Warwickshire Probate Records

England  Warwickshire

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:

1. When did your ancestor die?
2. 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

Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)

Court of the Bishop of Gloucester (Episcopal Consistory)

Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)

Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield

Peculiar Court of the Manor of Baddesley-Clinton

Peculiar Court of the Manor of Barston

Peculiar Court of the Manor of Bishop's Ichington, Chadshunt and Gaydon

Peculiar Court of the Prebendal of Hampton-Lucy with Alveston Parish and its chapelry, Charlcote, and Wasperton Parish

Peculiar Court of the Manor of Knowle

Peculiar Court of the Manor of Merevale

Peculiar Court of the Manor of Packwood

Peculiar Court of the Manor of Tachbrook

Peculiar Court of the Manor of Temple Balsall; also see Baddesley-Clinton

Peculiar Court of the Prebend of Ufton

Court of the Peculiar of Stratford-upon-Avon

Some Explanatory Notes on Warwickshire Probate Court Jurisdiction Changes 

• From 1837, the whole of the Warwickshire's parishes came under the probate court jurisdiction of the Bishop of Worcester
• In pre-1837 only north, east and northwestern Warwickshire parishes came under the authority and jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lichfield.
• The rest of the of Warwickshire (south-west portion) in pre-1837 came under the Diocese of the Bishop of Worcester.

 

Here's the List of Warwickshire Parishes which in pre-1837, came under the court jurisdiction of the Diocese of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory).

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:  A, B, C, D-L, M-P, Q-S, M-S, T-Z.

Estate Duty Records

Starting in 1796, a tax or death duty was payable on estates over a certain value. Estate duty abstracts may add considerable information not found elsewhere. Between 1813-1858 estate duty indexes may help locate a will. For more information, go to Estate Duty Records.

Probate Indexes

Registered wills and original wills, administrations and inventories, 1494-1860, and, act books, 1532-1638 for Diocese of Lichfield Episcopal Consistory Court [1] These are calendars   This diocese covers the northern and eastern parts of county Warwick.

A general will index for the Diocese of Lichfield exists online, a scanned edition of P.W. Phillimore's publication by the British Record Society in 1892,Calendars of wills administrations in the Consistory court of the bishop of Lichfield. This single index consolidates most Staffordshire wills of the various probate court jurisdictions from 1514-1652 for the Diocese of Lichfield and to 1790 for Warwickshire's smaller peculiar courts.

The Episcopal Consistory Court of The Bishop of Worcester Covers the southwestern third of this county.

Episcopal Consistory Court of the Bishop of Worcester Calendar of wills and administrations, 1661-1858 is a typscript and is available at The Family History Library, (FHL)  book call no. 942.47 P2e vols 1-4. Contents : v. 1. 1661-1699 -- v. 2. 1700-1749 -- v. 3. 1750-1799 -- v. 4. 1800-1858; or, it is available via microfilm at its 4,600 Family History Centers worldwide. [2]

Worcestershire wills index, 1858-1928
"The index is arranged in alphabetical order of surname followed by the forename. Then the date of probate is cited, thus leading one to the register concerned, together with the relevant page number. It will be noted that there is some slight variation in style of the date of probate quoted. This is because this index was compiled from the existing indexes in each register and the amount of detail in each varied slightly, particularly in the first few volumes." -- from foreword.
CD-ROM no. 1671 at The Family History Library<br [3]

Calendar of wills and administrations in the Consistory court of the Bishop of Worcester, 1451-1652 : also marriage licenses and sequestrations now deposited in the Probate registry at Worcester
The Index library (British Record Society) : v. 31, 39
Family History Library Call Numbers
942 B4b v. 31 1968 942 B4b v. 39 1968
Contents: v. 31. 1451-1600 -- v. 39. 1601-1652. [4]

Also available 942.47 S2c [5]

Family History Library

A calendar of wills and administrations preserved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Worcester, l45l-(l652) [6]

Index of Probate from January-March 1660-1 for the Bishop of Worcester Original Wills

