Lancashire Probate Records

England > Lancashire

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

Lancashire Probate Courts

• Court of the Bishop of Chester (Episcopal Consistory)
• MISCELLANEOUS WILLS 1695-1855 Diocese of Chester. Consistory Court
• PROBATE RECORDS 1558-1858, Consistory Court of the Diocese of Chester, 1558-1858 Diocese of Chester. Consistory Court
• PROBATE RECORDS 1466-1860 Archdeaconry of Richmond. Consistory Court (Western Deaneries)
• Probate records, 1521-1800  Church of England. Diocese of Chester. Consistory Court
• Probate records, 1590-1858 Diocese of Chester. Consistory Court
• Probate records, 1669-1858 Archdeaconry of Richmond. Commissary Court (Western Deaneries)
• Probate records, 1852 Church of England. Prebendal Court (Fordington and Wri thlington)

Court Jurisdictions

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

A

B

C-D

E-G

H

I-L

M-N

O-R

S

T-U

V-Z

Indexes

A group of volunteers is creating an online index to Lancashire wills. This is an on-going project and the database will grow and become more complete with time. To access the index, go to: Lancashire Will Search.

 

An index of wills and related documents for 1748-1858 has been prepared and covers Lancashire north of the Ribble River, and parts of Cumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire.  It indexes all surviving probate documents for the Western Deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Richmond, which include the deaneries of Amounderness, Copeland, Furness, Kendal and Lonsdale:

http://www.uclan.ac.uk/ahss/education_social_sciences/history/probate_index.php

Lancashire Probate Courts

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

Historical Background

Probate records of Lancashire commence from as early as 1374 up to 1857. There are several probate court jurisdictions for the City of London, some of which hold extensive probate record coverage for the city  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 "London 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 London 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 which you will find listed under the name of the particular probate court jurisdiction (see the "London Probate Courts" listed above) to help you more quickly find the will, writing down all details cited in the indexed entry.

2. Once you have found the name of an ancestor and the probate jurisdiction in which a will or administration (admon) was probated, next proceed to the "Probate Records of This Court" (appears below this section) to determine what original probate records exist for this court and years appertaining.

3. You can also contact or visit the particualr London archives where the original records are held, or, hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf. Officials may send upon written 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 more quickly locate the original wills and admons which are on microfilm, via any family history centers near you.

Probate Records of Lancashire Courts

• Absracts of Lancashire and Cheshire wills, 1600-1700; wills, leases, grants, etc., from Yorkshire, about 1500-1700

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 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.

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