Over the years we have compiled databases that hold information from administration accounts. An administration account is a record that a decedent’s executor or administrator filed with the Prerogative Court to document the distribution of the estate. There are two series of provincial Prerogative Court records that include administration accounts [MSA S536 and MSA S531]. In addition, the court sent copies back to county officials, who maintained a second set of records [MSA C1725].

Our databases use the Somerset County series, supplemented by information about accounts that county clerks entered in land and court records.

The county administration accounts typically name the decedent, the executor (if the decedent wrote a will) or administrator (if the decedent died intestate), the names of creditors who received payments, and the heirs who received shares of the residual estate. If the heirs were underage, the accounts also include names of the individuals who stood security for their future payment (or, on occasion, the names of guardians who received payment on behalf of the heirs). Our full prosopographic files include all names that appear in the record except the county or provincial officials who collected fees for passing the account.