Consistory Court of Canterbury

 Index of Registered Wills

DCb/PRC32/ Vol 27- 72      1557-1857

 © M. J. Cozens - March 2005

Copying only permitted for private or academic use

Back to wills frontpage Mariners & Strangers Kent Archives Contacts

Surnames
A Ba-n Bo-y Ca-n Co-y D EF G Ha-n Ho-y IJK
L M NO P QR Sa-m Sn-y TUV Wa-h Wi-y Y


Places
A B Ca-can Can-cr Da-dea Den-dov Dov-dy EF G-Hi Hm-hu
Hy-K L Mai-mai Mai-mu NOPQR Sa-so St.-sw T-Wi Wo-Y


Names - As read with aka, alias etc. cross indexed under alternate initial letter.  The spelling of surnames is often phonetic with I & Y interchangeable. Look through all the primary character section to find all the variations on a name.

Forenames - Modern spelling except unusual names.

Places - Parishes as known with modern spelling, original county location

Made - Year the will was written.

Probate - Year the will was probated, excluding later court entries.

Reference - PRC Series/Volume/ Folio. Position in the folio.

Continued - Volume/Folio of any cross reference, duplicate or notes

This integrated index was created  from the volumes of Consistory Court Records. Each volume has been cross checked against the original handwritten index and any discrepancies resolved.

Known problems - Resolved
Volume 27    Page numbers used, i.e. folio numbers increment by two
Volume 30    Page numbers used, i.e. folio numbers increment by two
Volume 31    Page numbers up to page 358 then reverted to folio numbers
Volume 38    Folio 313, 314 & 318 not filmed
Volume 53    Folio 1 to 236 Film unusable -  indexed from original Volume
Volume 59    Folio 407 to 414  between Folio 422 and 423
Volume 61    Folio numbers continue from Volume 60 starting at Folio 602
Volume 63-72     Ink and photographic quality erratic

Various Volumes have folio marked as "missing" on the films, these appear to be errors as the wills are contiguous i.e. folio sequence error. Various Volumes have duplicate folio numbers these are noted in the Cont. column

 Obtaining copies of  wills found in this index
All the original Canterbury Consistory Court Wills are held at the Centre for Kentish Studies at County Hall,  Maidstone.  They were filmed in the 1950’s and have been widely distributed.  Copies of a will can be obtained from CKS or Canterbury Cathedral Archives or Family History Centres around the World.

The full CCC reference should be quoted DCb/PRC32/Volume/Folio when communicating with archives. Alternatively professional researchers can find and précis wills. Always establish the cost before placing an order as some wills are very long and complicated.

Observations
Most of the wills are from parishes of the Consistory Court of Canterbury, but there are some arising from the Archdeaconry Court parishes and others for people from outside the County and Country.

 A small number originate from Huguenots resident in Canterbury  and Sandwich with property identified in Europe. Mariners were indexed originally as of  the place of death.