Danby, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire  North Riding  Danby



Parish History
Danby St Hilda is an Ancient Parish. Other places in the parish include: Ainthorpe, Castleton, Danby with Castleton and Ainthorpe, Danby Low Moor, and Danby High Moor.

DANBY, a parish, in the union of Guisborough, E. division of the liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York, 9½ miles (S. E.) from Guisborough; containing 1273 inhabitants. This place, which was formerly of considerable importance, was granted by the Conqueror to Robert de Brus, who held of the king in capite, and who built a castle here; which, with the estate, remained with the family till the time of Henry III. The parish forms part of the district called Cleveland, and comprises by computation 13,860 acres, of which about 400 are woodland: a large tract consists of high moors, and waste; and it includes the romantic dales of Great and Little Fryup, and the hamlets of Ainthorpe and Castleton, at the former of which an ancient stone bridge crosses the river Esk. The general appearance of the parish is rather barren, though much has been effected in the way of improvement; the vale produces good crops, and numerous flocks of sheep are pastured upon the common lands. Coal-mines are wrought, and there are several fine freestone-quarries. An act was passed in 1846, for extending the Whitby and Pickering railway to Castleton, a distance of 10½ miles. A market is held every Friday in that hamlet. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Viscount Downe, lord of the manor, and has a net income of £96: the church is a plain structure built about fifty years since, by a parish rate. There are three places of worship for Wesleyans, and one for the Society of Friends; and of several schools, two have small endowments. On a neighbouring hill are the ruins of Danby Castle, an edifice of uncertain antiquity, though supposed to be that built by Robert de Brus; and on the moors are a number of tumuli.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 4-8. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50913 Date accessed: 27 April 2011.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

This ancient parish (AP) was created before 1813. Church of England records began in 1585 (Danby in Cleveland) and 1621 (Danby Wiske).

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, nonconformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Poor Law Unions
Guisborough Poor Law Union, Yorkshire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Yorkshire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.