Court of the Peculiar of the Dean of Windsor

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 probates and how to get started to search for 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 "Records" (below) to determine what probate records exist for this court. Also see "FamilySearch Library Records." 3. Contact or visit The Aerary St Geroge's Chapel Dean's Cloister Windsor Castle 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
The original and copy wills (only 18 in number) have been abstracted in "" by Canon J. N. Dalton (1957). FS Library book 942.29/W2 H25b no. 11.

Archive Location
The original records are held at the Aerary, St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. They include:


 * Original and copy wills, etc., 1396-1638
 * Register copy wills, etc., 1662-1735

Archive Records
Add information about the manuscript, printed and digital records in this location.

Family History Records
The records have not yet been microfilmed and are not available at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City.

Jurisdiction
Windsor is a 'royal peculiar' subject only to the crown. This court had jurisdiction "in the freehold of the College within the Lower Ward of Windsor Castle." Wills proven through this court would have been for the Deans, Canons and other staff of the College of St. George at Windsor Castle.