Bedford (BDF)

Jurisdictions

1. Aside from the exceptions listed in 2 below, the majority of parishes came under A) the Archdeaconry of Bedford before 1837 and (B) the Archdeaconry of Bedford, 1837-1858. See the first two items in the decision table.
2. If research involves one of the places listed below, match the designated letter in parentheses (A-E) with the subsequent heading in the decision table. (Prebendal is the title for one type of peculiar.) Each court should be searched in the order of priority indicated on the decision table.

Decision Table

For those who lived in (A) the Archdeaconry of Bedford before 1837, Search:

1. Archdeaconry of Bedford
2. Consistory of Lincoln (see Lincoln)
3. Prerogative Court of Canterbury (see London: PCC)
4. Court of Arches, 1660- (see London: Arches)
5. Court of Delegates, 1636- (see London: Delegates)

For those who lived in (B) the Archdeaconry of Bedford, 1837-1858, Search:

1. Archdeaconry of Bedford
2. Consistory of Ely (see Cambridge)
3. 3-5. Do 3-5 above for (A)

For those who lived in (C) the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon, Search:

1. Archdeaconry of Huntingdon (see Huntingdon)
2. Do 2-5 for the Archdeaconry of Bedford (A) and (B)

For those who lived in (D) the Prebendal of Biggleswade, Search:

1. Prebendal of Biggleswade
2. Archdeaconry of Huntingdon (see Huntingdon)
3. Do 2-5 for the Archdeaconry of Bedford (A)

For those who lived in (E) the Prebendal of Leighton Buzzard, Search:

1. Prebendal of Leighton Buzzard
2. Prebendal of Aylesbury (see Buckingham)
3. Dean and Chapter of Lincoln (see Lincoln)
4. Do 2-5 for the Archdeaconry of Bedford (A)

For those living anywhere in the county between 1653-1660, Search:

1. Prerogative Court of Canterbury (see London: PCC)

For those living anywhere in the county between 1812-1857, regardless of what is found in the probate records of any of the above courts, consider searching also the estate duty registers (see London: Estate Duty)

Printed Indexes for Bedford (Archdeaconry & Prebendal Courts)

1. The printed index is the obvious place to start. However, the microfiche edition of the card index on which the printed one is based still retains some distinct advantages that are explained in 2 below.
   1484-1858, A-Kimnot (FHL 942 B4b) and (BYU CS434 .B7) volume 104
   1484-1858, Kimpton-Z (FHL 942 B4b) and (BYU CS434 .B7) volume 105
   Both volumes are part of the Index Library series (BRS). There are useful indexes in the back of the second volume by occupation and place. Places outside of the county mentioned more than 20 times include the counties of Buckingham, Hertford, Huntingdon, London, and Northampton.
   Unfortunately, the compiler and editors of these two volumes chose when there was both an original will and a registered copy one not to reference the latter.
   1701-1846, Prebendal of Leighton Buzzard. (FHL 942.565 P2e) The Eureka Partnership published an every name index in the wills of this court in 2007.
2. The microfiche edition of the card index was produced for the National Inventory of Documentary Sources (NIDS), and is not available at BYU. It should include all probate documents for the archdeaconry and the two peculiars. The sections for places and occupations have the advantage over the printed index in that the researcher can see at a glance all of the individuals by name who left wills in a certain parish or for a given occupation. There is also an index to Bedford wills in the PCC.

Index of Persons (Use the printed index)

The index for A-Y will be found on fiche 6,091,742-6,091,765.

Index of Parishes

Index to Other Counties 6,091,785

Index of Occupations 6,091,786

There are four fiche. The first fiche covers occupations A-C, the second C-M, the third M-W, and the fourth finishes W.

Index of Bedford Wills in The PCC 6,091,787

The card index is arranged by person and parish on five fiche. The fiche for persons comes up through 1700 for the entire alphabet and continues to 1800 for A-B. The fiche are as follows: 1) A-Cre, 2) Cri-Kni, 3) Kno-Str, 4) Str-Zou and parishes A-Marston Moretayne, and 5) the parishes continue from Marston Moretayne-Y. See the miscellaneous section for abstracts of these wills from 1383-1548 and an index to all persons named in them.

