How to find the will (PCY)

Home | My Ancestry | Contact Me

Where to go to find a will found in the Index for the
Archbishop of York: Exchequer & Prerogative (PCY) Courts

My Source: Salt Lake Family History Library films:
0099445 (1688-1714), 0099446 (1713-1741), 0099447 (1741-1771), 0099448 (1771-1799), 0099449 (1800-1819), 0099450 (1819-1830), 0099451 (1830-1842), 0099452 (1842-1851), 0099453 (1851-1858)

First - don't forget to note the Probate Jurisdiction!

At the LDS Family History Center:
First a bit of background information. The Exchequer Court of York & the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of York are two separate courts. While a lot of their records are filed together, not everything is. Also, Salt Lake has not filmed everything--they have made an attempt to cover these jurisdictions with what appears to me to be the most expeditious use of film. For example, not all of the Original Wills, Admons & Inventories have been filmed, instead the Registered Copy Wills have been filmed for the largest time period. This is important to know, because one needed to pay a fee to register a will, and so not every will was registered. Therefore, if you see a will indexed but don't find it in the filmed Registered Copy Wills, you might try communicating with the repository noted below to search the Original Wills. Also, one needs to go to the Act books for Admons during the time periods where the Library filmed the Registered Copies rather than the Originals. The Prerogative Act Books and the Exchequer Act Books were kept separately. In case you haven't figured this out - index entries for the Prerogative records include the notation "Prerog" or "Prog."
That said: For Exchequer & Prerogative Wills and Prerogative Act Books: Use the Family History Library Catalog on CD ROM or online at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp. Do a search by film/fische number and search for any one of the film numbers above. It will take you to a page with all (most) of the films. The above indexes are first, followed by the Original Wills Admons & Inventories and the Registered Copy Wills, followed by the Prerogative Act Books.
For Exchequer Admons, one needs to go to the Deanery Act Books (yes, you need to figure out which Deanery). In the Family History Library Catalog do a locality search for YORK, ENGLAND and then search the Probate Records topic for this item: Wills and Administrations of the Deaneries of the York Diocese, 1502-1858. You will also find other Prerogative & Exchequer probate items listed under various headings that invariably include the words Prerogative and/or Exchequer. If you can't figure out which Deanery your parish was in, please feel free to contact me to see if I can help you. Seems to me that if the probate record was there to be indexed, it ought to still be there--someplace--where it can be seen!
To find a Family History Center near you, go to http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp.

By mail or in England: This is easy - these records are held at The Borthwick Institute.

Home | My Ancestry | Contact Me

Back to List of Lists