The following information was extracted in part from the
ScotlandsPeople website.
Wills &
Testaments
*****
Indexes
******
The wills and
testaments index contains over 611,000 entries to Scottish
wills and testaments dating from 1513 to 1901. It is compiled
from the indexes to the official court registers of Scottish
wills and testaments held in the Historical Search Room of the
National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh. These consist
of:
|
▪
* |
|
The Scottish Record Society’s printed indexes to
the Commissary Courts registers of testaments up to 1800
(Edinburgh 1901) |
| ▪ |
|
Typed indexes to the Commissary Court indexes,
1800-1823 |
|
▪
* |
|
Manuscript tables of contents of the Sheriff
Courts registers of inventories and settlements up to
1875 |
| ▪ |
|
The printed Calendar of Confirmations,
1876-1901. |
Each index entry
may include: surname, forename, title, occupation and place of
residence (where these are given) of the deceased person, the
court in which the testament was recorded, and the date on
which the testament was recorded.
*****
Index entries do
not include names of executors, trustees or heirs to the
estate, the deceased’s date of death, or the value of the
estate.
*****
In some instances, there
can be more than one entry in the wills and testaments index
for the same person.
*****
About
The Courts
*****
Commissary
Courts
*****
Before the
Reformation of 1560, bishops had the power to administer the
estates of the deceased in cases of intestacy and to confirm
testaments submitted to them by parish priests. For a few
years after 1560, the situation was somewhat confused, but in
February 1564, the first commissary court was established in
Edinburgh by letters patent. Another twenty-one were set up
over a considerable period, taking over the duties of the
former church courts.
*****
The districts covered by
the jurisdiction of commissary courts were termed
“commissariots” and the principal court officials
“commissars”. The geographical boundaries of the courts’
jurisdiction remained the same as those of the pre-Reformation
church courts and largely corresponded to the boundaries of
the mediaeval dioceses. They bear no relation to present-day
administrative boundaries, nor did they correspond to the old
county boundaries. For example, the county of Perth was
covered by Dunblane, Dunkeld and St Andrews Commissary Courts.
This can cause confusion particularly when the county in which
a person died bears the same name as a Commissary
Court.
*****
The Edinburgh
Commissary Court was the principal court and heard appeals
from the local courts. It also had the power to confirm
testaments of those who owned moveable property in more than
one commissariot, of Scots dying outside Scotland (‘furth of
the realm’), and of others who held assets in
Scotland.
*****
Under the terms
of the Commissary Courts (Scotland) Act of 1823, the system of
commissary courts was abolished.
*****
Sheriff
Courts
*****
Sheriff Courts
assumed official responsibility for the confirmation of
testaments from 1 January 1824. However, the transfer of
duties did not happen overnight. Some commissary courts
continued in existence for a number of years after their
statutory ‘demise’ and continued to confirm testaments (for
example, the Edinburgh Commissary Court continued in existence
until 1836). There is therefore considerable overlap between
the testamentary records of the commissary courts and those of
the sheriff courts. As such, it is advisable to check both
courts during this period.
*****
Each sheriff
court had its own method of organising its executry records,
so these records are not arranged in a consistent
manner.
*****
The commissary
office of Edinburgh Sheriff Court assumed responsibility for
confirming the executry of Scots abroad who died leaving
moveable property in Scotland.
*****
Will
these documents tell me about land and
buildings?
*****
Before the early
years of the 19th century do not expect to find any references
to land and buildings. Testaments related only to the
deceased's moveable estate, i.e. money, household furnishings,
personal possessions, farm animals and crops etc. (In Scotland
rules of inheritance differed in respect to moveable and
heritable property, i.e. land and buildings). However, from
the early 19th century, it was not uncommon to find
dispositions, settlements, trust dispositions and settlements,
etc. recorded in the commissary court registers, and these
documents often included details of heritable property. After
1868 this could be bequeathed so you will find more instances
of heritable property, or 'heritage', in the
records.
*****
Until 1964 the
law of primogeniture applied with regard to heritage, i.e. the
eldest son inherited everything, unless there had been a
disposition or bequest specifically made by the deceased
owner.
