Wills, Administrations, Probate and Inventories
Records
The British Library webpage Wills and Administration lists sources in the India Office Records.
Note that if you are searching for a person who lived outside of Calcutta and the other capitals, up-country, in the Mofussil, they will probably be found in the records of the District Courts, not the Supreme Courts. The District Court records start from 1865, as explained in this summary of L/AG/34 contents. This Rootsweb India List thread advises that the only information available in relation to wills proved in District Courts are the summaries of grants made which are contained in the District Court Calendars of Probate. Unlike wills proved in the Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, copies of the actual wills were not sent to the India Office in London. It is not currently known (October 2009) whether Regional State Archives in India would be likely to still hold the probated wills. Details of some of the State Archives may be found in Indian Libraries and Archives.
Some wills proved in England relate to persons with links to India or, indeed, those who have actually died in India. Maybe property was held at home and abroad and, therefore, the will was proved in both places. Where this happened before 1858 a will held in the British Library may also be mirrored in the Documents Online section of the National Archives website – from where it can be downloaded at nominal cost. National Archives
FIBIS resources
FIBIS Journal 8, Autumn 2002:Some Sources of Probate and Estate Records for India by Sylvia Murphy
To access this article: FIBIS Members view online; Non Members Join FIBIS or purchase a copy of the Journal
The following information is available on the FIBIS Search database.
- Bengal Wills in the India Office Records 1780 to 1866 Complete, 1867-1909 surnames beginning ‘A’ only.
- Officers Wills in the India Office Records an index and extract from the IOR series L/AG/34/30/30. The wills of only 37 officers are included. They cover all three presidencies over the years 1831 to 1875
- Administration Act Books Administrations relating to India 1830 to 1857
- Limited Administration Act Books relating to India 1830 to 1839
If you want to obtain a copy of a will that you have found a reference for in FIBIS’s transcriptions, you will need to visit or contact the British Library, or order a LDS film (refer below)
FIBIS members can also take advantage of the FIBIS research service to obtain a photocopy of a microfilmed will from the British Library (and, indeed, details from other records ) where a reference has been found on the website. A search can also be made for wills, probates and inventories which may not yet be listed on the site. Members should contact the research co-ordinator - research@fibis.org - for details of this service.
External Links
- Microfilms in the Family History Library - a list obtained by a keyword search ('probate, India') of filmed India Office records in the LDS (Mormon) Family History Library Catalogue.