Middlesex Probate Records

Getting Started
Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. Probate records include wills and administrations. This article is about probate records in Middlesex. See England Probate Records for a general description of probate records in England.

1858 to the Present
Beginning in 1858, the Principal Probate Registry had the authority for probating estates. Click on the link to learn more.

Before 1858
Before 1858, Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process. To search for a pre-1858 probate record in Middlesex, follow these steps:

Step 1. Search Indexes
Online indexes to probate records that include individuals who lived in Middlesex:


 * Indexes to the Ancient Testamentary Records of Westminster (1913) by Arthur Meredyth Burke. The extant testamentary records of Westminster indexed in this book consist of the testamentary records of the Peculiar Court, 1504-1700, the Westminster wills and administrations preserved amongst the records of the Consistory Court of London, 1540-1556, and the miscellaneous testamentary records preserved in the Muniment Chamber of Westminster Abbey, 1228-1700.

The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has the following index on CD-Rom:


 * grants of probate and administration for all courts and peculiars (except the PCC) in London and Middlesex 1750-1858. To purchase your own copy of this CD, go to this website: http://www.davideastkent.canterhill.co.uk/lp-index.htm.

Also search indexed abstracts:


 * London &amp; Middlesex Will Abstracts 1700-1704 at Origins.net (£). Includes 2042 abstracts of original wills proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex, Archdeaconry Court of London, Commissary Court of London, Consistory Court of London and Peculiar Court of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral.

Did you find a reference to a probate record?


 * If yes, go to Step 4 below.
 * If no, go to Step 2 below.

Step 2. Identify when and where your ancestor died
Determine when your ancestor died. If you aren't sure, use an approximate date.

Determine where your ancestor died. It is easier to find a probate record if you know whether the place where your ancestor lived or died is a parish. To learn whether it is a parish, look it up in a gazetteer. Here is a link to the 1872 Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales online:


 * Vision of Britain

The gazetteer will either tell you:


 * A place is a parish, or
 * What parish it is a part of, or
 * What place it is near.

If the latter, look that place up in the gazetteer and see if it is a parish.

Once you have identified the parish, go to Step 3.

Step 3. Identify court jurisdictions by parish
Once you have identified the parish where your ancestor lived or died, learn which courts had jurisdiction over it then search indexes for those courts. Every town and parish in Middlesex fell under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts. Click on a link below for the letter the parish begins with.

This list does not include London city parishes. For those, go to London Probate Records.

Step 4. Obtain a copy of the probate record
Once you have found an index reference to a probate, obtain a copy of the record. Do so by one of these methods:


 * Visit or contact the record office that has the original records in its collection.
 * Visit the Family History Library or a family history center and obtain a copy of the record on microfilm. For more information, click on a court name below.

Probate Courts of Middlesex County

 * Court of the Archdeaconry of Middlesex, Middlesex Division
 * Court of Husting
 * Court of the Archdeaconry of London
 * The Court of Arches of the Archbishop of Canterbury
 * Court of the Bishop of London (Episcopal Consistory)
 * Court of the Commissary of the Bishop of London (London Division)
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster (Abbey)
 * Court of the Deanery of the Arches of London, Croydon, Shoreham (Peculiar of the Archbishop of Canterbury)
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral
 * Royal Peculiar Court of St Katherine's by the Tower
 * Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Some Explanatory Notes on the Middlesex Probate Courts
Probate records of Middlesex, incorporating Greater London and the whole of the ancient county of Middlesex commence from as early as 1258 up to 1857. There are several Middlesex County probate court jurisdictions, some of which hold extensive probate record coverage for the greater metropolis and there are a few smaller court jurisdictions which only pertain to a small handful of parishes.

The complexity of probate research in this most populous region of England resides in the fact that Greater London's layout is likewise complex, incorporating the whole of Middlesex and London counties, as well as portions of northwest Kent, northeast Surrey, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire. Several courts held concurrent jurisdiction with one another thus requiring searching multiple probate courts.