Probate is a legal document issued by a court that gives an executor the legal right to deal with a deceased person’s estate. Not all estates need probate but all instances are recorded and are available through some genealogy websites. There is often information useful to those researching as probate records may have information on date of death, place of death, relatives, trade or occupation, and relative afluence. (Quick examples of available information are below.)
By combining the above with other datasets, eg: Census returns, more can be gleaned, eg: age at death.
View list of probate records for North Lopham , South Lopham , or Both villages [Last updated: 13 Nov 2025]
View probate records for the most common surnames:
Bateman ,
Beales ,
Buckenham ,
Downing ,
Garnham ,
Gooch ,
Murton ,
Pearce ,
Rolfe ,
Ruddock ,
Wharton ,
Witton &
Womack . (Includes people from both North and South Lopham.)
As this piece of work progresses, updates and additions to this information will be available from this page.
Going further .....
Question : how did a local farmer, William Wharton, come to know and have as an executor of his will a Vincent Lewis Mathias, a colonel in the army? Although not fully researched, maybe he was related as Mathias’s wife’s surname was Wharton.
