England Every Name Probate Indexes
From FamilySearch Wiki
England England Probate Records
In England, it is rare to find abstracts of wills that index all names found in each will. Abstracts are very helpful for identifying relationships, particularly when legatees in wills do not share surnames with testators. The following is a list of probate courts that have been abstracted.
Contents
- 1 National
- 2 Bedfordshire
- 3 Buckinghamshire
- 4 Cheshire
- 5 Cornwall
- 6 Cumberland
- 7 Devon
- 8 Dorset
- 9 Essex
- 10 Gloucestershire
- 11 Hampshire
- 12 Herefordshire
- 13 Hertfordshire
- 14 Huntingdonshire
- 15 Kent
- 16 Lancashire
- 17 Leicestershire
- 18 Lincolnshire
- 19 London
- 20 Middlesex
- 21 Northamptonshire
- 22 Oxfordshire
- 23 Rutland
- 24 Somerset
- 25 Suffolk
- 26 Surrey
- 27 Sussex
- 28 Westmorland
- 29 Wiltshire
- 30 Yorkshire
National
Prerogative Court of Canterbury
- 1387-1439 - Furnivall, The Fifty Earliest English Wills in the Court of Probate, London, A.D. 1387-1439, with a Priest's of 1454. Online.
- Pre-1600 - Nicholas, Testamenta Vetusta. 2 vols. Vol. 1 | Vol. 2
- 1620 - Lea, Register Soame 1620. Online.
- 1620-1624 - Matthews and Matthews, Abstracts of probates and sentences in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1620-4. FHL Book 942 P2ce.
- 1630-1655 - Probate Act Abstracts 1630-1655, 8 vols.
- 1630 - Morrison, Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Register 'Scroope' (1630). FHL Collection.
- 1658 - Brigg, Register "Wootton" 1658. Vol. 1 | Vol. 2 | Vol. 4
Bank of England
- Bank of England Will Extracts Index 1717-1845
Bedfordshire
Archdeaconry Court of Bedford
- 1531-1539 - Bell, Bedfordshire Wills 1531-1539. Online bookstore.
- 1537-1545 - Bell, Bedfordshire Wills 1537-1545. Online bookstore.
- 1543-1547 - Bell, Bedfordshire Wills 1543-1547. Online bookstore.
Consistory Court of Lincoln
- 1280-1547 - Gibbons, Early Lincoln Wills: An Abstract of All the Wills & Administrations Recorded in the Episcopal Registers of the Old Diocese of Lincoln, Comprising the Counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Leicester and Hertford, 1280-1547. Online
Buckinghamshire
Consistory Court of Lincoln
- 1280-1547 - Gibbons, Early Lincoln Wills: An Abstract of All the Wills & Administrations Recorded in the Episcopal Registers of the Old Diocese of Lincoln, Comprising the Counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Leicester and Hertford, 1280-1547. Online
- 1601-1652 - Peck, Abstracts of Buckinghamshire Wills 1601-1652 at Probate Registry, Lincoln, England
Archdeaconry of Buckingham
- Elvey, The Courts of the Archdeaconry of Buckingham, 1483-1523. FHL Book 942.575 B4ba v. 19
- Buckinghamshire Family History Society, Wills, Archdeaconry Court of Buckingham (1680-1801). Order by post.
Cheshire
- Cole, Cheshire Wills Beneficiaries Index. 3 vols. FHL fiche 6359911, 6393861, 6395227.
- 1500s - Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and Inventories. Online.
- 1542-1661 - Pixton, Wrenbury Wills and Inventories, 1542-1661.
Cornwall
Prerogative Court of Canterbury
- Glencross, Cornish Wills in Prerogative Court of Canterbury 1383-1583. 3 vols. FHL Books 942.37 S2g v. 1-3 (Lacks an index)
Archdeaconry of Cornwall
- Orme, Cornish Wills, 1342-1540. Online bookstore
Cumberland
Archdeaconry Court of Richmond
- 1442-1578 - Raine, Wills and Inventories from the Registry of the Archdeaconry of Richmond. Online.
Devon
- Moger, Transcript of Devonshire Wills, 1600-1800. 44 vols. FHL Books 942.35 S2m v. 1-44 (lacks an index)
- Murray, Oswyn Murray Collection of Wills, abt. 1600-1800. 20 vols. FHL Films starting 917257 (lacks an index)
Dorset
- Abstracts of Wills of Dorset Folk from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 7 vols. (Lacks an everyname index)
Essex
Prerogative Court of Canterbury
- 1500s - Emmison, Elizabethan Life: Wills of Essex Gentry and Merchants Proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. FHL Book 942.67 B4e no. 71.
