Welsh Probate Records, Archdeaconry of Brecon

20,272 original wills, inventories, administration bonds and miscellaneous other probate records, 1557-1857 (mainly 1609-1653, 1660-1857) from parishes in Breconshire, Radnorshire, parts of Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire and Herefordshire, and stray items from other parishes in Wales and England; 26 vols register copy wills, 1543-1858 (mainly 1570-1589, 1694-1858); and four bundles of unproved Will (uncatalogued)

Divided into original probate records arranged chronologically within the diocese, and further sub-divided by parish and surname; and register copy wills arranged chronologically by volume

<p>Register copy wills of the District Probate Registry of Hereford, 1858-1928, are held by NLW and by the Principal Registry of the Family Division, London. Some wills and administrations are included in the consistory court papers filed with the diocesan records of the Church in Wales, held at NLW. Other sources of probate records from Wales are the records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) and those of the Court of Civil Commission, available for consultation at the National Archives, Kew</p>

Usual copyright laws apply

Public records. Some items unfit for production

English, small proportion of Welsh, small proportion of Latin pre-1733

Deposited by Llandaf District Probate Registry in 1945

In 1858 the earlier probate records from the Archdeacon's Court were transferred to the District Probate Registry at Hereford, where they remained until the closure of the latter in 1928. At that date they were removed to the Llandaf District Registry, whence they were conveyed to the National Library of Wales in 1945, in accordance with the Direction of the President of the Probate Division of the High Court of Justice

All records have been retained

In England and Wales prior to 12 January 1858, wills were proved and letters of administration granted in ecclesiastical courts, each having its own area of jurisdiction. Which court had jurisdiction in a particular case depended mainly on the place of death and the extent and location of the deceased's estate. The Archdeacon's Court of Brecon was responsible for probate and administration in the counties of Brecon, most of Radnor (except seven parishes), and parts of Monmouth (three parishes), Montgomery (two parishes) and Hereford (eight parishes). During the Commonwealth, 1653-1660, the Court of the Archdeaconry of Brecon ceased to function and the business of probate was undertaken by the Court of Civil Commission in London. Following the Restoration jurisdiction was reinstated in the church courts. In 1858 the responsiblity for probate was transferred from the ecclesiastical courts to a simpler system of civil probate registries