Court of the Bishop of Hereford (Episcopal Consistory)

Step By Step
1. If you have not yet found an index reference for the probate record of your ancestor, search the indexes listed below. If you find a reference, write down each detail cited in the index entry. 2. Proceed to "Records" (below) to determine what probate records exist for this court. 3. Contact or visit the Herefordshire Record Office, or hire a professional record searcher to view these records on your behalf. Officials may be able to send a list of record searchers upon request. OR... 4. Visit theFamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, or one of its 4,500 satellite family history centers worldwide, and search indexes to the probate records. With the information obtained from an index, you can more quickly find the original records on microfilm and view the film.

Online Indexes

 * 1660-1858 - Wills search on Herefordshire.gov.uk. Includes ' over 45,000 entries taken from the Hereford Diocese Probate Act Books 1700-1858 and Hereford Deanery Probate Act Books 1660-1858.'

Here, with links on the GENUKI website, are some online indexes to this courts' wills.

Printed and Microfilmed Indexes
Printed indexes available at the FamilySearch Library and elsewhere:


 * Index to wills proved in the Court of the Bishop of Hereford, 1444-1578, printed in Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, FS Library book 942 B2m series 5 volume 4.
 * also on film.
 * also on film.

The FamilySearch Library has film copies of the following indexes:



The original and microfilmed records listed below also include indexes.

Indexes available on film may be viewed at the FamilySearch Library or may be ordered for viewing through a family history center.

If you find an index reference to the probate records of your ancestor, proceed to the 'Records' section below and follow the instructions.

Records
To obtain a copy of the probate record of your ancestor, either visit or contact the archive which holds the original records or visit theFamilySearch Library or a family history center and view the record on microfilm, as indicated below.

Archive Location
The original records are deposited at:

Herefordshire Archive Service Herefordshire Record Office Harold Street Hereford HR1 2QX Office Tel No: 44 (0) 1432 260750 Email: archives@herefordshire.gov.uk Herefordshire Archives Website

Archive Records
They include:


 * Original wills, administrations, and inventories, 1520-1539 (with a few earlier), 1540-1858
 * Register copy wills, 1663-1858
 * Various act books, 1445-1835, 1587-1686, 1662/3-1858
 * Tuition bonds, 1673-1792

FamilySearch Library Records
Records of this court have been microfilmed and are available at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City and through the many family history centers world-wide. Click on a link below to find a film number:


 * consist of all acts by the archdeacon. They are not all probate records.
 * consist of all acts by the archdeacon. They are not all probate records.
 * consist of all acts by the archdeacon. They are not all probate records.
 * consist of all acts by the archdeacon. They are not all probate records.
 * consist of all acts by the archdeacon. They are not all probate records.

Use the reference found in the index, such as the probate date and a page or folio number, to find the probate record on film.

Jurisdiction
This court had jurisdiction over all of Herefordshire except the following:


 * Eight southwest parishes in the area of Longtown that were in the Court of the Archdeaconry of Breconshire
 * The city of Hereford and twenty-five parishes in the jurisdiction of the Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Dean of Hereford
 * And the peculiar prebends of Little Hereford, Upper Bullinghope or Upper Bullingham, and Moreton Magna or Moreton-upon-Lugg.

Before 1541, when the Diocese of Gloucester was formed, the western portion of Gloucestershire beyond the rivers Severn and Leaden was in the Court of the Bishop of Hereford (Episcopal Consistory) and there are consequently a few Gloucestershire wills in this court prior to 1541.

This court also had jurisdiction over these parishes in Worcestershire: