Rutland Probate Records

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Probate Records

Getting Started

Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. Probate records include wills and administrations. This article is about probate records in Rutland. See England Probate Records for a general description of probate records in England.

1858 to the Present

Beginning in 1858, the Principal Probate Registry had the authority for probating estates. Click on the link to learn more.

Online Records

• 1858-1957 England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Before 1858

Before 1858, Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process. To search for a pre-1858 probate record in Rutland, follow these steps:

Step 1. Search Indexes

Here are some online indexes to probate records that include individuals who lived in Rutland. Search these indexes first:

• Probate Index 1469-1857  The Northamptonshire and Rutland Probate Index has been created from several of the earlier indexes of probate records held in the Northampton Record Office. The index contains 87,058 entries that cover the period 1469 to 1857.
• The (index that was on familyhistoryonline is in findmypast) was created by Kay Collins, a volunteer at the Northampton Record Office. She was partially assisted by others and from several earlier indices of probate records held in the Northampton Record Office.
• Rutland, England: Parish and Probate Records is a collection of historical parish and probate registers from the county of Rutland.
• Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
• The Genealogist a pay website also has indexes and images of Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills 1383-1858

Did you find a reference to a probate record?

• If yes, go to Step 4 below.
• If no, go to Step 2 below.

Step 2. Identify when and where your ancestor died

Determine when your ancestor died. If you aren't sure, use an approximate date. 

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 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:

• Vision of Britain

The gazetteer will either tell you:

• A place is a parish, or
• 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.

Once you have identified the parish, go to Step 3.

Step 3. Identify court jurisdictions by parish

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 Rutland 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.

Before 1858, every town and parish in Rutland fell under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court or a secondary court. For an authoritative treatise on each Rutland probate court and the parishes comprising them in pre-1858, see Anthony J. Camp's Wills and Their Whereabouts, available in select locations and in the FamilySearch Library (FS Library book 942 S2wa).

For a list of Rutland parishes and the pre-1858 courts that had jurisdictions over them, click on a link for the span of letters for the parish: A-M    N-Z

Step 4. Obtain a copy of the probate record

Once you have found an index reference to a probate, obtain a copy of the record. Do so by one of these methods:

• Rutland England Probate Records(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - some images may only be available at a FamilySearch Center or FamilySearch Affiliate Library.
  
• Visit or contact the record office that has the original records in its collection.

Rutland Probate Courts

Most of Rutlandshire was under the pre-1858 probate jurisdiction of either the r 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 Peterborough (Episcopal Consistory)
• Court of the Peculiar of the Prebend of Caldecote
• Court of the Peculiar of the Prebend of Empingham
• Court of the Peculiar of the Prebend of Ketton with Tixover
• Court of the Peculiar of the Prebend of Liddington
• Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Some Explanatory Notes on the Rutland Probate Courts

The county of Rutland formed part of the Archdeaconry of Northampton in the Diocese of Lincoln before 1541 when it passed with the Archdeaconry to the Diocese of Peterborough. No probate records are deposited within the county.