Court of the Peculiar of Burton upon Trent

England Derbyshire Probate Records, Staffordshire Probate Records

Getting Started: Step by Step
1. First search each index (see below) to help you more quickly find the will or administration (admon), writing down each detail cited in the indexed entry. 2. Proceed to the "Probate Records in This Archive" (below) to determine what original probate records exist for this court. 3. Contact or visit the Staffordshire County 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 Family History Library, or, one of its 4,500 satellite family history centers worldwide and search indexes to probate records; then with the information obtained from the index[es] you can search more quickly the original wills and admons also on microfilm via any centers near you.

Indexes
The collection on microfilm includes a Calendar of wills, administrations and inventories. A calendar is an index arranged first alphabetically by the beginning letter of a testator's surname and second by date.

The British Index Library has published an index to wills for 1529-1652 for the peculiars deposited at Lichfield including Burton upon Trent. However, it is doubtful that it actually includes Burton upon Trent wills since any surviving records for this period are appearently found in the records of the Court of the Bishop of Lichfield.

Records
The original records are deposited at the Lichfield Record Office. They include:


 * Original wills, 1678-1858

Other earlier Burton upon Trent wills are included in the records of the Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory).

The records have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and through family history centers. They include:


 * Original wills, administrations, and inventories, in various Peculiar Courts (including Burton upon Trent)

Jurisdiction
This court was a peculiar under the Bishop of Lichfield. It was also known as the Manorial Court of Burton on Trent. It had jurisdiction over the Staffordshire parish of Burton upon Trent as well as:

This court also had jurisdiction over the Derbyshire parish of Stapenhill and the village of Winshill. Stapenhill is on the border of Derbyshire and Staffordshire and is separated from the borough of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, by the River Trent. Winshill, though a township within the parish and borough of Burton on Trent, lies on the Derbyshire side of the river, and north of Stapenhill.