Cornwall (CON)

Jurisdictions

1. Aside from the exceptions listed in 2 below (nearly 30 parishes), the majority of Cornwall's 204 parishes came under (A) the Archdeaconry of Cornwall.
2. If research involves one of the places listed below, match the designated letter in parentheses (B-E) with the subsequent heading in the decision table. Unfortunately, except for the Royal Peculiar of St Buryan and the tax copies of wills for 1812-1857 of all these places, the probate records housed at Exeter for the places in this list were destroyed by air raids in 1942. See the Miscellaneous Section and Devon for possible alternate searches.

Decision Table

For those who lived in (A) the Archdeaconry of Cornwall, search:

1. Archdeaconry of Cornwall
2. Consistory of Exeter (see Devon)
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 Peculiars of the Bishop of Exeter, search:

1. The Miscellaneous Section under Cornwall
2. See Devon

For those who lived in (C) the Peculiars of the Dean & Chapter of Exeter, search:

1. The Miscellaneous Section under Cornwall
2. See Devon

For those who lived in (D) the Archdeaconry of Totnes, see Devon.

For those who lived in (E) the Royal Peculiar of St Buryan, search:

1. Royal Peculiar of St Buryan
2. Prerogative Court of Canterbury (see London: PCC)
3. Court of Arches, 1660- (see London: Arches)
4. Court of Delegates, 1636- (see London: Delegates)

For those who lived anywhere in the county between 1653-1660, search:

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

For those who lived anywhere in the county between 1812-1857, search the estate duty registers and copy wills listed under Cornwall.

Printed Indexes for the Archdeaconry of Cornwall, the Royal Peculiar of St Buryan and the copies of the Estate Duty Wills for Cornwall

1. 1569-1699, (FHL 942 B4b, volume 56) and (BYU on fiche only under CS 43 .G46x LH 12315).
   This is volume 56 of the Index Library series (BRS). It consists of one master alphabet to the wills, administrations, and accounts of both the courts of the archdeaconry and St Buryan. Both BRS volumes 56 and 59 have been scanned into the Ancestry.com system. The search is free when searching at the FHL or using the computers in the Family History section of the BYU library.
2. 1600-1649, (FHL 942.37 P2co, parts 1-4)
   This index was created in 1984 by the Cornwall Record Office to update volume 56. It indexes all of the original documents for both the archdeaconry and St Buryan and provides modern references created by that archive for this collection which corresponds with the designations for the 2nd filming of the original documents that begins with FHL film 1565572.
3. 1700-1799, (FHL 942 B4b) and (BYU CS 434 .B7) volume 59
   This is volume 59 of the Index Library series (BRS). It uses the same format as volume 56, which see above, except that St Buryan is found on pages 242-243. It is also on Ancestry.com with volume 56. See item 1 above.
4. 1800-1857, (FHL 942.37 P2c) and (BYU on fiche only under CS 434 .B7, no. 1)
   This index was created by Brenda Hull for the Cornwall Record Office in 1982. It is a master index for the archdeaconry, St Buryan, and the estate duty wills for both courts. It includes the original wills, administrations, inventories, and in the case of the archdeaconry, the registered copy wills. The place index in the back of this volume gives 10 references to places outside of England including the following:
• 1837, administration bond for William Roberts of Kenwyn who died in America
• 1842, will of John Turner Peter, silversmith of Liskeard, formerly of Canada
5. 1600-1857, (FHL 942.37 P22i)
   This index was created by the Cornwall Record Office in 1987. It indexes again the documents for St Buryan as well as the unproved wills in the archdeaconry, 1687-1894. In each case it provides the modern references of this archive for these records. Almost half of the unproved wills are listed in the above printed indexes. Otherwise, you can contact the Cornwall Record Office using the reference in this index to acquire a copy.

Microfilmed Probate Records for Cornwall

All of the pre-1858 probate records for the archdeaconry and St Buryan have been microfilmed, except for the act books. The original wills, administrations and inventories are filed together, parts of which have been filmed three times. There are some surviving documents dated as early as 1578, but the series is not consistent until 1601. The registered copy wills for the archdeaconry do not begin until 1690. The 1st and 3rd filmings on 272 reels have been filed together in the catalog of the FHL and can be quickly accessed by typing in 90144 in the Film/Fiche Search box of the main menu of that catalog.

Starting in 1796 a tax was collected on estates worth over $10. The amount of the duty was determined by the Estate Duty Office or Stamp Office (SO) as part of the Inland Revenue (IR). Registers were kept until 1903 showing the amount levied and abstracts of the wills and administrations that were taxed, perhaps 25% of all the estates probated before 1805. The registers may contain additional information not found in the actual probate documents. In addition to the registers, copies of all wills were gathered by this office from 1812-1857. Both the registers/abstracts and the copies of the wills are available on film for Devon and Cornwall as follows:

• The indexes to the registers (IR 27) for Devon and Cornwall are on FHL film 1368371. The registers/abstracts (IR 26) for Cornwall are on films 1368367-1368369. See Devon for further details.
• The indexes and copies of all Estate Duty wills for Cornwall 1812-1857 (SO/ W/ 1-1436) were microfilmed twice. Use either films 1471660 and 1471629-1471630 or 2276066 and 2276068-2276069.

Miscellaneous Section

1. The West Country Studies Library in the Exeter Central Library, Castle Street, Exeter, EX4 3PQ holds six boxes of extracts of Cornish wills and administrations started by Olive M. Moger. An index to this collection will be found in the Cornwall Family History Society Journal, 49(Sep. 1988):24 (FHL 942.37 B2cf). Of the 79 documents indexed there, 46 refer to places in the peculiars of the Bishop and Dean and Chapter of Exeter. Abstracts of these may appear on the next item.
2. Olive M. Moger made abstracts of Cornish wills of interest to her for the 16th-19th centuries. Her research included the Archdeaconry of Cornwall, the courts at Exeter, and the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. This collection is on FHL films 317547 for surnames A-Oliver and 317548 for Oliver-Z.
3. The FHL filmed the Account Causes, 1668-1845, at the Cornwall Record Office (ARD/149/1-287). These documents concern outstanding accounts against probated estates and are found on films 1472033-472034.
4. Also filmed were contested legacies (ARD/161/1-67) for 1725-1829, 1693-1845 and disputed estates (ARD/165/1-53) for 1715-1838. The first is referred to as Legacy Causes and is on FHL film 1472034. The second is under Temerary Administrations on film 1472136.
5. An index and abstracts of all Cornish wills proved in the PCC, 1383-1583, was compiled by J.R.M. Glencross (FHL 942.37 S2g, volumes 1-3). Volume 1 starts with an index to the first two volumes and then provides the abstracts for A-J for 1383-1558. Volume 2 is the abstracts for K-Z for the same time period. Volume 3 has an index to 1558-1583 followed by its abstracts.