to the norm, with the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them.

Derbyshire Probate Courts[edit | edit source]

Before 1858, probate of estates of deceased persons was handled by ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England. The following ecclesiastical courts had some probate jurisdiction over Derbyshire before 1858:

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
Military and Naval personnel
People who lived or owned property outside of 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 and Calendars[edit | edit source]

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 that cover most of county Derby.

Probate Indexes Online[edit | edit source]

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

A general will index for the Diocese of Lichfield exists online, a scanned edition of P.W. Phillimore's publicationby 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 Staffordshire smaller peculiar courts [2]

Derbyshire WILLS, 1525-1928 (browse 35,066 Wills and 5,093 different surnames; pertaining to much more than just people from the parish of Wirksworth):

PENTRICH WILLS & PROBATE INDEX (from the Pentrich Historical Society; also includes entries for people in parishes adjacent to Pentrich):

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 you locate a will. For more information, go to Estate Duty Records.

Probates After 1857s[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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-{{Derbyshire-sidebar}}{{breadcrumb
+''[[England]]&nbsp;[[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[Derbyshire]]''
-| link1=[[England Genealogy|England]]
-| link2=[[Derbyshire, England Genealogy|Derbyshire]]
-| link3=
-| link4=
-| link5=[[Derbyshire_Probate_Records|Probate Records]]
-}}
-== Getting Started  ==
+The following article is about probate records in the county of Derbyshire. For general information about English probate records, click [[England Probate Records|here]].
-''Probate'' is the legal process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. This article is about probate records in Derbyshire. See [[England Probate Records]] for a general description of probate records in England.
+<br>
-=== 1858 to the Present  ===
+== Description  ==
-Beginning in 1858, the [[Principal Probate Registry]] had the authority for probating estates. Click on the link to learn more.
+''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.
-==== Online Records ====
+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.
-* '''1858-1957''' [https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/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 & images
+<br>
-* '''1858-1995''' [https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1904 England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995] at Ancestry($); index
-* '''1858-2019''' [https://search.findmypast.com/search-world-records/england-and-wales-government-probate-death-index-1858-2019 England & Wales Government Probate Death Index 1858-2019] at Findmypast($); index
-=== Before 1858  ===
+== Getting Started  ==
-Before 1858, Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process. To search for a pre-1858 probate record in Derbyshire, follow these steps:
+Follow these steps to look for a probate record before 1858:<br>
-==== Step 1. Search indexes  ====
+#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><br>
-===== Online Indexes  =====
+== Court Jurisdictions by Parish<br>  ==
-Before looking for a will, you should search an index. Here is a list of some indexes. Others will be listed in each court's article.
+Before 1858, every town and parish in Derbyshire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary ecclesiastical court and one or more secondary ecclesiastical courts. Most of the county was under the primary jurisdiction of the [[Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)|Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)]] and the secondary jurisdiction of the [[Prerogative Court of Canterbury|Prerogative Court of Canterbury]], which also was the highest court in the country.&nbsp; However there were some exceptions.
-Start with:
+Click [[Derbyshire Probate Jurisdictions Parishes A|here]] for an alphabetical list of the parishes of Derbyshire that were exceptions to the norm, with the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them.
-*'''1521-1860''' {{RecordSearch|3491898|England, Staffordshire, Dioceses Of Lichfield and Coventry Wills and Probate, 1521-1860}} at FamilySearch — [[England, Staffordshire, Dioceses Of Lichfield and Coventry Wills and Probate - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; indexes & images; ''Also at [http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/staffordshire-dioceses-of-lichfield-and-coventry-wills-and-probate-1521-1860 Findmypast] ($)''
+<br>
-Also check:
+== Derbyshire Probate Courts  ==
-*'''1516-1652''' - A scanned edition of W.P.W. Phillimore's 1892 publication by the British Record Society, ''Calendars of Wills &amp; Administrations in the Consistory court of the bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, 1516-1652, ''is available on [http://books.google.com/books?id=4zYEAAAAIAAJ Google Books]. The publication also includes indexes to probate records of the peculiar courts for Derbyshire, 1753-1790.
+Before 1858, probate of estates of deceased persons was handled by ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England. The following ecclesiastical courts had some probate jurisdiction over Derbyshire before 1858:<br>
-*'''1650-1700''' [http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/lichfield-consistory-court-wills-1650-1700?_ga=1.116655878.104314983.1415224096 Lichfield Consistory Court Wills, 1650-1700] at Findmypast (£).
-*'''1650-1730''' - An index for wills and administrations 1650-1730 for the Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry covering 23000 plus probate documents can be found at [https://www.staffsnameindexes.org.uk/default.aspx?Index=C Staffordshire Name Indexes - free]
+*[[Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory)]]
+*[[Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield]]
+*[[Court of the Peculiar of Burton upon Trent]]
+*[[Court of the Peculiar of Hartington]]
+*[[Court of the Peculiar of the Manor of Dale Abbey]]
+*[[Court of the Peculiar of Peak Forest]]
+*[[Court of the Peculiar of Sawley]]
