About British Record Society Probate Collection
Index to the Probate Accounts of England and Wales, Vols I & II
British Record Society Volumes 112 & 113
Published 1999
About the index
These volumes are an index to probate accounts for wills proved and administrations granted in England and Wales.
A Probate account was prepared by the executor or administrator of an estate and supplements the information found in inventories (where they survive). It should account for all the goods and debts received and all the debts and legacies paid and expenses incurred during the winding up of the deceased’s estate, recording a final balance.
Survival is spread unevenly throughout the country, and a list of the number of accounts abstracted, arranged by county or equivalent heading can be found below.
Also included below is a table of all surviving accounts by county. No known accounts survive for Ireland and Scotland.
Locating the original documents
Where are the originals held?
Most surviving accounts are now held at the appropriate record office or archives. For current contact details www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/
To obtain copies of a probate account you need to contact the appropriate Record Office by letter, fax or e-mail, giving full details (including source ie BRS and which court etc) and references. They will then send you full details on how to obtain a copy of the account plus a quote of the full costs.
Alternatively you can visit the appropriate Record Office / Archive personally, details of opening hours etc can be found on their website.
What information from the document do I need to locate the original?
- Testator's name
- Residence of Testator
- Date of account
- Archives where probate account is held
- References as given in the British Record Society index
Understanding the index
Which court or courts are included?
These volumes cover the whole of England and Wales and not specific courts nor diocese.
What does the index include?
The entries give, in order, surname, christian name, status or occupation where known, place or residence, county, date of the account (not date of death which can be several years earlier), the record office in which the account is now kept, and its reference.
The entries are grouped under the most common spelling for the surname. Under each surname the entries are arranged alphabetically. This means some name variants may not appear clustered together. Names in the index are generally according to the spelling used in the documents.
The number of accounts abstracted, arranged by county or equivalent heading
Shows the numbers surviving each year, and abstracted here, from 1521 to the ending of the ecclesiastical probate jurisdictions in 1858. (The number of 'houses' in the mid-1680s has been added on the right)
| Bedfordshire |
16 |
12,170 |
| Berkshire |
1,765 |
16,906 |
| Buckinghamshire |
74 |
18,390 |
| Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely |
225 |
17,347 |
| Cheshire |
275 |
24,054 |
| Cornwall |
396 |
25,374 |
| Cumberland |
4 |
14,825 |
| Derbyshire |
367 |
21,155 |
| Devon |
11 |
56,310 |
| Dorset |
206 |
21,944 |
| Durham, Northumberland and Berwick 7 |
7 |
38,725 |
| Essex |
15 |
34,819 |
| Gloucestershire |
282 |
26,764 |
| Hampshire |
449 |
26,851 |
| Herefordshire |
5 |
15,006 |
| Hertfordshire |
519 |
16,569 |
| Huntingdonshire |
354 |
8,217 |
| Kent |
13,601 |
39,242 |
| Lancashire |
278 |
40,202 |
| Leicestershire |
379 |
18,702 |
| Lincolnshire |
5,989 |
40,590 |
| London. Middlesex and Westminster |
584 |
100,136 |
| Norfolk |
209 |
47,180 |
| Northamptonshire |
205 |
24,808 |
| Nottinghamshire |
37 |
17,554 |
| Oxfordshire |
925 |
19,007 |
| Rutland |
2 |
3,263 |
| Shropshire |
209 |
23,284 |
| Somerset |
929 |
49,808 |
| Staffordshire |
479 |
23,747 |
| Suffolk |
46 |
34,422 |
| Surrey |
51 |
34,218 |
| Sussex |
1,221 |
21,537 |
| Warwickshire |
432 |
21,973 |
| Westmorland |
0 |
6,501 |
| Wiltshire |
1,453 |
27,093 |
| Worcestershire |
536 |
20,634 |
| Yorkshire |
488 |
106,151 |
| Wales |
25 |
60,473 |
| Anglesey |
1 |
|
| Brecknock |
15 |
|
| Caernarvon |
4 |
|
| Denbigh |
1 |
|
| Montgomery |
1 |
|
| Pembroke |
1 |
|
| Radnor |
2 |
|
| Ireland |
2 |
|
| Cork |
1 |
|
| Ireland |
1 |
|
| Overseas 8 |
13 |
|
| Barbados |
3 |
|
| France |
1 |
|
| Guinea |
1 |
|
| Jamaica |
3 |
|
| Persia |
3 |
|
| Switzerland |
1 |
|
| Tangier |
1 |
|
Notes and Abbreviations used in the index
Most of the names of record offices will be easily recognisable. RO has been used as a general abbreviation for either Record Office or Archives. So Herts RO means Hertfordshire Record Office, Oxon RO means Oxfordshire Archives and Lincs RO means Lincolnshire Archives Office.
