Ledsham, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire  Yorkshire Parishes K-R  West Riding  Ledsham

Parish History
LEDSHAM (All Saints), a parish, in the Upper division of the wapentake of Barkstone-Ash, W. riding of York; containing, with the township of Fairburn and part of Ledstone, 1061 inhabitants, of whom 340 are in the township of Ledsham, 4½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Ferry-Bridge. This parish, which is near the great north road, comprises by computation 5150 acres. The soil is in some parts fertile, in others luxuriantly rich, but in more very indifferent land; the substratum abounds with coal and limestone of excellent quality, of which several mines and quarries are in operation. The village is pleasantly situated in a vale, near the source of a rivulet. Facility of conveyance is afforded by the Aire and Calder rivers, which bound the parish; and the Leeds and Selby, and York and North-Midland railways both pass in the immediate vicinity. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 4. 2.; net income, £397, with a glebehouse; patron, the Rev. Charles Medhurst. The vicarial tithes of Ledsham township have been commuted for £46, and the glebe consists of 52 acres. The church contains a splendid monument to Lady Elizabeth Hastings and her two sisters; she is represented seated on a sarcophagus, reading a book of devotion, and the statues of her sisters Frances and Ann are on pedestals by her side: opposite is a monument of Sir John and Lady Lewis, her grandfather and grandmother. Schools for 20 boys and 20 orphan girls, the latter of whom are also fed and clothed, were liberally endowed by Lady Elizabeth. An hospital for five aged bachelors and six unmarried women was founded in 1670, by Sir John Lewis, who endowed it with £60 per annum; the endowment was augmented by Lady E. Hastings, with a rent-charge, which has been increased by her trustees, and by benefactions, and the present income exceeds £152 per annum: the building was repaired in the year 1816.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 46-55. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51100 Date accessed: 19 August 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 1539 (With Fairburn).

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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