Malhamdale Wills Index

Probate for people living in Malhamdale was mainly proved in the Prerogative and Exchequer Courts of York and the Yorkshire Archaeological Society have published over a dozen volumes of indexes to Yorkshire wills covering from 1389-1688 and the following entries have been extracted from these indexes. They cover all the entries that could be readily identified as belonging to local people or referring to them, however the list may not be complete. If you are looking for a particular will and can't find it here, the Borthwick's Simple Guide to Probate Jurisdiction shows the extent of the Diocese of York and where to look for Yorkshire wills. You can then contact the Borthwick Institute for Archives as they hold the majority of Yorkshire wills and letters of administration. Some copies of probate documents they hold can be obtained via the Origins online service noted below. For other periods if you can quote the name, place, date of probate and, ideally, volume and folio number, you can use the copy order service, otherwise use the online enquiry form, which should contain details of the full name of the person, approximate date of death and where they lived. They will check their indexes and provide a quote for a copy of the will and any associated documents such as inventories. The cost is generally £5-10 per set of probate documents. They have also a postal enquiry service for more complex queries requiring research/ translation.

The Borthwick Institute is situated on the York University campus:

Borthwick Institute for Archives
University of York
Heslington
York
YO10 5DD
Tel. 01904 321166 (appointments and archive enquiries)
email : bihr500@york.ac.uk

In addition to the extract of wills shown below, you can find an online index to some of the wills in the Borthwick Institute available on The Origins Network website. They are indexing all the wills from the Prerogative & Exchequer Courts of York starting from 1858 and working back to meet their already completed York Medieval Probate Index 1267-1500. They also have the York Peculiars Probate Index covering 1383-1883.
A subscription is necessary, but this can be for as little as 72 hours, which is quite economical.    

Further information can be found on our own Wills for Family History page with additional information and hints, and the West Yorkshire Archive Service also publish a very helpful downloadable Collections Guide 4 - Wills.

Index to Malhamdale wills proved at York (1389-1688)