Ripley, Derbyshire Genealogy

England Derbyshire



Parish History
Ripley is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Derbyshire, created in 1822 from chapelry in Pentrich, Derbyshire Ancient Parish. Other places in the parish include: Hartshay, Marehay, Greenwich, Green Hillocks, and Butterley.

RIPLEY, a chapelry, in the parish of Pentrich, union of Belper, hundred of Morleston and Litchurch, S. division of the county of Derby, 3¾ miles (S. by W.) from Alfreton, on the road to Derby; containing 2515 inhabitants. Ripley is an improving place, lighted with gas. A market was chartered about the reign of Henry III.; it was formerly on Wednesday, and is now held by consent on Saturday: fairs are held on the Wednesday in Easter-week and the 23rd October, and a statute-fair for hiring servants on the 5th November. There is a mill for manufacturing a particular kind of candlewick and for stay-laces. At Hartshay are extensive collieries; and the Cromford canal passes the northern verge of the chapelry, near that place: many of the inhabitants find employment at the Butterley iron-works. The township comprises 2212 acres of good land. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed by grants, and by private donations from the Duke of Devonshire (who is patron) and the Rev. J. Wood: income, about £110. The chapel, dedicated to All Saints, is a neat structure, erected in 1820, at a cost of £1300, of which the Incorporated Society gave £375, the patron £210, and the Rev. J. Wood £100. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Unitarians; and a national school, built in 1820 by private subscription aided by a grant from the National Society. An urn containing a number of coins of Gallienus, Carausius, Victorinus, and others, was discovered here in 1730.

From: 'Ripe - Risby', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 671-676. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51239 Date accessed: 14 March 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.

Poor Law Unions
Belper Poor Law Union, Derbyshire

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Derbyshire 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.