Court of the Peculiar of the Dean of Salisbury

England Wiltshire Probate Records or Dorset Probate Records or Berkshire Probate Records

This court was also known as the Court of the Peculiar of the Dean of Sarum.

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 "Family History Library Records." 3. Contact or visit the Wiltshire Record Office or, hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf. Officials may send a list of record searchers upon request. 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.

Online Indexes
Here are two online indexes:


 * The Wiltshire County Record Office's online Will Index 1540-1858 &lt;br&gt;
 * Genuki provides a gateway to these 1000 abstract WillsIndexes are included with the original and mircofilmed records as listed above.

Indexes at The Family History Library
The following index is also available at the Wiltshire Record Office, and the Family History Library:


 * Index Wills at Salisbury 1464-1858
 * Index to the probate records for the parishes of Mere and Swallowcliffe in Wiltshire, England, 1692-1858 (from the records of the Peculiar Court of the Dean of Sarum)
 * Index Wills at Salisbury 1464-1858

Archive Location
Wiltshire and Swindon Archives

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

Cocklebury Road

Chippenham

Wiltshire SN15 3QN

ENGLAND

Email: [mailto:archives@wiltshire.gov.uk archives@wiltshire.gov.uk]

Tel: 44 (0)1249 705500

Fax: 44 (0)1249 705527

Website

The original records are deposited at the Wiltshire Record Office in Trowbridge, England. They include:

Archive Records

 * Register copy wills, etc., 1538-1649, 1706-1730, 1770-1806
 * Wills, administrations, and inventories, 1558-1857

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


 * Wills, original and registered of the peculiar court of the Dean and parish of Sarum, Wiltshire, 1560-1857
 * Probate records, 1607-1694
 * Wills, 1583-1806
 * Miscellaneous wills of Wiltshire, 1540-1809

Jurisdiction
This court had jurisdiction in the following places in Wiltshire:

It also had secondary jurisdiction over the parishes of Monkton Wyld and Sarum.

This court also had jurisdiction over the following places in Berkshire:

This court also had jurisdiction over the following places in Dorset:

In addition, during triennail inhibition, it had jurisdiction over the parishes otherwise in the jurisdiction of the Dean and Canons of Windsor, the Lord Warden of Savernake Forest and the Prebendal Peculiars in Wiltshire, and Faringdon in Berkshire. It's jurisdiction was uninhibited.