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| ==== Step 1. Search Indexes ==== | | ==== Step 1. Search Indexes ==== |
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| Here are some online indexes to probate records that include individuals who lived in London. Search these indexes first: | | Here are some online indexes to probate records that include individuals who lived in London. Search these indexes first: 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. |
| 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. | |
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| 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. | | 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. |
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| *[[Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral]] | | *[[Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral]] |
| *[[Royal Peculiar Court of St Katherine's by the Tower]] | | *[[Royal Peculiar Court of St Katherine's by the Tower]] |
| | | *[[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]] |
| In addition, the [[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]] had jurisdiction over the whole of England and specifically in the following cases.<br>
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| *Wealthy individuals<br>
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| *Interregnum, 1649-1660, because the Prerogative Court was the only court.
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| *Property in more than one diocese in the Province of Canterbury.
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| *Property in both the Province of Canterbury and Province of York. | |
| *People who died outside England, including British citizens and others who held property in England.
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| === Appeals Courts ===
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| Any probate that was disputed and could not be settled by the county courts could be sent to these higher appeals courts:
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| *[[Court of Arches]]
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| *[[High Court of Delegates]]
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| *[[Doctor's Common]]
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| The [[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]] also served as an appeals court.
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| == Historical Background == | | == Historical Background == |
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| 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. | | 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. |
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| == Starting Your Search in Indexes ==
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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 [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp centers] near you.
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| == Probate Indexes Online ==
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| Before looking for a will, you should search an index. <br>
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| [http://www.originsnetwork.com/help/popup-aboutbo-acl2.htm http://www.originsnetwork.com/help/popup-aboutbo-acl2.htm]
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| Archdeaconry Court of London Wills Index 1750-1800<br>
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| [http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/applications/wills/index.htm http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/applications/wills/index.htm]
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| London Signatures currently includes 10,000 Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex Wills (AM/PW), covering the period 1609 -1810, and 23,500 Diocese of Winchester, Commissary for the Archdeaconry of Surrey marriage bonds (DW/MP), for the period 1673 - 1850.
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| [http://www.originsnetwork.com/help/aboutNWI-surrwills.aspx Surrey & South London]
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| Surrey & South London Will Abstracts1470-1856<br>This extraordinary collection is one of the most valuable on British Origins. It contains fully indexed abstracts of every Surrey will known to still exist, over 28,000 of them, dating from the 15th to 19th centuries; nearly all the originals are held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
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| The abstracts include all personal names (testator, beneficiaries, executors, witnesses, overseers, and others) with their relationships, place names, occupations, monetary and other bequests, and descriptions of lands. The indexes include the names of every person mentioned - over a half of a million names - places mentioned (many outside Surrey), subjects (eg occupations) mentioned in the wills, and of dates.
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| [http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/invent.htm http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/invent.htm]
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| Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section<br>Indexes to Probate Inventories of the Peculiar Court of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral<br>
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| The probate inventories of the Peculiar Court of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's date from 1660 to 1725. They are arranged in yearly (mostly) and half-yearly bundles. Within each bundle they are arranged chronologically by the date they were exhibited in the court. There are 77 bundles now numbered as Guildhall Library Ms 19504/1-77.
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| [http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/probate.htm http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/probate.htm]
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| PROBATE RECORDS (WILLS AND ADMINISTRATIONS) AT GUILDHALL LIBRARY
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| [http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/07261AAF-7E1D-49F6-B92A-F4319EB6AB59/0/wills.PDF http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/07261AAF-7E1D-49F6-B92A-F4319EB6AB59/0/wills.PDF]
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| WILLS IN LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES AND ELSEWHERE
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| [http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Records_and_archives/About_LMA/Volunteers.htm http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/]
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| [http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Records_and_archives/About_LMA/Volunteers.htm Records_and_archives/About_LMA/Volunteers.htm]
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| Diocese of London Consistory Court Wills index
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| This index contains 31,000 entries of wills and letters of administration (granting authority to an executor when a person died intestate) compiled from the London Diocesan Court registers (DL/C/354-416). Near complete coverage is provided for the years 1514-1858 (please note there are no registers for the years 1521-1539 and 1642-1670).
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| [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Wills/Wills1.html http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Wills/Wills1.html]
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| Commissary Court of London Will Abstracts Volume 26 (1629-1634)
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| == Some Explanatory Notes on the London Court == | | == Some Explanatory Notes on the London Court == |
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| [[Category:London]] | | [[Category:London]] |