The Court of Probates originated in the late seventeenth century as the British authorities established a centralized probate system in the colony. It declined in importence during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as a decentralized probate system based on local courts evolved. During the period of Dutch administrations (ca. 1617-1664), wills were generally written out and read before the testator and two witnesses by a notary, ship captain, or magistrate. The will was signed by the testator, the witnesses, and the official, who recorded it in his record book. This type of will did not have to be proved or probated in court. Soon after the English occupation of New Netherland in 1664, the English common law system of probating wills began to replace the Dutch notarial system of recording wills. The Duke's Laws of 1665 gave the newly-established Court of Sessions the power to probate wills, grant administration in cases of intestacy, order the final accounting of an executor and administrator, remove an executor or administrator, order the distribution of an estate, and appoint a guardian in English-speaking areas outside of New York City. In New York City the Mayor's Court, established in 1664, performed these same functions. On rare occasions probate matters were handled by the Court of Assizes, the highest court in the colony before 1683. After 1674 the Mayor's Court and the courts of sessions, six of which covering the entire colony having been established, handled all matters concerning the administration of estates. Under the English system a will had to be signed by at least two witnesses and validated or proved before a court after the death of the testator. The court then granted the executorship. It was also before the court that the executor exhibited the property inventory of the decedent. Intestate estates and other matters concerning the administration of estates were also handled in the manner prescribed by English practice. The first step towards the establishment of a centralized "prerogative" office or court was taken in 1670 when the Court of Assizes passed an ordinance requiring all wills and grants of administration be recorded in the provincial secretary's office. In 1686 a de facto prerogative court was introduced into New York by royal instructions reserving the right to probate wills and grant letters of administration to the Royal Governor. Although the Court of Sessions and the Mayor's Court continued to exercise their probate function for a few years as agents of the Royal Governor, after 1686 overall supervision of decedent estates in New York was firmly established in the hands of the Royal Governors and it remained in their hands throughout the colonial period. In the early 1690's colonial New York's probate system was to take its final shape. A 1691 law (Chapter 4) transferred civil jurisdiction, including that over probate matters, from the Courts of Sessions to the Courts of Common Pleas, newly established in every city and county in the colony. A year later a law vested in the Royal Governor, "or Such Person as he shall Delegate under the seal of the Prerogative Office," the power to admit wills to probate and to grant letters of administration (Chapter 27, Laws of 1692). This law established the Prerogative Court and specified that all estates of decedents in the counties of New York, Orange, (until 1750) Richmond, Westchester, and Kings were to be settled before it. In all other counties the proceedings were conducted before the county Court of Common Pleas. The papers were then forwarded to the Prerogative Office on New York City, where they were filed and where probate was granted. However, if the estate was not over 50 pounds in value the judges of the Courts of Common Pleas in these "more remote" counties were authorized to grant probate or administration. Appeals in these cases could be taken to the Prerogative Court in New York City. Along with the Royal Governor, the Prerogative Court consisted of a Register who was the chief administrative and record-keeping officer of the court. In the early eighteenth century the Registers began to use the title of "Principal Surrogate" to describe their authority as delegate of the Royal Governor. In this capacity the Register/Principal Surrogate functioned was a deputy judge of the court. By the mid-eighteenth century he and not the Royal Governor conducted most of the court's business. Throughout the colonial period the Provincial Secretary was closely associated with the position of Register/Principal Surrogate. He or his deputy held the position for almost all of the period and the records of the court were filed in his office. This concentration of all the fees and perquisites associated with the Prerogative Court in the hands of the Provincial Secretary was a source of controversy and friction during the late colonial period. During the 18th century "surrogates" were appointed by the Royal Governor in remote counties to take depositions of witnesses to wills and to administer oaths to executors and administrators who could not travel to New York City. These surrogates were not probate judges but agents of the Prerogative Court. They were appointed to facilitate the submission of papers to New York City and under the supervision of the Register/Principal Surrogate. New York's first State Constitution of 1777 granted to the Council of Appointment the authority to appoint surrogates. A year later the State Legislature replaced the Prerogative Court with a Court of Probates (Laws of 1778, Chapter 12) with a single judge appointed by the Council of Appointment. He was given the power formerly held by the Royal Governor in testamentary matters with the exception of the power to appoint surrogates. The Prerogative Court, however, continued to operate in the British-occupied "Southern District" of New York (New York City, Long Island, Richmond and Westchester counties) until 1783 when the British evacuated their forces. During the Revolutionary War, New York's probate records were