Berkshire Probate Records: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:58, 2 July 2009

For an explanation of probate records in England, click here.

Getting Started[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 Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process until to 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:

Discover when and where your ancestor died. If you don’t know, use the approximate date and place where they lived.
Go to Court Jurisdictions section below.
Click a letter or span of letters for your place name. This opens a jurisdictions table.
Follow the instructions on the jurisdictions table page.

Berkshire Probate Courts[edit | edit source]

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

Court Jurisdictions[edit | edit source]

Before 1858, every parish was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary and several secondary courts. To see an alphabetical list of Berkshire parishes and the courts that had jurisdiction over them, click on the link for the letter that a parish name begins with:

A

B-C

D-I

K-R

S-Z

Probate Indexes Online[edit | edit source]

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

http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/heritage/index.php

This catalogue gives access to wills and other probate records of the diocese of Salisbury which used to cover not only Wiltshire but also Berkshire (under certain circumstances) and parts of Dorset and Devon. You can search for people by name, place, occupation and date. The collection covers 1540-1858. Searching the catalogue is FREE. In addition there are digital images for some of the documents (just over 25%) which can be viewed following on-line payment or free of charge by people visiting the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre. Wills and inventories give useful information about people’s financial status and property, and also their family relationships and friendships, which make them a wonderful resource for family and local history.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/BRKwills/

This is a collection of about 1000 abstracts of probate documents relating to people residing in the neighbourhood of the towns of Hungerford and Wantage in Berkshire. Since Hungerford is on the County boundary there is some spread into Wiltshire and to a lesser extent into Hampshire and Oxfordshire.

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. Between 1813-1858 estate duty indexes may help locate a will. For more information, go to Estate Duty Records.

Post-1858 Probate Records[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. 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 the Principal Registry and the District Registries for 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 == Getting Started  ==
-Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is&nbsp;distributed to his/her&nbsp;heirs.&nbsp;
+''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 to 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.
-In order to find a probate record for your ancestor, you must answer&nbsp;two questions:
+To look for a probate record before 1858:<br>
-#When did your ancestor die?
+#Discover when and where your ancestor died. If you don’t know, use the approximate date and place where they lived.
-#Where did your ancestor live or own property?
+#Go to [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Yorkshire_Probate_Records#Court_Jurisdictions Court Jurisdictions] section below.
+#Click a letter or span of letters for your place name. This opens a jurisdictions table.
+#Follow the instructions on the jurisdictions table page.
-A key date is 1858, when probate&nbsp;authority&nbsp;was&nbsp;taken&nbsp;from the ecclesiatical courts of the Church of England and given to&nbsp;the civil government.&nbsp;
+<br>
-*If your ancestor died before 1858, his/her probate would have been proven by an ecclesiatical court and it is important to know where he/she lived, as that will determine which courts had jurisdiction.&nbsp;
-*If you know where your ancestor lived before 1858, you should go to the '''Court Jurisdictions'''&nbsp;section below&nbsp;to determine what courts had jurisdiction over your ancestor's place of residence.&nbsp;
-*Beginning in 1858, probate authority was&nbsp;vested in&nbsp;the '''Principal Probate Registry''' system.&nbsp; For more information, scroll to the '''Post-1857 Probate Records''' section at the bottom of the page.
-Once you have answered the two questions and determined the courts, look for indexes.&nbsp; Indexes will be found on the individual court pages (when you click on a court name) or in the '''Probate Indexes''' section below.<br><br>
 == Berkshire Probate Courts  ==