Court of the Peculiar of Havering-atte-Bower

Return to the Essex Probate Records page.

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 Held In This Archive" (below) to determine what original probate records exist for this court. 3. Contact or visit the Essex 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.

A detailed calendar by Francis W. Steer is found at both the Essex Record Office and at the Society of Genealogists.

Online Indexes
A general will index for Essex County is available online. This single index consolidates Essex county wills of the various probate court jurisdictions, including the various smaller Peculiar Court jurisdictions into one database. If searches within this countywide index proves unsuccessful, then be certain to refer to the above (Steer) publication.

Printed Indexes
If the indexes on the Internet do not produce possible wills for your ancestors, look in the published indexes listed here.

The Essex County Record Office compiled and published a complete surname index covering wills and administrations from eight Essex County probate courts including this court. The index is available in three volumes at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City:


 * Emmison, F. G., ed. [Index to] Wills at Chelmsford.  London: s.n., 1961, by the British Record Society.  (FHL book 942 B4b vols. 78, 79 &amp; 84; also on microfilms 0962739 and 0962740, and on microfiche 6073796, 6073797, and 6073802.)

Other handwritten indexes are listed below in the "Indexes" section. Click on the court name links on the "Essex County Probate Records" home page.

The Court of the Peculiar of Good Easter probate records are also well-covered with the following indexes:

Archive Location
These records are held at;

New College

Holywell Street

Oxford, OX1

UK

Probate Records Held In This Archive
Original Wills &amp; Administrations 1767-1839

Other Testamentary Documents 1753-1839

Administrations (There are only three known extant admons in this probate court.)

Probate Records of This Court in The Family History Library
Not currently available in the FHL collection.

Historical Background
Probate records of this Peculiar Court pertain to not only Havering-atte-Bower, but also Hornchurch and Romford parishes. These parishes comprise the Peculiar Court but the latter two parishes lie within the Liberty of Havering atte Bower. This peculiar court was granted sanction to probate wills within this jurisdiction dating from 1767 to 1839.

Strategies, Tips, Other?
Other possible courts in which a will may have been lodged include:

Archdeaconry Court of Essex

Commissary Court of the Bishop of London (Hertfordshire and Essex Division) [Note: This court probated wills from almost all other Essex parishes including the peculiar courts.]