Wills and Probate

Wills, or grants of administration for those who died without a will, can tell you a lot about someone and their relatives.

Modern wills and grants of probate for Berkshire are dealt with by the Probate Service and are not held here.  Please click on the Probate Service link below for more information.

Until 1858, it was the Church that dealt with wills and probate, as soul and property were joined together.  The Berkshire Record Office (BRO) has the records of two church courts that granted probate up to 1858: the Archdeacon of Berkshire, and the Peculiar of Faringdon.  The Archdeacon oversaw wills of people with property in Berkshire, unless they owned land elsewhere or lived in one of the 'peculiars', places where court jurisdiction had been granted to another Church official.

A complete index to the Archdeacon's collection, 1480-1857, is available at the BRO, and for sale from the Berkshire Family History Society.  The index to probates granted by the Faringdon Peculiar Court is available below.