Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York

Return to the Lancashire Probate Records page.

Location of These Probate Records
Borthwick Institute of Historical Research

UK

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Historical Background
The Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of York held concurrent jurisdiction over some parishes of Lancshire. Boundaries of this probate jurisdictions include parishes in portions of counties Cumberland and Yorkshire. When a search of this courts’ probate records fails to provide the desired probate record, be sure to search the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of York as well.&lt;br&gt;

Starting Your Search in Indexes
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 then to the "Probate Records of This Court" section (see below) to determine what original probate records exist for this court.

3. Contact or visit the Lancashire Record Office, or, hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf, citing information obtained from the index[es]. Officials may send upon request a list of record searchers.

4. You can also visit The Family History Library, or, one of its 4,500 satellite family history centers worldwide and search indexes (see the Family History Library's cataloged entries providing the microfilms so you can have them circulated to the center near you for searching the wills). The information obtained from the index[es] will help you more quickly search the wills and admons which can also be circulated on microfilm via any family history.

Probate Indexes
Surviving wills and admons to the Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries - Amounderness probate records have to some extent been indexed with the following ones:&lt;br&gt;

Printed and Published Indexes

 * Lancashire and Cheshire wills and inventories, 1572 to 1696, now preserved at Chester: with an appendix of Lancashire and Cheshire wills and inventories proved at York or Richmond, 1542 to 1649
 * Lancashire and Cheshire wills and inventories at Chester: with an appendix of abstracts of wills now lost or destroyed

Online Indexes
Lancashire is one of the few England counties possessing two main probate courts with significant portions of its documents indexed. For this court, the Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries - Amounderness, there is a wonderful index available online covering the years from 1748 to 1858. (Keep checking back to determine if the range of years covered in the index, increase beyond these years.)

Microfilmed Indexes at the Family History Library&lt;br&gt;
The indexes as listed in the above are also available&amp;nbsp;covering the years 1688-1731&amp;nbsp;at The Family History Library and they are on microfilm&amp;nbsp;and may be circulated&amp;nbsp;to each of its satellite Family History Centers&amp;nbsp;worldwide.

Searching for probates in this court.
This court is comprised of the following geographical divisions (called Western Deaneries): Amounderness, Furness, Lonsdale, and Kendal. The records for each deanery are as follows:

Amounderness Deanery

ORIGINAL WILLS 1660-1860

Furness Deanery

ORIGINAL WILLS 1551-1860

Lonsdale Deanery

ACT BOOKS 1669-1858

Kendal Deanery

ORIGINAL WILLS 1530-1860

Strategies, Tips, Other?
See the above Indexes or those available through the Family History Library or its many family history centers worldwide for an index to this court.

To view a list of parishes and their respective probate court jurisdiction, see the "Lancashire Parishes and Their Probate Jurisdictions" on the main page for Lancashire Probate Records.

[England: Lancashire]