Court of the Bishop of Bath and Wells (Episcopal Consistory)

England Somerset  Somerset Probate Records

Step By Step
1. First search each index (see below) to help you more quickly find the will, writing down each detail cited in the indexed entry.

2. Proceed to the "Probate Records Held in This Archive" (below) to determine what original probate records exist for this court. Also see "Probate Records of This Court in The Family History Library".

3. Contact or visit the Somersetshire Record Office or, hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf. Officials may send upon request a list of record searchers.

4. Visit The Family History Library, or, one of its 4,500 satellite family history centers worldwide and search indexes to probate records then with the information obtained from the index[es] you can search more quickly the original wills and admons also on microfilm via any centers near you.

Online Index
Here is an online index of Somersetshire wills 1796-1857

Printed Indexes
"Wells Wills arranged in Parishes and Annotated" by Rev. F.W. Weaver (1890) has wills 1528-1536

Register Wills 1539-1541/2 abstracted in Somerset Archaelogical &amp; Natural History Society Proceedings vol 61, pp 65-104

Indexes at the Family History Library
Also try the following indexes at the Family History Library:

Estate Duty Wills 1805-1811

Estate Duty Wills Index 1812-1857

Death Duty Registers of Abstracts of Administrations and Probates of Wills 1796-1811

Important Note:
The records of the Court of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, all of which were deposited at the Probate Registry at Exeter, were destroyed by enemy action during World War II. The following is information on the few records that survive.

Archive Locations
The surviving original records are deposited at:

Somerset Record Office Obridge Road Taunton TA2 7PU England Tel: (0)1823 278805 Email: [mailto:archives@somerset.gov.uk archives@somerset.gov.uk]

Probate Records of This Court Held in This Archive

 * Register copy wills, loose leaves from between the years 1558-1626 (about 105 wills total)
 * Original wills, 1575-1640
 * Inventories, 1575-1640 (and a few to 1682)
 * Administration bonds, 1570-1680
 * Act books 1817-1823, 1827-1835, 1837, 1842-1850
 * Loose Leaves from Registers [of Wills] 1558-1591; 1618-1619; 1626
 * Other miscellaneous records

Probate Records of This Court In The Family History Library
The Family History Library has very few original probate records for Somerset on microfilm and none for this court. See also the information found in the article on the Court of the Bishop of Bath & Wells (Episcopal Consistory).

Inventories 1581-1741

Administrator Accounts 1581-1741

See the information found in the article on the Court of the Bishop of Bath &amp; Wells (Episcopal Consistory).

The Family History Library has very few original probate records for Somerset on microfilm. Most of the what the library has is various volumes of published abstracts. These include:


 * Abstracts of Somersetshire wills (6 vols., 16th to 18th centuries)
 * Wells wills (1528-1536)


 * Estate Duty Wills 1805-1811


 * Estate Duty Wills Index 1812-1857


 * Death Duty Register for Abstracts of Administrations and Probates of Wills 1796-1811

Others
The Society of Genealogists in London has copies of published abstracts of wills and other probate documents for Somerset. To see a list of titles, search their library catalogue for the Subject of "Somerset - General: Wills."

Jurisdiction
The court was part of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. The court held jurisdiction over the whole diocese.

England Somerset  Somerset Probate Records