PROB 241657-1809Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Court for Probate of Wills and Granting Administrations: Depositions
Depositions of witnesses in causes heard by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury or, during the Commonwealth period, the Court for Probate of Wills and Granting Administrations.
The depositions were taken by officials at the Court's registry and were therefore known as town depositions to distinguish them from country depositions taken by commission.
Most of the depositions relate to the circumstances in which wills, whose authenticity was contested, were made and executed (or allegedly made and executed), including the alleged states of mind of testators at that time. Many other depositions relate to causes in which the deceased died intestate, and the identity of the next of kin was disputed. Many such disputes contested the legitimacy of the deceased's marriage or marriages.