Armley, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire Yorkshire Parishes   North Riding  Armley

Parish History
ARMLEY, a chapelry, in the parish of St. Peter, liberty of the borough of Leeds, W. riding of York, 2½ miles (W. by N.) from Leeds; containing 5676 inhabitants. This chapelry comprises 939a. 1r. 18p.; the soil is tolerably fertile, and excellent building-stone abounds; the surface is boldly undulated, and from the east side, looking towards Headingley, the scenery is picturesque. Armley House is a noble mansion of the Ionic order, situated in an extensive and richly-wooded park. The old Hall, anciently the residence of the Hoptons, lords of the manor, is now a farmhouse. The village is situated on the west side of the river Aire, and extends for a considerable distance along the acclivities of the vale: the Leeds and Liverpool canal passes in a direction nearly parallel with the river, and also the new road from Stanningley to Leeds, completed in 1836. The inhabitants are employed in extensive woollen-mills. The chapel, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, and originally erected in the reign of Charles I., was rebuilt in 1835, at an expense of £1000, of which £300 were granted by the Incorporated Society, and the remainder raised by subscription; it contains 930 sittings. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Leeds, with a net income of £204, and a glebe-house. A Sunday evening lecture was established in 1841, and is supported at the sole expense of Mr. Gott; the lecturer has a liberal income, and a commodious house. The Dean and Chapter of Oxford receive a tithe rent-charge of £30. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Methodists of the New Connexion. Almshouses for 12 poor widows, and a national schoolroom for 500 children, were erected near the chapel in 1832, by the late Benjamin Gott, Esq.; they form a handsome range of buildings in the Elizabethan style. Above the village is a lofty eminence named Giant's hill, on which are the remains of some works supposed to have been a Danish fort; there were some others on two eminences called the Red and White War hills, but they were destroyed in the formation of the canal.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 69-73. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50759 Date accessed: 17 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.

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non-conformist 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.

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.