Local Courts
- 1500s - Emmison, Elizabethan Life: Wills of Essex Gentry and Yeomen: Preserved in the Essex Record Office. FHL Book 942.67 B4e no. 75.
- 1558-1603 - Emmison, Essex Wills 1558-1603, 7 vols. FHL Books 942.67 P2e v. 1-7.
- 1725-1858 - Abstracts of copy wills, Commissary Court of London, Essex and Herts division, registered wills, 1725-1858, ten microfilm reels.
- 1750-1857 -Abstracts of copy wills, Commissary Court of London [London division] registered wills, 1750-1857, nine microfilm reels.
Gloucestershire
- Mahler et al, Abstracts of Gloucestershire Probate Records, Online.
Hampshire
- 1492-1653 - Hampshire Will Extracts: Extracted from the Consistory Court of Winchester [1492-1652] and the Archdeaconry Court of Winchester [1501-1653]. B2 Reference Computer, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
- 1378-1660 - Pedgely, An Index of Personal Names in Isle of Wight Probate Records, 1378-1600 [records from Hampshire Record Office and some from the National Archives]
Herefordshire
- 1407-1581 - Faraday and Cole, Calendar of Probate and Administration Acts 1407-1541 and Abstracts of Wills 1541-1581 in the Court Books of the Bishop of Hereford.
- 1407-1581 - Faraday, Calendar of Probate and Administration Acts 1407-1550 in the Consistory Court of the Bishops of Hereford: With an Appendix of Abstracts of Register Copy Wills 1552-1581.
Hertfordshire
- 1725-1858 - Abstracts of copy wills, Commissary Court of London, Essex and Herts division, registered wills, 1725-1858, ten microfilm reels.
- 1750-1857 -Abstracts of copy wills, Commissary Court of London [London division] registered wills, 1750-1857, nine microfilm reels.
Consistory Court of Lincoln
- 1280-1547 - Gibbons, Early Lincoln Wills: An Abstract of All the Wills & Administrations Recorded in the Episcopal Registers of the Old Diocese of Lincoln, Comprising the Counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Leicester and Hertford, 1280-1547. Online
Huntingdonshire
Consistory Court of Lincoln
- 1280-1547 - Gibbons, Early Lincoln Wills: An Abstract of All the Wills & Administrations Recorded in the Episcopal Registers of the Old Diocese of Lincoln, Comprising the Counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Leicester and Hertford, 1280-1547. Online
Kent
- de Launay, The Weald of East Kent: Will Abstracts from the Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury, Kent, Volumes 21-50 (KAO: PRC 17), Index of Will Abstracts [1536-1597]
- de Launay, Abstracts of Cranbrook Wills Proved in the Diocesan Courts of Canterbury ... 1396-1640. FHL Book 942.23/C6 P28d.
- Kent Will Abstracts 1328-1691 in National Wills Index. Online. Covers testators from Faversham and Thanet.
Lancashire
- 1500s - Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and Inventories. Online.
Archdeaconry Court of Richmond
- 1442-1578 - Raine, Wills and Inventories from the Registry of the Archdeaconry of Richmond. Online.
Leicestershire
Consistory Court of Lincoln
- 1280-1547 - Gibbons, Early Lincoln Wills: An Abstract of All the Wills & Administrations Recorded in the Episcopal Registers of the Old Diocese of Lincoln, Comprising the Counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Leicester and Hertford, 1280-1547. Online
Archdeaconry Court of Leicester
- Abstracts of Proven Wills Formerly Kept at the Leicester District Probate Registry, 1563-1802, with Some Missing Years. FHL film 800668 (1st of 27 films)
Lincolnshire
- 1280-1547 - Gibbons, Early Lincoln Wills: An Abstract of All the Wills & Administrations Recorded in the Episcopal Registers of the Old Diocese of Lincoln, Comprising the Counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Leicester and Hertford, 1280-1547. Online
- Maddison, Lincolnshire Wills [1500-1617], 2 vols.
- Baker, Wills Beneficiary Index [Lincolnshire 1383-1900], 9 fiche
London
- 1700-1704 - London and Middlesex Wills Abstracts 1700-1704. Online.
