Knowledge base

Wills and Divorces

Death duty registers

• Introduction
• What are Death Duties?
• Hierarchy and Probate Jurisdiction

Introdution

If you find an entry in this online index, you may obtain a copy of the entry from the Death Duty Register. The information in the Death Duty Register gives different information to a will or administration and contains information not found elsewhere.

The registers were created by the office responsible for collecting taxes on personal estates.

Details of what the estate was actually worth after debts and expenses and what the beneficiaries received can be recorded.

In addition to the last address and occupation of the deceased, they can give the date of the will, the names, addresses and occupations of the executors, and details of estates, legacies, and trustees.

They may also give the date of death and information about beneficiaries and family relationships.

The registers could be annotated for many years after the first entry and therefore, can include information such as dates of death of spouse; dates of death or marriage of beneficiaries and grandchildren and further residential addresses.

Secondly, this online index forms a national index to all wills and administrations which attracted death duties between the dates of 1796 to 1903.

If you are looking for an English or Welsh will or administrations between these dates, the index can be used as a short cut to finding in which of the many probate courts the will was proven or letters of administration granted.

With this information you may be able to obtain a copy of the will or administration. Not every will or administration is covered but, after 1815, most should be traceable through this online index.

What are Death Duties?

In 1796 Legacy Duty was a tax payable on money left in wills or received from an administration (admon) of a personal estate. Close relatives such as wives and children did not have to pay.

More distant relatives had to pay and this was based on a percentage
depending on the relationship between the Testator or Intestate and the Beneficiary.

Between 1796 and 1903 the scope of taxes payable was extended and many more estates became subject to what is collectively referred to as "Death Duties".

1805 Legacy Duty was extended to include closer relatives and money received from the sale of real estate.

1815 The Stamp Act extended the duty further to include all beneficiaries except spouses.

1853 The introduction of Succession Duty in addition to Legacy Duty meant that a tax was payable on any of sort property transfer occurring at death, with or without the existence of a will or admon.

1881 Probate Duty was introduced and taxed all personal property bequeathed at death.

1894 Estate Duty replaced Probate Duty and taxed all property bequeathed at death.

From 1796 abstracts of most and from 1812 copies of nearly all wills and admons in England and Wales had to be deposited at the Legacy Duty Department of The Stamp Duty Office, this later became

The Estate Duty Office. Registers were compiled with details of the estates liable and taxes levied and are collectively known as the `Death Duty Registers’.

To find an individual entry in the Death Duty Registers you need to consult the Estate Duty Office Indexes to the Death Duty Registers. This is the Index available here.

The key to the Indexes is the Court name where the will or admon was proved or grant issued, until 1812 a separate index for each court was created. You will find using the index after this date is less complicated

Hierarchy and Probate Jurisdiction

Searching the Indexes is easier and faster if you have some understanding of the system for proving wills or issuing grants in England and Wales.

This was in the hands of the church until 1857 and various conditions applied and determined which court had jurisdiction and depending on the Testator"s or Intestate"s individual circumstances, which court would be most appropriate for the purpose.

England and Wales was divided ecclesiastically into two, the Province of Canterbury and the Province of York. Each Province had an Archbishop and an Archbishop’s court, known as the Prerogative Court.

These were the highest authorities within each Province; however, The Prerogative Court of Canterbury was the senior court of the two in regards to England and Wales as a whole and indeed could prove the will or issue a grant for any inhabitant of either Province.

The following briefly outlines the jurisdiction of the different courts appearing most commonly in the Indexes. Most counties were subject to at least a two tier system of hierarchy

Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Superior jurisdiction in England and Wales and above the Prerogative Court of York. Sole jurisdiction when a testator held possessions of £5 or more in more than one diocese or peculiar in the Province of Canterbury and those with possessions in England and Wales who died overseas.

Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of York

Superior jurisdiction over all other courts in the Province of York. Superior jurisdiction when a testator held possessions of £5 or more in more than one diocese or peculiar in the Province of York. If a testator held possessions in both Provinces, Canterbury had jurisdiction.

Bishops Diocesan and Consistory Courts

The Bishops courts with jurisdiction over the Archdeaconry courts. There could be several Archdeaconry Courts within the Bishops Diocese.

Commissary Courts

Held the authority or commission to exercise jurisdiction on behalf of an Archbishop or Bishop.

Archdeaconry Court

Normally the lowest of the ecclesiastical courts but most dealt effectively with wills and admons within their jurisdiction.

Dean and Chapter Courts

Clergy usually with peculiar jurisdiction over parishes within the patronage of their Cathedral.

