Fewston Genealogical Site

The following information should help if you are trying to trace your family's history in the parish of Fewston, England. Please let me know if you find it useful.

Introduction

The ancient Parish of Fewston included the Townships of Fewston, Great Timble, Blubberhouses and West End or Thruscross, with the Hamlets of Clifton-Elsworth, Wydrah, Spinksburn and Hardisty Hill.

Census

Census records are currently available for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891. Copies are available at the Family Records Centre in London and Leeds City Reference Library, Yorkshire in addition to numerous LDS Family History Libraries.

Indexes available :

1851 - Published by Wharfedale Family History Group, see 'Links' section for purchasing details.

1871 - Published by Wharfedale Family History Group, see 'Links' section for purchasing details.

1881 - Published by LDS, available at Leeds City Reference Library, Yorkshire and LDS Family History Libraries.

Cemeteries Monumental Inscriptions

Parish Church Graveyard (St. Michael / St. Lawrence), Fewston

Transcript recorded in 1978, stones covered range from 1613 to 1936 (excluding War Memorial), graveyard closed for interments 1896, copies available at

North Yorkshire Record Office, Malpas Road, Northallerton, DL7 8TB

Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Claremont, 23 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9NZ

Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London, EC1M 7BA

CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE COPY

West End, Thruscross (Holy Trinity)

Churchyard flooded by Thruscross reservoir in 1965. Many bodies were exhumed and moved along with all headstones to a new cemetery approximately ³/₄ of a mile away on the Greenhow Hill Road. No transcripts of inscriptions are known to exist at this time.

Meagill Lane Cemetery, Fewston

Cemetery opened following the compulsory closure of the Parish Church graveyard following concerns about its proximately to Fewston Reservoir, which had been completed in 1876. Transcript recorded in 1997, stones covered range from 1897 to 1997. Published by Wharfedale Family History Group, see 'Links' section for purchasing details.

Maps

On-line maps will appear here.

Manorial Records

Royal Forest of Knaresborough

The majority of the Parish came under the jurisdiction of Manorial court of 'The Forest of Knaresborough'. The Forest was a large royal estate to the south and west of Knaresborough, with its castle being the administrative centre. Originally a hunting forest of William the Conquerer it was let out by the crown to a succession of nobles who acted as keepers of the castle and receivers of revenue from the tenants' rents. The most famous of the Lords of the Manor was Hugh de Morville who was one of the knights who murdered Thomas Becket in 1170.

The Forest passed through numerous hands until in 1372 it was granted to John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster. In 1399 Gaunt's son became Henry IV and since then the Forest, as part of the Duchy of Lancaster, has belonged to the Crown. The earliest surviving court rolls are dated 1332, the earlier ones having been destroyed by John de Lilburne whilst the castle was under siege during the reign of Edward II.

All record of the Forest are kept in the Public Record Office, London. (CLICK HERE FOR LISTING)

Blubberhouses Manor

Other Manors did exist in the Parish, records of Blubberhouses are known to exist. (CLICK HERE FOR LISTING)

Miscellaneous Records

Land Tax Records

Land tax record survive amongst the Quarter Session Court records of the West Riding of Yorkshire. These records are located at Wakefield Archives, Registry of Deeds, Newstead Road, Wakefield, WF1 2DE. They have also been filmed by the 'Genealogical Society of Utah' and should therefore be available through LDS Libraries. Details of years covered and the archive references are listed below:

Clifton-with-Norwood Township 1781 - 1832 Reference QE 13/5/11

Fewston Township 1781 - 1832 Reference QE 13/5/17

Thruscross Township 1781 - 1832 Reference QE 13/5/46

Timble Great Township 1781 - 1832 Reference QE 13/5/47

Parish Registers

St. Michael / St. Lawrence, Fewston (CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOGRAPH)

Original Registers covering the following period are available at North Yorkshire Record Office, Malpas Road, Northallerton, DL7 8TB:

Baptisms 1594 - 1983

Marriages 1594 - 1984

Burials 1594 - 1921

Banns 1754 - 1794

The registers pre 1750 are badly damaged and include a number of unreadable entries. Transcripts of the registers 1593 - 1812 were privately printed in two volumes in 1899, copies are available in Leeds City Reference Library, Yorkshire and elsewhere.

Bishop Transcripts of the original registers are located in the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, St. Anthony's Hall, Peasholme Green, York, YO1 2PW, covering the following years:

Baptisms, Marrages, Burials 1600 - 01, 1632, 1636 - 39, 1661 - 65, 1667 - 69, 1671 - 73, 1675 - 76, 1678 - 79, 1682 - 83, 1688 -89, 1691 - 94, 1696, 1698, 1700 - 21, 1723 - 45, 1747 -1837

Baptism, Burials 1838 - 45

Bishop Transcripts of the original registers are located in the Leeds Archives, Chapeltown Road, Sheepscar, Leeds, LS7 3AP covering the following years:

Baptism, Burials 1848 - 71

Holy Trinity, West End (Thruscross) (CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOGRAPH)

Church Built 1873. Demolished 1965 to allow valley to be flooded to create Thruscross Reservoir

Original Registers covering the following period are now held by the Incumbent of Darley Church, Darley, North Yorkshire:

Baptisms 1846 - 1986

Marriages 1873 - 1961, 1973 - 1981

Burials 1874 - 1991

Within the archive collection of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society Claremont, 23 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9NZ is a small notebook reference MS547 entitled 'An Almanack compiled by John Goldsmith' containing a transcript of entries from Thruscross Chapel covering the following period:

Baptisms 1729

Marriages 1715 - 1732

Burials 1716 - 1739

All Saints, West End (Thruscross) (CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOGRAPH)

Church built early 1960s on high ground as replacement for Holy Trinity, West End. Now closed (1980s?) and converted into outdoor activities centre. All original parish records included in information for Holy Trinity, West End.

