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The only probate court records deposited in the National Archives are those of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1383-1858. The PCC was the metropolitan probate court for the Southern Province and, as such, was by far the busiest and most prestigious court. The PCC sat in London, in Doctors' Commons, and had overriding jurisdiction in all England and Wales. It had sole jurisdiction where the deceased possessed bona notabilia in two bishoprics or two peculiars in the southern province, and also over estates of people who died at sea or abroad leaving personal property here. (During the Interregnum, 1653-60, the Prerogative Court, in the form of a civil Court of Probate of Wills and Granting Administrations, was the only court). In the early 19th century the Bank of England ruled that, for their purposes, when transfers of government stock holding were involved, only PCC grants of probate were valid. This meant a considerable increase in business. Many of the smaller courts were, in fact, moribund by 1858. A searcher for a 19th. century will has much more chance of finding it in the PCC records than a searcher for a will of an earlier date. The records fall roughly into two categories: those emanating from the ordinary common form proving of a straight-forward will or the granting of a simple administration, and those records relating to the procedure in the contesting of a grant. Obviously, if there was litigation much more information will be forthcoming: the depositions of witnesses, pleadings, exhibits, etc. Wills and Administrations The most useful and informative classes are the court copies of the probated wills (PROB 11) and the original wills (PROB 10). Probate Acts Books (PROB 8) and Act Books of Limited Probate (PROB 9) identify the parish where the testator died. The Administration Act Books (PROB 6 and PROB 7) provide more or less all the information that is obtainable in common form grants of administration. The means of reference to wills, administrations and the act books are the Register Books (PROB 12), available on the open shelves. They are arranged annually by the initial letter of the deceased, but not in strict alphabetical order. Strict indexes for wills (1701-1800) and administrations (1701-1749, and 1853-1858) are available. Records in Litigation Records in causes present two immediate problems. The first is simply that of ascertaining whether or not a will or administration was disputed. Secondly, there is the problem of finding the name of the case (A con B), as up to the mid 18th century some of the most interesting classes have contemporary indexes arranged by the name of the promoter (plaintiff). To find out whether an estate was litigated, recourse should be had to the Register Books (PROB 12). In some of these volumes some of the causes are indicated by an entry of "by sent." or "by decree" as a marginal note against the name of the deceased. If the sentence was registered reference is given to the folio number in PROB 11. The sentence gives the name of the case. Indexes to various classes are in preparation; they provide a means of cross-reference from the name of the deceased to the name of the case. Only in the Acts of Court Books (PROB 29) and the loose Acts (PROB 33) is there mention of every case that came before the court. Classes containing most information are the pleadings, PROB 18 and PROB 25; depositions, PROB 24, PROB 26, PROB 28, PROB 37; and exhibits, PROB 31, PROB 36, PROB 42. Inventories and the Value of Estates Up to 1782 it was obligatory for every executor or administrator to return into the registry of the court an inventory of the deceased's goods. After this date an inventory might be called for by an interested party, but it was no longer an automatic part of common form procedure. Only about 800 pre-1660 inventories have survived; there is a list and index of names and places (PROB 2). For the period 1660-1782 inventories are in the following classes: PROB 3, PROB 4, PROB 5, PROB 16, PROB 32. For the period 1722-1858, they are mostly in PROB 31. Inventories are lists of the personalty held by the deceased: leases, chattels, debts owed and owing, cash, crops, stocks, slaves, etc. No account of real estate is normally taken in estimates and totals. Reference may be made to freehold where it was relevant to the settling of the deceased's debts. Various other classes give information as to the value of estates. The bonds entered into by all administrators and some executors give a rough idea (PROB 46). In the 16th and 17th centuries the amount of the bond appears to have approximated to the value of the personalty. In the 18th and 19th centuries the situation is not clear: the bond was either double the value or roughly equivalent. From 1796 the value of the estate was entered into the Probate and Administration Act Books. Estimates of servicemen's estates and those under £40, £20 and £5, respectively, are noted on some of the 17th century warrants and most of the 18th and 19th century warrants (PROB 14). Pauper estates are noted in some of the Register Books (PROB 12). Orders for the distribution of some intestates' goods specify the sums available for distribution (PROB 16). Orders for the revaluation of some 19th century estates are entered in the Orders of Court Books (PROB 38). Estate values can be found also in the Death Duty Registers, 1796-1903 in IR 26 which is indexed by IR 27. On 12 January 1858, the Government took over responsibility for Wills from the Church of England and the Principal Probate Registry started functioning . From this date a copy of every will proved is to be found at the Probate Search Room, First Avenue House, High Holborn in Central London. The National Archives does not have copies of Wills held at the Principal Probate Registry but I am willing to visit High Holborn on request. Much of the above material was supplied by the National Archives whose help is gratefully acknowledged.
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