Nottinghamshire Probate Records

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

Return to Nottinghamshire.

Court Jurisdictions

Before 1858, every town and parish in Nottinghamshire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts.  Search the courts in the order given.  Search indexes first.  For indexes, click on a court name.

Here is a list of Nottinghamshire towns and parishes and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them.  For other places, click on a link:  B-H, K-Z.

PARISH	PRIMARY COURT	SECONDARY COURTS - IN SEARCH ORDER
Annesley	Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York	2 - Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York 4 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Arnold	Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York	2 - Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York 4 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Askham	Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York	2 - Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York 3 - Prerogative court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Attenborough	Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York	2 - Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York 4 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Averham with Kelham	Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York	2 - Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York 4 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Awsworth	Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York	2 - Chancery Court of the Archbishop of York 3 - Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York 4 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury

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.