Name	Place	Date
John Allen	Wixelsford	6 Mar
William Averill	Broadway	20 Mar
Thomas Baker	Juichfieh?	28 Feb
Roger Barnard	Stratford Upon Avon	16 Mar
William Beaver	Combrook, Warwickshire	8 Mar
Ferdinand Bentley	Wick by Pershore	27 Feb
Thomas Bonnar	Alderminster	13 Feb
Francis Buck	Oddingley	28 Feb
John Butler	Swale	6 Feb
William Butler	Cateshill, Bromsgrove	28 Feb
Robert Caldecote	Hunington	28 Feb
Thomas Clarke	City of Worcester	21 Feb
William Climer	Shenston in Stone	23 Feb
Robert Coldecott or Colicoal	Hunington	28 Feb
Mathew Collet	Alderminster or Aldermarston	7 Mar
John Cooke	St Peter, Worcester	8 Feb
John Cookes	Stoke Prior	25 Feb
Symon Corbett	Defford	6 Feb
Thomas Crowe	Chadwich, Bromsgrove	16 Feb
Richard Dannce	Wick by Pershore	20 Feb
Mary Dawks or Dawlks	Himbleton	23 Feb
Henry Day	Pinvin	27 Feb
Margaret Desmastres	Pershore	20 Feb
Thomas Edgcock	Kinerton, Warwickshire	16 Mar
Frances Elcoxe	St Martins, Worcester	22 Mar
Elizabeth George	Eckington	8 Mar
Thomas George the Elder	Naunton in Severn Stoke	2 Mar
Gyles Gilbert	Longdon	18 Mar
William Griffin	Clifton in Severn Stoke	16 Mar
Thomas Gyles	Powick	7 Feb
George Hall	Broadway	7 Mar
John Hall	Tarbecke	10 Mar
Ellinor Hay	Eckington	13 Mar
John Hay	Alchurch	28 Feb
William Hopkins	Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire	16 Mar
Anne Horsham	Wicke in Pershore	27 Feb
Richard Hurlston	Ilmington, Warwickshire	28 Feb
Katherine Inones or Jnones	? Mathon	28 Feb
Anne Jennings	Moseley	21 Mar
Robert Knight	Charlecott, Warwickshire	20 Mar
Cicilia Lee	Alveston	6 Feb
Edmond Ligon		12 Mar
Richard Marshall	Inkberrow	27 Feb
Anthony Morrice	Icomb	14 Mar
John Moseley	Northwich, Blockley	14 Mar
William Moseley	Puddington or Huddington?	27 Feb
Thomas Munsloe	Tibberton	9 Feb
Edward Nicholls	Hunnington	8 Mar
John Oldmole or Oldnall	Chaddestly Corbett	7 Feb
Thomas Ordway	Bengworth	12 Mar
John Pearsall	Whitley Barne, Halesowen, Salop	1 Mar
William Phillips	Church Lench	28 Feb
Maria or Mary Phipps	Aldermarston or Alderminster	10 Feb
Alice Pratt	Wick near Pershore	6 Feb
William Quinton	Hunnington, Warwickshire	27 Feb
John Rainolds or Reynolds	Kidderminster	27 Feb
John Richardson	Shottery in Stratford on Avon Warwickshire	20 Mar
Julie Shawe	Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire	16 Feb
Stephen Sitch	Shefferie, Warwickshire	13 Mar
Mary Smith	Eckington (Eskington)	11 Mar
Thomas Smith	Vifford	9 Mar
Margery Symonds	Elmley Castle	14 Mar
William Taverner	Pinvin or Pembry	27 Feb
Mary Tonerton or Towerton	Holt	6 Mar
Richard Walker	Ridmington	8 Mar
Michael Warne	Alvechurch or Alchurch	28 Feb
William Washborne	Tibberton	23 Feb
Henry Whatley	Tanworth, Warwickshire	9 Mar
Thomas Whopper	Tibberton	23 Feb

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 many of the original probate records themselves for the date range 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library or through its 4,600 satellite Family History Centres worldwide.

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)