Long Preston, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire Yorkshire Parishes K-R  West Riding  Long Preston

Parish History
PRESTON, LONG (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Settle, wapentake of Staincliffe West, W.riding of York, 4 miles (S. by E.) from Settle, and 12(W. N. W.) from Skipton; containing, with the townships of West Halton, Hellifield, and Wigglesworth,1568 inhabitants, of whom 708 are in the township of Long Preston. This parish is situated on the river Ribble, and comprises 13,214a. 1r. 12½p., of which 3533a. 2r. 5p.are in the township. The surface is diversified, and the soil in some places is fertile, but in the hilly parts cold and unproductive; the lands are chiefly meadow and pasture. The substrata are argillaceous limestone, clayslate, freestone, and grit; the limestone occurs chiefly in thin beds, and contains various fossils, some of which are scarcely referable to any distinct class. The village is on the east bank of the river, and is well built; the inhabitants are partly employed in weaving calico for the manufacturers in the neighbouring towns. An act was passed in 1846 for a railway from Skipton, by Long Preston, to Lancaster; and another act was obtained in the same year, for a line hence to Clitheroe and Blackburn. Fairs for cattle and pigs are held on the 1st ofMarch and 4th of September. The living is a vicarage,valued in the king's books at £10. 18. 11½.; net income,£240, with an excellent parsonage-house, built in 1842; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter ofChrist-Church, Oxford. The great tithes of Long Preston township have been commuted for £13, and the small for £54: the Dean and Chapter have 124 acres of glebe. The church is an ancient structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists. The free school was founded in 1835, and endowed by the late John Hartley, Esq., of Settle, and Mary his niece, from a bequest by the late Miss Hall, of Long Preston, with land producing about £140 perannum, of which one-third is appropriated to the apprenticing of children. An hospital for ten aged persons was founded in 1613, by James Knowles, who also built a chapel adjoining it for their use, in which he endowed a readership with £5 per annum; the endowment, out of which £5 are assigned to the repair of the church, is now sufficient to allow each of the inmates £10 per annum, and there is every prospect of its increase. John Smith, in 1732, bequeathed two cottages and 8½ acres of land, producing £37 per annum, for distribution among the poor of the parish.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 609-616. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51223 Date accessed: 08 September 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 1563.

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
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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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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