Court of the Peculiar of Bierton

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 act books. The Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process until to 1858. This article explains about probate records for this court and how to find a will.

Beginning in 1858, authority over probate matters was taken from ecclesiastical courts and put under the civil authority of the Principal Probate Registry.

Step by Step
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 to the "Probate Records Held in This Archive" (below) to determine what probate records exist for this court. Also see "Probate Records of This Court in The FamilySearch Library". 3. Contact or visit the Oxford record Office or, hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf. Officials may send upon request a list of record searchers. 4. Visit The FamilySearch Library, or, one of its 4,500 satellite FamilySearch centers worldwide and search indexes to probate records; then with the information obtained from the index[es] you can search the original wills and admons available online at a local FamilySearch center or affiliate library near you.

Printed and Published Indexes
Jeremy S. W. Gibson has published an "Index to wills proved in the Peculiar Court of Banbury, 1542-1858," which is available from the Banbury Historical Society, at the Oxfordshire Record Office, at the, and elsewhere.

In addition, these indexes to the records of the peculiar courts of Buckinghamshire are available at the Society of Genealogists in London, and the FamilySearch Library:



The original and microfilmed records listed below also include indexes.

Archive Location
The original records are deposited at the Oxfordshire Record Office, Oxford. They include:


 * Filed wills and administration bonds, 1547-1856 (very incompleted to 1660), and register copy wills, 1736-1859, filed with those for the Court of Peculiar of Banbury
 * Register copy wills, 1701-1708 and 1851-1858, and administration act books, 1674-1856, filed with those for the Court of the Peculiar of Aylesbury.

Archive Records
Add information.

Some records are on microfilm and are available at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City and through FamilySearch centers.


 * (with the records for Banbury; includes indexes)
 * (with the records of Aylesbury; includes indexes)

Jurisdiction
The court had jurisdiction over the parishes of Bierton (with Broughton), Buckland, Quarrendon, and Stoke Mandeville. It was a peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln.