How to Read an Old Probate Inventory

Probate · Research Skills · June 2026

A probate inventory is one of the most intimate documents that English archives preserve. It lists, room by room and item by item, everything a person owned at the moment of their death — valued in pounds, shillings, and pence by their neighbours. For the family historian, a transcribed inventory can transform a name in a register into a life with texture, occupation, and material reality.

What Is a Probate Inventory?

When a person died in England and Wales between roughly 1530 and 1782, the church required that an inventory of their moveable goods and chattels be compiled as part of the probate process. This was not a list of what they wished to leave to whom — that was the will. The inventory was a practical valuation: what did they actually possess, and what was it worth?

The appraisers — usually two or three neighbours or tradesmen — walked through the property recording what they found. They began with the most valuable items (livestock, crops, trade goods) and worked through the house room by room: hall, parlour, chamber, kitchen, buttery, barn, stable. Every bed, every pot, every pair of shoes might be listed.

The requirement to produce inventories was abolished in 1782, which is why they survive in large numbers for the period 1530–1782 but are rare thereafter.

What Can an Inventory Tell You?

“A single inventory can tell you more about how an ancestor actually lived than a dozen entries in a parish register.”

The information in a probate inventory is remarkably rich:

Occupation and trade — the tools, raw materials, and finished goods listed often identify an ancestor's trade precisely, even when no other record gives it
Wealth and social standing — the total valuation and the quality of goods listed places an ancestor clearly within the social hierarchy of their community
The layout of their home — room-by-room listing reconstructs the physical space they inhabited, which rooms they slept in, cooked in, kept their best things
Literacy and learning — books, writing materials, or mathematical instruments suggest education
Farming practice — livestock numbers, crop types, and agricultural equipment reveal how they worked the land
Debts and credits — many inventories include a section listing money owed to and by the deceased, naming creditors and debtors who may be relatives, employers, or business associates
Seasonal detail — the presence of grain in the barn or livestock in the field can indicate the time of year the person died

A Typical Inventory Extract

Probate inventory extract — Sussex yeoman, c.1683

Imprimis his purse and apparell iiij li
Item in the Hall one Table one forme two Chaires & other small implements xij s
Item in the Parlour one Featherbed with its furniture one Trundle bed one Chest & other small things iij li x s
Item in the Kitchin one Brasse pott two Brasse Kettles one paire of Andyrons fire shovell & tongs & other Iron ware xviij s
Item his Cattle being Seaven Cowes & two Steers xiiij li
Item his Corne in the Barne being Wheat Barley & Oats viij li

Roman numerals are used for values throughout: iiij li = £4; xij s = 12 shillings; iij li x s = £3 10s. Imprimis (Latin for ‘first of all’) begins most inventories; subsequent items begin Item.

Where to Find Probate Inventories

Probate records were administered by the church courts until 1858, when civil registration of probate began. This means inventories are held in different places depending on where your ancestor lived and died:

County Record Offices — the first place to look for most English and Welsh inventories; they hold the records of the relevant archdeaconry and consistory courts
The Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) — held at The National Archives (series PROB 4, PROB 5), covering wealthier individuals whose estates crossed diocesan boundaries
The Prerogative Court of York — held at the Borthwick Institute, York, for the northern province
Ancestry and Findmypast — some county collections have been digitised and indexed, though coverage is uneven

Inventories are often catalogued separately from wills, so it is worth searching specifically for them rather than assuming they will appear alongside the will record.

The Challenge of Reading Them

Probate inventories present several reading challenges beyond the secretary hand script itself. The vocabulary of household goods, agricultural equipment, and trade tools is largely obsolete — words like andyrons (fire dogs), coffer (chest), pillion (a riding pad), or mashing tub (a brewing vessel) require specialist knowledge to identify correctly. Appraisers also spelled phonetically and inconsistently, so the same object may appear under several different spellings.

Roman numeral values are used throughout and require familiarity: li for pounds, s for shillings, d for pence. The layout can be cramped, with later additions squeezed into margins or between lines.

A Note on Pricing

Probate inventories are typically priced by the folio from £30, with complex multi-page documents quoted individually. A glossary of archaic terms is included where useful. Full details on the Heritage Script pricing page.

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