INTRODUCTION

The wills in this series are those in English contained in the first surviving register of wills proved in the court of the Archdeacon of Bedford. Under the Testamentary Jurisdiction Act of 1857, they had been removed from Bedford to District Probate Registries, first Northampton, and later Birmingham. In 1950 they were deposited in the County Record Office by the order of the President of the Probate Division.

The register consists of 263 paper pages bound into a roughly made, plain parchment cover. It is formed of eight large sections, but there are a few loose sheets which have evidently come apart from the original stitching at the end of the eighth section. A number of pages have been cut from the end of the first section; the actual page numbering, however, appears to be contemporary and is consecutive, so the mutilation must have occurred very early in its history. Apart from badly rubbed edges, caused mainly by the cover being too small, the book’s physical condition is excellent.

Altogether there are 396 wills in the register dating from 1490 to c. 1526, with a certain amount of material relating to the Archdeacon’s court. The wills written in English are approximately half the total number. It is hoped to deal in a similar manner in a later volume with those in Latin. A few of the earlier and some of the more interesting ones have been given in full to show the actual form, style and general wording used.

In the abstracts the testator’s name is given first; followed by the parish (when this is omitted from the initial description and preamble of the will, the name of the churchyard in which the testator desires to be buried appears in square brackets); next the date when the will was made; followed by the proving date; lastly the number of the folio in the register.

Each of the original wills begins with the familiar words “In the name of God Amen” or “In dei nomine Amen”. This is practically always followed by date, name of testator, parish in which he resides and the place where he desires to be buried.