Peculiar Court

Sometimes "Royal" peculiars, a parish or group of parishes, not always in the same county that were exempt from the jurisdiction of the Archdeaconry and sometimes Consistory Courts.

The jurisdiction of a court did not necessarily apply to just one county. A court could have jurisdiction over several parishes in several counties. Therefore, between 1796 and 1811 The Estate Duty Office created a separate index for each court and sometimes groups of courts.

These are not indexed by county, only by the court name. For help in identifying the jurisdiction of a court from a county level during this period, please refer to Counties and Probate Jurisdictions. This should be used as a guide only as there may have been other factors which could have determined why your ancestor’s will was not proved in his local court of probate

Using the Estate Duty Indexes

Finding a will or admon between 1796 and 1823

You should now have some understanding of the ecclesiastical court system in England and Wales at the time. Entries are listed in order of date of probate or issue of grant and not date of death; therefore, you should always check the indexes for a few years after the date of death.

Between 1796 and 1823 a separate index was created for each court or sometimes groups of courts. If you do not know the name of the court that may have granted probate or issued the grant, you may find our guide Counties and Probate Jurisdictions helpful.

Your free search will list pages relevant to your surname query from all courts with jurisdiction throughout England and Wales during this period. These are not pages of exact surname matches, surnames were not recorded alphabetically but by different methods of sub -division and grouping.

The more obvious place to start is the Index for the Archdeaconry, Consistory, and Commissary Courts covering the locality or county of the person’s home. For example; if an individual owning land or property all located within the jurisdiction of one Archdeaconry Court died, his will or admon would probably be found in the Archdeaconry Court Index.

If he owned property or goods in more than one area thus involving the jurisdiction of another Archdeaconry Court then his will or admon would have to be proved in a superior court; such as the Consistory Court or even the Prerogative Court.

You should always consider the possibility that the will was proved or grant issued in the Prerogative Courts by choice. The details of wills and admons of ordinary people such as tradesmen, merchants, farmers and many more were often proved in the Archbishop’s Courts through choice.

There is no evidence in the Estate Duty Office Index to wills and admons in either the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, or the Prerogative Court of York to suggest that these courts were reserved solely for wealthy individuals.

You may come across `peculiars’ these were sometimes called ‘Royal peculiars’ and were courts having special jurisdictions over certain areas.

Therefore if a person happened to have property in one of these districts, his executors would not be allowed to prove his will in the local Archdeacon’s Court or even perhaps in the Consistory Court, although they would be able to go above the Peculiar Court and prove it in the Prerogative Court.

Finding a will or admon between 1812 and 1857

From 1812 to 1857, although the ecclesiastical court system remained the same, The Estate Duty Office revised their method of indexing and recorded all wills and admons in one of three indexes only; if you are searching through the Country Courts Index you will find the court of probate included in the entry.

• Administrations for Country Courts (This is all courts excluding the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, (PCC)
• Administrations for the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC)
• Wills for Country Courts and the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC)

Finding a will or admon between 1857 and 1903

In 1857 The Court of Probate Act brought to an end the jurisdiction of the old ecclesiastical courts. From the 12nd January 1858, the Principal Probate Registry became responsible for the proving of all wills and issuing of all grants of administrations.

The good news is that copies of all wills and admons from 1857 in England and Wales should be traceable through the Principle Probate Registry. If you are using these Indexes to find a will or admon from 1858 you should be aware that there is a National Calendar of wills and admons from this date in many Record Offices, usually available in microform.

However, if you are unable to gain access to this, you can utilise The Estate Duty Indexes up until 1903 for this purpose, you may not find an entry if the will or admon was valued at less than £20.

Counties and Probate Jurisdictions relevant to Estate Duty Office Index 1796 to 1857

ENGLISH COUNTIES

BEDFORDSHIRE

• Bedfordshire Archdeaconry
• (Huntingdonshire Archdeaconry, for Everton)

BERKSHIRE

• Berkshire Archdeaconry
• Salisbury Consistory, Sarum and Wiltshire Archdeaconry, Dean and Chapter and Peculiar Courts
• Oxford Consistory
• (Lincoln Peculiar, for Langford)

BRISTOL

See Gloucestershire

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

• Buckinghamshire Archdeaconry
• London Consistory
• Lincoln Archdeaconry
• Lincoln Peculiar
• Oxford Archdeaconry
• Oxford Consistory

CAMBRIDGESHIRE AND ISLE OF ELY

• Ely Consistory and Archdeaconry Courts
• Norfolk, Norwich, Sudbury and Suffolk Consistory Courts

