Pontefract, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire Yorkshire Parishes K-R  West Riding  Pontefract

Parish History
PONTEFRACT (St.Giles), a borough, markettown, and parish, in the Upper division of the wapentake of Osgoldcross, W. riding of York; comprising the townships of Carleton, East Hardwick, Monkhill, Pontefract, and Tanshelf, and the chapelry of Knottingley; and containing 9851 inhabitants, of whom 4669 are in the borough, 23 miles (S.S. W.) from York, and 177½ (N. N. W.) from London There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans, and a RomanCatholic chapel.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 586-593. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51218 Date accessed: 06 October 2011.

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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 was created before 1813. Church of England records began in 1842.

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.