Wills and Inventories now preserved in the Probate Court, Chester, between the years 1545 and 1620, and 1621 and 1650 respectively. Between the years 1650 and 1659 no wills were proved at Chester, nor after 1653 in any of the various Bishops' Courts throughout the kingdom, for, as has been explained in the Introduction to volume IV., after the year 1653 all wills had to be proved, and all letters of administration taken out, in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, at London.
