Sowerby (near Thirsk), Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire



Parish History
Sowerby St Oswald (Thirsk) is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Yorkshire, created in 1763 from Thirsk, Yorkshire Ancient Parish.

The church of ST. OSWALD at Sowerby consists of a chancel 18 ft. 3 in. by 17 ft. 9 in., a crossing with skew passages at the angles and a wooden lantern over, 18 ft. by 17 ft. 8 in., north and south transepts 26 ft. 11 in. and 27 ft. 3 in. deep respectively, nave 46 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. 9 in., north aisle 20 ft. 3 in. wide, and a west tower 9 ft. 3 in. square. These measurements are all internal.

The church is almost entirely modern, most of it having been rebuilt between 1840 and 1883, while the north aisle and vestry were added in 1902. That there was a building here in the 12th century is shown by the south doorway, which is a good example of the work of that period. The semicircular arch is of three orders, the inner one being moulded with rounds and hollows, the middle one enriched with beak heads, and the outer order with the cheveron. The label is chamfered above and below, and has a carved geometric pattern on its vertical face. The thickness of the south wall of the nave and the splayed jambs of the two windows by which it is pierced suggest that it is of the 12th century. The only other old work is the lower part of the tower, which is probably of 15th-century date. Over the tower arch at the west end of the nave is a small 12th-century corbel.

There are four bells in the tower, the treble, by Samuel Smith the younger of York, bearing the inscription 'Soli Deo Gloria 1729.' The second and third are by Warner &amp; Sons and were cast in 1883 and 1898 respectively. The fourth is inscribed 'R. Lockwood, Gent., R. Bell, E. Hodgson, Minister, 1678' with foliated ornament.

The plate, which is silver, consists of two cups, a paten and flagon, and a modern set of vessels. One cup, bearing the York mark for 1684, is inscribed, 'This plate exchanged in ye yeare 1686 Jo Dynmore and Ralph Nelson Chappelwardens of Sowerby.' It bears the maker's mark M.G., for Mark Gill of York. The paten was presented by the principal inhabitants of Sowerby in 1830. The second cup and flagon are also modern.

The registers begin in 1569.

From A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 (1923), pp. 58-70. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=64612 Date accessed: 13 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 neighboring 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
Thirsk Poor Law Union, Yorkshire

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.