England and Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1640-1660

What is in This Collection?

Registered copies of wills from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury from 1640-1660. Wills may contain the following: name, date, residence, death date, and beneficiaries. This indexing project's initial scope was to index all names and relationships given in the record. The original records are held at the National Archives, series PROB 11.

The Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) was the most important pre-1858 probate court. It had both original and appellate jurisdiction throughout England and Wales. Because of its central location and security afforded by being the court of the Archbishop of Canterbury it was popular among the upper classes. In 1653-1660 the Commonwealth experimented with a single, civil probate court for the entire country for which records were retained by the PCC. The PCC also held jurisdiction over citizens abroad who still held property in England or Wales when they died giving their emigration information.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

• Name
• Date
• Beneficiaries
• Place