Excerpt from Index to Wills Proved and Administrations Granted in the Court of the Archdeacon of Berks, 1508 to 1652 From 1653 to 1660, during which period all testamentary matters were dealt with by the Probate Judges appointed under the Commonwealth administration, search must be made solely in the records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Afterwards, in 1660, the old system of concurrent jurisdictions was reverted to, and this lasted until 1858, when the Probate Court was constituted and the old Ecclesiastical and Manorial Courts ceased to exercise jurisdiction in matters testamentary. Since then, and at the present time, the wills and administrations of Berkshire people have been recorded either in the district Registry at Oxford or in the principal Registry at Somerset House. It must be borne in mind, however, that the principal Registry, unlike the old Prerogative Courts, contains duplicate records of the wills and administrations in the various district Registries, and that now a lexicographical calendar is yearly printed and comprises in one alphabetical list the names of all testators and intestates throughout England and Wales. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Indexes volumes A-M. For these records see: Church of England. Archdeaconry of Berkshire. Court. Wills and administrations, 1508-1857 in the author/title catalog.

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