Huntingdonshire Probate Records

England Huntingdonshire

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 Huntingdonshire. 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 Huntingdonshire, follow these steps:

Step 1. Search Indexes
Here are some online indexes to probate records that include individuals who lived in Huntingdonshire. 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 Huntingdonshire 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 all of Huntingdonshire, with just a few exceptions, was under the primary probate jurisdiction of the Court of the Commissary of the Bishop of Lincoln and of the Archdeacon in the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon. The exceptions were a few places and parishes considered peculiars and their courts will be found in the jurisdiction lists through the links below. Click on a letter link for the name of a parish.

A-D  E-G   H-O   P-S   T-Z

Huntingdonshire Probate Courts
Most of Huntingdonshire was under the pre-1858 probate jurisdiction of the Court of the Commissary of the Bishop of Lincoln and of the Archdeacon in the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon. The majority of probate searches will be in the records of this court and its 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 Archdeacon of Huntingdon (Hitchin Division)
 * Court of the Bishop of Lincoln (Episcopal Consistory)
 * Court of the Bishop of Ely (Episcopal Consistory)
 * Court of the Peculiar of Brampton
 * Court of the Peculiar of Buckden
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Prebend of Leighton Bromswold
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Prebend of Stow Longa

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
Note: List here any that are combined indexes for several of the courts. If an index covers only one of the courts, the index should be listed on that court's page.


 * Probate records of the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon, 1585-1858 Many index listing in the following film notes on the Family History Library catalog
 * Probate records for the Commissary Court of Lincoln for the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon, 1559-1857, 1559-1857 This Court only had jurisdiction in Huntingdon prior to 1837
 * Calendars of Huntingdonshire wills, 1479-1652
 * Abstracts of Huntingdonshire wills, 1601-1652, in Lincoln consistory court at Lincoln, England
 * Transactions of the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Archaeological Society - v. 5-6 (1936-1940) v. 6 Part 3 pages 79-96 have an index of Wills Proved in the Peculiar Courts of Brampton, Buckden, Leighton Bromswold, Stow Longa, all in the County of Huntingdon, together with the Bonds and Inventories. According to this 1940 publication They were preserved in the Probate registry at Peterborough.
 * The Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of Ely and Court of the Archdeacon of Ely had jurisdiction only from 1837-1858 in Huntingdon Index of the probate records of the Consistory Court of Ely, 1449-1858, Index of the probate records of the Court of the Archdeacon of Ely, 1513-1857
 * Court of the Bishop of Peterborough (Episcopal Consistory) only included the parish of Washingley in Huntingdon Calendars of wills, administrations &amp; etc., for the Archdeaconry Court of Northamptonshire and the Consistory Court of Peterborough

Some Explanatory Notes on the Huntingdonshire Probate Courts
Before the Reformation the diocese of Lincoln included the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon. After the Reformation, the archdeaconry remained until the period 1837-1845.

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.