St. Andrews, Blubberhouses (CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOGRAPH)

Built 1851, all records with St. Michael / St. Lawrence, Fewston

Probate

The Parish came under the jurisdiction of the Peculiar Probate Court of the Honor of Knaresborough until Civil Courts took over in 1858. Original probate files covering the period 1640 - 1858 are held at Leeds Archives, Chapeltown Road, Sheepscar, Leeds, LS7 3AP. Enrolled copies of pre 1640 and some post 1640 probate documents are held in the Duchy of Lancaster records in the Public Records Office, Kew, London.

Indexes and transcripts of the records are available as follows:

Transcripts of enrolled documents 1507 - 1604 - Surtees Society Volume 104

Transcripts of enrolled documents 1607 - 1668 & Index to Original documents held in Leeds Archives 1640 - 1858 - Surtees Society Volume 110

(CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE COPY OF INDEX TO ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS OF THE PROBATE COURT OF KNARESBOROUGH 1640 - 1858)

Some probate documents may also be found in the records of the Prerogative and Exchequer Courts of the Archbishop of York, the records are held at the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, St. Anthony's Hall, Peasholme Green, York, YO1 2PW.

Printed Books

Most of the following books should be available through major UK libraries or from out-of-print book dealers.

'Timble Man Diaries of a Dalesman' Selected and edited by Ronald Harker. Published 1988, 1991. ISBN 0 86067 110 0. Selected entries from the diaries of a local man of some standing John Dickinson, covered the period 1878 - 1912. An excellent and unique record of what was happening in the Parish.

'Lays and Leaves of the Forest : A Collection of Poems, and Historical, Genealogical, & Biographical Essays and Sketches, Relating Chiefly to Men and Things Connected With The Royal Forest of Knaresborough' by Thomas Parkinson, F.R.HIST.S. (A Forester) Published 1882

'The History and Topography of Harrogate, and the Forest of Knaresborough' by William Grainge, Published 1871, reprinted 1980s

History & Topography of Little Timble, Great Timble & Snowden by William Grainge, Published 1895

'Strike ! at Timble School Early 1930's these, and many other stories from my life' by Allan Marjerrison. Local stories dated between 1884 and the 1980s. Published 1993/4, ISBN 0 952 7844 0 8

'Kith and Kin : Niddlerdale Families 1500 - 1750' Authors: Summerbridge Tutorial Group, Editor: Maurice Turner B.Sc.,B.A., Ph.D. Published 1995. ISBN 0 9526740 0 9. After four years of research, the Nidderdale tutorial group meeting at Summerbridge has produced a family history of the dale (including the nearby Washburn valley). It highlights yeoman families during their heyday, when surnames like Bayne and Horner, Hardcastle and Hardisty, Holmes and Gill became very common. Topics discussed include, origins of Nidderdale surnames, their distribution throughout the dale, the kinship network at its peak, marriage (including clandestine marriage), decline in yeoman families and mobility and migration.

'Washburn Valley Yesterday - A Pictorial Record of Life in a Dales Valley' Complied by David Alred. Published 1997. ISBN Paperback 1 85825 090 0 Hardback 1 85825 091 9. Washburn Valley Yesterday is a selection of over 170 black-and-white photographs covering a period of a little over 100 years, from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, in the life of the picturesque Washburn Valley, situated in the lower Yorkshire Dales between Otley and Harrogate. They depict the Washburn scene as it once was, and much that has long gone. Included are scenes of its old textile and corn mills, inns and farm. Aspects of the daily life of its residents feature, such as agricultural work, recreation, education and religion.

'An Historical and descriptive Account of Swinsty Hall' by William Grainge, published 1857

'West End, A Sunken Village' by Alastair Laurence. Published 1992. ISBN 1 870071 89 1. The hamlet of West End, midway between Skipton and Harrogate, and Otley and Pateley Bridge, has a stange and curious history. Its extreme remoteness and the decline of the local textile industry in the nineteenth century had resulted in it becoming a 'Deserted Village'. But it gained fame in the 1960s when it vanished under the newly-built Thruscross Reservoir. Recent low water levels have once again exposed the village ruins. Chapters in this book cover the area's moorland and streams; roads, bridges and fords; farms and families; the textile industry; and the building of the reservoir. Unique plans, archive illustrations and modern photographs complement an informative text about a fascinating village, the ruins of which still remain in the dark depths of Thruscross Reservior.

Version 1.7 : Last Updated 11th July 1999 by David M. Teal

Back to my Home Page