Court of the Peculiar of Witham Friary

England Somerset  Somerset Probate Records

Return to the Somerset Probate Records page.

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 "Probate Records Held in This Archive" (below) to determine what original probate records exist for this court. Also see "Probate Records of This Court in The Family History Library".

3. Contact or visit the Somersetshire 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.

Online Index
Here is an online index of Somersetshire wills 1796-1857

Indexes at the Family History Library
Also try the indexes to the following probate collections at the Family History Library:

Estate Duty Wills 1805-1811

Estate Duty Wills Index 1812-1857

Death Duty Registers of Abstracts of Administrations and Probates of Wills 1796-1811

Important Note:
The records of the Consistory Court of the Dean and Chapter of Wells, which were all deposited at the Probate Registry at Exeter, were destroyed by enemy action during World War II. The following is information on the very few records that survive.

Archives Location
The surviving original records are deposited at:

Somerset Record Office

Obridge Road

Taunton TA2 7PU

England

Tel: (0)1823 278805

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

Probate Records of This Court Held in This Archive
Wills 1669-1821

Administrations 1669-1821

Probate Records of This Court in The Family History Library

 * Wills 1805-1811
 * Administrations 1805-1811

The Family History Library has very few original probate records for Somerset on microfilm. Most of the what the library has is various volumes of published abstracts. See the information found in the article on the Court of the Bishop of Bath & Wells (Episcopal Consistory).

Try searching the following collections which are a copy or abstract of the original registers for many areas throughout the county:

Estate Duty Wills 1805-1811

Estate Duty Wills Index 1812-1857

Death Duty Register for Abstracts of Administrations and Probates of Wills 1796-1811

Other
The Society of Genealogists in London has copies of published abstracts of wills and other probate documents for Somerset. To see a list of titles, search their library catalogue for the Subject of "Somerset - General: Wills."

Jurisdiction
Witham Friary was a peculiar probate court in the Diocese of Bath and Wells. It had jurisdiction over the parish of Witham Friary only.