It’s not difficult to appreciate the genealogical importance of wills. The documents are full of names and relationships, references to places and objects, jewellery, clothes, furniture, and all sorts of miscellaneous household items. If you’re lucky enough to have wills in your family you’ll need no convincing of how valuable they can be. But when it comes to using probate records in your research, wills are just one part of a much bigger picture.
A network of 200 ecclesiastical courts
Before the passing of the Court of Probate Act of 1857, our English and Welsh ancestors’ wills were proved in a network of more than two hundred ecclesiastical courts.
As with the registration of births (baptisms), marriages and deaths (burials) it was the Church of England that performed the role on behalf of the State. Baptisms, marriages and burials were recorded on a parish-byparish basis (thus ‘parish’ registers) but wills were proved in courts which were based on a variety of different levels within the Church’s organisational hierarchy.
3 levels of courts to consider
The reality is more complicated than this, but essentially, there are three levels to consider:
• Prerogative Courts (representing the two Provinces of Canterbury and York)
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