Derbyshire Probate Records

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

Return to the Derbyshire page.

Derbyshire Probate Courts

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

Court Jurisdictions

Before 1858, settlement of the estate of deceased persons was handled by ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England.  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 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, transcribed by Michael Spencer (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.