dispersed. The pre-1776 records of the Prerogative Court were in the custody of the Secretary of State of New York's revolutionary government after February 1776 and they were moved from place to place in the Hudson Valley until 1782. In that year they were delivered by law to the judge of the Court of Probates (Chapter 24, Laws of 1782). The provincial Prerogative Court maintained its post-1776 records in New York City while the Court of Probates' records were kept in various locations in Dutchess County. All of these records were finally united when the Court of Probates held its first session in New York City in December 1783. The following year the proceedings in the Prerogative Court during the Revolution were legalized by the State Legislature (Chapter 59, Laws of 1784). Until 1783 the Court of Probates held stated sittings in different parts of the state. After the Revolutionary War the court was held exclusively in New York City until 1799, when it was permanently removed to Albany. Along with a judge the officials of the court were a clerk, who acted as the chief records keeping officer, and the surrogates appointed for the counties of Albany, Columbia, Suffolk, Ulster, Washington, and Westchester. Before 1787 the Court of Probates and the surrogates functioned as their colonial predecessors had done before the Revolution. The only major change in the system was that decisions of the Court of Probates could be appealed to the Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Corrections of Errors, the state's court of last resort established by the 1777 Constitution. On May 1, 1787 a law took effect which radically changed New York's probate system (Chapter 38, Laws of 1787). It established a surrogate's court in each county. The surrogates, who were in effect probate judges, were empowered to take proof of wills, issue probates, and grant letters of administration for persons dying in their county and for county residents who had died in another part of the state. The Court of Probates retained original jurisdiction only over the estates of decedents who were not New York State residents and residents who had died out-of-state. The court was empowered to hear appeals from the county surrogates'courts. However, the surrogates were not granted the power to order the sale of property for the payment of a decedent's debts, to decree final distribution of an estate among creditors, or to order an administrator or executor to exhibit accounts. These powers remained solely with the Judge of the Court of Probates, who was also given the power to enforce his decrees by process to any county sheriff. The powers and jurisdiction of the Court of Probates were further circumscribed by a 1799 law granting the surrogates the power to order the sale of real estate for the payment of a decedent's debts and to decree the final distribution of an estate among creditors when the decedent's property was located in one county (Chapter 64, Laws of 1799). The surrogates were also granted the authority to probate the wills of non-residents and residents who died out of New York. Furthermore, the law permitted a surrogate to appoint himself as executor or administrator, provided that the will was probated or the letter of administration granted by the Court of Probates. In 1801 the surrogates were vested with the same powers as held by the Judge of the Court of Probates, to require an administrator or executor to exhibit their accounts, to decree the distribution of estate for the payment of bequests and legacies, and to enforce decrees by process to the county sheriff (Chapter 77, Laws of 1801). Both of these laws severly limited the areas where the Court of Probates exercised exclusive jurisdiction. During its last twenty-two yearsof existence the court's business was limited to appeals from the county surrogates' courts, cases where a surrogate acted as an administrator or executor, and cases where the decedent was a non-resident or had died out-of-state. During the early nineteenth century the Court of Probates was also divested of many of its records. In 1797 the Legislature directed the Court to move from New York City to new quarters in Albany (Chapter 31, Laws of 1797). The actual move, however, was delayed until 1799. While the records of the court were still in New York City, a law was passed directing that all the pre-1787 records of the Court of Probates (including those of the Prerogative Court) relating to the Southern District of the State (New York City, Long Island, Richmond County, and Westchester County) be delivered to the New York County Surrogate's Court (Chapter 64, Laws of 1799). This law as not complied with and all the records of the court were moved to Albany. A law of 1802 (Chapter 83) was enacted to defray the expense of moving records back to New York City and many wills, property inventories, and administration papers were tranferred. However, many records pertaining to the Southern District remained with the Court of Probates (these are now in the custody of the State Archives), while records relating to other areas of the state were sent to the New York County Surrogate's Court (where they remain today). During the 1821 Constitutional Convention the abolition of the Court of Probates was considered but not acted upon. Two years later, however, the Legislature did abolish the court and vested jurisdiction over all estates in the Surrogate's Courts (Chapter 70, Laws of 1823). The appellate jurisdiction and cases pending in the Court of Probates were transferred to the Court of Chancery. The records of the defunct court were deposited in the office of the Secretary of State until 1829, when the records were removed to the office of the Register of the Court of Chancery (Chapter 180, Laws of 1829). The judiciary act of 1847, passed to comply with the new 1846 Constitution, abolished the Court of Chancery and directed that its records, which now included those of the Court of Probates, be deposited with the newly established Court of Appeals (Chapter 276, Laws of 1847).