Goathland, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire  North  Goathland



Parish History
Goathland St Mary is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Yorkshire, created in 1745 from chapelry in Pickering, Yorkshire Ancient Parish.

GOADLAND, or Goathland, a chapelry, in the parish and lythe of Pickering, union of Whitby, N.riding of York, 13½ miles (N. by E.) from Pickering;containing 381 inhabitants. In the dale of Goadland,within the ancient honour of Pickering Forest, the tenants were bound, by the tenure of their lands, to promote the breed of a large species of hawk that resorted to a cliff called Killing-Nab Scar, and to secure them for the king: these birds continue to haunt the same place, but it is remarkable that there is seldom more than one brood produced in a year. The township comprises by computation 11,030 acres, chiefly high moorland hills, and mostly waste: the lower vale,which at the northern end unites with the vale of Esk,is very picturesque; and the two moorland rivulets that meet at the upper end of it form the powerful stream of Goadland beck, abounding in romantic scenery, with occasional waterfalls of no mean beauty. The Whitby and Pickering railway passes near the school-house in the chapelry, and at a small distance attains its summit level, which is 520 feet above the Whitby terminus.The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Dean of York, with a net income of £58; impropriator,G. Herbert, Esq. The chapel, a very ancient foundation, was rebuilt in 1821; the old font, supposed to be of Saxon origin, was lately discovered by Dr. HibbertWear in a farmyard, and is now set up in the church of St. Matthew at Grosmont. Here was a cell annexed to Whitby Abbey, and a farmhouse which is thought to occupy its site, goes by the name of Abbot House.Some British and Roman antiquities may be traced in the chapelry.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 301-312. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50983 Date accessed: 06 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.

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.

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.