Court of the Bishop of Gloucester (Episcopal Consistory)

Gloucestershire Probate Records

Jurisdiction
This court had primary jurisdiction over the whole of Gloucestershire except those parishes in the jurisdiction of the Court of the Bishop of Bristol, three Peculiar Courts of Bibury, Bishop's Cleeve and Withington and held concurrent jurisdiction over two Warwickshire parishes, Welford and Sutton-Under-Brailes--both of which lay partly in Gloucestershire and Warwickshire.

Before 1541 all the county was in the Diocese of Worcester, except for the parishes beyond the Severn which were in the Diocese of Hereford. The Diocese of Gloucester was formed in that year. Wills for the years 1650-1660 may be found in the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Records
The original records are deposited at the Gloucestershire Archives. They include:


 * Original wills and administrations, 1541-1650, 1660-1858
 * Registered wills, 1667-1858
 * Registers of acts and administrations, 1570-1628, 1640-1650, 1668-1858
 * Inventories, 1587-1650, 1660-
 * A caveat book for 1723-1754

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


 * Wills, 1542-1685
 * Probate records, 1541-1858 (including original wills 1541-1650, 1687, 1692-1697, register copy wills 1667-1691, 1698-1857, and act books 1570-1628, 1640-1649, and 1668-1858)

Indexes

 * Handwritten indexes are included with the original records at the archives and on microfilm, as above.
 * The Gloucestershire Archives has an online index included in their Genealogical Database.
 * Indexes to wills (1541-1650, 1660-1800) and administrations (1684-1800) have been printed by the British Index Library (FHL book 942 B4b, vols. 12 and 34).