Gloucestershire Probate Records

England  Gloucestershire

The following article is about probate records in Gloucestershire. For general information about probate records in England, click here.

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 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

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 Probates After 1857 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.
   

Court Jurisdictions by Parish

Before 1858, every town and parish in Gloucestershire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and one or more secondary courts. To see a list of Gloucestershire parishes and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them, click on a letter link:

A

B

C-F

G-L

M-R

S-T

U-Z

If you do not know the parish in which your ancestor died or held property, start your search with the Court of the Bishop of Gloucester (Episcopal Consistory).

Gloucestershire Probate Courts

Most of Gloucestershire was under the pre-1858 probate jurisdiction of the Court of the Bishop of Gloucester (Episcopal Consistory). The majority of probate searches will be in the records of this court and its superior courts. However, the following 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 Bristol (Episcopal Consistory)
• Court of the Bishop of Hereford (Episcopal Consistory), pre-1541
• Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory), pre-1541
• Court of the Peculiar of Bibury
• Court of the Peculiar of Bishop's Cleeve
• Court of the Peculiar of Child's Wickham
• Court of the Peculiar of Withington
• Great Orphan Books, Mayor of Bristol

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

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.

Indexes

Internet

• The Gloucestershire Archives/Record Office online index genealogical database to all known wills proven in the county between 1541 and 1858
• A database of Bristol Wills Indices 1781-1858 is available online.
  
• Early Gloucestershire Probate Records transcribed by Leslie Mahler are available for select parishes in the Bristol and Gloucester dioceses.
  
• Wiltshire and Swindon Archive Catalogue - Wiltshire Wills has 29 probate documents listed under Gloucestershire.

A Calendar of Wills Proved in the Consistory Court of The Bishop of Gloucester 1541-1660 [1]

• A Calendar of Wills Proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Gloucester 1660-1800 [2]

Microfilm or Printed

The Family History Library has copies of original probates and indexes on microfilm and in print [3]

Some Explanatory Notes on the Probate Courts

Parishes in Gloucestershire that lie west of the River Severn were under the jurisdication of the Bishop of Hereford before 1541.  In that year the Diocese of Gloucester was formed and juridiction for those parishes was transferred to the Court of the Bishop of Gloucester.  The following year, the Diocese of Bristol was formed and the city of Bristol plus sixteen parishes surrounding it and to the north of it came under the jurisdiction of the Court of the Bishop of Bristol (Episcopal Consistory).

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.

Probates After 1857

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.