This index edited by William Phillimore and published in 1892, is an index to Berkshire Wills and Administrations covering the period 1508 to 1652.
Wills are an extremely valuable, and are an often under-used source of genealogical information, but they can give details of family members, places of residence and burial as well as revealing details about their possessions.
The Preface in the book states that before 1653 a search for Berkshire Wills of Administrations much be made in the following seven places:
- The Prerogative Court of Canterbury
- The Consistory Court of the Bishop of Salisbury
- The Court of the Archdeacon of Berks
- The Prebendal Court of Faringdon (for particular parishes)
- The Prebendal Court of Landgord Ecclesia (for particular parishes)
- The Peculiar Court of the Dean of Sarum (for particular parishes)
- The Peculiar Court of the Dean of Canons of Windsor (for particular parishes)
The records of all seven Courts are now housed at Somerset House. This index of thousands of residents who left wills, is arranged alphabetically by surname (please note: surname spellings have been altered to appear as the 'most common' spelling of that name, and it may well be different on the actual record) - together with first name/s, place, sometimes birth place, and sometimes occupation, and reference numbers.
This CD consists of high quality scans of the original text of the index, and has been made searchable, printable, and is fully bookmarked for easy navigation.
Please note this is an INDEX only, not transcriptions or copies of the original wills.
Please read carefully: This CD index is for
Personal Use ONLY. So libraries, societies and other organisations CANNOT purchase this product. It is not allowed to be used for commercial use, library use, loan, provision of a lookup service or print service, it is also not allowed to be resold.
