Wales Probate Records 1544-1858

Search Wales Probate Records 1544-1858

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    Did your ancestors own property in Wales? These abstracts of wills, inventories and probate records can reveal a wealth of vital information about the lives they lived, their death, and the inheritance of their estate by family and friends.

    Learn about these records

    What can these records tell me?

    These records are abstracts of over 300 years of original probate documents created by the Anglican Church in the administration of a deceased estate and contain a varying amount of information, including:

    • Name
    • Reference and type of original document
    • Date of Will being written
    • Date of Codicil/Inventory
    • Date of Probate/Grant
    • Occupation of the deceased
    • Residence of the deceased (parish and county)
    • Burial Place of the deceased
    • Name of executor, witnesses and beneficiaries (often family members like Spouse, children, siblings)
    • Occupations and residences of beneficiaries
    • Additional comments

    Many of the indexes will abbreviate names, places or general terms. A glossary of abbreviations is available under Useful Links and Resources.

    Discover more about these records

    Probate is the legal right to deal with a deceased person’s estates; such as property, money and possessions. The index will explain what type of record is available. You will find ‘will’ if the individual created a will with his or her wishes for the estate. If a will was not created, you will find ‘administration’. A probate record was not created for every person who died, those with smaller estates often didn’t make one – the property was often divided up by agreement of the family.

    Married women were unable to retain ownership and control their property until 1882. They could only create a will with their husband’s permission.

    Patronymic Naming System

    These Welsh probate abstracts can use the patronymic naming system. This system started in Wales in the 15th century through to the mid-18th century. It is the practice of using the father’s first name as the child’s surname. Usually, ‘ab’ or ‘ap’ is added between the child’s first name and the father’s first name. For example, William Ap David is William son of David.

    The patronymic naming system can affect your genealogical research. We would recommend searching by your relative’s first name and birth year without the family’s surname. Then narrow your search from those results.

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