Warwickshire Probate Records

England Warwickshire

Getting Started
Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. Probate records include wills and administrations. This article is about probate records in Sussex. For a general description of England probate records, click here.

1858 to the Present
Beginning in 1858, the Principal Probate Registry had the authority for probating estates. Click on the link to learn more.

Before 1858
Before 1858, Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process. To search for a pre-1858 probate record in Warwickshire, follow these steps:

Step 1. Search Indexes
Here are some online indexes to probate records that include individuals who lived in Warwickshire. Search these indexes first:


 * http://www.familyhistoryonline.net/database/SussexFHGprobate.shtml -- compiled by the Sussex Family History Group which has transcribed the names of 12,300 individuals found in Sussex wills, including testators, executors, beneficiaries or witnesses. The information recorded includes name, date and place.
 * The Sussex Record Society has published four volumes of indexes to Sussex wills, and these can be viewed on their website. They are arranged by parish then by surname.
 * Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills (1384-1858).

Did you find a reference to a probate record?


 * If yes, go to Step 4 below.
 * If no, go to Step 2 below.

Step 2. Identify when and where your ancestor died
Determine when your ancestor died. If you aren't sure, use an approximate date.

Determine where your ancestor died. It is easier to find a probate record if you know whether the place where your ancestor lived or died is a parish. To learn whether it is a parish, look it up in a gazetteer. Here is a link to the 1872 Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales online:


 * Vision of Britain

The gazetteer will either tell you:


 * A place is a parish, or
 * What parish it is a part of, or
 * What place it is near.

If the latter, look that place up in the gazetteer and see if it is a parish.

Once you have identified the parish, go to Step 3.

Step 3. Identify court jurisdictions by parish
Once you have identified the parish where your ancestor lived or died, learn which courts had jurisdiction over it then search indexes for those courts. Every town and parish in Warwickshire fell under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts. Click on a link below for the letter the parish begins with.

Before 1858, every town and parish in Warwickshire came under the jurisdiction of a primary probate court and one or more secondary courts. When looking for the pre-1858 will of an ancestor in Warwickshire, you need to determine what courts had jurisdiction over the place where your ancestor died or had property. Click on a link below for the letter your parish of interest begins with and follow the instructions given on the next page.

Warwickshire Probate Courts
Most of Warwickshire was under the pre-1858 probate jurisdiction of either the Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory) or the Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Episcopal Consistory). The majority of probate searches will be in the records of these two courts and their superior courts. However, the following smaller courts also had some pre-1858 jurisdiction within the county. Click on a court name to learn about records and indexes.


 * Court of the Bishop of Gloucester (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



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
 * Interregnum, 1649-1660, because the Prerogative Court was the only court.
 * Property in more than one diocese in the Province of Canterbury.
 * Property in both the Province of Canterbury and Province of York.
 * People who died outside England, including British citizens and others who held property in 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

 * Registered wills and original wills, administrations and inventories, 1494-1860, and, act books, 1532-1638 for Diocese of Lichfield Episcopal Consistory Court 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.
 * 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
 * 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 book numbers 942 B4b v. 31 1968 and 942 B4b v. 39 1968.) Contents: v. 31. 1451-1600 -- v. 39. 1601-1652. Also available in the Family History Library book 942.47 S2c
 * A calendar of wills and administrations preserved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Worcester, l45l-(l652)

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

Some Explanatory Notes on Warwickshire Probate Courts

 * From 1837, the whole of the Warwickshire's parishes came under the probate court jurisdiction of the Bishop of Worcester
 * In pre-1837 the 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).

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.