Court of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries - Copeland

A general explanation of probate records in England, is given in the article England Probate Records.

Description
Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. The term probate refers to a collection of documents, including wills, administrations (also called admons), inventories, and codicils. The Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process until to 1858.

Printed and Published Indexes
The University of Central Lancashire has "An index of all surviving probate documents for the Western Deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Richmond, 1748-1858 has been prepared. The deaneries included are Amounderness, Copeland, Furness, Kendal and Lonsdale". The indexes are based on 36,676 wills. Indexes for surnames and for places are free of charge.

A few abstracts of documents relating to Richmond probates are found in miscellaneous collections. Filmed and  stop in 1720. The are a substitute index, 1720-1857. The FamilySearch Library has, 1541-1857 on film.

Archive Location
These documents are held at: Lancashire Record Office Lancashire Record Office

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

FamilySearch Library Records
The indexes and original records have been digitized and are available online at a FamilySearch centre or a FamilySearch affiliate library near you:.

Jurisdiction
This court is part of the western deaneries. Four other courts are included in the western deaneries: Amounderness, Furness, Kendal and Lonsdale. These courts cover parts of Lancashire. of each deanery, including Copeland, are on film in the FamilySearch Library.