Wills can provide important information about houses and their fixtures and fittings. Jeremy Gibson's 'Probate Jurisdictions: Where to look for Wills', available from the Federation of Family History Societies, is an invaluable guide to the likely location of wills. Wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (from 1384 to 1858) can be downloaded for a fee from the DocumentsOnline section of our website. The will registers can also be consulted on microfilm at The National Archives.

Even more useful for the house historian are probate inventories and accounts. Inventories vary greatly in the amount of detail provided, but if you are lucky they may include minute room-by-room descriptions of houses and their contents. Inventories connected with wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury are held here. Details can be found on our online Catalogue.

A published 'Index to the Probate Accounts of England and Wales' (ed. Peter Spufford, London, British Record Society 1999) is available in our library.