Staffordshire Probate Records

England Staffordshire

For an explanation of probate records in England, click here.

Getting Started
Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. The Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process until to 1858. Beginning in 1858, authority over probate matters was taken from ecclesiastical courts and put under the civil authority of the Principal Probate Registry. The Post-1857 Probate Records section below contains links to additional information about the records of this court.

To look for a probate record before 1858:


 * 1) Discover when and where your ancestor died. If you don’t know, use the approximate date and place where they lived.
 * 2) Go to Court Jurisdictions section below.
 * 3) Click a letter or span of letters for your place name. This opens a jurisdictions table.
 * 4) Follow the instructions on the jurisdictions table page.

Staffordshire Probate Courts
The following probate courts had some jurisdiction over the county of Staffordshire prior to 1858; note that most of Staffordshire was covered by its largest court jurisdiction, called--the Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory), but the county also had numerous concurrent smaller jurisdictions called "peculiars" courts as well (see the "Staffordshire Parishes and Their Probate Jurisdictions" section below to determine the correct court jurisdiction for the parish in which you may be searching):


 * Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)
 * Court of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Dean of Lichfield
 * Court of the Peculiar of Alrewas and Weeford
 * Court of the Peculiar of Burton on Trent
 * Court of the Peculiar of Colwich
 * Court of the Peculiar of Eccleshall
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Manor of Gnosall
 * Court of the Peculiar of Hansacre and Armitage
 * Court of the Peculiar of High Offley and Flixton
 * Court of the Peculiar of Longdon
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Manor of Pattingham
 * Court of the Peculiar of Penkridge
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Prebend of Prees or Pipe Minor
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Manor of Sedgely
 * Court of the Peculiar of Tettenhall
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Manor of Tyrley
 * Court of the Peculiar of Whittington and Baswich
 * Court of the Peculiar of Wolverhampton

In addition, the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury held jurisdiction over England including both provinces, York and Canterbury. Mostly the wealthy but occasionally from among even those of modest means who owned property in more than one diocese or smaller court jurisdictions, as well as Royal Naval personnel--often had their estates proven through the Archbishop's court.

Appeals Courts
There were two appeals courts within the Prerogative Court of Canterbury which heard disputes over the administration or probate of an estate. They were the:


 * Court of Arches which held jurisdiction over 13 parishes in the City of London and concurrent jurisdiction over the whole of the provinces of York and Canterbury (records are at Lambeth Palace Library, London).
 * High Court of Delegates or sometimes known as the Court of Delegates, also heard appeals cases regarding probates and administrations.

Some Explanatory Notes on the Courts in Staffordshire
Records and indexes for each court are also available in the collection of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Search the Family History Library Catalog for the title of the court or the court as an author.

Probate Records
REGISTERED WILLS 1516-1771

ORIGINAL WILLS &amp; ADMINISTRATIONS 1527-1857

INVENTORIES 1527-1857

ACT BOOKS 1532-1638

Probate Indexes
Before looking for a will, you should search an index.

Online Indexes
A general will index for the Diocese of Lichfield exists online, a scanned edition of P.W. Phillimore's publicationby the British Record Society in 1892,Calendars of wills administrations in the Consistory court of the bishop of Lichfield''. This single index consolidates most Staffordshire wills of the various probate court jurisdictions from 1514-1652 for the Diocese of Lichfield and to 1790 for Staffordshire smaller peculiar courts. ''

Printed Indexes
See the above online indexes available at Google.books which is copy of a printed will index for Staffordshire.

The Smethwick Local history Society has published the Probate inventories of Smethwick residents, 1647-1747 : in the Lichfield Joint Record Office.

Staffordshire Parishes and Their Probate Jurisdictions
Before 1858, most Staffordshire parishes came under the major probate court jurisdiction of the Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory). A few parishes came under the direct jurisdiction of secondary or peculiar courts. When looking for the will of an ancestor, you should search the courts in the order given. For an authoritative treatise on each Staffordshire probate court and the parishes comprising them in pre-1858, see Anthony J. Camp's publication, Wills and Their Whereabouts; also available at the Family History Library, FHL book call #942 S2wa. Search indexes first. For indexes, click on the court name links above [soon to be constructed]. When looking for the will of an ancester, you should search the courts in the order given. Search indexes first. For indexes, click on the court name links above.

Here are links to an alphabetical list of Staffordshire parishes containing a prioritized list of courts with jurisdiction over each. To see which courts to search for probates of persons living in or owning property in particular parish, click on the letter the parish name begins with.

Estate Duty Records
Starting in 1796, a tax or death duty was payable on estates over a certain value. Estate duty abstracts may add considerable information not found elsewhere. Between 1813-1858 estate duty indexes may help locate a will. For more information, go to Estate Duty Records.

Post-1857 Probate Records
Beginning in 1858, the government took over the settlement of estates and all wills are now probated through the Principal Probate Registry system. The system consists of 11 district registry offices and 18 sub-district registries, located throughout England and Wales, and the principal registry office located in London. The records are available through the office of Her Majesty's Courts Service. To learn more, go to the HMCS website.

A country-wide surname index to the records is available, so it is much easier to look for post-1857 wills. The indexes for 1858-1957 and the records for 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.