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Wills Before 1858

Wills before 1858 are more complicated to find than wills after 1858. Wills in England and Wales were approved in courts administered by the church – ecclesiastical courts – of which there were more than 250. There was a hierarchy of courts, and you need to work out where the will might have been proved.


Will of John Jacques, 1717


Be prepared to spend some time deciphering older wills. The more experience you have, the easier it will become. This example from my own family history dates from 1717. Early wills may be in Latin.

Hierarchy of Church Courts

The hierarchy was as follows, with Canterbury being the highest.

  • Provinces - there were two, Canterbury and York, each presided over by an archbishop.
    • Canterbury – this covered the south of England and Wales, and those who died overseas.
    • York – this covered York, Durham, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Lancashire, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire and the Isle of Man.

  • Dioceses, each with at least two bishops.
  • Archdeaconries.
  • Rural deaneries.
Where your ancestor’s will was proved depended on where his or her property was.

Which Church Court

For wills before 1858, you need to decide in which church court the will was proved. If your ancestor's property was:

  • In more than one province – his or her will would be proved at Canterbury.
  • In more than one diocese – at the archbishop’s prerogative court, either York or Canterbury.
  • In more than one archdeaconry, but all in the same diocese – at the bishop’s or consistory court.
  • In one archdeaconry –at the archdeacon’s court – these were often suspended for part of the year, when the bishop dealt with the business.
  • In an exempt area – most dioceses had small areas that were exempt from the jurisdiction of the local archdeacon’s or bishop’s court. These were known as peculiars, and the wills were approved in the appropriate peculiar court.
  • If the goods were valued at more than £5 (or £10 in London) in more than one diocese – archbishop’s prerogative court, either York or Canterbury.

Finding the Indexes

Those for Canterbury (known as the Prerogative Court of Canterbury or PCC wills) are available online, so it’s worth searching these PCC wills before 1858 first.

If you draw a blank there, you need to consider where to look next. There is no single index. In a few cases, the indexes for wills before 1858 are online. Besides the PCC indexes, the London Metropolitan Archives has indexed 10,000 wills from the Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex for 1609-1810. If you find one, you can order it for £4.

County Records Offices generally have indexes of their holdings. Copies of these can also be found elsewhere – I’ll write more on this later. You can consult these indexes yourself, contact the county records office or hire a researcher.


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