Yorkshire, England Genealogy

Yorkshire (abbreviated Yorks) is an historic maritime county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions were increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions called ridings.

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Yorkshire has been ruled by Celts, Romans, Danes, Normans, and Britons, and has its own distinct culture which is celebrated by its citizens. Yorkshire is divided into “Ridings,” or smaller governmental divisions: North Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of Yorkshire, and East Riding of Yorkshire. Genealogical and family records may refer to Yorkshire as a whole, or to one particular Riding.

The spoken language in Yorkshire is a dialect of English known as Tyke, and dialects differ between ridings and even from village to village, though in modern times the differences between localities has become less pronounced. This does not generally affect civil or parish records, though it may affect family histories and other informal documents.

The geography of Yorkshire has also influenced its people. Yorkshire is a very green county, with coastal areas, hills, valleys, and forests. The North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales figure prominently into the landscape, and provide large areas of wilderness through the north and west portions of the county.

Jurisdictions
To determine the various jurisdictions of a place-name in Yorkshire, the use of this interactive mapto find each jurisdiction will be helpful.

Civil Districts
When civil (government) registration of births, marriages and deaths began in 1837, Yorkshire was divided into a number of registration districts, each containing several parishes. The index to the civil records gives the name of the district where an event took place. Click on a link to see lists of the civil districts in North, East, and West Yorkshire and the parishes covered by each. Read more about England Civil Registration.

Parishes
There are 1,402 parishes in Yorkshire. FamilySearch, formerly The Genealogy Society of Utah has filmed 741 of mostly original Church of England parish registers or 53%, before 1900.

Here is a list of the parishes in Yorkshire with links to articles:


 * East Riding of Yorkshire Parishes
 * North Riding of Yorkshire Parishes
 * West Riding of Yorkshire Parishes
 * York and Ainsty Parishes

If you do not know which riding your parish is in, go to the alphabetical lists of all of the parishes by clicking on one of the following.

A-I K-R S-Y

Probates
Before 1858, every town and parish in Yorkshire was under the probate jurisdiction of several ecclesiastical courts. To see a list of Yorkshire places and the probate courts that had jurisdiction over them, go to Yorkshire Probate Records.

Research tools
Here's an outstanding interactive Jurisdictions Map which provides an amazing perspective while researching in Yorkshire and its parishes.

Websites

 * Yorkshire Genuki Site
 * Yorkshire Births Marriages &amp; Deaths 1837 to 1950
 * Looking 4 Kin Genealogy &amp; Family History Network - Yorkshire

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

England, Yorkshire, Allertonshire, Marriage Bonds and Allegations (FamilySearch Historical Records)

To view an excellent list of web sites and/or web pages for Yorkshire and many of its parishes, visit FHLFavorites.info.