Derbyshire Probate Records

England > Derbyshire

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

Derbyshire Probate Courts

Before 1858, probate of estates of deceased persons was handled by ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England.

 

In addition, the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury had jurisdiction over the whole of England. Wealthier individuals, people who owned property in more than one county or lower court's jurisdiction, and Naval personnel often had their estates proven through the Archbishop's court.

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

Court Jurisdictions

Before 1858, every town and parish in Derbyshire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary ecclesiastical court and one or more secondary ecclesiastical courts.

For an alphabetical list of the parishes of Derbyshire with the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them, click on a letter of the alphabet that a parish name begins with:  

A, B,  C,  D-E,  F-H,  I-L,  M-O,  P-R,  S,  T-V,  W-Z.

Probate Indexes Online

Before looking for a will, you should search an index.

• Abstracts of Derbyshire Probate Records:

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DBY/ProbateRecords/index.html

• Derbyshire wills for the period 1858-1928 (from the Derbyshire Record Office):

http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/record_office/our_collection/derbyshirewills/

• Derbyshire WILLS, 1525-1928 (browse 35,066 Wills and 5,093 different surnames; pertaining to much more than just people from the parish of Wirksworth):

www.wirksworth.org.uk/WILLS.htm

• PENTRICH WILLS & PROBATE INDEX (from the Pentrich Historical Society; also includes entries for people in parishes adjacent to Pentrich):

http://www.pentrich.org.uk/html/wills.html

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 the Principal Registry and the District Registries for 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.