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Copy of section of Jane Austen's will (Catalogue reference: PROB 11/1596)

This is a brief guide to researching records of a will or administration before 1858 which was provedprove - to obtain legal authentication in England and Wales. At that time, over 250 church courts dealt with wills and administrations. The records of most of these courts are kept in local archives. 

  • What do I need to know before I start?

    • Try to find out:

      • the name of the person
      • the geographical location
      • an approximate date of death

  • What records can I find in other archives and organisations?

    • Wills and administrations from other courts

      Visit local archives for wills and administrations from courts other than the Prerogative Court of Canterbury - search ARCHON to find the relevant office.

    • Online indexes of wills held by other archives

      Consult the National Wills Index, at Origins.net (£there will be a charge) which has:

      • the indexes to the wills proved by the Prerogative Court of York
      • several collections of pre-1858 indexes and abstracts

  • The National Archives is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Related guides

Did you know?

The Prerogative Court of Canterbury was the highest church court in England and Wales until 1858.
 
An application for administration would be made when a person died without leaving a will.

Not everyone left a will and not all wills needed to be proved by a court.

Most people used the appropriate church court. Even in the late 1850s, just before the national court was established, the Prerogative Court of Canterbury was only proving about 40% of the national total of 21,653 wills.

How to determine which court dealt with a will or administration before 1858

Consult A simplified guide to probate jurisdictions by Jeremy Gibson for maps of the areas covered by each church court and details of their surviving records.

Alternatively, see Tracing your ancestors in The National Archives by Amanda Bevan for a table showing where to look for records by county.

There were three main factors determining in which court a will would be proved:

  • where the person died
  • the value of the goods
  • how these goods were distributed geographically

In the period up to 1858 the country was divided into two provinces:

  • York
  • Canterbury

The associated courts were the Prerogative Courts of Canterbury and York (or Archbishop's prerogative courts).

The two provinces were split into a number of dioceses. These turn were divided into several archdeaconries, which were then split into rural deaneries. If a person was relatively poor the estate was usually dealt with in the archdeacon's court.

The will of a person with goods in more than one archdeaconry was proved in the bishop's diocesan court. There were also various other courts, known as 'peculiars', administered by the deans and chapters of cathedrals.

The list below may help you establish which type of court would have proved a will:

  • If it was within one archdeaconry then the will was proved in an Archdeacon's court
  • If it was within more than one archdeconry but all in the same diocese then the will was proved in a Bischop's court
  • If it was within more than one diocese or if the goods were valued at more than £5 (or £10 in London) then it was proved in an Archbishop's prerogative court

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