There are some which may be less obvious to some users:
- Bodleian for the Oxford University Archives in the Bodleian Library
- Borthwick for the Borthwick Institute, York
- CKS for the Centre for Kentish Studies at Maidstone now The Kent History & Library Centre
- CUL for the Cambridge University Archives in the Cambridge University Library
- Greater London RO for the Greater London Record Office, now London Metropolitan Archive
- Lambeth for Lambeth Palace Library
- LJRO for the Lichfield Joint Record Office
- NLW for the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth
- PRO for the Public Record Office now The National Archives (Kew).
| A |
Archdeaconry Court |
| Comm |
Commissary Court |
| CC |
Consistory Court |
| D |
Deanery Court |
| DC |
Court of Dean and Chapter |
| PC |
Prerogative Court |
| PCC |
Prerogative Court of Canterbury |
| Pec |
Peculiar Court |
Appendix
The Estimated Number of Surviving Probate Accounts
The dates given are those of the first and last more or less safely dateable accounts. Many are not dated, and are not easily dateable. As this index was prepared by BRS in 1999, it is worth contacting the appropriate record office or archives to check on the progress of the indexing of their probate accounts and therefore current accessibility of the below.
| Repository and Court |
Approximate Number of Documents |
Period Covered |
| Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales |
| CC Bangor |
7 |
1674-93 |
| A Brecon |
37 |
1620-47 |
| plus others filed with probate records of other Welsh courts. Inaccessible until indexes made. |
| Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire Record Office |
| A Buckingham, Pecs |
7 |
1617-1684 |
| Bedford, Bedfordshire Record Office |
| A Bedford |
2 |
1595-1677 |
| Bristol, Bristol Record Office |
| CC Bristol |
133 |
1575-1783 |
| plus others waiting for repair work to be undertaken. |
| Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Record Office |
| A Sudbury |
44 |
1521-1818 |
| Cambridge, Cambridge County Record Office |
| A Ely |
3 |
1629-30 |
| CC Ely |
25 |
1605-1823 |
| Cambridge, University Archives, Cambridge University Library Vice-Chancellor's Court, |
| Cambridge University |
186 |
1561-1730 |
| Chester, Cheshire Record Office |
| CC Chester |
275 |
1569-1846 |
| Chichester, West Sussex Record Office |
| A Chichester |
1016 |
1578-1711 |
| Pec Dean Chichester |
200 |
1599-1701 |
| Dorchester, Dorset Record Office |
| A Dorset |
2 |
1663-1714 |
| Pec Dorchester |
3 |
1622-91 |
| Pec Wimborne |
103 |
1599-1702 |
Durham,
A considerable number filed with other probate records in 500 boxes. Inaccessible until general probate index made. |
Exeter, Devon Record Office
1 or 2 14th century, plus dozens 16th and 17th centuries |
| Gloucester, Gloucestershire Record Office |
| CC Gloucester |
138 |
1601-1834 |
| Hertford, Hertfordshire Record Office |
| A Huntingdon/Hitchin |
93 |
1610-89 |
| A St Albans |
456 |
1556-1753 |
| A Bedford |
1 |
|
| Huntingdon, Cambridge County Record Office |
| A Huntingdon |
339 |
1597-1825 |
| Ipswich, Suffolk Record Office |
| A Suffolk |
1 |
1754 |
| Leeds, West Yorkshire Archive Service |
| A Richmond (Eastern Deaneries) |
A few |
|
| Filed with wills. Inaccesible until general probate index made. |
| Leicester, Wigston Magna, Leicestershire Record Office |
| A Leicester |
369 |
1639-87 |
| Lichfield, Lichfield Joint Record Office |
| CC Lichfield and peculiars |
1361 |
1576-1850 |
| Plus others filed with 250,000 other documents, |
1546-1798. |
| Inaccessible until general probate index made - currently in progress. |
| Lincoln, Lincolnshire |
Archives Office
with courts indicated: |
6044 |
|
| A Bedford |
1 |
|
| A Stow |
1158 |
1571-1765 |
| CC Lincoln |
4218 |
1524-1853 |
| DC Lincoln |
66 |
1605-1686 |
| Pec Bishop Norton |
1 |
|
| Pec Caister |
5 |
|
| Pec Corringham |
