North East Inheritance database (pre-1858 Durham Probate Records)

How to contact us

If you want to order photocopies of probate documents, please see the copying page. If visiting Palace Green Library to view probate records, first have a look at our visiting page. For any other enquiries, you can contact us on the details below.

Our full range of special collections and services is detailed on our main website.

Email
Telephone	0191 334 2972 (international +44 1913342972)
Address	Durham University Library Palace Green DURHAM DH1 3RN

Technical data recording information

For detailed information on the standards and conventions used when entering data for the Durham Probate Records, see our separate technical paper (PDF format , not yet available).

Mistakes and corrections...

Having catalogued 145,014 documents relating to 78,479 deceased persons, we are sure that there will be some mistakes in the data. We will be relying on you to help us find many of these mistakes, and may be able to provide a mechanism for submitting your corrections online in due course. Meanwhile, if you do spot errors in any of the records, please let us know: we will need a note of at least one of the document reference numbers concerned to locate the problem record.

Personal data collected

The online probate database collects no information from you, except for your computer's IP address when you carry out searches. This is recorded so that you can revisit (or refine) your previous searches, and so that we can assess the usage levels for the database and determine which search facilities are proving most useful.

Note that, although the details of your search results are only kept for a limited period (as outlined on the previous searches page), the basic record of searches is retained longer term, so that we can analyse usage of the site. This basic search record does not allow us to track exactly what you have searched for, only the fields and buttons that you have used in your searches.

Cookies are collected in relation to links to online images only, in order to enable users to skip a guidance page which is otherwise shown to them in certain circumstances. The cookies potentially collected and their purpose are as follows. If a user disables saving of cookies, the online catalogue will function in all respects, but they will not be able to disable the guidance page which is shown before linking to images of probate bonds or will registers.

skipinfopage-bonds

Whether to omit the guidance page which is shown before linking to images of probate bonds (series DPR/I/3).

skipinfopage-registers

Whether to omit the guidance page which is shown before linking to images of will registers (series DPR/I/2).

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