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Testamentary Records in the Commissary Court of London, Vol IV,
Parts I-III 1626-1649 & 1661-1700
British Record Society volumes 102, 108 & 111
Published 1992

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Probate Glossary

General Abbreviations

Original Volume Introduction

British Record Society volumes 82, 86, 97, 102, 108 and 111 are a complete index to all names mentioned in wills proved in The London division of the Commissary Court. The index was created from the actual wills, Probate Acts and Acts of Administration and pre dates the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) by 9 years.

The Commissary Court of London had jurisdiction throughout the city of London and suburbs, and the deaneries of Middlesex and Barking. Where are the originals held?
The original wills are no longer at the Guildhall Library, but are now held at The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma

To purchase a copy of the will you need to contact LMA for an order form. Upon completing the form you will need to provide all the information given in the index including the source of the information ie BRS and the specific church court.

You can visit London Metropolitan Archives personally, details of opening hours etc can be found on their website.

Alternatively FamilySearch www.familysearch.org/#form=catalog has filmed all of these probate documents, a microfilm copy of which can be ordered and viewed via your local FamilySearch Family History Center. www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp

What information from the document do I need to locate the original?

• Testator's name
• Year of will or admon
• Register
• Folio

Which court or courts are included?
These volumes (BRS volumes 82, 86, 97, 102, 108 and 111) index the wills and administrations of the Commissary Court of London 1374–1649 and 1661–1700.

Note - wills proved between 1649 and 1660 will be found in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury since during the civil war the church courts were abolished and a single centralised probate system was established. Between this time all wills were proved and all grants of administration made, at one central Court of Probate in London. This was really just the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) under a different name and thus wills etc proved during this period will be found indexed within the PCC.
See PCC volumes BRS 54, BRS 61, and Matthews 1-9 for this period.

Which diocese is involved?
Diocese of London

What does the index include?
All names and places appearing in the will (including place of birth) plus incidental information such as occupation where found in the original documents are included in the index.

The Commissary Court of London indexes, includes a large number of provincial and foreign place names, references that would appear external to its jurisdiction. This includes names of people dying overseas that in theory should be found in the PCC including references to the East India Company its voyages ships and crews. Many French and Dutch settlers, resident in London refugees from religious persecution are also included.

Names are arranged alphabetically. This means some name variants may not appear clustered together. Names in the index are according to the spelling used in the documents, usually based on the signaturee of the testator.

Dates of wills are given in 'Old Style' or Julian Calendar.

The folio number identifies the group of pages, anywhere from 2 to 16, within which the will's first page appears.

See also General Abbreviations which will help with interpreting the indexes.

• The classification of surname variants has been largely based on Dr. P. M. Reaney's Dictionary of British Surnames, London 1958.
• Modern equivalents, so far as possible and practical, have been adopted for surname headings, Christian names and place or parish names; houses, streets and other property names have been given in the original spelling House and estate names are enclosed within inverted commas.
• "W" followed by a year date, preceding the date of probate in the year column, indicates the date at which the Will was made if it preceded probate by five years or more, e.g. W 1443, 1448, means that the Will in question is dated 1443, but probate was granted in 1448.
• A year date in brackets, e g (1400), indicates that the date has been deduced either from the position of the Will in the Register, or from the name of the official granting probate whose years of office are known.
• A year date in brackets followed by ?, e.g. (1400 ?), indicates that doubt is due to an undated entry which has evidently been inserted later.
• A year date followed by (?), e.g. 1400(?) indicates either that confusion has arisen between regnal and calendar years, or the arrangement of the entries in the register is not in strict chronological order.
• "etc" = other unnamed property in named parishes.
• etc = other named parishes.
• / - between place names indicated that the property of testator was between the places or at the corner of the streets mentioned.
• Information in angle brackets, <   >, is derived from Original Wills.
• Information in square brackets, [   ], is derived from the Probate and Administration Act Books.
• Information in round brackets, (   ), is editorial comment or additions.

See also:	Help on Searching - BRS Probate Collection
	General Abbreviations
	Name Abbreviations
	Place Name Abbreviations
	Introduction to Original Volume
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