Yorkshire Probate Records, before 1858 (cut and pasted)
The Borthwick holds the vast majority of probate records for Yorkshire before January 1858. The major exceptions are:
That portion of Yorkshire which although in the county of Yorkshire formed part of the diocese of Chester after 1541, namely the archdeaconry of Richmond. Most of the probate records for this area are held by West Yorkshire Archive Service: Leeds. Note, however, that we may still have probate records for people who died in these areas if they came under the jurisdiction of the Prerogative Court of York.
Those records from the Commonwealth period (1653-60) which were proved in London. In 1653 a civil probate court was established in London with jurisdiction over the whole county. In theory all wills of persons dying in this period should be amongst the records of the court, the records of which are held by The National Archives. However, it appears that some executors and administrators avoided this new court because of the expense and inconvenience involved. Some wills seem to have been implemented without formal probate, others were proved retrospectively after the restoration of the ecclesiastical courts in 1660.
Probate records of those people who held land both in Yorkshire, and in one of the dioceses of the Southern Province. The Prerogative Court of Canterbury had jurisdiction over such cases.
