Westmorland Probate Records

England Westmorland

The following text has information about probate records in the county of Westmoreland. To read general information English probate records click here.

Getting Started in Probate Records
Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his/her heirs. Church of England ecclesiatical courts Probates were Beginning in 1858, authority over probate matters was taken from the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England and given to the civil government probate authority and vested in the Principal Probate Registry system. For more information, scroll to the Post-1857 Probate Records section at the bottom of this page.

In order to find a probate record for your ancestor, you must answer two questions:


 * 1) When did your ancestor die?
 * 2) Where did your ancestor live or own property?

Once you have answered the two questions, determined the courts that had jurisdiction over the places. It's important to start you search by look for indexes. Click the links in the Post-1857 section at the end of this article to find the Family History Library films containing the indexes. Indexes will be found on the individual court pages (when you click on a court name) or in the Probate Indexes section below.

If your ancestor died before 1858, his/her probate would have been proven by an ecclesiatical court and it is important to know where he/she lived, as that will determine which courts had jurisdiction. To locate which court, see the Court Jurisdictions section below to determine which courts had jurisdiction over your ancestor's place of residence.

Westmorland Probate Courts
The courts that had jurisdiction over the county were:


 * Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Western Deaneries - Kendal
 * Court of the Bishop of Carlisle (Episcopal Consistory)
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Manor of Ravenstonedale
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Manor of Temple Sowerby

In addition, the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury had jurisdiction over the whole of England. Wealthier individuals, people who owned property in more than one county or lower court's jurisdiction, and Naval personnel often had their estates proven through the Archbishop's court.

Appeals Courts
Any probate that was disputed and could not be settled by the county courts could be sent to these higher appeals courts:


 * Court of Arches
 * High Court of Delegates

Court Jurisdictions by Parish
Before 1858, every town and parish in Westmorland was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts. When looking for a will of an ancestor in this county, search the courts in the order listed. It's best to search an index first. Indexes are mentioned on the individual court pages. To link to the court page, you need to see the jurisdiction tables. Click on one of the following letters to go to a jurisdiction table.

Probate Indexes Online
Before looking for a will, you should search an index. http://www.uclan.ac.uk/ahss/education_social_sciences/history/probate_index.php

An index of wills and related documents covering Lancashire north of the Ribble, and parts of Cumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire, 1748-1858.

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.

Post-1857 Probate Records
Beginning in 1858, the government took over the settlement of estates and all wills are now probated through the Principal Probate Registry system. The system consists of 11 district registry offices and 18 sub-district registries, located throughout England and Wales, and the principal registry office located in London. The records are available through the office of Her Majesty's Courts Service. To learn more about these records go to the HMCS website, and the England Probate Records article in this Wiki.

A country-wide surname index to the records is available, so it is much easier to look for post-1857 wills. The indexes for 1858-1957 and the records for 1858-1925 are available on microfilm in the Family History Library.