Middlesex Probate Records

For a explanation of England probate records, click here.

Return to the main Middlesex page.

Middlesex Probate Courts

Return to the Middlesex Probate Records page. 

• Court of Husting
• Archdeaconry Court of London
• Court of the Bishop of London (Episcopal Consistory)
• Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex (Middlesex Division)
• Deanery of the Arches (Peculiar of the Archbishop of Canterbury)
• Court of the Commissary of the Bishop of London (London Division)
• Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster (Abbey)
• Deanery of the Arches of London, Croydon, Shoreham (Peculiar of the Archbishop of Canterbury)
• Court of the Commissary of the Bishop of London (Essex & Hertfordshire Division)
• Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Return to the Middlesex Probate Records page.

Location of These Probate Records

The London Metropolitan Archives & Library

40 Northampton Road

London EC1R 0HB

ENGLAND 

Tel 020 7332 3820
Fax 020 7833 9136

E-Mail: ask.lma@corpoflondon.gov.uk

Website is available:

Opening Times: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9.30am - 4.45pm
Tuesday and Thursday 9.30am - 7.30pm

Saturday openings: 9.30am - 4.45pm

2009:

January 10         May 9         September 12
January 24         June 13       September 26

February 14       June 27       October 10
February 28       July 11        October 24 
March 14           July 25        November 28
March 28           August 8     December 12
April 25             August 22 

Historical Background

Return to the Middlesex Probate Records page.

The Commissary Court of London (London Division) had jurisdiction over 94 parishes in Greater London (Middlesex) and the City--including 50 parish within the City of London proper and 44 in the county of Middlesex. When a search of this courts’ probate records fails to provide the desired probate record, be sure to search the Consistory Court of the Bishop of London as well.

Starting Your Search in Indexes

1. First search each index (see below) to help you more quickly find the will, writing down each detail cited in the indexed entry.
2. Proceed then to the "Probate Records of This Court" section (see below) to determine what original probate records exist for this court.
3. Contact or visit The London Metropolitan Archives and Library, or, hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf, citing information obtained from the index[es]. Officials may send upon request a list of record searchers.
4. You can also visit The Family History Library, or, one of its 4,500 satellite family history centers worldwide and search indexes (see the Family History Library's cataloged entries providing the microfilms so you can have them circulated to the center near you for searching the wills). The information obtained from the index[es] will help you  more quickly search the wills and admons which can also be circulated on microfilm via any family history .

Probate Indexes

The Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex probate records have to some extent been indexed with the following ones:

 

Printed and Published Indexes

• Abstracts of copy wills, Commissary Court of London [London division], registered wills, 1750-1857
• Index to testamentary records in the Commissary Court of London (London Division) 1374-1700  by Marc Fitch, available at Society of Genealogists, The Guildhall Library, London Metropolitan Archives and Library, The Family History Library
• A comprehensive will and admon index to most of London's (including Greater L.) probate courts for the years covering 1750-1858 for surnames A-F, is Dr David Wright's London Probate Index on CD and is on sale. He will perform "lookups" in his indexes for you for surnames covering from G-Z at a set fee.
  

Original Handwritten Indexes

Court probate inventories, 1662-1747 with surnames alpha-arranged

Probate and administration act book, 1667-1675

Calender of Probate & Administrations acts, vols. 1-16, 1660-1810

Microfilmed Indexes at the Family History Library

The indexes as listed in the above are also available covering the years 1662-1810 at The Family History Library and they are on microfilm and may be circulated to each of its satellite Family History Centers worldwide.

Searching for probates in this court.

ORIGINAL WILLS

1523-1857

REGISTER COPY WILLS

1374-1857 (with gaps)

PROBATE AND ADMINISTRATION ACT BOOKS

1496-1857 (with gaps)

ADMINISTRATIONS

1670-1857

INVENTORIES

1666-1667, 1672-1857 (with gaps)

DEPOSITION BOOKS

1537-1722

PERSONAL ANSWERS

1675-1736

EX OFFICIO ASSIGNATION BOOKS

1712-1811

INSTANCE ACT BOOKS

1570-1675

Strategies, Tips, Other?

