Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries

Return to the Lancashire Probate Records page.

Location of These Probate Records
Lancashire Record Office

Bow Lane

PRESTON

Lancashire PR1 2REUK

Tel: +44(0)1772 533039 Fax: +44(0) 1772 533050 Email: record.office@ed.lancscc.gov.uk

Their Website

Opening Times:

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 8.30pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 5 pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 4pm

Saturdays 2009 opening dates:  10 January                    8 August   14 February                 12 September   14 March                     10 October   18 April                        14 November     9 May                        12 December    13 June

11 July

Historical Background
Return to the Lancashire Probate Records page.

The Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries included the deaneries of Amounderness, Copeland, Furniss, Kendal, and Lonsdale held jurisdiction over parishes immediately north of the River Ribble all the way up to and even across the northern county borders. Boundaries of this probate jurisdictions include parishes in portions of counties Cumberland and Yorkshire. When a search of this courts’ probate records fails to provide the desired probate record, be sure to search the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury as well.

The parishes to each Deanery can be brokendown as follows:

Deanery of Amounderness:
Halton Hambleton

Deanery of Furness
Haverthwaite Hawkeshead

Deanery of Lonsdale
Hornby

Deanery of Kendal
Heysham

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Starting Your Search in Indexes
1. First search each index (see below) to help you more quickly find the will, writing down each detail cited in the indexed entry.

2. Proceed then to the "Probate Records of This Court" section (see below) to determine what original probate records exist for this court.

3. Contact or visit the Lancashire Record Office, or, hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf, citing information obtained from the index[es]. Officials may send upon request a list of record searchers.

4. You can also visit The Family History Library, or, one of its 4,500 satellite family history centers worldwide and search indexes (see the Family History Library's cataloged entries providing the microfilms so you can have them circulated to the center near you for searching the wills). The information obtained from the index[es] will help you more quickly search the wills and admons which can also be circulated on microfilm via any family history.

Probate Indexes
Surviving wills and admons to the Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries - Amounderness probate records have to some extent been indexed with the following ones:

Printed and Published Indexes

 * Lancashire and Cheshire wills and inventories, 1572 to 1696, now preserved at Chester: with an appendix of Lancashire and Cheshire wills and inventories proved at York or Richmond, 1542 to 1649
 * Archdeaconry of Richmond, Western Deaneries - Amounderness index from 1748-1858
 * Lancashire &amp; Cheshire Record Society vols. 10 - 1457-1680; 13 - 1681-1748; 23 - 1748-1792; 66 - 1793-1812; 99 - 1813-1837; 105 - 1838-1858
 * Surtees Society abstracted wills in vol. 26 - 1442-1579

Online Indexes
Lancashire is one of the few England counties possessing two main probate courts with significant portions of its documents indexed. For this court, the Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries - Amounderness, there is a wonderful index available online covering the years from 1748 to 1858. (Keep checking back to determine if the range of years covered, increase beyond these years.)

Original Handwritten Indexes
Calendars of wills and admons early to 1720

Microfilmed Indexes at the Family History Library&lt;br&gt;
The indexes as listed in the above are also available in the collection of The Family History Library and they are on microfilm and may be circulated to each of its satellite Family History Centers worldwide.

Searching for probates in this court.
This court is comprised of the following geographical divisions (called Western Deaneries): Amounderness, Furness, Lonsdale, and Kendal. The records for each deanery are as follows:

Amounderness Deanery

ORIGINAL WILLS 1660-1860

Furness Deanery

ORIGINAL WILLS 1503-1860

Lonsdale Deanery

ACT BOOKS 1529-1858

Kendal Deanery

ORIGINAL WILLS 1457-1860

Strategies, Tips, Other?
See the above Indexes or those available through the Family History Library or its many family history centers worldwide for an index to this court.

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

[England: Lancashire]