CHESHIRE

• Prerogative Court of York
• Chester Diocese
• (Lichfield and Coventry Consistory and Dean and Chapter Courts for Wirswall)

CORNWALL

• Cornwall Archdeaconry
• Deanry Court of St Burian
• Exeter Consistory and Bishops Peculiar Courts
• Exeter Principal Registry
• Exeter Dean and Chapter Courts

CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORELAND

• Prerogative Court of York
• Carlisle Consistory
• Chester Deanery Courts of Amounderness, Copeland, Furness, Kendall and Lonsdale
• Ravenstonedale Peculiar
• Temple Sowerby Peculiar
  

DERBYSHIRE

• See Staffordshire

DEVON

• Exeter Consistory and Bishops Peculiars
• Exeter Principle Registry
• Exeter Archdeaconry
• Barnstable Archdeaconry
• Totnes Archdeaconry
• Cornwall Archdeaconry
• Bristol Consistory
• Exeter Dean and Chapter Courts
• Exeter Deanry
• Exeter Peculiars of Cathedral Church of St Peter
• Salisbury Consistory, Sarum and Wiltshire Archdeaconry, Dean and Chapter and Peculiar Courts
• Dorset Archdeaconr

DORSET

• Dorset Archdeaconry
• Bristol Consistory
• Salisbury Consistory, Sarum and Wiltshire Archdeaconry, Dean and Chapter and Peculiar Courts

DURHAM AND NORTHUMBERLAND

• Prerogative Court of York
• Durham Consistory
• York Peculiar

ESSEX

• London, Essex and Hertfordshire Commissary Courts
• London, Colchester, Essex and Middlesex Archdeaconry
• London Consistory
• Bocking Deanery

GLOUCESTERSHIRE AND BRISTOL

• Gloucester Consistory
• Bristol Consistory

HAMPSHIIRE and ISLE OF WIGHT

• Winchester Consistory
• Winchester Archdeaconry
• Winchester Bishops Peculiar
• Ringwood Peculiar
• Alverstoke Peculiar
• (Berkshire Archdeaconry, for Stratfield Mortimer)
• (Surrey Archdeaconry, for Frensham)
• (Salisbury Consistory, Sarum and Wiltshire Archdeaconry, Dean and Chapter and Peculiars, for Bramshaw.)
• All Admons had to be heard at Winchester Consistory

HEREFORDSHIRE

• Hereford Consistory
• Hereford Deanry
• St David Brecon Archdeaconry
• Little Hereford, Ashford and Carbonell Peculiar Courts

HERTFORDSHIRE

• London, Essex and Hertfordshire Commissary Courts
• Huntingdonshire Archdeaconry
• London Consistory
• London, Colchester, Essex and Middlesex Archdeaconry Courts
• (Bedfordshire Archdeaconry, for Caddington and Studham)

HUNTINGDONSHIRE

• Huntingdonshire Archdeaconry
• (Huntingdon Peculiar, for Brampton, Buckden, Long Stow, Leighton Bromswold)
• Lincoln Peculiar
• Ely Consistory and Archdeaconry Courts

KENT

• Canterbury Consistory and Archdeaconry Courts
• Rochester Consistory
• Rochester Archdeaconry
• Rochester Ecclesiastical

LANCASHIRE

• Prerogative Court of York
• (Chester Diocese, for the County South of the River Ribble)
• ( Richmond Archdeaconry, for the County North of the River Ribble)
• (York Exchequer, for parts of Great Mitton )
• (York Dean and Chapter Courts, for Broughton, Kirby, Ireleth and Seathwaite)

LEICESTERSHIRE

• Leicester Archdeaconry
• Lincoln Peculiar
• Lincoln Archdeaconry
• Stowe Archdeaconry

LINCOLNSHIRE

• Lincoln Archdeaconry
• (Stowe Archdeaconry, for many areas in North West of the County)
• (Lincoln Peculiar, for many areas randomly scattered within the County) Louth, Caister, Sleaford and Heydon Peculiar Courts

LONDON & MIDDLESEX

• London Consistory
• London, Essex and Hertfordshire Commissary Courts
• London, Colchester, Essex and Middlesex Archdeaconry Courts

MIDDLESEX

• See London and Middlesex

NORFOLK

• Norfolk, Norwich, Sudbury and Suffolk Consistory, Dean and Chapter and Archdeaconry Courts
• (Ely Consistory and Archdeaconry Courts, for the Norfolk Parish of Emneth)
  

CANORTHAMPTONSHIRE AND RUTLAND

• Peterborough Archdeaconry
• (Lincoln Peculiar, for Kings Sutton and many areas randomly scattered within the County of Northamptonshire)

