Canada, British Columbia Wills - FamilySearch Historical Records

Canada British Columbia

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes probate records from 1861 to 1981.

Probate records were kept by probate or surrogate courts. Often the size of the estate determined which court held jurisdiction. Search the records of all probate courts in all places where the individual had property.

The Central Will Registry is maintained by the Department of the Attorney General for all wills probated in the province of British Columbia. Probate records before 1930 are usually at provincial archives, with microfilm copies at the appropriate court. More recent probate records are usually only at the court.

The Family History Library has microfilmed records from the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) (formerly known as the National Archives of Canada (NAC); and earlier known as the Public Archives of Canada (PAC)) and the provincial archives in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. It has vital records and probate records from British Columbia, homestead applications from Saskatchewan, land and property and probate records from Newfoundland, and probate records from Manitoba but few records from other Canadian archives. More information can be found at the Canada Archives and Libraries article.

A will is a written, legal expression of a person’s wishes for himself and his property at the time of his death. It usually describes the estate and gives the names and relationships of heirs or beneficiaries. The affidavit of the witnesses includes the date or proof of death. If accepted by the court, a copy of the will was sometimes recorded in a will book or register kept by the clerk of the court. The clerk may have made errors when he transcribed the will, but the original will is often kept in the probate packet.

For a list of an index and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Sample Images
Wills can be a great source to verify family information. Wills will often name relatives by name and relation, making it a great tool for genealogists who are trying to gather all members of a family. It can also be useful in figuring out extended familial relations.

Wills also give a sense of the types of property your ancestor owned. This can help a researcher understand more about the living conditions certain ancestors lived under.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Records from the British Columbia Wills collection may include the following information:


 * Date of death
 * Names of heirs and guardians
 * Relationships
 * Residences
 * An inventory of the estate
 * Names of witnesses

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate year of death.
 * The approximate date of probate.
 * The names of family members and their relationships.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select "Browse Images" on the initial search page ⇒ Select the appropriate "Record Type" ⇒ Select the appropriate "Index Year and Surname or Will Number Range," which will take you to the images.

Important: There are indexes available in this collection of images. The indexes are located in the section titled, Index. Look for your ancestor's name and look for the will number by their name. You may need to look through a number of folders before you find your ancestor. The will number is listed under the column, Remarks and not the column, Will#. This will help you find the record you are looking for in the collection. Also, The number for each will is written in the upper right-hand corner of each page of the will in small script, be aware that some wills are missing from the collection. The Will Numbers are listed in the indexes under the "Remarks" column, and NOT the "Wills" column. Some letters of the alphabet are continued at the end of the index volume. The index to these wills is also the index to the Victoria Probate Registry district records.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s probate record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information found in the probate record to search for the family in census records.
 * Use the probate record to help identify family members.
 * Search the British Columbia Death registrations for the death record of your ancestor.
 * Search for additional records in the county and province about your ancestor.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Don't forget to search through the handwritten indexes that have been digitized in this collection with the wills! They will help you know if your ancestor is there without having to search through every will within a certain time frame.
 * Verify if your ancestor died in British Columbia. You may be able to do this using the British Columbia Death Registrations that are available online.
 * Not everyone in British Columbia had a will when they died. It's possible that the person you're looking for was one of those who didn't leave a will.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Image Citation