Lincolnshire

There are four British Record Society publications included:

• Wills & Administrations at Lincoln Vol. I 1320-1660 (BRS vol. 28)
• Wills & Administrations at Lincoln Vol. II 1601-1652 (BRS vol. 41)
• Wills & Administrations at Lincoln Vol. III 1540-1659 (BRS vol. 52)
• Wills & Administrations at Lincoln Vol. IV (BRS vol. 57)

Below are descriptions of the publications and details about where to access the original records.

Wills & Administrations at Lincoln Vol. I 1320-1660

British Record Society volume 28

Published 1902

Read the Original Introduction of BRS Volume 28.

Locating the original documents

Where are the originals held?

The original wills are held at Lincolnshire Archives. To obtain a copy of an original will you need to complete an order form which is downloadable from the website.

What information from the document do I need to locate the original?

• Testator's name
• Place
• Year of will or admon
• Folio

Note - wills proved between 1649 and 1660 will be found in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury since during the civil war the church courts were abolished and a single centralised probate system was established. Between this time all wills were proved and all grants of administration made, at one central Court of Probate in London. This was really just the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) under a different name and thus wills etc proved during this period will be found indexed within the PCC. See PCC volumes BRS 54, BRS 61, and Matthews 1-9 for this period.

About the index

This volume is an index to the Wills and Administrations Registered in the Episcopal Registers of the Bishops of Lincoln, 1320-1547 and miscellaneous wills in the Episcopal (or Diocesan) Registry, 1489-1588. During this period the diocese of Lincoln extended from the Humber to the Thames, and included no less than nine counties, namely, Lincoln, Leicester, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Hertford (part), and Oxford.

This index also covers The Consistory Court of Lincoln, Wills 1506-1600, which included the Consistory and Commissary Courts of the Bishop in the archdeaconry of Lincoln, the Chancellor's Court, and the court of the Archdeacon of Lincoln whose jurisdiction covered the whole of the county of Lincoln except the north-west quarter which formed the archdeaconry of Stow.

Names are arranged alphabetically. This means some name variants may not appear clustered together. Names in the index are according to the spelling used in the documents, usually based on the signaturee of the testator.

Dates of wills are given in 'Old Style' or Julian Calendar.

Notes and Abbreviations used in the index

Notes and remarks, where they have been supplied, are enclosed in square brackets. The modern forms of place-names have been added enclosed in parentheses; and the names of the counties in which they are situated have been supplied, without, however, being bracketed. It will be observed that when places in different counties occur in the same entry, the places in one county are marked off from the places in another county by a semi­colon instead of a comma. The dates on the left-hand side of the page give the year of probate; and when this is not forthcoming, the date of the will is given in italic type.

Wills and Administrations Registered in the Episcopal Registers of the Bishops of Lincoln, 1320-1547

The references are to the folios of the registers of the following Bishops of Lincoln:

Miscellaneous Wills in the Episcopal Registers of the Diocese of Lincoln, 1489-1588.

The references in this Calendar are to the following manuscripts, which were previously preserved in a portfolio in the Alnwick Tower of the Old Palace at Lincoln:

Wills proved in the Consistory Court of Lincoln, 1506-1600.

The references in this calendar, which give the approximate date of probate, are to the Books deposited in the Lincoln District Registry of the Court of Probate. In the following instances the titles of the Books have been shortened in the Calendar:

• 1506, etc. stands for 1506 and subsequent years.
• 1534, etc. stands for 1534 and divers subsequent years.
• 1545-6, etc., ii stands for 1545 and 1546 and others, Book ii, ?(This book contains some wills proved in 1559 and 1560.)
• Var. stands for Various years.
• 1566, etc. stands for Divers years bound in a Book marked '1566.'

The roman numerals refer to the several volumes into which some of the Books are divided.

Wills & Administrations at Lincoln Vol. II 1601-1652

British Record Society volume 41

Published 1910

Read the Original Introduction to BRS Volume 41.

Locating the original documents

Where are the originals held?

The original wills are held at Lincolnshire Archives. To obtain a copy of an original will you need to complete an order form which is downloadable from the website.

What information from the document do I need to locate the original?

• Testator's name
• Place
• Year of will or admon
• Folio

Note - wills proved between 1649 and 1660 will be found in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury since during the civil war the church courts were abolished and a single centralised probate system was established. Between this time all wills were proved and all grants of administration made, at one central Court of Probate in London. This was really just the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) under a different name and thus wills etc proved during this period will be found indexed within the PCC. See PCC volumes BRS 54, BRS 61, and Matthews 1-9 for this period.

About the index

This is an index to wills proved in the Consistory Court of Lincoln 1601–1652 which included the Consistory and Commissary Courts of the Bishop in the archdeaconry of Lincoln, the Chancellor's Court, and the court of the Archdeacon of Lincoln whose jurisdiction covered the whole of the county of Lincoln except the north-west quarter which formed the archdeaconry of Stow.

What does the index include?

All names and places appearing in the will plus incidental information such as occupation where found in the original documents are included in the index.

Names are arranged alphabetically. This means some name variants may not appear clustered together. Names in the index are according to the spelling used in the documents, usually based on the signaturee of the testator.

Dates of wills are given in 'Old Style' or Julian Calendar.

NOTES

* An asterisk placed against an entry denotes that an abstract of the will is to be found in 'Lincolnshire Wills 1600-1617' by the Rev. Canon A R Maddison FSA (Lincoln 1888)

Wills & Administrations at Lincoln Vol. III 1540-1659

British Record Society volume 52

Published 1921

Read the Original Introduction for the BRS Volume 52.

Locating the original documents

Where are the originals held?

