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

Yorkshire Probate Records Yorkshire Probate Courts

To read a general explanation about probate records in England, click here.

Jurisdiction
The Archdeaconry of Richmond contained the Eastern Deaneries of Richmond, Catterick and Boroughbridge, covering the western half of the North Riding and Lonsdale in the West Riding. To know which court had jurisdiction over a place, see the links in the Court Jurisdictions section of Yorkshire Probate Records.

Records
The records for this court are in the West Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds.

The Family History Library has film copies of the following records. Films can be viewed in the library or in a family history center.

Original wills
The original wills, 1521-1857, have not been filmed. A miscellanous collection of 208 wills and inventories for Richmond, 1442-1578, are on film number 994031 item 7. . The collection was also printed in volume 26 of the Publications of the Surtees Society.

Registered copy wills

 * 1474-1485, 1503, 1529-1551 on film number 98914.
 * 1552-1585 on film number 98914.
 * 1586-1719 -- there are none. Consult the originals.
 * 1720-1731 on film number 98921.
 * 1732-1782 -- there are none. Consult the originals.
 * 1783-1791 on film number 99881 item 2.
 * 1792-1857 -- there are none. Consult the originals.

Act books and other registers

 * 1663-1664 on film number 99953
 * 1665-1679 -- nothing available.
 * 1680-1694 on film number 99952 item 2.
 * 1695-1706 -- nothing available.
 * 1707-1714, 1746 on film number 99952 item 1.
 * 1715-1735 -- nothing available.
 * 1736-1741 on film number 99953 item 2.
 * 1742-1743 -- nothing available.
 * 1744-1746 on film number 99954.
 * 1747-1765 -- nothing available.
 * 1766-1771 on film number 99954.
 * 1772-1776 -- none available.
 * 1777-1806 on film number 99954.
 * 1809-1830 on film number 99954 item 2.
 * 1830-1854 on film 99954 item 3.

Indexes
The Family History Library has copies of the following indexes.

Northern Genealogist volume 3, 1474-1617, for surnames A-G. It includes both original and registered copy wills. Of the surnames A-G, those starting with the letters A, E and G were not available for indexing and apparently have been lost. The title page of the volume claims that the index starts in 1588; however, the registered copy wills include some from the fifteenth century


 * Calendar, 1410-1610, on film numbers 98904-98909.
 * Calendar, 1611-1700, on film numbers 98910-989111.
 * Calendar, 1503-1857, on film numbers 98912-98913.

An index of probate records,1748-1858, for the western deaneries of Amounderness, Copeland, Furness, Kendal and Lonsdale was printed in 2001 by the Institute of Local and Family History, University of Central Lancashire. The Family History Library has a copy of this index (FHL 942.72 P22a volumes 1-20).