New on Ancestry - Prerogative and Exchequer Court of York Wills, 1389-1858

This collection contains images of wills filed in Yorkshire, England, between 1389 and 1858.  It includes 2,462,539 records.

Records in this collection may include the following information:

Name

Place of residence

Relationship to head of household

Will date

Probate date

The indexed information may help you confirm important dates regarding your ancestor’s death and estate processing. You may find additional information by looking at your ancestor’s record image. Your ancestor’s will may include names of family members that you can add to your family tree, and they can help to sort out how your ancestors were related. A will may also include an inventory of an estate’s assets, which may provide some insights into your ancestor’s financial status and lifestyle.

The majority of the wills in this collection are written in Latin.  Probate records were processed by church courts until 1858. The local courts typically handled the records of farmers, tradesmen, and the lower gentry, while the wealthy and aristocratic class had their probate records processed in the Prerogative Court of York. However, if a person owned property in the northern and southern provinces, their probate records were processed in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.