Court of the Bishop of London (Episcopal Consistory)

[Return to the Essex Probate Records page.]

Location of These Records
London Metropolitan Archives &amp; Library 40 Northampton Road London EC1R 0HB Tel 020 7332 3820 Fax 020 7833 9136 E-mail: ask.lma@cityoflondon.gov.uk Website

History and Background
Probate records of the Consistory Court of The Bishop of London commence from 1362-

Searching for probates in this court
CALENDAR

REGISTERED WILLS &lt;br&gt;

ORIGINAL WILLS &lt;br&gt;

ACT BOOKS

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Online indexes&lt;br&gt;
A general will index for Essex County is available &amp;nbsp; online. This single index consolidates just about all Essex county wills of the various probate court jurisdictions into one database.

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Printed Indexes&lt;br&gt;
The Essex County Record Office compiled and published a complete surname index covering wills and administrations from&amp;nbsp;eight Essex County probate courts including this court.


 * Emmison, F. G., ed.&amp;nbsp; [Index to] Wills at Chelmsford.&amp;nbsp; (FHL book 942 B4b vols. 78, 79 &amp;amp; 84; also on microfilms 0962739 and 0962740; also on microfiche 6073796, 6073797, and 6073802.)&lt;br&gt;

Original Handwritten Indexes
Calendars to the Probate Acts of Wills and Administrations (Admons) exist from 1400-1858. Calendars are a kind of index to the day to day probate court procedures in which wills and admons (administrations) are processed. &lt;br&gt;

In addition to the calendars, a majority of the original (unregistered) wills and the registered wills are alphabetically arranged at the Record Office and are likewise organized on the microfilmed probates for this court at the Family History Library. Visit the Essex County &amp;nbsp; Archives or the Family History Library Catalog under Essex, England to determine availability of records.

Microfilmed Indexes at the Family History Library
Original (Unregistered) Wills and Registered Wills as well as extant indexes for this court are available on microfilm at the Family History Library and may be circulated to each of its satellite Family History Centers (see Court of the Archdeaconry of Essex), or go to this Family History Library Catalog&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;page&lt;br&gt;

Strategies, Tips, Other?
There are no indexes on microfilm for the years 1718-1858 for the Archdeaconry Court of Essex. See the above general countywide index online (see "online Indexes) or available through the Family History Library's&amp;nbsp;(see "Printed Indexes) many family history centers worldwide for an index to this court.

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To view a list of parishes and their&amp;nbsp;respective probate court jurisdiction, see the "Essex Parishes Parishes and Their Probate Jurisdictions" on the main page for Essex Probate Records.