Commissary Court
- 1558-1603 - Emmison, The Bishop of London's Commissary Court 1558-1603, 5 vols. FHL Books 942.67 P2e v. 8-12.
- 1621-1643, 1645-1646 - Mahler, Commissary Court of London 1621-1643, 1645-1646. Online at FamilySearch Books Online.
- 1750-1857 - Abstracts of copy wills, Commissary Court of London [London division] registered wills, 1750-1857, nine microfilm reels.
Middlesex
- 1622-1641/2, 1660-1667 - Mahler, Westminster Wills 1622-1641/2, 1660-1667. Online at FamilySearch Books Online.
- 1700-1704 - London and Middlesex Wills Abstracts 1700-1704. Online.
- 1750-1857 - Abstracts of copy wills, Commissary Court of London [London division] registered wills, 1750-1857, nine microfilm reels.
Northamptonshire
Consistory Court of Lincoln
- 1280-1547 - Gibbons, Early Lincoln Wills: An Abstract of All the Wills & Administrations Recorded in the Episcopal Registers of the Old Diocese of Lincoln, Comprising the Counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Leicester and Hertford, 1280-1547. Online
Oxfordshire
- Transcribed Wills (with everyname index), Oxfordshire Family History Society website - free
Consistory Court of Lincoln
- 1280-1547 - Gibbons, Early Lincoln Wills: An Abstract of All the Wills & Administrations Recorded in the Episcopal Registers of the Old Diocese of Lincoln, Comprising the Counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Leicester and Hertford, 1280-1547. Online
Rutland
Consistory Court of Lincoln
- 1280-1547 - Gibbons, Early Lincoln Wills: An Abstract of All the Wills & Administrations Recorded in the Episcopal Registers of the Old Diocese of Lincoln, Comprising the Counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Leicester and Hertford, 1280-1547. Online
Somerset
- 1385-1558 - Somerset Will Abstracts 1385-1558. Online.
- Brown, Abstracts of Somersetshire Wills, Etc., 6 vols.
- Moger and Webb, Somerset Wills II
- Rawlins, Somerset Wills from Exeter
- Weaver, Somerset Medieval Wills [1383-1558], 3 vols.
- Weaver, Wells Wills: Arranged in Parishes, and Annotated online
Suffolk
- Suffolk Probate Index (Testators and Beneficiaries) 1847-1857. Online.
Archdeaconry of Suffolk
- Allen, Wills of the Archdeaconry of Suffolk, 1620-1626, 2 vols. FHL Books 942.64 B4s v. 31 and v. 37
- Allen and Evans, Wills from the Archdeaconry of Suffolk, 1629-1640, 2 vols. FHL Books 942.64 P2w v. 1-2
Archdeaconry of Sudbury
- 1439-1474 - Northeast and Falvey, Wills of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, 1439-1474, Part II, 1461-1474. Online bookstore
- 1630-1638 - Evans, The Wills of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, 1630-1638, 2 vols. FHL Books 942.64 B4s v. 29 and v. 35
Surrey
- Archdeaconry Court of Surrey 1470-1856. Online.
- Commissary Court of Surrey 1470-1856. Online.
- Surrey PCC Wills Abstracts 1736-1794. Online.
Sussex
- Sussex Wills (Testators, Beneficiaries, Witnesses)
Westmorland
Archdeaconry Court of Richmond
- 1442-1578 - Raine, Wills and Inventories from the Registry of the Archdeaconry of Richmond. Online.
Wiltshire
- Wilson and Trace, Wiltshire Wills Beneficiaries Index, 1800-1858 [includes 14 peculiar courts], 2 CDs
Yorkshire
Prerogative Court of Canterbury
- 1383-1558 - North Country PCC Abstracts 1383-1558. Online.
- 1558-1604 - North Country PCC Abstracts 1558-1604. Online.
- 1640s-1650s - Clay, Abstracts of Yorkshire Wills in the Time of the Commonwealth: At Somerset House, London, Chiefly Illustrative of Sir William Dugdale’s Visitation of Yorkshire in 1665-6. Online.
Prerogative Court of York
- 1316-1550 - Raine, Raine, and Clay, Testamenta Eboracensia, or Wills Registered at York: Illustrative of the History, Manners, Language, Statistics, Etc., of the Province of York, from the Year MCCC Downwards [1316-1550], 12 vols. Online.
Archdeaconry Court of Richmond
- 1442-1578 - Raine, Wills and Inventories from the Registry of the Archdeaconry of Richmond. Online.