Beeston, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire Yorkshire Parishes   West Riding  Beeston

Chapel History
BEESTON, a township and chapelry, in the parish of St. Peter, within the liberty of the borough of Leeds, and locally in the wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York, 2 miles (S. W. by S.) from Leeds; the township containing 2175 inhabitants. This township comprises by computation 1409 acres. The surface is varied, rising into eminences of considerable elevation, and the scenery is pleasingly diversified; the substratum abounds with coal of good quality, which has been wrought for more than two centuries, and of which several mines are still in operation. The village is on an eminence commanding a view of the town of Leeds, and the surrounding country; the air is remarkably salubrious, and several of the houses are neatly built. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the collieries and in the woollen manufacture. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Leeds, with a net income of £189, and a glebe-house. The chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient structure in the early English style, of which, notwithstanding numerous alterations and repairs, it still retains some well-executed details; in the east window are some remains of stained glass. A pewter flagon and a plate of the same material have been used in the celebration of the communion ever since the reign of Richard I.; the cup is of silver, very ancient in form, but without a date. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and some small bequests are distributed among the poor.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 199-203. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50790 Date accessed: 24 August 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 date.

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.

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.