Sussex Probate Records

England  Sussex

The following article is about probate records in the county of Sussex. For general information about English probate records, click here.

Description

Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. The term probate refers to a collection of documents, including wills, administrations (also called admons), inventories, and act books. The Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process until to 1858. This article explains about probates and how to get started to search for a will.

Beginning in 1858, authority over probate matters was taken from ecclesiastical courts and put under the civil authority of the Principal Probate Registry. The Probates After 1857 section below has a link to an article about probates after 1857.

Getting Started

Follow these steps to look for a probate record before 1858:

1. Discover when and where your ancestor died. If you don’t know, use the approximate date and place where they lived.
   
2. Go to the Court Jurisdictions section below.
   
3. Click a letter or span of letters for your place. This opens an article showing a table of places and the courts that had jurisdiction over them.
   
4. Follow the steps at the top of the table to search for a will.
   
   

Court Jurisdictions by Parish

Before 1858, every town and parish in Sussex fell under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts.  When looking for the will of an ancestor, you should search the courts in the order given. Search indexes first.  For indexes, click on the court name links above [soon to be constructed].

Here are links to an alphabetical list of Sussex parishes containing a prioritized list of courts with pre-1858 jurisdiction over each.  To see which courts to search for probates of persons living in or owning property in particular parish, click on the letter the parish name begins with.

A

B

C

D-F

G

H-K

L-M

N-P

Q-R

S

T-Z

For an authoritative treatise on each Sussex probate courts pre-1858, see Anthony J. Camp's publication, Wills and Their Whereabouts; also available at the Family History Library, book #942 S2wa.

Sussex Probate Courts

Most of West Sussex was under the pre-1858 probate jurisdiction of the Court of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) of Chichester for the Archdeaconry of Chichester and East Sussex under the jurisdiction of the Court of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) of Chichester for the Archdeaconry of Lewes. The majority of probate searches will be in the records of these courts and their superior courts. However, the following courts also had some pre-1858 jurisdiction within the county. Click on a court name to learn about records and indexes.

• Court of the Peculiar of the Exempt Jurisdiction of the Deanery of Battle
• Court of the Peculiar of the Archbishop of Canterbury for the Exempt Deaneries of Pagham and Tarring
• Courts of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) and Archdeaconry of Winchester
• Court of the Peculiar of the Archbishop of Canterbury for the Exempt Deanery of South Malling
• Court of the Peculiar of the Dean of Chichester

In addition, the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury had jurisdiction over the whole of England and specifically in the following cases.

• Wealthy individuals
  
• People who owned property in more than one county
  
• Military and naval personnel
  
• People who lived or owned property outside England
  

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

The Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury also served as an appeals court.

Probate Indexes Online

Before looking for a will, you should search the following index:  

http://www.familyhistoryonline.net/database/SussexFHGprobate.shtml

Here is an index compiled by the Sussex Family History Group which has transcribed 12,300 individuals as found in Sussex Wills, including Testators, Executors, Beneficiaries or Witnesses. The following information is recorded.

• Name – Forenames and surname of individual mentioned in the will
• Town location

The Sussex Records Society has done a great job in putting up many of their index listings including probate. The following is the link to their publications on probate indexes. [n]
Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills (1384 - 1858) [n]

Probate Indexes

The following indexes are available at the Family History Library:

• Bishop of Chichester. Consistory Court (Archdeaconry of Chichester) Wills and administrations, 1511-1865 Indexes 1511-1857.
• Deanery Court or Peculiar Court (South Malling) Probate records, 1588-1858 The jurisdiction for this court includes the parishes of: Busted, The Cliffe or St. Thomas Lewes, Edburton, Framfield, Glynde, Isfield, Lindfield, Mayfield, Ringmer, South Malling, Stanmer, Uckfield and Wadhurst. Many of these volumes have indexes.
• Diocese of Chichester. Consistory Court (Archdeaconry of Lewes) Probate records, 1527-1858 Printed book Indexes and FHL Film 97227, 97228, 97229, 97230 and many of the films have indexes at the beginning or end.
• Dean of Chichester. Peculiar Court Wills and administrations, 1553-1861 Jurisdiction includes Chichester (St. Andrew, St. Bartholomew, St. Martin, St. Olave, St. Pancras, St. Peter the Great, St. Peter the Less, and the Close), New Fishbourne, and Rumboldswyke. Many of the films have an index at the beginning or end.
• Archbishop of Canterbury. Peculiar Court (Exempt Deaneries of Pagham and Tarring) Wills and administrations, 1520-1907 Jurisdiction includes South Bersted, Chichester (All Saints), part of Horsham, East Lavant, Pagham, Patching, Slindon, Tangmere, and West Tarring. Many of these films have an index at the beginning or end.
• Diocese of Chichester. Peculiar Court (Exempt Deanery of Battle) Probate records, 1531-1857 The jurisdiction for this court includes only the parish of Battle.
• Transcripts of Sussex wills as far as they relate to ecclesiological and parochial subjects, up to the year 1560.
• Calendar of wills and administrations in the Archdeaconry court of Lewes in the bishopric of Chichester together with those in the Archbishop of Canterbury's Peculiar jurisdiction of South Malling and the Peculiar of the Deanery of Battle; comprising together the whole of the eastern division of the county of Sussex and the parish of Edburton in West Sussex, from the earliest extant instruments in the reign of Henry VIII to the Commonwealth [1509-1660
• Index to Some Wills proved and Admons Granted in the Peculiar Deanery of South Malling, 1560-1567. Included are also an index to an additional 216 Susses Wills. The indexes comprise pages 138-152 Sussex archaeological collections - v. 50 (1907)
• Calendar of wills in the Consistory court of the Bishop of Chichester, 1482-1800
• Calendar of administrations in the Consistory court of the Bishop of Chichester, 1555-1800: Calendar of wills and administrations in the Peculiar court of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1520-1670: Calendar of Wills and administrations in the Peculiar court of the Dean of Chichester

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.Estate duty indexes may help locate a will. For more information, go to Estate Duty Records.

Probates After 1857

Beginning in 1858, the government took over the settlement of estates and all wills are now probated through the Principal Probate Registry system. For more information, go to Principal Probate Registry.

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