Crakehall Wills and Inventories from the Archdeaconry of Richmond

Up to the 19th century, probate for the wills of people living in Crakehall was granted in the diocesan court, and the registered wills are in the diocesan records of Richmond Archdeaconry that are held at the West Yorkshire Archive Service, Sheepscar, Leeds (catalogue reference WYL882). Many of the wills are accompanied by Probate Inventories that provide more or less detailed lists of the deceased person's property. Sometimes the testator's goods are itemised room by room in the house they occupied. Inventories of this kind, dating from the 16th to the 18th century, give pictures of the way these people lived that can not be obtained in any other way, while the wills provide valuable genealogical information.

I have abstracted wills and inventories for people from Crakehall from the published indexes (which are probably incomplete) and these are listed below, together with a note of whether an inventory is available. The date given is that of the inventory, where there is one, since it gives a nearer indication of the date of death than does the will.
I have retained the spelling of the originals, but I have inserted punctuation occasionally, for clarity. Where it has been necessary to add a comment, this is italicised in square brackets.
Many of he words used to describe household goods, farm equipment and stock are archaic. You can consult a glossary of these terms HERE, and it is also accessible from each will/inventory by clicking GLOSSARY

For testators with property in more than one administrative area, and occasionally for other reasons, probate may have been granted by the consistatory courts of York or Canterbury. The registered wills and inventories from these sources are in the Borthwick Institute, York, and in the National Archives, Kew, respectively. I have included some of these in the index, indicated with a Y or C before the date.

The original documents are, of course, hand written. You can see an example of one HERE, together with a transcript, which gives an idea of the kind of information they contain.

Names for which you can see transcripts are highlighted - click on the name to see the transcript

NAME	DATE	WILL (W), INVENTORY (I)
Allen, John	1596	W,I
Allen, Thomas	C 1807	W
Beadnall, Robert	C 1805	W
Branson, Ann I	1650	W,I
Branson, Ann II	C 1652	W (identical with above)
Clapham, Adam	1615	W,I
Clapham, Isabel	1566	W,I
Clapham, Peter	1637	I
Clapham, Richard	1634	I
Clapham, Robert (I)	1624	I
Clapham, Robert(II)	1642	I
Clapham, Robert (III)	1664	I
Clarke, Anne	1681	I
Clarke, Luce	1580	W,I
Clarke, Richard	1616	W,I
Clarke, Thomas (I)	1603	W,I
Clarke, Thomas (II)	1626	W,I
Clarke,William	1628	W,I
Clarke,William	1648	I
Collinson, Henry	C 1658	W
Collinson, Margaret	1669	W
Collinson, Robert (I)	1627	I
Collinson, Robert (II)	1699	W,I
Cooke, George	1623	W,I
Day, Robert	1635	W,I
Harrison, Thomas	1654	W
Harrison, Thomas	C 1654	W (identical with above)
Harrison, William	1675	W,I
Haw, Jane	1682	W,I
Hinde, Thomas	1699	I
Hird, Brian	1693	I
Hodgson, Robert	1679	I
Horner, Christopher	1676	W,I
Husband, William	1589	I
Jackson, Edward	1660	W
Jackson, George	1623	W
Jackson, Henry	1613	W,I
Jackson, John	1672	I
Jackson, Robert	1662	W,I
Jackson, Thomas	1665	W,I
Jackson, William (I)	1613	W,I
Jackson, William (younger)	1613	W,I
Jackson, William (II)	1619	W
Johnson, John	1661 (d.1660)	W,I
Lambert, George	1698	W,I
Langstaffe, Henry	1700	W,I
Lucas, Henry	1676	W,I
Mason, Dorothy	1624	I
Mason, Henry	1671	I
Mason, John	1676	I
Mason, Ralph	1620	W,I
Mayson, Richard	C 1658	W
Ridley, Francis	1683	I
Storer, Christopher	1680	I
Storer, George	1620	W,I
Symondson, Raufe	1535	W
Vittie, Richard	1621	W,I
Ward, Elizabeth	1613	W,I
Ward, William	1611	W,I
Ward, William	1623	W,I
Watson, James	1697	W,I
Webster, John	1682	I
Webster, Nicholas	1685	I
Whitton, William	1663	W