3 |
|
| Pec Kirton in Lindsey |
1 |
|
| Pec Louth |
11 |
|
| Pec Sleaford |
5 |
|
| Pec Stow in Lindsey |
1 |
|
| Lincoln Pecs |
18 |
1619-1703 |
| Pec? |
2 |
1596-9 |
| plus c.350 more, waiting for repair |
| London, Public Record Office |
| PCC |
569 abstracted |
1665-1754 |
| plus 10,000-15,000 more not yet abstracted |
| London Metropolitan Archive (formerly Greater London Record Office) |
| A & Comm Surrey |
12 |
1739-78 |
| A Middx |
71 |
1672-1754 |
| Lambeth Palace Library |
| Court of Arches |
93 |
1555-1733 |
| Pec D Arches |
2 |
1628-35 |
| Pec D Shoreham & Croydon |
21 |
1609-1756 |
| City of Westminster Archives Centre |
| Dean and Chapter Westminster |
small number |
|
| Maidstone, Centre for Kentish Studies |
| A Canterbury |
9737 |
1569-1728 |
| CC Canterbury |
3822 |
1569-1740 |
| Northampton, Northamptonshire Record Office |
| A Northampton |
162 |
1668-85 |
| CC Peterborough |
34 |
1755-1816 |
| Norwich, Norfolk Record Office |
| A Norfolk |
40 |
1729-91 |
| A Norwich |
151 |
1701-1824 |
| CC Norwich |
15 |
1626-1748 |
| More filed with inventories in 108 boxes. Not easily accessible until general probate index made. |
| Nottingham, Nottinghamshire |
| Record Office |
c. 100-300 |
|
| among 100,000 other records. Inaccessible until general probate index made. |
| Oxford, Oxfordshire Archives |
| CC& A Oxford |
710 |
1547-1730 |
| Pec Thame |
1 |
1674 |
| Pec Monks Risborough |
7 |
1617-84 |
| Oxfordshire Pecs |
131 |
1614-1810 |
| Bodleian Library Chancellor's Court, |
| Oxford University |
96 |
1577-1720 |
| Preston, Lancashire Record Office |
| CC Chester |
307 |
1574-1799 |
| Reading, Berkshire Record Office |
| A Berks |
1657 |
1564-1783 |
| Taunton, Somerset Record Office |
| CC Bath & Wells |
925 |
1577-1748 |
| Dean Wells |
1 |
1621 |
| Pec Wiveliscombe |
1 |
1626 |
| circa 50 others inaccessible until repaired |
| Trowbridge, Wiltshire Record Office |
| A Sarum |
597 |
1576-1806 |
| A Sub Dean Sarum |
95 |
1612-1827 |
| A Wilts |
423 |
1600-1774 |
| CC Sarum |
189 |
1595-1768 |
| Pec Dean & Canons Windsor |
4 |
1629-1677 |
| Pec Dean & Chapter Sarum |
5 |
1606-81 |
| Pec Dean Sarum |
216 |
1567-1631 |
| Pec Devizes |
1 |
1732 |
| Pec Lord Warden Savernake Forest |
14 |
1597-1677 |
| Pec Perpetual Vicar Corsham |
2 |
1618-77 |
| Pec Preb Bishopstone |
4 |
1600-30 |
| Pec Preb Chute & Chisenbury |
1 |
1597 |
| Pec Preb Coombe & Harnham |
2 |
1696-1805 |
| Pec Preb Durnford |
2 |
1628-65 |
| Pec Preb Fordington & Writhlington |
6 |
1596-1682 |
| Pec Preb Gillingham |
1 |
1582 |
| Pec Preb Highworth |
4 |
1596-1678 |
| Pec Preb Lyme Regis & Halstock |
10 |
1597-1805 |
| Pec Preb Netheravon |
1 |
1635 |
| Pec Preb Netherbury in Ecclesia |
1 |
1597 |
| Pec Preb Preston |
1 |
1641 |
| Pec Preb Uffculme |
8 |
1596-1680 |
| Pec Preb Yetminster & Grimston |
1 |
1600 |
| Pec Precentor Sarum |
21 |
1609-1793 |
| Pec Treasurer Sarum |
18 |
1594-1793 |
| Pec Trowbridge |
2 |
1635-1731 |
| Truro, Cornwall Record Office |
| A Cornwall |
393 |
1600-1650 |
| Winchester, Hampshire |
| Record Ofice |
451 |
1569-1716 |
| Worcester, County Record Office |
| CC Worcester |
667 |
1583-1825 |
| York, Borthwick Institute |
536 |
|
The surviving accounts here generally related to disputes and have
been filed with the cause papers.
The court to which they relate is not always apparent.
Courts indicated for: |
| Dean & Chapter York |
7 |
1665-1821 |
| Exchequer C York |
192 |
1607-1853 |
| PC York |
72 |
1608-1855 |
It is believed that no accounts survive in county record offices in Carlisle, Chelmsford, Hereford, Lewes and Warwick.
Although probate accounts survive in England, Wales and the American colonies, they do not do so in Ireland or Scotland and it is not clear if there was ever a requirement to render an account in those countries.
|
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