-*'''1858-1929''' [https://recordoffice.wordpress.com/2020/06/08/probate-records/ Derbyshire wills for the period 1858-1928 (from the Derbyshire Record Office).]
+In addition, the [[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]] had jurisdiction over the whole of England, particularly in cases of:
-*'''1858-1873''' [http://www.wirksworth.org.uk/WAd01.htm Derbyshire Administrations 1858-1873]
+*Wealthy individuals
+*People who owned property in more than one county or court's jurisdiction
+*Military and Naval personnel
+*People who lived or owned property outside of England
-*[https://willsdb.gukutils.org.uk/DBY/index.html Abstracts of Derbyshire Probate Records] - incomplete
+==== Appeals Courts  ====
-For specific places, see:
+Any probate that was disputed and could not be settled by the county courts could be sent to these higher appeals courts:
-*'''1525-1928''' [http://www.wirksworth.org.uk/WILLS.htm Derbyshire WILLS, 1525-1928] (browse 35,066 Wills and 5,093 different surnames; pertaining to much more than just people from the parish of Wirksworth).
+*[[Court of Arches]]
+*[[High Court of Delegates]]
-===== Printed Indexes  =====
+The [[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]] also served as an appeals court.
-*'''1516-1652''' - A scanned edition of W.P.W. Phillimore's 1892 publication by the British Record Society, ''Calendars of Wills &amp; Administrations in the Consistory court of the bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, 1516-1652, ''is available on [http://books.google.com/books?id=4zYEAAAAIAAJ Google Books]. The publication also includes indexes to probate records of the peculiar courts for Derbyshire, 1753-1790.
+<br>
-Early Derbyshire wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury have been thoroughly abstracted and indexed:
+== Probate Indexes and Calendars  ==
-*''Derbyshire Wills Proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury'' [1393-1601], 2 vols. {{FSC|827317|item|disp=FS Library Books 942.51 H25de v. 26 and 942.51 H25de v. 31}}
+Registered wills and original wills, administrations and inventories, 1494-1860, and, act books, 1532-1638 for Diocese of Lichfield Episcopal Consistory Court [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=309060&disp=Registered+wills+and+original+wills%2C+a%20%20&columns=*,0,0] These are calendars that cover most of county Derby.<br>
-==== Step 2. Identify when and where your ancestor died  ====
+== Probate Indexes Online  ==
-Determine ''when'' your ancestor died. If you aren't sure, use an approximate date.
+Before looking for a will, you should search an index.&nbsp;
-Determine ''where'' your ancestor died. It is easier to find a probate record if you know the parish where your ancestor lived or died. To learn whether the place you have is a parish, look it up in a gazetteer. Here are links to a gazetteer online: <br>
+A general will index for the Diocese of Lichfield exists online, a scanned edition of P.W. Phillimore's publicationby 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 Staffordshire smaller peculiar courts&nbsp; [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=4zYEAAAAIAAJ]
-*Vision of Britain
+*[http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DBY/ProbateRecords/index.html Abstracts of Derbyshire Probate Records:]
+*[http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/record_office/our_collection/derbyshirewills/ Derbyshire wills for the period 1858-1928 (from the Derbyshire Record Office):]
-<br>
+*[http://www.wirksworth.org.uk/WILLS.htm Derbyshire WILLS, 1525-1928] (browse 35,066 Wills and 5,093 different surnames; pertaining to much more than just people from the parish of Wirksworth):
-Once you identified a parish, go to Step 3.
+*[http://www.pentrich.org.uk/html/wills.html PENTRICH WILLS &amp;&nbsp;PROBATE INDEX] (from the Pentrich Historical Society; also includes entries for people in parishes adjacent to Pentrich):
-==== Step 3. Identify court jurisdictions by parish  ====
+<br>
-Once you have identified the parish where your ancestor lived or died, learn which courts had jurisdiction over it. Every town and parish in Derbyshire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and one or more secondary courts. Most of the county of Derbyshire was under the primary jurisdiction of the [[Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory)|Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory)]] and the secondary jurisdiction of the [[Prerogative Court of Canterbury|Prerogative Court of Canterbury]]. <br>
+<br>
-However there were exceptions. Click [[Derbyshire Probate Jurisdictions|<u>here</u>]] for an alphabetical list of the parishes of Derbyshire that were exceptions. If you do not find your place in the list of exceptions, then search the records of the above courts by clicking on the name of the court either in the paragraph above or the section below where the court is mentioned.  Follow the steps given on the page for the court to find a will that was probated in that court.
+== Estate Duty Records<br> ==
-==== Step 4. Obtain a copy of the probate record  ====
+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 you locate a will. For more information, go to [[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:
-*{{FSC|England, Derbyshire - Probate records|subject|subject-id=1164289146|disp=Derbyshire 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>
-*Visit or contact the record office that has the original records in its collection.
-== Derbyshire Probate Courts  ==
-Here is a list of the courts that had probate jurisdiction over Derbyshire before 1858. For more information, click on a court name.
-*[[Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory)]]
-*[[Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield]]
-*[[Court of the Peculiar of Burton upon Trent]]
-*[[Court of the Peculiar of Hartington]]
-*[[Court of the Peculiar of the Manor of Dale Abbey]]
-*[[Court of the Peculiar of Peak Forest]]
-*[[Court of the Peculiar of Sawley]]
-*[[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]]
-== Estate Duty Records  ==
+<br>
-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 you locate a will. For more information, go to [[Estate Duty Records]].
+== &nbsp;Probates After 1857s  ==
-== Probates After 1857  ==
+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>
-{{Place|Derbyshire|Probate Records}} {{England Probate Records}}
+<br>
-[[Category:Derbyshire Probate Records]]
+[[Category:Derbyshire]]