Spennithorne, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire  North Riding  Spennithorne

Parish History
Spennithorne St Michael is an Ancient parish in Yorkshire. Other places in this parish include Harmby.

SPENNITHORNE (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Leyburn, wapentake of Hang-West, N. riding of York; containing, with the townships of Bellarbyand Harmby, 785 inhabitants, of whom 198 are in Spennithorne township, 1 mile (N. E. by N.) from Middleham.In Spennithorne township are 1261 acres, of which 1198 are arable and pasture, and 63 woodland; the scenery is beautiful, embracing wood, water, and rich pastures.There are some quarries of limestone. The village is neat, and pleasantly situated on the north side of Wensleydale: the river Ure, which is very devious in its course, passes at a short distance on the west. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at£20. 10. 5.; net income, £425; patron, Marmaduke Wyvill, Esq. The rectorial tithes of Spennithorne and Harmby were commuted for land in 1775; and some tithes in Harmby have been recently commuted for a rent-charge of £10. 16. The church is an ancient structure. At Bellarby is a separate incumbency. John Hutchinson, a philosophical writer, was born in the parish in 1667.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 156-159. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51291 Date accessed: 09 May 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.

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
Leyburn 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.