Worcestershire Probate Records

England Worcestershire

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.

Courts Jurisdictions
Before 1858, every town and parish in Worcestershire fell under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts. When looking for the will of an ancester, you should search the courts in the order given. Search indexes first. For indexes, click on the court name links above.

Here is a list of Worcestershire parishes beginning with the letter A and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them. For other parishes, click on a letter link: B, C, D-G, H-J, K-N, O-R, S, T-V, W-Z.

Probate Indexes
Episcopal Consistory Court of the Bishop of Worcester Calendar of wills administrations, 1661-1858 Family History Library Books 942.47 P2e Contents : v. 1. 1661-1699 -- v. 2. 1700-1749 -- v. 3. 1750-1799 -- v. 4. 1800-1858.

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&lt;br

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.

Also available 942.47 S2c

Family History Library

A calendar of wills and administrations preserved in the consistory court of the bishop of Worcester, l45l-(l652)

PECULIAR COURTS

Many Counties have peculiar court records. These records can cover just one parish or many parishes. They cover pre-1858 probate records. The following is an index to these Worcestershire Peculiar Probate Court records. Index to Wills Proved in Peculiars 1712-1788

Contents: Fladbury, 1721-1775 -- Ripple, 1721-1729 -- Hanbury, 1720-1769 -- Bredon, 1717-1772 -- Tredington with Shipston (upon Stour), 1717-1788 -- Hartlebury, 1720-1784 -- Allchurch [i.e., Alvechurch], 1718-1773 -- Stratford, 1718-1773 -- Hampton, 1712-1760.

Some of the Peculiar Courts have indexed and undexed portions of the records. The following follows this:

Wills and administrations, 1441-1788 of the Court of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester which covers Berrow, Kempsey, Norton near Kempsey, St Michael In Bedwardine and College Precincts, Stoulton, and Tibberton. 

Not all the peculiar court records are indexed and need to be located differently. The following links can help in finding these unindexed peculiar probate records Wills for the Peculiar Court of Bredon, 1668-1791 which covers the parishes of Bredon, Norton (Bredons Norton) and Cutsdean. 

Wills and administrations for the Peculiar Court of Fladbury, 1662-1795 This covers the parish of Fladbury and its chapelries of Stock and Bradley, Throckmorton and Wyre Piddle. 

Wills for the Peculiar Court of Ripple, 1663-1771 which covers the parishes of Holdfast, Queenhill and Ripple

Index of Probate from January-March 1660 fo 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 or Coldecott or Colicoal     Hunington                        28 Feb

Thomas Clarke                      City of Worcester                                  21 Feb

William Climer                       Shenston in Stone                                23 Feb

Mathew Collet                       Alderminster or Aldermarston                   7 Mar

John Cooke                           St Peter, Worcester                              28 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

Katherine Inones or Jnones? Mathon                                                   28 Feb 1660

Anne Jennings                     Moseley                                                   21 Mar

Robert Knight                       Charlecott, Warwickshire                           20 Mar 1660

Cicilia Lee                           Alveston                                                      6 Feb

Edmond Ligon                                                                                     12 Mar

Richard Marshall                  Inkberrow                                                  27 Feb

William Phillips                    Church Lench                                            28 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

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.

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.