Microfilmed Records

The original wills for the Archdeaconry of Bedford begin in 1536, but the registered copy wills start in 1484. Abstracts of the registered copy wills for 1484-1533 have also been published as will be seen in the miscellaneous section below. All of the wills and administrations for the county of Bedford have been microfilmed, in some cases twice as in the case of the original wills. For quick access to the films while researching at the FHL, see the probate key or hand list for Bedford on the register table near the British reference counter. The initial film numbers for the probate records of this county is 1,066,790

Miscellaneous Section

1. Document 81 in the original wills on FHL film 1,066,827 is for Joseph Watford of the town of Bedford, not Jn Watford as listed in the printed index for 1705. Volume 43 of the registered copy wills on FHL & BYU film 88,061 begins with a parish list for 1552-1746 showing the names of each minister and the dates of their ministries, plus the name and rank of their patrons. Volume 53 of the registered copy wills on FHL & BYU film 88,066 begins with a list of nonconformist meeting places for 1740-1816, including a description of the place, name of the owner, and the date it was licensed as a place of worship. Occasionally, the denomination is indicated.
2. The Archdeaconry of Bedford also had registered administrations. The volume for 1670-1692 on FHL film 88,073 starts with a guide to the rural deaneries to which each parish in the county belonged. The volume for 1818-1857 on FHL & BYU film 88,082 includes the renunciation of Mark Folwell of Towcester in Northampton who refused to administer in 1823 the estate of his son, William Folwell, grocer of Toddington.
3. Abstracts of all of the registered copy wills for the Archdeaconry of Bedford through 1533 were published in volumes 37, 45 and 76 of the Bedfordshire Historical Record Society as follows: 1498-1526 in volume 37, 1480-1519 in volume 45, and 1484-1533 in volume 76. (FHL 942.565 B4b) Volume 45 contains English translations of the wills written in Latin. (It is also on film 990,095 at BYU.) One will was dated 1480 but was proven later. Each volume contains indexes to all persons named in each will. Further entries for 1531-1539 were published as Occasional paper no. 3 by the Bedfordshire Family History Society in 2005. (FHL 942.565 P2b)
4. Other abstracts of miscellaneous wills were published in volumes 2 and 14 of the Bedfordshire Historical Record Society as follows: 13 wills and 3 administrations proven at Lambeth Palace (may also be in #5 below) between 1379-1607 and 7 wills in the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon between 1525-1627 in volume 2; and 20 wills proven at Lincoln between 1319-1533 and 12 more at Lambeth Palace between 1387-1570 in volume 14. (FHL 942.565 B4b) Additionally, abstracts of 164 wills for Bedford proven at Lincoln between 1601-1652 have been published. (FHL 942.565 S2p)
5. Abstracts of 132 wills for persons from this county proven in the PCC between 1383-1548 were published as volume 58 of the Bedfordshire Historical Record Society. (FHL 942.565 B4b) Volume 58 includes an index to all persons named in each will.
6. Inventories for 1605-1620 and 1562-1591, including one for Biggleswade dated 1575, are published in volumes 20 and 32 of the Bedfordshire Historical Record Society. (FHL 942.565 B4b)
7. A calendar of printed Bedfordshire wills "relating chiefly to the Gentry and Clergy" between 1386-1736 was compiled by F.A. Blaydes in 1893. (FHL 942 A1, number 335) It should be consulted first before using the two items that follow next.
8. See the preceding entry. The Bedfordshire Notes and Queries by F.A. Blaydes is found under FHL 942.565 D2b. Volume 1 contains transcripts of 3 wills, one of which is not in the printed index. Volume 2 contains transcripts of some 50 wills of which 4 are not in the printed index. Vol. 3 contains transcripts of some 225 wills of which about 10 are not in the printed index. Of those 10, three are for the Taverner surname of Oxford and Hertford, and another is for Dyer from Huntingdon. Each volume is also separately indexed.
9. See entries 7-8 above. Genealogia Bedfordiensis by F.A. Blaydes is found under FHL 942.565 D5b. It includes some 800 wills for 1538-1700 starting on page 337. They are arranged by parish. The volume is indexed and now online.
10. A copy of H.I. Longden's probate collection for Bedfordshire was also microfilmed. His volume 20 on FHL film 451,775 is mainly another index to the registered copy wills of the Archdeaconry of Bedford from 1496-1654, but the entries are often accompanied by brief information about the testator's family. Also included is a similar approach for Leighton Buzzard, 1537-1554, and Biggleswade, 1540-1559.

Item 1 of FHL film 451,776 is the first part of his vol. 21. It is mainly another index to the original wills for the archdeaconry from 1536-1615. Item 2 of the same film is the second part of his vol. 21 for 1616-1662. Abstracts for each entry are more numerous after 1622. Item 3 covers the third part of vol. 21 for 1663-1700.