Court of the Peculiar of the Honour of Knaresborough

England Yorkshire  Yorkshire Probate Courts

To read a general explanation of probates in England, click here. Click to read a definition of the word peculiar.

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.

Step By Step
1. Search indexes to help you more quickly find the will, writing down each detail given in the index.

2. Go to "Records" (below) to determine what probate records exist for this court.

3. Obtain the records to search. Use one of these methods to find indexes and records.


 * Contact or visit the Archive (see below) or hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf.
 * Order microfilm copies of the indexes and records listed in the Family History Library Records (see section below) by visiting the Family History Library or one of its family history centers and search indexes and records.

Online Indexes

 * Indexes for 54 peculiar courts, 1383-1883, are available online on BritishOrigins. This is a subscription site.

Printed and Published Indexes

 * A printed index to the originals appears in volume 110 of the Publications of the Surtees Society.
 * A filmed calendar of two bound manuscript volumes, 1640-1858, is on in the Family History Library. Films can be view in the library or in a family history center.

Archive Location
The records for this court are held in the [http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/bihr/contact.htm Borthwick Institute of Historical Research. ]

Archive Records
The National Archives has manor court rolls containing Enrolled Wills, Adminstrations and Inventories, 1507-1668.

Family History Library Records
Except for the calendar, no original records have been filmed, but there are printed indexes and extracts from wills enrolled in the manorial court rolls.

Jurisdiction
Knaresborough was an honour court, meaning a manorial court that presided over several other manors. It was not inhibited, but wills for this area may be found under several other jurisdictions, including prebendal jurisdiction for Knaresborough in the sixteenth century.