See the above Indexes or those available through the Family History Library or its many family history centers worldwide for an index to this court.

To view a list of parishes and their respective probate court jurisdiction, see the "Middlesex Parishes and Their Probate Jurisdictions" on the main page for Middlesex Probate Records.

• Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral 
• Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Historical Background

Probate records of Middlesex, incorporating Greater London and the whole of the ancient county of Middlesex commence from as early as 1258 up to 1857. There are several Middlesex County probate court jurisdictions, some of which hold extensive probate record coverage for the greater metropolis and there are a few smaller court jurisdictions which only pertain to a small handful of parishes.

If you know in which parish your ancestor may have died or lived, go to the "Middlesex Parishes and Their Probate Jurisdictions" section (below) and search by parish name in order to determine the correct or most likely probate court to search, first.

Next, see the above links to each Middlesex probate court jurisdictions in order to obtain further information for researching in the prime probate court for a will.

If a search in the most likely probate court jurisidiction proves unsuccessful, then search the next court as listed in ranked order, i.e. "no. 2", and etc.

Starting Your Search in Indexes

1. First search each index (see below) to help you more quickly find the will, writing down each detail cited in the indexed entry.

2. Proceed to the "Probate Records of This Court" (below) to determine what original probate records exist for this court.

3. Contact or visit the Westminster City Archives, or hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf. Officials may send upon request a list of record searchers.

4. Visit The Family History Library, or, one of its 4,500 satellite family history centers worldwide and search indexes to probate records then with the information obtained from the index[es] you can search more quickly the original wills and admons also on microfilm via any family history centers near you.

 

Probate Indexes

Several of London and Middlesex probate jurisdictions are well-covered with indexes; look in this section in each court jurisdiction to find valuable indexes to London's probate records.

Online indexes

• A comprehensive will and admon index for most all of London and Middlesex's probate jurisdictions is found in Dr. David Wright's will index for 1750-1857 on CDs for sale for surnames A-F; enquire with him for lookups for surnames beginning with G-Z at a set fee.

Printed Indexes

Several printed indexes esist for the various courts of Greater London (but not all). Look in this section for these and their locations for accessing same.

Original Handwritten Indexes

Indexes and claendars to the Probate Acts of Wills and Administrations (Admons) exist from 1258-1857. Calendars are a kind of index (of the first letter of each surname) to the probate records and admons (administrations). 

In addition to the calendars, a majority of the original (unregistered) wills and the registered wills are alphabetically arranged for but a few courts; most are only arranged chronologically, making will searches without indexes, fairly complex and challenging at best and are likewise organized on the microfilmed probates for these courts at the Family History Library. 

Microfilmed Indexes at the Family History Library<br>

The Family History Library has many will and admon (Administration) indexes and calendars which are available on microfilm at the Family History Library covering the years as above mentioned 1258-1858 and may be circulated to each of its satellite Family History Centers (see Court of the Archdeaconry of Essex), or go to this Family History Library Catalog page

Some Explanatory Notes on the Middlesex Courts

1. No single probate court jurisdiction holds coverage for the whole of London and Middlesex counties 2. The complexity of probate research in this most populous region of England resides in the fact that Greater London's layout is likewise complex, incorporating the whole of Middlesex and London counties, as well--portions of northwest Kent, northeast Surrey, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire. 3. Several courts held concurrent jurisdiction with one another thus requiring searching multiple probate courts. 4. Search or utilize the "Middlesex Probate Jurisdictions of Parishes" section in order to determine in which probate court jurisdiction a parish lay.

Middlesex Parishes and Their Probate Jurisdictions

Before 1858, every parish was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts.  For an alphabetical list of Middlesex parishes and the courts that had jurisdiction over them, click on the link for the letter that a parish name begins with: [Note: This section is currently 'Under Construction"]

A-F

G-H

I-L

M-R

S

T-Z

Post-1857 Probate Records

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.