Libraries and leisure

Introduction to Wills

Thousands of these documents survive, although Hertforshire Archives and Local Studies does not hold the will of every Hertfordshire person who may have made one. People with little or no land or possessions may not have made a will at all.

Before 11 January 1858 when the Principal Probate Registry came into being, wills were proved (registered) in courts administered by the church. In Hertfordshire there were eight courts with jurisdiction over parts of the county. Not all of the records from these courts are held by Hertforshire Archives and Local Studies.

To see what records Hertforshire Archives and Local Studies
holds and where other Hertfordshire wills can be found please see previous page.

The original will signed by the testator was taken to the probate court for registration. This process involved copying the will into a register book. The original wills were then filed at the court. The registered copy is usually much easier to read than the original will written in the testator’s own handwriting. The majority of wills dated before 1500 will be written in Latin.

From 11 January 1858 the church courts were replaced by a centralised system of civil probate registries. Annual indexes (National Probate Calendars) to all wills registered in the British Isles and dependent territories such as Barbados, South Africa and India were published from 1858.