prerogative court

noun

1. a former ecclesiastical court in England and Ireland for the trial of certain testamentary cases.

2. (formerly) the court of probate in New Jersey.

Word History and Origins

Origin of prerogative court¹

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

The administrator’s accounts, which were filed in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury a year later, indicate that his property was of considerable value.

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He was made judge of the same court in 1665, and in 1668, of the Prerogative Court in Canterbury. 

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His will, dated at Dover, 3rd September, 1640, was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, and is printed in the Howard Anecdotes.

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We conclude that family dissentions connected with the disinheritance of Francis Plowden, must have tended to facilitate Charles II.'s illegal conduct; for, in Thomas Plowden's Will, 1698, in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, he alludes to his son-in-law, Walter Hall, illegally and forcibly retaining papers connected with the estates: Province of New Albion Charter, the Patent for the Peerage of Ireland.

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His will is now to be seen in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.

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