Wills - Prerogative Court of York

The following lists of Hulley - and variant spellings - wills and administrations were obtained in 1992 from the indexes of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series held at the Public Record Office in London. Copies of certain wills were obtained from the Borthwick Institute.

Wills and Administrations 1389 - 1688

Wills and Administrations 1689 - 1731

Wills and Administrations 1731 - 1858

Wills for Northern England

Records of wills and administrations for the northern counties of England are held at the Borthwick Institute of the University of York, St Anthony's Hall, Peasholme Green, York Y01 7PW. There are basically three types of records held there:

• The Exchequer Court - this exercised probate jurisdiction for the laity and (after the middle ages) the unbeneficed clergy having goods solely in the diocese of York. The post Reformation diocese covered all the county (except for the north western part which formed part of the Richmond Archdeaconry in Chester diocese), and Nottinghamshire. The Archbishop also possessed the liberties of Ripon and Hexhamshire, the latter being in Northumberland. The series of original probate material begins in 1427 but before 1591 there are only a few items for the years when wills survive. From 1591 there are some wills extant for most years but the series is not generally complete until the 1630s onwards. Between 1630 and 1660 when the Commonwealth authorities established their own central probate court system, probate records of Yorkshire and the north of England are held at the Public Record Office in London. The original probate records of the Exchequer Court from the Nottinghamshire rural deaneries of the diocese are now held at Nottinghamshire Archives.

• The Prerogative Court of the Archbishop - has its origin in the late 16th century and exercised jurisdiction in respect of probate or administration of persons with goods etc. to the value of £5 or over either in more than one jurisdiction within the diocesan boundaries of York, or in more than one diocese in the northern province (the dioceses of York, Carlisle, Chester and Durham covering the counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Westmorland and Yorkshire).

• The Chancery Court of the Archbishop - this court was originally used for wills proved before the Archbishop in person rather than before his probate officials in the Exchequer. The original records survive from 1535 onwards but copies of wills have been registered in the Archbishop's registers from 1316 to 1857.

Source - Article by Professor DM Smith MA PhD FSA in Family and Local History Handbook (6th Edition)

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