Northamptonshire & Rutland Probate Index

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Transcription and conventions used

The Northamptonshire and Rutland Probate Index has been created by Kay Collins, a volunteer at the Northampton Record Office, partially assisted by several others, from several of the earlier indices of probate records held in the Northampton Record Office. This composite index was commenced in 1997 and the records in this database include all work done up to 2005. The project is now largely complete (errors and omissions excepted) and this database may be updated at a future date with corrections and/or omissions.

After the records were entered into the database they were checked against the original wills (but not administrations) adding occupations and using the surname as spelt in the will. The copy of the index of wills 1510 - 1652 has many alterations and several insertions noted. When the index was first made many wills were known to have existed but by then were lost. These wills are shown as 'Lost' in the 'Note' field of this index and no further information is available about them. A few wills have been found which were not in the printed index and these have been added to this database.

Each record has been allocated to a county according to the place mentioned in the will. Some place names have been altered or added, some may be the name of a hamlet or even a farm, and these are in the "'Note' field. Place names may be the name of a hamlet or a farm (usually in the "notes" field) and some place names have been modernised e.g. Wold is Old and Thingdon is Finedon. Sometimes just part of the place name is given e.g. Ashby. This may mean Castle Ashby, Canons Ashby, Mears Ashby or Ashby St Ledgers. If no parish is given but his/her choice for burial is made in the will, then this is entered in the 'Place' field. It may therefore be necessary to search on other counties, particularly counties adjacent to Northamptonshire & Rutland, for testators dying or being buried in those counties. There are parishes called Pilton & Braunston in both Northamptonshire and Rutland and it will therefore be necessary to search both counties when looking for testators from those places.

Until the creation of the diocese of Peterborough in 1541, Northamptonshire and Rutland (except for peculiars and exempt jurisdictions) were part of the diocese of Lincoln, and while a few wills were proved at Lincoln, wills were generally proved in the court of the Archdeacon of Northampton. It should also be remembered that earlier wills may have been proved in a higher court and therefore sources such as the Prerogative Court of Canterbury should also be searched.

Included in this index are Wills & Administrations of Northamptonshire & Rutland residents proved in the Northampton Archdeaconry Court, the Peterborough Consistory Court Wills, or one of several Peculiar Courts whose records are lodged outside Northamptonshire, together with details of associated documents. Also included are a few wills found in Record offices of some neighbouring counties.

All searchers should consult the booklet "Guide to Northamptonshire & Rutland Probate Records" by P. I. King (1964) that is on the shelf at the Northampton Record Office with all the earlier will indices.

The following information is provided:

  • Surname - surname in capitals.
  • Forename
  • Status/Occupation - any given details of testators status, title, relationship or occupation.
  • Place - Residence or place chosen for burial.
  • County - Chapman County Codes have been used.
  • Ref - see key given in coverage table below.
  • Type - whether Will, Administration (Admon), Inventory, Oath etc. See abbreviations.
  • Year- this is as far as possible, when probate was granted but in a few cases may be when will was written. Some wills have no grant date noted so the year entered may be the same as the following will in the volume so that when the final sort is done it will be in the rightful decade.
  • Series - Original Index series number (for location purposes).
  • Book/Box - relevant number or letter (for location purposes).
  • No - document number (for location purposes).
  • Fo/pg - Folio or page number (for location purposes).
  • Microform - Northampton Record Office film/fiche reference.
  • Notes - any further information e.g. nuncupative wills, alias, additional place information, related references etc. Also 'Lost' where only the index information survives and no other information is available.
  • ID - a unique reference number is allocated for each record.

Coverage

Records

Reference

Key (Ref)

No of entries
Archdeaconry Court of Northampton:

N

59704

Wills: 1469 – 1857 (including nuncupative wills from 1510). Available on microfilm for the period 1510 – 1724.

Administrations and inventories: 1545 – 1857 and accounts 1668 - 1685

Consistory Court of Peterborough:

P

25627

Wills: 1541 – 1857. Available on microfilm for the periods 1541 –1646.
Administrations and Inventories:1683 – 1857 with a few earlier.
Consistory Court papers: 1741 – 1816.

P(CCp)

68

Miscellaneous probate papers deposited at Northampton Record Office

NRO

75

Peculiar Courts of Caldecott, Ketton & Tinwell (1722 – 1820) & Liddington (1723 – 1819).

LEI

238

Peculiar Courts of Empingham 1669 – 1835 (on microfilm to 1744), Gretton 1657 – 1832 (all on microfilm), Ketton 1666 – 1678 (all on microfilm), Liddington 1668 – 1676 (all on microfilm) & Nassington 1654 – 1839 (on microfilm to 1744 with some later).

