Court of the Bishop of Lincoln (Episcopal Consistory)

England Bedfordshire Probate Records, Lincolnshire Probate Records

Bedfordshire
The Archdeaconry of Bedfordshire was in the Diocese of Lincoln until 1837. Therefore before that time, the Court of the Bishop of Lincoln (Episcopal Consistory) had secondary jurisdiction over the whole of Bedfordshire except the peculiars of Biggleswade and Leighton Buzzard.

Records
The original records are in the collection of the Lincolnshire Archives Office in the city of Lincoln. The records include:


 * Original and register copy wills, 1506-1858
 * Act books, 1553-1701
 * Administrations, 1540-1857
 * Inventories, 1508-1831

For research assistance, contact the archives office.

The records have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library and through family history centers. These include:


 * Wills and administrations, 1506-1857
 * Probate and administration act books, 1553-1701

Indexes
The Lincolnshire Archives Office has an index to Lincolnshire wills, 1701-1800, in PDF format that can be searched online, and other indexes to probate records.

The Family History Library has indexes including:


 * Indexes on the films with the records (see above).
 * Various published indexes including:


 * 1) Calendars of Lincoln wills, 1320-1659
 * 2) Index of Lincoln Consistory Court wills and inventories, 1660-1700
 * 3) Lincolnshire Archives index of Lincoln Consistory Court wills, 1801-1858 (on microfiche)
 * 4) Calendars of administrations in the Consistory Court of Lincoln, 1540-1659
 * 5) A Wills beneficiary index

The library's holdings of probate records for Lincolnshire are listed in the Family History Library catalog under 'England, Lincoln - Probate records' and 'England, Lincoln - Probate records - Indexes.'