NORTHUMBERLAND

• See Durham

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

• Prerogative Court of York
• York Exchequer Court
• York Dean and Chapter Courts
• York Peculiar
• Mansfield Peculiar
  

OXFORDSHIRE

• Oxford Consistory
• Oxford Archdeaconry
• (Lincoln Peculiar, for Banbury, Cropredy, Claydon, Mollington Wardington, Horley and Hornton)

RUTLAND

• See Northamptonshire

SHROPSHIRE

• Lichfield and Coventry Consistory and Dean and Chapter Courts
• St Asaph Consistory
• Hereford Consistory
• Worcester Consistory
• Little Hereford, Ashford, and Carbonell Peculiar Courts
• Bridgenorth Peculiar

SOMERSET

• Bath and Wells Consistory Courts
• Bath and Wells Archdeaconry Courts
• Taunton Archdeaconry
• Wells Consistorial Episcopal
• Bath and Wells Dean and Chapter Courts, Chancellor Decanal and Peculiar Courts
• Bristol Consistory for Abbotsleigh)

STAFFORDSHIRE AND DERBYSHIRE

• Lichfield and Coventry Consistory and Dean and Chapter Courts
• Lichfield and Coventry Peculiar Courts
• (Worcester Consistory for the parish of Clent
• Chester Diocese
  

SUFFOLK

• Norfolk, Norwich, Sudbury and Suffolk Consistory, Dean and Chapter and Archdeaconry Courts
• Bocking Deanery
• Rochester Consistory
• Huntingdonshire Archdeaconry

SURREY

• Surrey Commissary
• Surrey Archdeaconry
• Winchester Consistory

SUSSEX

• Chichester Consistory
• Lewes Archdeaconry
• Chichester Peculiars
• Rochester Consistory
• Rochester Archdeaconry

WARWICKSHIRE

• Lichfield and Coventry Consistory and Dean and Chapter Courts
• Worcester Consistory
• Gloucester Consistory
• Lichfield and Coventry Peculiar Courts

WILTSHIRE

• Salisbury Consistory, Sarum and Wiltshire Archdeaconry, Dean and Chapter and Peculiar Courts
• Gloucester Consistory
• Winchester Consistory

WORCESTERSHIRE

• Worcester Consistory
• Hereford Consistory

YORKSHIRE

• Excluding other areas separately listed) Prerogative Court of York
• York Exchequer Court
• York Peculiar

YORK

• Prerogative Court of York
• York Dean and Chapter

YORK CITY, AINSTY AND EAST RIDING

• Prerogative Court of York
• York Exchequer Court
• York Dean and Chapter Courts
• York Peculiar

YORK NORTH RIDING

• Prerogative Court of York
• York Exchequer Court
• Richmond Archdeaconry
• Durham Consistory
• York Dean and Chapter Courts
• York Peculiar
• Allertonshire Peculiar
• Masham Peculiar
  

YORK WEST RIDING

• Prerogative Court of York
• York Exchequer Court
• Richmond Archdeaconry
• York Dean and Chapter Courts
• Masham Peculiar
  

NORTH WALES

The Prerogative Court of Canterbury had over riding Jurisdiction throughout Wales

ANGLESEY

• Bangor Consistory
• CAERNARVONSHIRE

Bangor Consistory

St Asaph Consistory

DENBIGHSHIRE

• St Asaph Consistory
• Bangor Consistory
• Chester Diocese, for the parish of Holt)

FLINTSHIRE

• St Asaph Consistory
• Hawarden Peculiar
• (Chester Diocese, for some southern parts of Flint)

MERIONETHSHIRE

• Bangor Consistory
• St Asaph Consistory

MONTGOMERYSHIRE

• St Asaph Consistory
• Bangor Consistory
• Hereford Consistory, for several areas scattered throughout the County)
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• (St David Brecon Archdeaconry, for Kerry and Mochdre)

SOUTH WALES

The Prerogative Court of Canterbury had over riding Jurisdiction throughout Wales

BRECKNOCK

• St David Brecon Archdeaconry

CARDIGAN

• St David and Cardigan Archdeaconry Courts

CARMARTHEN

• St David and Cardigan Archdeaconry Courts

GLAMORGAN

• Llandaff Consistory

MONMOUTH

• Llandaff Consistory
• St David Carmarthen Archdeaconry
• St David Brecon Archdeaconry
• Hereford Consistory

PEMBROKE

• St David and Cardigan Archdeaconry Courts

RADNOR

• St David Brecon Archdeaconry
• Hereford Consistory