LIN

881

Northants and Rutland Wills at Huntingdon Record Office

HUN

62

Northants and Rutland Wills at Bedford Record Office

BDF

18

Northants and Rutland Wills at Buckinghamshire Record Office

BKM

49

Banbury Court Wills at the Bodleian Library, Oxford

Bod.L

409
     
 

TOTAL

87,131


Checking

This information is unchecked.

Grouping

There are no record groups in this database.

Abbreviations and Codes

A Administration
a/c account
aff affidavit
agreemt agreement
alleg allegation

B

bond

C

codicil

comm

commission

D

deposition

G

guardianship

I

Inventory

mar lic

marriage licence

Marr Sett

marriage settlement document

O

oath

Ob

obligation

P

petition

presents

presented to a living by the patron

R

renunciation

S

some other document - see notes column for further explanation

unpW

unproved Will

V

valuation

W

will
X deleted

All other fields:

… unreadable, worn away or obliterated
--- omission
a alias
admons administration
bro brother
bur buried
dau('s) daughter(‘s)
dec'd deceased

doc.

document

eld

 elder

enc.

enclosed

esq

esquire

fa

father

gent

gentleman

gr

granted

hus(b)

husband

husbndm

husbandman

itpo

in the parish of

jun

junior

ng

not given

nuncp

nuncupative

p

photograph

P'boro

Peterborough

pc

photocopy

prev

previously

Rgt

Regiment

Rt

Right

s

son

sen

senior

serv

servant

so

son of

tr

transcript

w

wife

wid

widow

widr

widower

yngr

younger

Contact details

For more information about the Northamptonshire Family History Society please see the web site at www.northants-fhs.org. For Rutland please see the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History web site at www.lrfhs.org.uk.

How to buy

The Northampton Record Office will only be able to handle enquiries concerning any probate records found in this database where the 'Ref' field bears the key 'N', 'P', 'P(CCp)' or 'NRO' or for those with the key 'LEI' or 'LIN' where there is a reference given in the 'Microform' field. They cannot assist for any record where the probate papers have been lost or where no reference is given as identified in the 'Notes' field. For other records please contact the appropriate archive or library.

It should be noted that Northampton Record Office will NOT allow photocopying of the register copies but personal visitors to the Record Office can make a transcript or take a digital photograph.

Photocopies may be available of those wills that have been filmed and all these have a reference given in the 'Microform' field. Requests must be accompanied by all details given in all of the fields for the probate record requested or the Record Office will be unable to locate the probate record in the microform records.

The Northampton Record Office offers full transcription of documents, such as wills and inventories, where the handwriting makes them difficult to decipher. Please contact the archivist for details including cost.

In any request for information in addition to the name, place, ref, type and year fields the Record Office need all the information in fields 6 - 13 together in order to be able to locate the relevant document.

The Northampton Record Office can be contacted at:

County Archivist
Records Office
Wootton Hall Park
Northampton
NN4 8BQ
Tel: 01604 762129
Fax: 01604 767562
E-mail: archivist@northamptonshire.gov.uk
Website: http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/Community/record/about_us.htm

Other Archives

The Records Office For Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland
Long Street
Wigston Magna
Leicester
LE18 2AH
Telephone: 0116 2571080
Fax: 0116 257 1120
E-mail: recordoffice@leics.gov.uk
Website: http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/community/museums/record_office.htm

Lincolnshire Archives
St Rumbold Street
Lincoln
LN2 5AB
Tel: 01522 525158 or 01522 526204
Fax: 01522 530047
E-mail: lincolnshire_archive@lincolnshire.gov.uk
Website: http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/index.asp?catId=6173

Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service
Riverside Building
County Hall,
Bedford
MK42 9AP
(01234) 228833 or 228777 or 363222 ext.2833
E-mail: archive@bedscc.gov.uk
Website: http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/archive

Bodleian Library
Old Library
Catte Street
Oxford
OX1 3BG
Tel: 01865 277000
E-mail: enquiries@bodley.ox.ac.uk
Website: http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/

Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies,
County Hall, Walton Street, AYLESBURY, Bucks
HP20 1UU.
Tel: 01296 382587
E-mail: archives@buckscc.gov.uk
Website: http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/archives/index.stm

County Record Office Huntingdon
Grammar School Walk
Huntingdon
PE29 3LF
Tel: 01480 375842
E-mail: county.records.hunts@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Website: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives/visiting/crohuntingdon.htm



Copyright and disclaimer

© Kay Collins, Northampton Record Office & Trustees of the Northamptonshire Family History Society.

While every care has been taken in the preparation of the index users are advised to view the originals of the appropriate registers (or facsimiles thereof, e.g. microfilm) and to form their own interpretation. Neither the Northampton Record Office or The Northamptonshire Family History Society accept any liability for any errors or omissions that remain (although they would welcome notification of alternative interpretations of the records).