Post-1858 wills for England and Wales can be consulted at the
Probate Dept of
The Principal Registry Family Division:
Probate Search Room,
First Avenue House,
42-49 High Holborn,
London,
WC1V 6NP The
Courts Service web site lists their telephone number as
020 7947 7000 but this gets a 'number not recognised'
response. It may be worth trying 020 7947 6939 instead although I have
only managed ringing or engaged tones from it!
Postal applications for post-1858 wills for England and Wales should be sent to
the Probate Office, Castle Chambers, Clifford Street, York. YO1 9RG
Indexes (or Calendars) to post-1858 wills for England and Wales can be found at
a limited number of places around the country:
The Principal Registry Family Division - in High Holborn, see above.
This list is based on information supplied by
readers. If you know of another set of indexes, or can complete any of
the dates below, please use the link at the bottom of the page to
contribute to this information.
It is belived the indexes (dates uncertain) can be obtained on film at at LDS Family History Centres
Finding and obtaining copies of earlier wills are much more complicated tasks.
A currently-available guide is Jeremy Gibson, Probate Jurisdictions - Where
to look for wills, Birmingham, Federation of Family History Societies,
(4th edn 1994).(FFHS Publications).
More detailed guides (currently out of print) are: A.J.
Camp. Wills and Their Whereabouts, 1974, and J.S.W. Gibson. Wills
and Where to Find Them, Chichester, Phillimore, 1974, 210 p.
Images of 1700-1858 wills proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
can be purchased from
DocumentsOnline, The National Archives' online system for downloading digital
images of public
records.
[Last updated:
2008-06-10
by Malcolm Austen]