New Hampshire Probate Records: Difference between revisions

| link1=[[United States Genealogy|United States]]

| link2=[[United States Probate Records|U.S. Probate Records]]

}}

*Probate Records of the Province of New Hampshire, Digital versions of volumes 31-39 (1635-1771) [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep31newh vol. 31] (1635-1717), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep32newh vol. 32] (1718-1740), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep33newh vol. 33]&nbsp;(1741-1749), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep34newh vol. 34] (1750-1753),<br>[http://www.archive.org/details/newhampshireprov35none vol. 35] (1754-1756), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep36newh vol. 36] (1757-1760), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep37newh vol. 37] (1760-1763), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep38newh vol. 38]&nbsp;(1764-1767),<br>[http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep39newh vol. 39] (1767-1771)<br>Volumes 31-34 (1635-1753) are also available on [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7089 Ancestry] ($).<br><br>

Probate is the “court procedure by which a will is proved to be valid or invalid” and encompasses “all matters and proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates, guardianships, etc.”<ref>Henry Campbell Black, ''Black's Law Dictionary,'' 5th ed. (St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co., 1979), 1081, "probate."</ref> Genealogists often refer to 'Probate Records' as "All records which relate to the disposition of an estate," whether the person died leaving a will (testate) or not (intestate).<ref>Val. D. Greenwood, ''The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy,'' 3rd ed. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2000), 309.</ref>  

For further information about the probate process, types of probate records, analyzing probate records, and to access a glossary of probate terms, see [[United States Probate Records|United States Probate Records]].  

Probate records from 1636–1771, originally filed in Portsmouth and Exeter, are now in the collection at the New Hampshire Records Management and Archives. (See Statewide Record Collections below.) For other counties, probate records are found in the county courthouse of each county.  

Records of towns along the Massachusetts border may be found in either [[Massachusetts|Massachusetts]] or [[New Hampshire Genealogy|New Hampshire]]. This is because New Hampshire was under Massachusetts from 1641 to 1679. The governor of Massachusetts was also the governor of New Hampshire to 1741. The boundaries with Massachusetts were not finally settled until 1739-41.  

New Hampshire Judicial Branch, [http://www.courts.state.nh.us/probate/index.htm Circuit Court Probate Division] site has information and forms pertaining to probate. It also has a list of the [http://www.courts.state.nh.us/courtlocations/index.htm#probate probate divisions], one for each county.<br>  

The Family History Library has microfilms of the probate records of most of the New Hampshire counties for the 1700s and 1800s. The films can be borrowed through the Family Search Centers.&nbsp;  

Rockingham County probate records, 1771-1918 (On films to 1969 at Family History Library.)  

*The [[New England Historic Genealogical Society]] located in the heart of downtown Boston, Massachusetts has early New Hampshire probate records available on microfilm. To search their online library catalog click [http://library.nehgs.org/ Here].

*The [[Family History Library|Family History Library]]&nbsp;located in Salt Lake City, Utah has many New Hampshire probate records available on microfilm.&nbsp;For collection details see the [https://www.familysearch.org/ FamilySearch Catalog].&nbsp;Use the "Place Search" option to search for a specific New Hampshire county. Then look for&nbsp;topics labeled "Probate Records" or "Guardianship."

FamilySearch makes available as digital images the probate estate files of the followig four counties as of 5 February 2015: Carroll, Cheshire, Coos, and Rockiingham. To see the images, go to the Family History Library Catalog and look at the Probate Records heading for the county.Then look for the probate estate files and you will find a link that takes you to the digital images. For each of the four counties there is an index on film to names, followed by the filmed files.  

*''Probate Records of the Province of New Hampshire''. Reprint, Bowie, Maryland.: Heritage Books, 1989–1990. ({{FHL|575906|item|disp=FHL book 974.2 P2p}}) These volumes are reprints of volumes 31–39 of the New Hampshire Provincial and State Papers. They include abstracts of the wills and probate records between 1635–1771. The indexes include the names of those mentioned in the records, including the names of heirs, witnesses, and owners of nearby land.<br><br>Digital versions of volumes 31-39 (1635-1771) are available online through Internet Archives: <br>[http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep31newh vol. 31] (1635-1717), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep32newh vol. 32] (1718-1740), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep33newh vol. 33]&nbsp;(1741-1749), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep34newh vol. 34] (1750-1753),<br>[http://www.archive.org/details/newhampshireprov35none vol. 35] (1754-1756), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep36newh vol. 36] (1757-1760), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep37newh vol. 37] (1760-1763), [http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep38newh vol. 38]&nbsp;(1764-1767),<br>[http://www.archive.org/details/provincialstatep39newh vol. 39] (1767-1771)<br><br>Volumes 31-34 (1635-1753) are also available on [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7089 Ancestry] ($).

*Melnyk, Marcia D. [http://www.worldcat.org/title/genealogists-handbook-for-new-england-research/oclc/42829198&referer=brief_results ''Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research''], 4th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999. ({{FHL|974 D27g}})

<references />  

{{New_Hampshire|New_Hampshire}}