The original wills are held at Lincolnshire Archives. To obtain a copy of an original will you need to complete an order form which is downloadable from the website.

What information from the document do I need to locate the original?

• Testator's name
• Place
• Year of will or admon
• Folio

Note - wills proved between 1649 and 1660 will be found in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury since during the civil war the church courts were abolished and a single centralised probate system was established. Between this time all wills were proved and all grants of administration made, at one central Court of Probate in London. This was really just the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) under a different name and thus wills etc proved during this period will be found indexed within the PCC. See PCC volumes BRS 54, BRS 61, and Matthews 1-9 for this period.

About the index

This is an index to the administrations granted in the Consistory Court of Lincoln 1540–1659 which included the Consistory and Commissary Courts of the Bishop in the archdeaconry of Lincoln, the Chancellor's Court, and the court of the Archdeacon of Lincoln whose jurisdiction covered the whole of the county of Lincoln except the north-west quarter which formed the archdeaconry of Stow.

The documents included in this index are the administration bonds with their accompanying inventories, and the probate and administration act-books in so far as they relate to the business of granting administrations.

Most of the deceased persons included in the index lived in Lincolnshire: a few in the counties of Bedford, Buckingham, Hertford, Huntingdon, and Leicester, which were formerly included in the diocese of Lincoln.

What does the index include?

All names and places appearing in the will plus incidental information such as occupation where found in the original documents are included in the index.

Names are arranged alphabetically. This means some name variants may not appear clustered together. Names in the index are according to the spelling used in the documents, usually based on the signaturee of the testator.

Dates of wills are given in 'Old Style' or Julian Calendar.

Abbreviations

The Roman numerals after A indicate volumes, and the Arabic numerals pages. The Arabic numerals after B, E, I and T indicate the numbers of the documents in the bundles, which are arranged according to years.

In order to obtain the documents the following particulars should be given:

• (i) In the case of A — the letter A and the Roman numeral which follows it.
• (ii) In the case of B, E, I and T - whichever of these letters is required, together with the numeral that follows it, and also the year given in the entry.

Thus, to obtain all the documents referred to in the following entry:

Abbott Henry, Stapleford, 1596 : Avi, 41; B I, 3

ask for "Avi" and "B I, 3, 1596".

Wills & Administrations at Lincoln Vol. IV

British Record Society volume 57

Published 1930

Read the Original Introduction from the BRS Volume 57.

Locating the original documents

Where are the originals held?

The original wills are held at Lincolnshire Archives. To obtain a copy of an original will you need to complete an order form which is downloadable from the website.

What information from the document do I need to locate the original?

• Testator's name
• Place
• Year of will or admon
• Folio

Note - wills proved between 1649 and 1660 will be found in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury since during the civil war the church courts were abolished and a single centralised probate system was established. Between this time all wills were proved and all grants of administration made, at one central Court of Probate in London. This was really just the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) under a different name and thus wills etc proved during this period will be found indexed within the PCC. See PCC volumes BRS 54, BRS 61, and Matthews 1-9 for this period.

About the index

This volume indexes the Archdeaconry of Stow, peculiar and miscellaneous courts including:

• The Courts of the Archdeaconry of Stow, that is, the Consistory and Commissary Courts of the Bishop within the Archdeaconry, and the Court of the Archdeacon of Stow, Wills 1530-1699. The archdeaconry at that time comprised the north-western quarter of Lincolnshire, containing the deaneries of Lawres, Aslackhoe, Corringham, and Manlake.
• The Courts of the Archdeaconry of Stow, Administrations 1582-1699. This calendar also includes the grants recorded in the Probate and Administration Act Books of the same period.
• The Peculiar Court of the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln, Wills and Administrations 1534-1834.
• The Prebendal Court of Biggleswade, co. Bedford, Wills and Administrations 1639 -1740, with jurisdiction in the parish of Biggleswade.
• The Prebendal Court of Buckden, co. Huntingdon, Wills 1691-1749.
• The Prebendal Court of Caistor, co. Lincoln, Wills and Administrations 1636-1833.
• The Prebendal Court of Corringham, co. Lincoln, Wills and Administrations 1632-1833.
• The Prebendal Court of Empingham, co. Lincoln, Wills and Administrations 1669-1744.
• The Prebendal Court of Gretton, co. Northampton, Wills and Administrations 1657-1832.
• Heydour Prebendal Court, co. Lincoln, Wills and Administrations 1669-1836.
• Ketton Prebendal Court, co. Rutland, Wills 1666-1667.
• The Subdecanal Court of Kirton in Lindsey, co. Lincoln, Wills and Administrations 1566-1834.
• The Prebendal Court of Liddington, co. Rutland, Wills 1668-1810.
• The Prebendal Court of Louth, co. Lincoln, Wills and Administrations 1612-1879.
• The Prebendal Court of Nassington, co. Northampton, Wills and Administrations 1702-1744.
• The Prebendal Court of Bishop Norton, co. Lincoln, Wills and Administrations, 1613-1814.
• The Prebendal Court of Sleaford, co. Lincoln, Wills and Administrations, 1610-1834.
• The Prebendal Court of Stow in Lindsey, co. Lincoln, Wills and Administrations, 1610-1833.
• The Prebendal Court of Long Stow, co. Huntingdon, Wills 1736-1744.
• Sundry Wills and Administrations in the Lincoln Diocesan Registry, 1508-1608.

What does the index include?

All names and places appearing in the will plus incidental information such as occupation where found in the original documents are included in the index.

Names are arranged alphabetically. This means some name variants may not appear clustered together. Names in the index are according to the spelling used in the documents, usually based on the signaturee of the testator.

Dates of wills are given in 'Old Style' or Julian Calendar.

Notes and abbreviations used in the index