Types of Will Probate Before 1858 - Consistory Court & P.C.C. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury) Wills Probate 1858 and after More about Matlock Wills

Types of Will

• Will
  Normally signed by the testator and witnessed.
  
  
• Nun-cupative Will
  A spoken Will that was witnessed, but not signed by, the deceased person.
  
  
• Inventory
  Early Wills may include an inventory, or list, of all goods left by the deceased.
  This can be an invaluable source of information about the goods and chattels owned by the deceased person. Items were often listed under which room they were in, so an inventory can also indicate the size of the property.
  Sometimes only an inventory has survived.
  
  
• Probate
  Granted to the executors named in the Will.
  
  
• Letters of Administration
  (Adm or Admons) When person had died intestate (with no Will).
  
  
• Letter of Administration (with Will)
  Granted to someone other than an executor when the deceased left a valid will (post 1858).
  
  
  

Probate Before 1858

There were two main courts in which Derbyshire Wills were proved before 1858, the Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Lichfield Consistory Court. If your interest is not Derbyshire, Wills for other UK counties will be held at the County Record Office for that county or Record Office of the relevant diocese. Some Wills are also held at the Borthwick Institute, York.

1. Consistory Court Wills

Most proved Wills and Letters of Administration for Matlock and Matlock Bath are held at:

Lichfield Record Office,
Lichfield Library,
The Friary,
LICHFIELD
Staffs,
WS13 6QG,
England
Telephone: +44 [0]1543 256 787
Lichfield Record Office

Please note that to obtain a copy of a Will you may also have to pay search fees unless you can provide full probate details; it is not sufficient to provide the year only. This also applies to marriage licence. If you want a copy of a marriage licence you will need to provide the date of marriage and the search for the licence will mean you have to pay a fee.

The Matlock names from the period 1516-1652, where the abode is known, are listed on this web site.

Wishful Thinking has provided a helpful transcript of "Calendars of Lichfield Wills and Administrations, 1516-1652", (1892) ed. W.P.W. Phillimore, Index Library, British Record Society, London. But you should be aware that few entries give abode.

Recent searches for the website "UK Books Online and Links", which is where scanned copies of the Calendars of Lichfield Wills and Administrations were originally stored, have failed. However the scans are still available on Eric Youle's site, http://history.youle.info/
They are listed under the 'Sheffield Historical' menu item. When I last looked this was in the LH frame.

2. P.C.C. (Prerogative Court of Canterbury)

The Matlock names of those whose Wills were proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury are listed on this web site.

i. During the Commonwealth period (1653 - 1660) all Wills were proved centrally, so were PCC, and are held by The National Archives (formerly called the Public Record Office).
The National Archives (TNA)

Wills from other periods may also have been PCC Wills. This was the case if people held property in more than one diocese or county. It also may have been because people wanted to show how important they were.

It is now possible to download images of many PCC wills 1670-1858 as well as some Death Duty Register entries of Wills proved elsewhere, but not adms at present. DocumentsOnline (formerly PRO-Online) 'allows you online access to the Public Record Office's collection of digitised public records, including both academic and genealogical sources'.
www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

ii. Copies for some of pre 1858 Wills may also be held by the Derbyshire Record Office

See Libraries & Record Offices, elsewhere on this site, for contact details
Probate Records for Derbyshire, Abstracts of, on Rosemary Lockie's GUKUTILS site, ares easily searchable by surname

Probate 1858 and after

Not every Matlock will post 1858 was proved within Derbyshire so what you are seeking may not be found on this web site.

The only place where there is a complete set of Will calendars (indexes) from 1858 onwards that is available for public inspection is at First Avenue House in Holborn, London. Post 1858 Wills are occasionally still referred to as 'Somerset House' Wills as the calendars were held at Somerset House in London for many years.They were transferred to First Avenue House a number of years ago.

1. Visiting London

You can obtain copies of Wills from First Avenue House if you visit, collecting them on the day of your visit or by requesting the copy to be send to your address.

Their address is:

First Avenue House,
42 - 49 High Holborn,
London,
England

(Directions: turn right out of Holborn Underground Station and the building is about 5 minutes walk away on the LHS. The department has moved from the ground floor up to the seventh floor and lockers no longer available)

If you cannot visit First Avenue House in person try a very large library. An increasing number of places, both at home and overseas, hold microfilm or fiche copies of the calendars, though these will not provide Will information to the present day.

2. By Post

HM Court and Tribunal Service Website has more information on obtaining Probate Records, though it is not easy to find the information using this link!
The page on that site with more details, should you need them, is now Guide to obtaining copies of probate records

You can purchase copies of Wills or Letters of Administration by post from:

The Postal Searches and Copies Department,
York Probate Sub-Registry,
1^st Floor,
Castle Chambers,
Clifford Street,
York,
YO1 9RG,
England.
(This was Probate Registry, Duncombe Place, York, YO1 7EA)

The fee is currently £6 per item required and this includes a search of up to four years (increased from 4 Apr 2011, though not currently reflected on their web site). You must supply at least the correct full name; the address and date of death should also be supplied if at all possible.

Download the Probate Service form and fill it in - remember to tick that you want both the Will and the Grant

To view the PDF file, you may need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Payment should be made by cheque or postal order, payable to "HMCS"- or HM Courts Service.
If you are applying from outside the UK, payment should be made by international money order expressed in pounds sterling.

3. Derbyshire Record Office

If you are live in or near Derbyshire, try the Derbyshire Record Office as their catalogue has details of wills that were proved locally, i.e. at Derby.

• Please note that the will of someone who had lived in Matlock could have been proved anywhere in the country, so probate details may not be held at the DRO. Their executors, for example, may not have lived in Derbyshire.

More about Matlock Wills