Wills and Probate Records
The type of wills and probate records that are available vary
based on the year they were 'proved'. This page has information
detailing what is available from different years.
Until 1857...
wills were ‘proved’ or validated by a local church court. This
process was known as granting probate.
- Wills can provide valuable information about a person’s family
relationships.
- Probate records are held by county record offices.
- Letters of administration or “admons” were granted usually to a
person’s next of kin when he or she died without leaving a
will.
- Up to c 1760, inventories listing the deceased’s household
possessions were often attached to the will or admon
- Occasionally wills were proved in a higher court, the
Prerogative Courts of either Canterbury or York. For Canterbury,
contact the Family
Records Centre.
and for York Borthwick Institute of
Historical Research.
- Cheshire Record Office holds over 70,000 original Cheshire
wills and probate records 1540–1857, proved in the Archdeaconry of
Chester
- Search our database and order wills
online
From 1858...
- After 1858 wills were proved in new civil district probate
registries. Copies of wills are recorded in registers and copies of
the registers are available at county record offices. Copies of
wills after 1858 for the whole of England and Wales are held at the
Principal Registry of the Family Division. For information on
obtaining copies, contact the Courts
Service.
- Cheshire Record Office holds microfilm copies of registers for
wills proved in the Registry of Chester from 1858 to 1940 and
microfiche copies of the National Probate Calendars which gives
summary information of wills proved in England and Wales from 1858
to 1935.
Search our database and order wills
online
Useful Links
There are useful leaflets produced by the National Archives on
wills before 1858 and probate records: