Thornton le Street, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire  North Riding  Thornton le Street



Parish History
Thornton-le-Street St Leonard is an Ancient Parish.

THORNTON-LE-STREET (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of Thirsk, wapentake of Allertonshire, N. riding of York, 3 miles (N. N. W.) from Thirsk; containing, with the township of North Kilvington, 224 inhabitants, of whom 161 are in Thornton township. This place took the affix to its name from its situation on the Roman road from York to Catterick. The parish comprises 2750 acres, of which 1540 are in the township of Thornton, and mostly the property of Sir Samuel Crompton, Bart. The surface is level, with some few undulations, and with numerous fine ash-trees in the hedge-rows. There is rather more meadow and pasture than arable land; the soil is in general a moderately fertile clay. Woodend, the seat of Sir Samel Crompton, is a spacious and handsome mansion in a well-wooded park lying west of the village: on the farm at which his agent resides, Sir Samuel has erected a steam-engine, which is applied to various useful purposes. The village is situated on the west bank of the Codbeck, and the York and Newcastle railway intersects the parish. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4; net income, £60; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford. The great tithes of a part of Thornton township have been commuted for £58, and the small tithes for £31; the appropriate glebe consists of 45 acres, and the vicarial of 3 acres. The church is chiefly in the Norman style, with a tower of later date.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 337-341. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51337 Date accessed: 24 April 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.

The Bishop's transcripts can be searched free online at FamilySearch Historical Records from the Durham Bishop's Transcripts at Thornton-le-Street (Yorkshire) Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections DDR/EA/PBT/2/252 Parish Register Transcripts Thornton-le-Street (Yorkshire)


 * [April 1669-April 1770]
 * April 1696-April 1697
 * March 1714-March 1715
 * [March] 1718- March [1720]
 * March 1721-March 1722
 * 1760-1812

Additional material is found in Durham Bishop's Transcripts: The Howe Manuscript Collection under reference HBT 51 for 25 March 1729- 25 March 1730.

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.