Buckinghamshire Probate Records

Getting Started
Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. Probate records include wills and administrations. This article is about probate records in Buckinghamshire. See England Probate Records for a general description of probate records in England.

1858 to the Present
Beginning in 1858, the Principal Probate Registry had the authority for probating estates. Click on the link to learn more.

Online Records

 * 1858-1957 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Before 1858
Before 1858, Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process. To search for a pre-1858 probate record in Buckinghamshire, follow these steps:

Step 1. Search Indexes
Here are some online indexes to probate records that include individuals who lived in Buckinghamshire. Search these indexes first:


 * Between 1483-1858, the Court of the Archdeaconry of Buckingham proved over 35,000 wills of ordinary people of Buckinghamshire. The Volumes of wills registered in the court of the Archdeacon of Buckingham, 1483-1858 at the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies contains an online index. Click on Details next to each entry to view index.
 * The Buckinghamshire Family History Society has created an online searchable will index.
 * Buckinghamshire Probate Records 1483-1660 and Buckinghamshire Peculiars 1420-1660 at Findmypast ($).

Did you find a reference to a probate record?


 * If yes, go to Step 4 below.
 * If no, go to Step 2 below.

Step 2. Identify when and where your ancestor died
Determine when your ancestor died. If you aren't sure, use an approximate date.

Determine where your ancestor died. It is easier to find a probate record if you know whether the place where your ancestor lived or died is a parish. To learn whether it is a parish, look it up in a gazetteer. Here is a link to the 1872 Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales online:


 * Vision of Britain

The gazetteer will either tell you:


 * A place is a parish, or
 * What parish it is a part of, or
 * What place it is near.

If the latter, look that place up in the gazetteer and see if it is a parish.

Once you have identified the parish, go to Step 3.

Step 3. Identify court jurisdictions by parish
Once you have identified the parish where your ancestor lived or died, learn which courts had jurisdiction over it then search indexes for those courts.

Before 1858, every town and parish in Buckinghamshire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and several secondary courts. Most of Buckinghamshire was under the primary jurisdiction of the Court of the Archdeaconry of Buckingham, hence the majority of genealogical searches will be in the records of that court and its superior (or secondary) courts. Click on the court name link in the previous sentence to learn about the records.

For a list of Buckinghamshire parishes that were exceptions to the above, and the courts that had jurisdiction over them, click here. The list of courts is also listed below in the Buckinghamshire Probate Courts.

Always search indexes first. To see a list of indexes, click on a court name or go to the Search Indexes section above.

Step 4. Obtain a copy of the probate record
Once you have found an index reference to a probate, obtain a copy of the record. Do so by one of these methods:


 * (*) at FamilySearch Catalog - some images may only be available at a FamilySearch Center or FamilySearch Affiliate Library.
 * Visit or contact the record office that has the original records in its collection.

Buckinghamshire Probate Courts
Most of Buckinghamshire was under the pre-1858 probate jurisdiction of the Court of the Archdeaconry of Buckingham. However, the following courts also had some pre-1858 jurisdiction within the county. Click on a court name to learn about records and indexes.


 * Court of the Archdeaconry of St. Albans
 * Court of the Bishop of Lincoln (Episcopal Consistory)
 * Court of the Bishop of London (Episcopal Consistory)
 * Courts of the Bishop and Archdeaconry of Oxford (Episcopal Consistory)
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln
 * Court of the Peculiar of Aylesbury
 * Court of the Peculiar of Banbury
 * Court of the Peculiar of Bierton
 * Court of the Peculiar of Buckingham
 * Court of the Peculiar of Monks Risborough
 * Court of the Peculiar of the Provost of Eton
 * Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury.