Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)

Step By Step
1. First search each index (see below) to help you more quickly find the will or administration (admon), writing down each detail cited in the indexed entry. 2. Proceed to "Records" (below) to determine what probate records exist for this court. 3. Contact or visit the Worcestershire Record Office or, hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf. Officials may send upon request a list of record searchers. 4. Visit The Family History Library or, one of its 4,500 satellite family history centers worldwide and search indexes to probate records; then with the information obtained from the index[es] you can search more quickly the original wills and admons also on microfilm via any centers near you.

Online Indexes
Here's an early index to this courts' wills from 1451-1642, available online. A similar publication covering only 1451-1600 has been digitized and made searchable on Ancestry.com, accessible from home (with a paid subscription) or from a Family History Centre (for free).

Printed and Published Indexes
The original and microfilmed records above include the following published indexes:


 * Calendar of Wills and Admons he Worcester Consistory Court of Worcester, 1451-1600 vol 31 Nendeln, Liechtenstein : Kraus Reprint, 1968
 * Calendar of Wills and Admons he Worcester Consistory Court of Worcester, 1601-1652 vol 39 Nendeln, Liechtenstein : Kraus Reprint, 1968
 * Wills and Admons

Indexes available at the Family History Library:

The Family History Library has the following calendars and indexes:


 * vol. 31 edited by Edward Alexander Fry. Also available on
 * vol. 39 edited by Edward Alexander Fry. Also available on
 * . Includes indexes.
 * Index of Probate from January-March 1660 for the Bishop of Worcester Original Wills.
 * Index of Probate from January-March 1660 for the Bishop of Worcester Original Wills.

Archive Location
The original records are deposited at:

The Worcestershire Records Office.

County Hall

Spetchley Road

Worcester WR5 2NP

ENGLAND

Tel: 44 (001905 766351 / 766355

Fax: 44 (0)1905 766363

Minicom: 766399

Email: [mailto:RecordOffice@worcestershire.gov.uk RecordOffice@worcestershire.gov.uk]

Archive Records
Add information about the manuscript, printed and digital records in this location.

They include:


 * Original wills, administrations and inventories, 1493-1652, 1660-1858
 * Register copy wills, 1451-1739 (with gaps), 1833-1836
 * Probate and administration act books, 1661-1858

Family History Library Records
Many of Worcestershire's Probate records have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and through the many family history centers world-wide. These include:



Jurisdiction
This court had jurisdiction over most of the county of Worcestershire. It also had jurisdiction over the city of Warwick and the deaneries of Kineton and Warwick in southwest Warwickshire (here's an alphabetical List of Warwickshire Parishes that came under the Bishop of Worcester's pre-1837 court jurisdiction). This court (Bishop of Worcester) also held concurrent jurisdiction over parts of Gloucestershire diocese, prior to 1541 (though few Gloucestershire wills are found in its records).