Warwickshire Probate Records

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

Getting Started

Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his/her heirs.

In order to find a probate record for your ancestor, you must answer two questions:

When did your ancestor die?
Where did your ancestor live or own property?

A key date is 1858, when probate authority was taken from the ecclesiatical courts of the Church of England and given to the civil government.

If your ancestor died before 1858, his/her probate would have been proven by an ecclesiatical court and it is important to know where he/she lived, as that will determine which courts had jurisdiction.
If you know where your ancestor lived before 1858, you should go to the Court Jurisdictions section below to determine what courts had jurisdiction over your ancestor's place of residence.
Beginning in 1858, probate authority was vested in the Principal Probate Registry system. For more information, scroll to the Post-1857 Probate Records section at the bottom of the page.

Once you have answered the two questions and determined the courts, look for indexes. Indexes will be found on the individual court pages (when you click on a court name) or in the Probate Indexes section below.

Warwickshire Probate Courts

Some Explanatory Notes on Warwickshire Probate Courts

Court Jurisdictions

Before 1858, every town and parish in Warwickshire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and one or more secondary court. When looking for the will of an ancestor in Warwickshire, search the courts in the order given. Search indexes first. For indexes, click on the link for a court name above.

Here is a list of Warwickshire towns and parishes beginning with the letter A and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them. For other places, click on a letter link: B-C, D-L, M-S, T-Z.

PARISH	PRIMARY COURT	SECONDARY COURTS - IN SEARCH ORDER
Alcester	Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Allesley	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Alne, Great	Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Alveston	Pre-1851 - Court of the Peculiar of Hampton Lucy; Post-1850 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester	Pre-1851 2 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory) Post-185 2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Ansley	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Ansty	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Arley	Court of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield (Cathedral)	2 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory)
Arrow	Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Ashow	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Astley	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Aston Cantlow	Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Aston juxta Birmingham	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Atherstone	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Atherstone on Stour	Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Attleborough	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Austrey	Pre-1837 - Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory); Post-1836 - Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)	2 - 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.