The Archdeaconry Court of London was one of the local church courts that dealt with testamentary matters as well as other concerns.
Within the Diocese of London, the Archdeacon had jurisdiction over about half of the parishes in the City of London and some populous parishes bordering it in the county of Middlesex, including St Leonard Shoreditch and Clerkenwell. St Botolph Aldgate, to which many mariners dying abroad were ascribed as resident, also fell within this court's jurisdiction. Thus anyone who has a mariner ancestor who suspects a death overseas should examine this index. Similarly, it is invaluable as a way of locating anyone who might have died in the very large parishes of Shoreditch and Clerkenwell, whose burial registers can be difficult and time consuming to use.
By 1700 the business of the court was already declining, presumably because more and more testators were resorting to the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. In the 1750s this drop became more marked, and there are very few wills after the 1770s. Though the court's jurisdiction was not abolished until 1858 the last will was proved in 1807.
Click here for parishes covered by Archdeaconry Court of London
What do the index records tell you?
The index contains
- Name
- Parish of residence
- Occupation
- Month and year probate was granted
- Ships [where mentioned]
1. Typical index record
ATKINS, Ephraim, [of] St Mary Somerset, [occupation] farrier,
[probate granted] Jul 1719
2. Typical mariner's entry
ARBOCKLE, Quinton, Clerkenwell and HMS Faversham, Jun 1715
3. Where person died in different place to residence
ASHTON, Elizabeth, St Olave Hart Street (but died Holborn),
sp[inster]., Jun 1726
4. Alternative surname spellings
BURGESS (BURGES, BURGIS), Alice, Clerkenwell,
widow, May 1712
The source records
The original records of the Archdeaconry Court of London, together with those of several other Church courts, can now be found at the Guildhall Library.
Wills are a valuable source for family historians. Where they exist they can throw a useful insight into the thoughts and wishes of the testator as well as give genealogical information.
The following information can be found on wills:
- The name, occupation and residence of the testator will be given.
- The date of when the will is made indicates, of course, that the testator is
alive at that point.
- Indication is often made as to the health of the testator when the will is
made, eg "sick in bodie but in perfect memorie, thanks be to God"
- Instruction may be given as to where the testator wishes to be buried
- They may well make mention of his family and friends, who might be named as beneficiaries, executors or trustees. Often the will can provide information about family relationships, listing children, siblings and spouses. The naming of
married daughters can help to establish who and when they married. Remember
that elder children may not be named if a settlement had already been made.
- Details of property either owned or leased will be given. Note that if the
property is described as "Copyhold" it was held as a tenant of a Lord of the Manor and it might be appropriate to seek surviving manorial records. The type of property mentioned whether real (land, estate, etc) or personal (goods and chattels, etc) may indicate the status of the deceased. If property in other parishes is mentioned this may be evidence of the origins of the testator and possible migration.
- Additions or extra instructions known as codicils to the wills may be added to the document in the intervening time before the death. If the will was made in a hurry while the testator was very ill it might be an oral or "nuncupative" will that recorded the testator's wishes but is not signed. The executors and witnesses might swear that this is a legal and true document.
- The date of the grant of probate will be recorded. This indicates that the testator is, of course, dead by this time and will limit the period needed to search for evidence of a burial. Remember, however, that it may take a long time to obtain probate and the will may be proved several years after the testator's death.
Remember also that children, lunatics, criminals, and married women without the consent of their husbands (before the 1883 Married Women's Property Act) could not leave wills.